"BUDAPEST" a Budapest Travel Page by ninski

My first visit to Budapest happened in June 2001, and six years went by and I always wished to go back again. It is funny how sometimes when you leave some place, even when you have spent only a few days or weeks exploring that new place, you feel like you are leaving something your own behind when you leave. That is how I felt six years ago, and that is how I felt in 2007. So there definitely will be a time when I return again.

I think Budapest is very cosy city. It is built as it was everybody's shared sittingroom; I love the old detailed buildings, detailed streetlamps, old-fashioned style streetsigns...I love it's atmosphere, it is friendly but still very unique. Some people say that the city would look much nicer if the old buildings were fixed and repaired. Maybe so, but I like the roughness, it tells more about life and history than posh and coloured scenes.

Budapest, and maybe Hungary in general, has changed a bit after it joined the EU. I think the atmosphere and the spirit is more international now. I cannot name what was different but I did sense some changes. There were more international fast food places like Burger King, Subway and McDonals'es. They were more fitness centres and people looked more sporty. There were loads of construction work going on, Independence Bridge was all cardboarded and covered with plastic and the fourth metro line was on it's way to happen.

I am not going to lie, but tell my side of the story. Unfortunately Budapest is still famous about its cheating culture. I don't know if "they" do it to the locals, which I don't believe, but tourists and other travellers must be careful and keep their eyes open. Especially taxis and restaurants tend to make there "mistakes" with change and prices... Also some Hungarian people who work for tourism business, they can be extremely rude sometimes. It is too sad, and these are some of the things that makes people travel somewhere else. I happened to read one article about Hungary's tourism, and according to it, the tourism has gone down about 5-10% in a few years. It is a sad thing to happen for such a lovely city like Budapest!