Blizzards in Budapest

Flew back from London last night into what can only be described as a blizzard - about 2 inches of snow on the ground as the plane tried to land (luckily, no skidding) and then when I woke up this morning, it had snowed even more.
But, no trains were delayed, no roads were covered in snow and traffic gridlocked as a result - rather, all the footpaths were cleared (apparently it is an old Communist party law that no one has seen fit to do away with) and the roads were all gritted. Looks like it is set to continue - but living in the city centre, it has all melted however the view from the office I was in today is pretty good!

Secrets of the 9th District revealed by The Guardian

Just, when, for the first time ever, I think that I am ahead of the trend curve - living in a small, undiscovered part of the world, some big newspaper editor comes and ruins it - exposing my part of Budapest to the wider world and telling them all how great it is to live there - some people have no shame!

www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/nov/22/budapest-hungary-district-ix-culture

Wet and Windy Warsaw

Hopefully it will be better tomorrow and the taxi driver will be less grumpy!! Not sure what there is to see between the hotel, the office and the airport but as long as the flight back to the Budapest is not as bouncy as it was this evening, I will be happy

Weekend visitors and Hungarian hospitality

Katy came to stay last weekend - alas that meant that instead of lounging on the sofa watching England lose to Australia, I was obliged to get out and about around the city - shopping in the main market for my week's provisions, incredible how far a phrase book, mispronounciation and a couple of smiles can get you but somehow we managed to buy a mix of vegetables, find Lea and Perrins W Sauce (God knows what the cost per 100ml was but worth every florint) and various other bits and pieces. Throw in lots of walking around the Citadelle, Fisherman's Bastion, the old parts of Pest looking for a coffee and French onion soup and it all stacked up to be a very cultured and far more sophisticated weekend than if I can been left to my own devices!!

Unsurprisingly, elements of it also centred around food - Gordon's recommendation of Soul Cafe on Raday Utca was inspired - marketed as an international bistro, it more than hit the spot with Grilled Cheese as a starter, followed by the best Steak I think I have ever met and had the pleasure of devouring - Steak in creamy Morel Mushroom sauce and served with Gratin Potatoes, whilst Katy tried Red Tunafish stuffed with Ricotta, served with Risotto - all washed down with a bottle of Red Villany (not sure where in Hungary it came from, although I think Villany might be the region - another project is to learn about Hungarian wines) made for a lovely evening - and believe it or not, I couldn't even face the idea of a desert. On the Burgess/Nunn restaurant rating scale, this was a 9/10 - if not a 9.5 - not a bad place to discover so early on, although might be a special occasions place rather than a every evening establishment

On Saturday evening, we enjoyed one of those spontaneous evenings that seem to happen from time to time - having met Gordon (the agent I am renting the flat from) for a beer and then being joined by Jim, we suddenly found ourselves invited for a drink at Jim's flat on Raday which then turned into dinner and several bottles of wine - by the end of the evening, we didn't know which one we were drinking but they were all very pleasant. Jim is an artist, originally from Glasgow, who has been in Budapest for the best part of 20 years and is married to a Hungarian journalist and is also responsible for the paintings on the wall of the flat - one downside of the evening was that he lives in the most amazing flat 'block (block really not doing it justice as it is so far removed from Nelson Mandela House) - the flat overlooks a beautiful courtyard and the whole buidling was designed by the same architect who designed and then built the Opera House on Andrassy which is an incredible building. The reason that there was a downside to the evening is that I have now been told that this is the benchmark for the type3 of property that Katy would like to live in and so, I suspect that in 2009, I may be on the move!!

On Sunday evening, we checked out a Greek restaurant on the Belgrad embankment, near the flat - Tarverna Dionysus - what a great idea - the inside of the restaurant is designed to make you feel that you are sitting in the street of a typical Greek island village - complete with white washed walls, blue roofs and I am sure if we looked hard enough, in one of the corners there would be the obligatory cat!! - ON the restaurant rating scale, this one achieved an 8/10

One place that is definitely an every evening establishment is the bar opposite the flat - Fescke - it has the atmosphere of a student pub but a very chilled out, relaxed student pub - big sofas, cool paintings on the wall, amazing photos and a fog of cheap cigarette smoke - it also hosts live music nights so certain visitos might want to bring their instruments with them and see if they can get a slot - it is also the scene of a recent triumph - I managed to order a beer and a glass of wine in Hungarian which is a necessary but still very important step in the right direction - follow that up with the fact that I managed to order a Coffee this morning and you never know, I might be fluent in about 20 years!!

