Travel Stop: Hungary, Introduction

Budapest, Hungary

When I think of Budapest, this is what I see. I see Budapest in black and white. I never pictured it as the colorful, vibrant city that it is today, probably because I had never been there before. Call it ignorance, call it naivete, call it a romanticism of WWII or the communist era.














When we were leaving the airport the first things I saw were a giant Tesco sign and an accompanying outlet with H&M and the bright shining golden arches of a McDonald's. One of Taylor Swift's I hate men songs was on the radio and as I hummed along, it was quite obvious the western world was not lost in the east.















As we got closer to the city, the typical soviet block housing began appearing along the side of the road. All I could think was, ah. There we are. I miss the feel of the east. Probably because the first time I fell in love with Europe was in East Berlin and got a a little 'Ostaligie' fever. For those who don't know, Ostalgie is a combination of Ost, or east, in German, and Nostalgie, or nostalgia. Trust me, if you go to east Berlin you will find nothing but souvenir shops filled with model DDR things. The old hammer and sickle sign and even Trabis, or Trabants, the old cars of the communist age, are considered cool.

Whether it's because in 23 or so years, some people haven't been able to let go, one of our guides in Hungary made it very clear, that communism was nothing to be nostalgic about. 

I won't go too much into the history, but I love how our guide described it. She basically said Hungary has been very unlucky in the sides its been on in the last few wars. When Austria and Hungary split in 1918, suddenly 5 million Hungarians were 'lost' in the split. Hitler said he would help. Well, he didn't, or couldn't, if you will.  After the Second World War, Russia said they would help, but then, "forgot to leave for 45 years." However, in order to appease the Hungarians, they were allowed to wear blue jeans and drink Coca Cola. Whenever they would travel, people would recognize them as Hungarian right away, because they were the only ones allowed these privileges. Blue jeans and Coke. Staples in my life.

Anyways, let's get to it, but first:

Egeszsegedre! (That means cheers)