This post comes hot from the charming oven of Budapest in Hungary and contrary to what you may have believed in your youth, this country was not so named because everyone here is hungry. Although it is funnier to remember it that way.
Hungarian people are quite serious looking and each seems to have the physical genetics to become a potential wrestler. Hungarian men take it upon themselves to singlehandedly bring the moustache back en force, which makes sense since Hungary is known to be the porn filming hot spot of Europe. It's a country you probably don't want to hold a black light to.
Budapest, the capital, is actually two cities in one, Buda and Pest, split by the noob (Danube) river. I liked Buda better than Pest, mainly because it gives me an excuse to walk around admiring the city while saying "Buda be praised!" in my best 70's dodgy kung fu movie accent.
I might add here that Hungarian is the craziest language encountered yet and that English actually has more in common with Sri Lankan than Hungarian. I believe that after reading the translation for "it's hot" ... "Az ido nagyon meleg" you'll see where I am coming from. You can easily spot tourists trying to speak Hungarian, they have that semi-lobotomised look that only the Hungarian dialect can deliver.
Oh yeah, if you weren't certain what the over reference was for, it has been a tad hot. It was about 45 degrees in the sun here. The wind is even hotter. As I type some of the keys have melted to my fingers like mozzarella.
A must see here, should you ever feel the need to enjoy Paprika in all its many forms, is the house of terror; a museum dedicated to the two brutal occupations (Nazi and Soviet) Hungary has gone through. Very interesting to say the least, there were some incredible things to see - like a tank in a foyer! Ironically the museum is built inside the old AVH secret police building, complete with a tour through the maze of underground cells and "confession extraction chambers" they built to boost popularity of the one party system. A museum security guard in every room is a nice authentic touch too, someone forgot to tell them the occupation is over, the prisoners are gone, you can go home now.
Last but not least I must emphasise that if you are planning to visit Budapest, make sure you go to Sir Lancelot's restaurant. Medieval music, food, atmosphere and entertainment at it's greatest. The restaurant staff service is fantastic and their sword fighting skills are second to none. For you Monty Python fans, I believe they named the place in Sir Lancelot's name due to the sheer amount of "peril" here.
Time to wrap up and find a pool of water that ISN'T a hot thermal spa ...but before that, some quick facts on Hungary.
1. Pedestrian crossings are purely for decoration the further east you travel. I actually think it may indicate to drivers that "you should speed up here, and if you can, try and get the back to spin out a bit over this white shit".
2. Info booths speak little or no English, although they surprisingly know "You so stupid".
3. There is detergent brand here called Fagipoy. OK sure it uses some weird accented characters but I knew Stuart and I were worthy of that triple point word score in Scrabble so many moons ago!
4. Just as in Austria, it is entirely acceptable and plausible to go to a restaurant and just say "MEAT" as an answer to both "what would you like to eat / what would you like to drink".
5. Buses here run on overhead power lines. Cool!
6. Buying Fruit and Vegetables at a supermarket here is hard. There is some sort of scales and labelling computer that is not in English. Back to the meat section....
7. The train from Ljubljana to Budapest is in need of air con. Badly.
8. Hungarian people rarely say just "Hi", it's always "Hi" followed by some completely random sentence that is different every time and not in any book. I do believe it all means the same thing however ... "Hi, it is a nice day, would you like to wrestle?".
9. Hungary needs to master the concept of cold/hot drink rotation in their fridges.
10. Hungarian toilet design, while unique and artistic, is not entirely functional. Unless of course you prefer the option to analyse your own crap in detail as you TRY to flush it.
Hungarian people are quite serious looking and each seems to have the physical genetics to become a potential wrestler. Hungarian men take it upon themselves to singlehandedly bring the moustache back en force, which makes sense since Hungary is known to be the porn filming hot spot of Europe. It's a country you probably don't want to hold a black light to.
Budapest, the capital, is actually two cities in one, Buda and Pest, split by the noob (Danube) river. I liked Buda better than Pest, mainly because it gives me an excuse to walk around admiring the city while saying "Buda be praised!" in my best 70's dodgy kung fu movie accent.
I might add here that Hungarian is the craziest language encountered yet and that English actually has more in common with Sri Lankan than Hungarian. I believe that after reading the translation for "it's hot" ... "Az ido nagyon meleg" you'll see where I am coming from. You can easily spot tourists trying to speak Hungarian, they have that semi-lobotomised look that only the Hungarian dialect can deliver.
Oh yeah, if you weren't certain what the over reference was for, it has been a tad hot. It was about 45 degrees in the sun here. The wind is even hotter. As I type some of the keys have melted to my fingers like mozzarella.
A must see here, should you ever feel the need to enjoy Paprika in all its many forms, is the house of terror; a museum dedicated to the two brutal occupations (Nazi and Soviet) Hungary has gone through. Very interesting to say the least, there were some incredible things to see - like a tank in a foyer! Ironically the museum is built inside the old AVH secret police building, complete with a tour through the maze of underground cells and "confession extraction chambers" they built to boost popularity of the one party system. A museum security guard in every room is a nice authentic touch too, someone forgot to tell them the occupation is over, the prisoners are gone, you can go home now.
Last but not least I must emphasise that if you are planning to visit Budapest, make sure you go to Sir Lancelot's restaurant. Medieval music, food, atmosphere and entertainment at it's greatest. The restaurant staff service is fantastic and their sword fighting skills are second to none. For you Monty Python fans, I believe they named the place in Sir Lancelot's name due to the sheer amount of "peril" here.
Time to wrap up and find a pool of water that ISN'T a hot thermal spa ...but before that, some quick facts on Hungary.
1. Pedestrian crossings are purely for decoration the further east you travel. I actually think it may indicate to drivers that "you should speed up here, and if you can, try and get the back to spin out a bit over this white shit".
2. Info booths speak little or no English, although they surprisingly know "You so stupid".
3. There is detergent brand here called Fagipoy. OK sure it uses some weird accented characters but I knew Stuart and I were worthy of that triple point word score in Scrabble so many moons ago!
4. Just as in Austria, it is entirely acceptable and plausible to go to a restaurant and just say "MEAT" as an answer to both "what would you like to eat / what would you like to drink".
5. Buses here run on overhead power lines. Cool!
6. Buying Fruit and Vegetables at a supermarket here is hard. There is some sort of scales and labelling computer that is not in English. Back to the meat section....
7. The train from Ljubljana to Budapest is in need of air con. Badly.
8. Hungarian people rarely say just "Hi", it's always "Hi" followed by some completely random sentence that is different every time and not in any book. I do believe it all means the same thing however ... "Hi, it is a nice day, would you like to wrestle?".
9. Hungary needs to master the concept of cold/hot drink rotation in their fridges.
10. Hungarian toilet design, while unique and artistic, is not entirely functional. Unless of course you prefer the option to analyse your own crap in detail as you TRY to flush it.
6 comments:
Fagipoy and mustached wrestlers...some kind of weirdo paradise?
Fagipoy... I refuse to believe. Pics or it didn't happen.
I understand they know a thing or two about spicey sausage there gad - I'm surprised no pics of you sweating as you go down on a HAWT 12 inches...
Don't forget to stock up on garlic before heading to Romania, and keep an eye out for gypsies.
weird dunnies, tis true... when one eats, drinks and sleeps MEAT... one must inspect the turd for stomach dwelling poo-eating creatures.
My boss is actually Hungarian... he came to the US when he participated in an unsuccessful revolution when he was about my age (50 or more years ago, I suppose) to avoid the fate of the others who tried to revolt. Of course, Hungary has since been freed...
Communism was just a red herring...
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