Best use of a Smart Car ever?

Saw this interesting rubbish lorry the other day - just wonder whether you can actually put anything in the bin on the back before it falls over!

No longer living out of a suitcase but rather a wardrobe

At last after 2 weeks of living in a hotel, albeit a hotel room with a fridge and a cooker, I have managed to escape and move into my own place on one of the most social streets in Pest - so I have been told. Just near to the green bridge and the main market but only a short hop to the main shopping area of the city

Benefits of having my own place
Washing Machine
Sofa
Wardrobes
Comfie bed
Cable TV - OK so it is still not great as I don't speak German or Hungarian (not enough to understand TV anyway) but it has more than just CNN - apparently there was an election on the other week which got a little bit of coverage but now I have the good old Beeb in its BBC World incarnation which is slight better but I suspect I might be watching a lot of DVDs unitl I can work out how to convince BBC iPlayer that I am in the UK!! (anyone who knows how to hack it, please let me know) Good news is that there is a Hungarian sports channel that shows all the football from the UK and also Rugby matches (and there's Katy thinking she might be coming for a cultured weekend but oh no!!)

good news is that it is only 6kms to the office so the walk is enough to wake me up in the morning, over the river and up the Gelert Hill and then a run back in the evening - all downhill which is an added bonus however as the temperature has dropped a little, I suspect that I might soon be joining the throngs of people on the ricketty buses or the relatively new trams that seem to be the main mode of transport for anyone with a desire to get to and from work in 1 piece - word of warning - if you are coming out here and think that driving might be a good idead - get a vey big car (or even a tank) - I have seen a couple of Smarts but they must be driven by someone with a deathwish!

Also had a very interesting experience the other day when I was on the way to the airport to fly back to London - they shut the main/only road to the airport - not for any usual reason for shutting a road like an accident but rather as the President had landed and was on his way back into the city centre - sounds a familiar practice for our friends in the Bear country but I thought that sort of activity had been disbanded when democracy came into play but then again, I suppose if it is a perk it will stay - luckily, I had left enough time to get there and then was the only person in Malev Business class - there must be a credit crunch! Think it was a wasted ticket as I got on the plane and fell asleep only to be woken when the air stewardess was putting a blanket over me and then I assume she went back behind her curtain and drank my Hungarian champagne and Business class meal - wonder if I can ask for a refund?

Anonymous - Located in Budapest

For anyone who has ever wondered what Anonymous, that scourge of references and official documents looked like, here you are - the man himself!!

Apparently, all aspiring writers should touch his pen for luck - by the looks of things, we will soon be flooded by literary genius so I joined the craze as well.

Bars of Budapest

Obviously having admitted to a couple of late nights over the weekend, it might be worth puiblicising the establishments that were responsible for the fuzzy head syndrome and that have dirty glasses that can be associated with it

Captain Cooks - on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Utca 19/a on the Pest side of the river - English pub with Aussie, Hungarian and UK beers on tap and Guinness. Didn't stay there very long as we were running late for the Effies at the National Theatre but seemed an alright sort of establishment

Iguana bar - on Zóltán u. 16, which is just round the back of the Parliament and near the US Embassy - apparently been voted the Best Mexican restaurant in Budapest 5 years in a row but I am not sure, having only been here a couple of days what that category is like in terms of choice but certainly seems to be a good expat hangout and where I met most of the rugby team at various stages over the evening as well as the entire teaching staff from the British School in Budapest - complete with face paints due to the fact it was Hallowe'en. Very good Cuba Libre as I seem to recall too

