My friend Maddie from Wellesley came to visit for the week since she’s studying in Copenhagen and had a little time off. Being a tourist is even more fun when you’re showing a friend around, and it seemed like there was an urgency to do everything we could since she was only here a week. We went so many places and saw so much that I’m worried I’ll forget something in this post, but I’ll do my best.
The first thing we did was obviously eat because no one likes adventure on an empty stomach. I took Maddie to a traditional Hungarian restaurant called Frici Papa (all the other students in my program call this place “frisky papa” which I think is hilarious). Then we explored the city, stayed up too late, and woke up on Saturday for brunch and more exploring. We went to St. Stephens Basilica where we got one of the best views of the city. It was raining on Saturday, but it didn’t even matter because we were exploring and having a great time. After the Basilica, we went to a Holocaust memorial, walked by the US embassy, took pictures with Ronald Reagan, and walked down to the river passed parliament. Then, we got gelato and headed across town to see Heroes Square and walk down to the House of Terror.
Seeing the House of Terror has to be one of the most necessary experiences in Budapest. It is such a powerful place that tells the story of a terrifying time when WWII continued in Eastern Europe and the rest of the world outside of the Iron Curtain moved on. I learned a lot of really horrible things about how people were locked up, and killed just for speaking up. If you didn’t silence yourself the government would silence you. All religion was against the law and the only religious leaders that survived were politically corrupt or extremely secretive. They even continued work camps similar to concentration camps and made everyone work themselves to death. So many people died and it breaks my heart to think about how hard it must have been to be a Hungarian during and after WWII.
On Sunday Maddie and I met up with Megan and her flatmate Theresa to visit Eger, Hungary. Eger is a small town known for its wine (which we had a bit of), its medieval castle, and apparently friendly men with pears. Right after we got to town we set off to find the “vár” (castle in Hungarian) a man overheard us saying vár and helped point us in the right direction even though he didn’t speak English. Before he let us walk off he gave us each a handful of pears and we thought it was so kind but also hilarious. Most of the Hungarian people I’ve interacted with in Budapest are kind of short with and uninterested in you, so it was exciting to be in Eger where all the people were extremely nice even though we could only really communicate in broken Hungarian sometimes. At the castle we saw a wax museum, a dungeon, and a history museum with a lot of armor and old ottoman stone pots. In Eger we also saw the local basilica, climbed to the top of a local school to get a view of the whole town, went to an escape room, and toured the old underground wine cellar. It was a really fun day.
On Monday we didn’t do any slowing down. We walked over to Buda Castle, walked through the Matthias church, toured the opera house, and went back to my flat to make stir-fry (so thankful for Maddie’s dad’s delicious recipe). On Tuesday I had to go to school, but Maddie toured parliament and another museum in town before I came back and we went on a dinner boat cruise. The view of the city at night from the middle of the Danube was amazing and the duck confit wasn’t bad either ;)
I had school on Wednesday again, but Maddie, Megan, and I made pizza together and hung out later that night. Then on Thursday Maddie and I walked back up towards Buda Castle to tour the Hospital in the Rock. The Hospital in the Rock was amazing. During WWII it operated as an emergency hospital in the caves under the castle, and they saved thousands of lives there. After the Soviet Union took the hospital over they secretly converted it into a nuclear bomb shelter, and then it became a museum in 2007. They filled it with wax figures to re-inact what happened in each room and it was actually more cool than creepy. Maddie and I still thought there could be a terrifying horror movie made about the place though.
Maddie left me on Friday, but not before we climbed up to the top of Gellert Hill and attended a Sausage and Palinka festival. Gallert hill was a beautiful short hike, and the festival was a good excuse to celebrate Octoberfest by eating sausage and drinking some beer (we don’t like palinka but the palinka glasses are cute). I drank an elderflower beer brewed in Hungary that was delicious yesterday and I’m not determined to track some of it down. Hungary has some really good wine and is known for it, but most of the beer is kind of subpar and imported (there’s a lot of Heineken here too). Since it is Octoberfest I’ve been thinking I’ll have to check out a local brewery.
Maddie and I had a great week and I think visiting friends are the best excuse to explore the city even more than you’d do alone. It kind of wore me out though and I’m happy now that I’m just sitting in my PJs, blogging, and listening to the soundtrack of Hamilton.
A Soapbox Aside:
(Disclaimer for the parents and parent-types in my life: Budapest is usually extremely safe and this situation didn’t really escalate to anything too bad).
Yesterday afternoon was one of the only times I’ve felt a little scared in Budapest. As Maddie and I walked down from Gellert Hill yesterday we walked side-by-side on the sidewalk as two people talking tend to do, but noticed a guy close behind us and moved aside for him to pass. I smiled and said “oh sorry, you probably wanted to pass us.” His response, “No, not all all. I’m enjoying the view.” We then chatted for a bit and he asked if we were studying in Budapest. I said yes and he asked what I studied. I said I studied computer science and he laughed. I asked what was funny and he said, “Girls don’t really study computer programming. That’s more for boys right?” I just muttered something about how everyone should do whatever they love and began plotting how to get away from this creepy jerk. I decided it was a good time to take out my phone to check directions which elicited his question of “where are you headed?” I said, “The castle.” He laughed and said, “That’s the other hill.” We said, “Yeah, we know. We’re just coming down from Gellert hill.” We weren’t even going the wrong direction, but he decided to "help us” by following us to the tram. I hoped he’d get on a different bus or tram than us, but he followed us onto the tram too. Got off the tram with us, and began to walk up to the base of the castle with us. Then I asked, “Where did you say you were headed again?” He rattled off some route that include a bus across the street, and finally left after giving us a brief history lesson on the castle.
This entire experience with this “friendly” young Hungarian man was one part offensive, and three parts terrifying. Naturally this sort of thing could happen in any city, but only to groups of young women without any guys present. I implore every man who reads this or every person who is the mother or father of a young man to make sure you understand the difference between being friendly and being predatory. It’s not ok to follow people and make them feel uncomfortable, and it’s not harmless to tell young girls they’re pretty and to talk to them just because you want to. It enforces the idea that women are objects that men get to engage and it’s NOT OK. I don’t mind friendly people, but men who insult your intelligence and practically stalk you after calling you pretty are scary. I’m not writing this to complain or overreact, but to tell another one of the many stories of women who are treated differently just for being young women and it needs to stop. My gender and my age should not illicit unwanted attention. I should get to feel just as safe as anyone else in this world.
I have a lot to tell my dear underground friends, but I’m too tired to write it just now. Check back tomorrow for a poem in which I’m a misandrist and an explanation on how I’ve been kinda unhappy lately even though having Maddie around was phenomenal.
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