Budapest Love
We loved Budapest almost immediately. The city felt very modern, stylish and graceful, yet one also felt a sense of history there.
It has something many other cities lack: trees. From the broad, magnificent Andrassy Boulevard, which has trees on either side and a tree-lined pedestrian strip in the middle, to the canopy of trees lining pedestrian only streets, Budapest looked green and leafy. The trees had strong, thick trunks, indicating their history, which complimented the stately architecture well.
I’m fond of cities that are so big that they swallow up the tourists. Because interesting things were all over the city, you could walk down the street and be amongst people just going about their day.
While formerly communist like the other places we have visited recently, the communism in Hungary was not as strict as other countries, giving rise to the term “goulash communism.” Apparently the Russians allowed Hungarians more freedom, such as the freedom to travel, making Hungary more Westernized than the rest of Central/Eastern Europe.
I did not realize until we went that Budapest is often compared to Paris. It is easy to see the comparison, although Budapest felt more relaxed than Paris. Between the casual grace of the city and our super sweet (but cheap!) apartment, we certainly felt relaxed there.
Thanks for this post and the last one about Zagreb I think I will spend more time in Budapest.
All this brings memories from my first visit abroad (5-th grade) when we visited Hungary (circa 74). It felt so western even then that I could not even relate to it being communist at the time. Such a nice city perched on the banks of the river Danube. I dream of getting on a ship from Vienna, go through Budapest and sail all the way to Bulgaria some day in the future.
Wow! Budapest is gorgeous!
*adding another city to my must-see list*