The Caledonia or the Cally to those in the know (allegedly_ - where else could it be inspired by but Scotland and this is further increased by the saltaires on all the walls and Claymores that hang above the stairs!! Home to the Budapest Celtic football club and also several screens showing football and rugby and serves proper ale which is a novelty in this country where all the beers I have found so far are lagers!! Attached to the bar is a Scottish shop where you can stock up on whisky, short bread and celtic inspired jewellery!

http://www.kaledonia.hu/index.php?lang=en

Bar Instant - Negymezo - take an old house built around a courtyard that has been abandoned and is derelict, put in a bar, give it a lick of paint and make it into a cool, edgy venue with DJs, cheap drinks (someone made me try Palinka - in a word, dont!!) and then allow people to design the rooms and see what happens - the best one is the Upside down room where all the furniture is stuck to the ceiling - also hang weird penguin and fish mobiles from the roof and all in all, it creates one pretty cool place to be. There were also a number of pinball machines and did meet Zoli, the original Hungarian pinball wizard (although not sure what the translation for that is) - what he didn't know about Spiderman pinball machine does not seem worth knowing and to be far, after he posted 13,500,000 on the machine as a score, it didn't seem worth asking any further questions - he certainly knows his flippers from his floppers!!

After that, I recommend a Gyros (Kebab but nicer than the mix of Alsatian and Rat that you get in London) and then a wander down the side of the Danube, past the Parliament back to the hotel taking in the sights and sounds of the city - believe me, if New York is the city that never sleeps, then Budapest must be its slightly younger, less sophisticated brother - can't wait for the first snow to fall and see where people go when they can't stand outside - should make for an new voyage of hedonistic discovery

Hungarian flat hunting with a Hungarian hangover!!

Well the boss said we were going out and we went out - getting home at 4am was an interesting introduction to the Friday night experience in Budapest - in between being introduced to various brands of Hungarian beer, I also seem to have been met most of the Budapest Exiles rugby team, been give the names of several bars that show the rugby and have been signed up with the first training session this evening - not a bad start!Amongst the people that I met there was an eclectic mix - Brits, other expats and Hungarians including a stuntman with a missing thumb (courtesy of a horse that bolted) and awaiting an operation as he broke his back filming Robin Hood - some might suggest that he looked for an other career but I resisted the temptation as he stood up and was about 2m tall and must have weighed about 120kgs so decided that I would buy him a beer instead!

Flats here are enormous but you have to get used to the concept of everything being discussed in m2 rather than by the number of rooms - have viewed 6 and have a shortlist of 3 - 2 with amazing views across various aspects of the city either from the banks of the Danube and looking onto Margaret Island and the Ciatadel, or from a 1930s art deco block on Rosehill with a view including the Parliament and then the whole of Buda - the agony of choice. All that said, some of the decor was quite interesting - one had Winnie the Pooh and Tigger carpet in one of the rooms and then the most incredible black velvet bed base with pink, electric blue and purple swirls - believe me, I was pleased that piece was not in the hotel room when I woke up as it might have made the hangover even more pounding!!

Weather is still amazing and I spent most of the weekend in t-shirt which is a surreal experience for the time of year - I have also been told that there has not been any snow here in the winter for the last 2 winters and as a result they have been mild - no colder than -5 (that's alright then!!)

One thing that is becoming abundantly clear is that Budapest seems to be the type of place that people come to for a year and never leave (a little like Hotel California) - most of the expats I have met start with the lines 'You'll love it hear, I came for 2 nights and have been here 5 years' so it seems like there might be issues trying to escape.

Have even managed to learn a couple of words - only problem seems to be that as soon as I say one thing, there is an assumption that I am able to speak Hungarian and so I get a mouthful of rapid fire magyar which is met with an idiotic grin and an apology for being incapable of being able to say more than please, thank you, beer and a random selection of others including Butterfly - not sure why Butterfly but it seem to come up when I was in the National Theatre the other night at the same time that someone, Attila (yes I have met a Hungarian called Attila)was trying to teach me the Hungarian for what I assume was the equivalent of 'Royal Circle' - obviously that will be essential for shopping!