There's just a month to go until the Budapest Spring Festival kicks off, so we thought it time to tell you how to find a place to eat in this pretty city. We suggest trying a neat website called Chew.hu.
We're already quite taken with the name, but the content is also terrific. Chew.hu has a Top 33 list which they describe as a "No-PR, No-BS List of Better Budapest Restaurants." The list--and, no, we can't figure out why 33 is the magic number--features a large variety of cuisines from Indian to French to Hungarian to Bavarian, and each restaurant is linked to Chew's sister site Caboodle where you can read what others have to say about the place.
Chew.hu also publishes regular blogs and updates about the wining and dining industry of Budapest. They're not afraid to pursue what they think is right, having recently got pretty upset at a popular restaurant that was including large "suggested tips" on the bills. They also keep an eye on where scandalous rotten meat is ending up--it's an ongoing saga--and tell you where you can get your jellied pigs' feet.
Huge news broke this week in Europe. Brace yourself for this surprise: it turns out that sometimes politicians tell lies. It was confirmed by Hungary's prime minister Gyurcsany who got himself recorded on a now-leaked tape with gems like
We screwed up. Not a little, a lot ... No European country has done something as boneheaded as we have ... we lied morning, evening and night.
It's true, bad things have come from these lies, with demonstrations and some violent protests in Budapest and political turmoil and calls for the prime minister's resignation. But wouldn't it be perfect if everybody talked like this all of the time? Just imagine, the Parisian tourism minister's honest opinion: "Don't bother with the Eiffel Tower, it's just a lump of steel designed to take money from tourists." Or in New York: "We don't really recommend the Empire State Building--it's too effin' windy at the top." Not likely, is it?
We've already reported that Ryanair's new flights to Balaton will land you not far from the Hévíz thermal spa. Floating around in this slightly radioactive lake (it's healthy, they say) amongst the water lilies is just one of many ways to get into hot water in Hungary.
In Budapest, several famous thermal bath resorts are attracting visitors of all kinds, too. It's not just for those flabby, hairy old guys playing chess that were always in the tourist photos: now alcohol-laden stag and hen nights are also starting to get into some Hungarian hot water, literally. One travel group, for example, promotes the Thermal Bath and Detox and Relax day as part of their stag weekend activities, promising "a lovely bikini clad guide to serve up the poolside beers". Whether they're plunging into gorgeous Gellert or getting massaged at the Szechenyi, not everyone's sure that this is healthy fun. A rep of the Hungarian Tourist Office said this week:
There is nothing we can do against this type of tourism but we are not actively promoting it.
Whether or not you want to share your ancient Turkish bathtub with a drunken group of bachelors is up to you: just choose your hot water wisely.
While train travel via Amtrak is pretty miserable over here, Orient-Express (not just the famed route, but the company) is making a go of fancy train travel abroad. The Times of London recently checked out their Eastern & Oriental Express, which runs from Bangkok, through Malaysia to Singapore in super swanky luxury. Compartments have their own showers and toilets, and the food is freshly prepared at every meal in thai-continental fusion style.
It's expensive, though; the four-day journey costs $1, 780 for a one way ticket, assuming you travel with accompanying passenger in a Pullman cabin, the smallest available. Sure, there's afternoon tea, an open-air verandah-style observation car, and a bustling bar car, but it's still quite a bit of scratch.
Besides, if you're really intent on dropping a bundle for train travel, why not do the original Orient Express? For a mere $7, 380 (it includes day trips and two nights in hotels), you'll experience a super-luxe six-day journey between Paris and Istanbul, with stops in Budapest and Bucharest. It's very much in the same vein as the Eastern & Oriental, but there are no private bathrooms on this train, though. For authenticity's sake, perhaps?
It's hard to say when luxury train travel will hit the northeast corridor--the Acela doesn't count--but in the meantime, some extra legroom would be nice. And we wouldn't object to an open-air verandah, either.
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by amandak
