Thirteen from the Thirteenth

Újlipótváros is where I go for donuts- and where I used to go for burek before it was widely available all over town courtesy of Croatian bakery Mlinar. The demise of Burekkirály was probably unavoidable once Mlinar offered a cheaper version in most of the city’s main thoroughfares, but it was with some sadness I noticed the boarded up shopwindows this weekend.

The long and the short of it is that I was mainly familiar with one route through this neighbourhood, and rarely took any other, or attentively checked out my surroundings, since I was engaged in the primeval quest for nourishment. I therefore decided to venture over Váci avenue and explore the thirteenth district.

The conclusion would be that Saturday mornings feel a bit more French here than in Terézváros (which is decidedly Austrian). Maybe it’s the streets name checking French writers, or the insistent croissantish smell floating out of the bakeries. Or the slightly Parisian architecture. And the dog shit- well, there is enough of that all over the city, but at least this weekend I finally got a glimpse of a cat too- but she was just too devious to be photographed, which is what any proper cat should be like.

Budapest coffee

When Alex Levine concluded that only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat, he was obviously unaware of the existence of the splendid item called Budapest coffee, illustrated here as served in Puskin cafe. The ingredient making it a Budapester is a generous dose of Unicum, which actually goes quite well with the taste of coffee. This should have been thought of sooner and consumed more often. Evangelized even, because  it's worth it.

To József Attila

More of My Neighbourhoods

So I decided to widen my Saturday morning prawling area, and ventured all the way into Erzsébetváros, which given my not always top notch orientation skills is not that hard to do. Having gone on this bold exploration, I learned some very relevant things about my hood(s):

• Every street will have at least one dog tied to a tree/post/fence patiently or histerically waiting for its owner to finish some errands in an undisclosed location. The smaller the dog, the higher the rate of madness and teeth baring.
• Erzsébetváros is best suited for loners who idle away their Saturday in the company of their dog and/or beer, as the benches will simply not accomodate two people. Alternatively, the senior member of a small group will sit while everyone is gathered around her, complaining of their backs.
• There was a writer born on pretty much every street, most likely in the least conspicuous house.
• Budapest’s grumpiest pigeon lives in Erzsébetváros.
• There is an insane plum tree on the corner of Jósika street, which is both in bloom and laden with ripe fruit.
• I am yet to figure out why one of the pastry shops is called Euro Balkan, as their ware is mostly the non-definite average ” pékség”  type. 

Just a Touch of Fancy Riding

Just you average Budapest Saturday: escapees from an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel ride down Andrássy avenue.

Idling Away a Sunday

A good book, a good beer and good pasta (finally a Hungarian version of bolognese that is not a carrot overkill) make for a great day on Margaret Island. 

Akvárium (Kind of) Reloaded

Erzsébet tér (commonly confused with Deák, as the two basically flow into each other) used to be the home of Gödör, and half the city had a common heart attack when Gödör was kicked out- it’s now in exile in the Central passage, a somewhat unfortunate state of affairs, as Central passage is most definitely not below ground-gödör means hole- and there is a sound and capacity limitation which cramps the club’s style a little. But we’ve all slowly grown accustomed to the fact that the actual hole on Erzsébet is inhabited by Akvárium, which also has concerts and a lovely summer (and spring-autumn) terrace. Last November panic spread again, as we were threatened with the re-building of the area- when the place was re-opened last Sunday it turned out to be pretty much the same, just with shinier stones and a bit more geometrically trimmed trees. And politer waiters it would seem, which was a definite area of improvement, if you ask me.