The day before my trip to Budapest, Hungary, pronounced by the locals as Budapesht – with the ‘h’ sound in there, I got seriously sick. As in major sick.
The Lajos Kassák Memorial Museum with the dome, an architectural influence from the Ottoman empire as pointed to me by the cab driver when we arrived in the city center. Also, the nice thing with Ferihegy Airport taxis is they accept the euro.
I have been in and out of the toilet every half an hour the whole day and at around 6PM-ish I felt the slight body discomfort I have been experiencing turned into high fever. This is not the first time I have ‘blasontsteking’ [UTI] thus I know that if I am not treated quickly the infection can become worse, if not dangerous. What great timing! So I used my full convincing powers when I dialed the 0900 hotline of the ‘huisartsenpost’ in Utrecht. 
Forint or ft., the colorful Hungarian money (colors remind me of the Dutch Guilders). € 1 is equivalent to 260 ft. but for easy forex calculation I use 250 ft., which would be 1000 ft. for € 4 – 5,000 ft. for € 20 – 25,000 ft. for € 100. Next foto is the beautiful view from my executive room – view to the hotel’s lobby.
The Netherlands, like the rest of the European Union states, refuses to adapt the 24-hour labor and commercialization mentality. And because this is a highly methodical country, there is always a place and process for anything and everything under the Dutch universe. Patients that need doctor’s help outside working hours but are not in a life and death situation, have the huisartsenpost as an option. It is a central clinic, laboratory, and drugstore (there is 1 in every city and major town) open during the evenings and weekends.
Buda City taken from the Margit Bridge. I only had a chance to look at and take a foto of Buda but not visit her due to lack of time.
The catch22 here is convincing the medical assistant that answers the phone as she does the standard pre-qualification of every incoming call. Whether you the patient would need immediate assistance or if you could wait for tomorrow, is all under her discretion.
By the time I got to the huisartsenpost, I was in cold chills – I was shivering and losing coherence. I was finally examined and given the antibiotics but half of the time I was thinking of the pressing activities for tomorrow morning, my travel to Budapest and what I needed to pack. Oh dear, I still have to pack and all I wanted was to go home and sleep.
At any rate, everything went fine as I am back from Budapest safely. And as the title of this entry goes, I have indeed been to Budapest, but only to Pest and not to Buda at all.
Stone carving details of many rundown-looking (and many are really rundown inside) buildings in Erszebet road – they badly need attention and care so these beautiful works of art can stay for the years to come and for the next generation to enjoy.
Budapest, I learned when I was there, is a twin city. Two cities, Buda and Pest divided by the great Danube River (Duna in Magyar, the Hungarian language) that flows through 10 countries in Central and East Europe: Germany – Austria – Slovakia – Hungary – Croatia – Serbia – Bulgaria – Romania – Moldova – Ukraine exiting to its drainage basin, the Black Sea.
Its quite hard to pronounce Magyar, the national language of Hungary, but many say that Finnish is the next best closest thing. Wonder where the connection lies? Anyway, I learned 2 words: Köszönöm (thank you) and minden (every).
The city’s core center and business area is located in Pest, so I was here most of the time since I am in Budapest for work. I didn’t really get to see a lot of places but managed to get a few fotos during my early morning and evening walk. I however got a glimpse of Buda where the famous castle is, the pride of every Hungarian I heard, from the Margit Bridge that connects both cities.
Colors dominating the skyline of Budapest were of pastel hues, mostly yellow, which I was told is indicative and reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire that ruled the country for centuries. If there is another city in the world I can compare Budapest with, it would have to be Paris. When I read that the city is actually dubbed as the Paris of the East, I can only smile and agree. 
Nyugati Pályaudvar (Hungarian Western Railway Station) opened in 1877, one of three oldest and beautiful train stations in Budapest (in the Pest side). A tramline (similar to Amsterdam and Nice trams) passes through in front of the station.
I also noticed that many of the buildings in Erzsebet, the big main road the newest tramline passes through are somewhat in decaying state and would need proper renovation and care to preserve its antiquity. The massive doors of these edifices with ornate statuettes carved into it were also easy targets for street art – graffiti. Strange it may seem but the whole dingy, crumbly, and vandalism makeup somehow gave the buildings and this city a fascinating, distinctive, and artful character that I cannot explain.
Fotos can be found here: Budapest, Hungary 
The museum of Franz Liszt, the great pianist composer. In the next foto is the area of Liszt, just a few meters away from the museum, a posh place to eat and hang-out. During summer open-air terraces fill up this only-pedestrian area.
Another nice and safe area to walk during the day and evening is the Andrassy Avenue, a UNESCO world heritage, starting from the Oktogon junction in Erszebet all the way to the Heroes’ square. The walk is about 30-40 minutes and could easily take up an hour or more if you are like me easily diverted to beautiful stately buildings and details of art which this long stretch of road offers.
In the Heroes’ square, also known as the Millenium square, you can find 2 beautiful neo-classical building pieces, the Museum of Fine Arts (flanked from the left of the plaza) and the Art of Palace (from the right). Beautiful pieces of architecture indeed.
Hősök tere [Heroes square] otherwise known as the Millenium square is represented with all important founders-statesmen of the Magyar nation.
Food and goods are relatively cheaper here than in Western Europe, but only a wee bit. On the other hand, a colleague said that it is quite cheap in Hungary as long as you stay out of the center, or better, outside the city.
Most Hungarians I have spoken to are not really looking forward to joining Eurolandia. Hungary, an EU member has officially joined the Schengen no-more-borders treaty. However, joining the Euro currency is another story which unfortunately is perceived by many locals as a gloomy future historic event as it would only fan the increase of prices while salaries remain stagnant.
Műcsarnok (Palace of Art or Hall of Art) in the Heroes square in Neoclassicism style. I love the gold details of its Corinthian order coloumn and the frescoes on the panel.
The locals are also not so friendly, except for my colleagues and the hotel personnel. A couple of my expatriated colleagues living in Budapest even pointed this out to me which somehow sealed my less than 4 days observation. Interesting stuff, eh?
The major consolation I have for this trip, since I didn’t get to see many things and places, is the spa experience in the hotel where I stayed. It was very soothing and relaxing; a real detox after what I have been through and with my aching feet (high heels again!).
Hmmm, I just realized that this is the only foto I took of myself in Budapest – in my hotel bathroom. And this is the hotel’s luxurious spa. It was not crowded there at all, as you can see in the foto.
Spas by the way are big in Hungary. Like horse racing, sausages, goulash soups, and Zsa Zsa Gabor, thermal spas and Turkish baths are part of their culture. If the Dutch congregate and party in stadiums with the new generation rock stars, the DJ’s, the Hungarians do it better, in their bikinis and trunks! Too bad I had to leave Saturday morning as Rudas baths opens up for a public party in the evening.
It would have been exhilarating to experience this one of a kind modern day hedonistic Hungarian way of communal feasting and social interacting, but when a thousand invigorated people commune together in 1 bath, my skeptical mind is at play. Hygiene red alert: germs are just a touch, – and urine, just a smell away???