"Land of the Magyars" a Budapest Travel Page by Johnny_CA

My first visit to Budapest was in July 2002. I enjoyed the city so much and met some nice friends that I returned to Budapest in November 2002.

On my first trip, I drove with my friend, Nga. We have roadtripped to many places but this was the longest trip yet, from Amsterdam to Budapest was about 13 hours. We got lost during the way and it took us 16 hours. The drive was well worth it because Budapest was a mix of old communist gray and medieval charm. The avenues are big and bustling with traffic. Crossing the many bridges (Chain, Maragaret, etc) was quite busy with drivers traversing from the Buda to the Pest side and vice versa. Having driven in some of the heaviest traffic in the world such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Paris, the Budapest traffic was quite manageable. One warning about driving with foreign license plates is that you stick out like a sore thumb to other motorists and to the police. Now, I am not saying that all Hungarian officials are on the take but I will share with you my experience with the law. On our way out of Hungary, I was going along speedily and noticed a guy with a white shirt on standing in the middle of the highway, waving my car over. First of all, this was not the safest way to pull over cars. If I had not seen him early enough and at the speed I was going, I may not have stopped in time. However, I pulled over my car to the shoulder and noticed that they were highway cops. He asks for my passport in Hungarian and I gave it to him. Then he motions me to get out of the car over to their patrol car. There he says something and wrote down 192 km (120 mph), indicating I was clocked at that speed. Neither denying or agreeing, I kind of nodded. Then he speaks in Hungarian and motioned that he was going to keep my passport and pointed to a city back toward Budapest where I had to pay an outrageous fine of €240!! After further conversation, I knew what he was getting at so I offered him an "exchange of goodwill" in the form of something everyone appreciates. The bastard had the nerve to ask for more "gracious goodwill" from me but I shook my head and gestured with my hands that I had only some much "kindness" to offer him. He accepted my friendly offer and returned my passport. Then as I walked toward my car, he says something and gestured with his hands, with both hands pushing downward, asking me to slow down. Oh, it was so nice of him to care about my safety after taking my bribe. This is only a small incident that did not tarnish my appreciation of Budapest at all. I came back for a second visit but this time on an airplane.

I experienced Budapest in scorching 35C in summer and a chilly 5C in winter. Besides the weather, the city remains its historical charm but yet show a slow progression toward the future. Buildings were being renovated and cleaned. A good example of this was a residential/office building next to the flat I stayed at. When I was there in July, it was darkened from years of neglect and in November, it was beautifully repainted and renovated to show off its columns and fresh face. You can see this in most of Budapest, a slow progress forward. Considering Hungary was Communistic only 13 years ago, it has developed tremendously to attract major foreign investments such as multinational companies. One of Hungary's appeal is the number of educated young people from its many universities and the lower work wages.

If you walked around the Westend City Center near the Nyugati Train station, the shops are like any shop in the Western world. But you can stick to the old Magyar history, a very diverse one, with its architeture and landmarks.

Lastly, the Magyars themselves are a big reason I made a return visit. The friends I met have made a fond impression on me. I have been able to see and understand a side of Hungary and its people that I would not have read in travel books.

No better reason but to see the beautiful Magyar.

Bowling never seemed more appealing...