A First Encounter with Budapest, Hungary

(Birdhouse Factory: European Tour, Apr/May, 2011)

Landlocked by a collection of European civilizations, divided yet connected by the great Danube river, Budapest is a symbol of vast cultural strife and victory.

After learning a little bit about Hungary’s historical struggles with foreign domination, I felt lucky to be able to experience Magyar culture during it’s first modern window of self-rule. One thousand years of foreign control started in the 11th century with Mongol invasion. Next it was the Ottoman Turks, then Hapsburg Austria, which led into World War II Germany, and finally the Soviet Union.

What’s interesting is that, despite all of that, present-day Hungary managed to remain almost 90% Magyar or ethnic Hungarian.

Here are a couple more things that boosted my respect for Hungary’s history.

Hungary beat the United States to enacting women’s suffrage. I guess that’s not surprising, as New Zealand and Australia gave women the right to vote even before the turn of the 20th century, and 23 European countries also passed the law before the US finally made it through legislation in 1920. Still, way to go Hungary.

And more props for the nation-- Hungary was the first country in the USSR to break the Iron Curtain, three years before the Soviet Union fell. Due to the immense impact of restructuring Hungary’s borders and economy after World War II, the USSR began to cut Hungary some slack on the strict economic laws implemented during Soviet domination. Hungary still rebelled and finally opened it’s border with Austria in 1989.

So, what does Budapest look like today? Some buildings still show markings of battery that occurred during World War II, which certainly gives character to the architectural landscape of the city as it is now.

The view from the Citadel, which is the walled fortress at the highest point in Budapest, is absolutely remarkable. If you stand on the highest wall, you can see the copper-roofed Buda Castle, all the way up the Danube to Margit Island, back down the other side of the riverbank to the beautiful Parlement building, and then a complete panoramic view of the city’s outskirts that follow the river as it curves around the mountain and flows south into Serbia.

This pristine image of architecture old and new, laced together by the 5 bridges that connect the Buda and Pest sides of the river will never leave my mind. Standing on the Citadel ledge it is hard to believe that all 5 bridges and 80 percent of the buildings in Budapest were bombed to rubble at the end of World War II.

Now, on to my favorites.

My favorite word in Hungarian, (based on a sadly limited connection with locals about their language, due to the fact that I was consumed with learning the show the first week), came to be ZARVA. It means “closed,” so I can’t say I enjoyed seeing this word in bold letters, stamped across the supermarket entrance, but I can say that it did satisfy my linguistic affinity towards words that sound exactly like what they mean. ZARVA. There’s no doubt about it.

My favorite drink in Hungary, after tasting several hearty but somewhat non-stimulating local beers, is easily Unicum. The Zwack family has apparently been making this liquer with a secret mixture of herbs and spices for many many years, and it has become a traditional Hungarian treat. The secrecy of the recipe, I must admit, is more appealing than the actual gritty, licorice-infused flavor of this Jaegger-like digestif.

By far my favorite informational tidbit about Hungary actually came from my father, when he told me that the Rubik’s cube was in fact invented by a Hungarian architecture professor in the 1970s. If that’s not one of the best contributions to the world of games and puzzles, then I don’t know what is!

I haven't even mentioned the culture of spas and spring-water baths in Hungary, which brings me to my favorite part about the city-- an overall feel of deep-running peacefulness that seems to emanate from the Danube river. The humble power of natural flowing water seems to seep into even the traffic-filled streets of the city, reminding all that while the technological world around us is exponentially leaping forward, the natural pace of the water will never change. I've often felt that a body of water can shape a city's character, and here I felt the Danube was the pumping heart of Budapest.