Zagreb to Budapest
Here I am in Budapest. The city shares Zagreb's grand Austro-Hungarian architecture but is grittier, livelier and more chaotic. The train ride was blissful after so many bus trips. I met up with a Swede who was heading to Budapest from Croatia where he had been working. We ended up sharing a flat in the center of town for 30 Euro. The woman who rented it pounced on us as we got off the train, common in a lot in cities like this.
She was a bit of a scam artist. Her booze-breath and how she ushered us into a bus through the back door without paying made me think twice. But everyone does it in these countries anyway. Turns out, she supports her daughter who attends college in the U.K. by renting out her places to bewildered tourists who haven't a clue as to where to go :) It's a real disadvantage to land in a place like this at night. I arrived at 10 p.m. when the tourist and money exchange bureaus had closed. The ATMs in the station were all broken, too. Taxi drivers circled like vultures just waiting to overcharge someone like me carrying a 500 pound backpack going across the river to Pest. So I caught up with her and Swede and muscled my way in. He was very nice about it.
The city is divided by the river into Buda and Pest. Buda is where all the churches, museums, stores, etc. are. Pest to the west is where the old fortresses, castles, Roman ruins, etc. are. It's quieter and things are spread out. Today is a working day. I have no real interest in running around to a bunch of museums. I would rather write and drink coffee and meet people. Tomorrow we will head over to Castle Hill in Pest for some sightseeing and wine drinking.
It feels so good to be back in a city with character. When I am in cities like Zagreb or Belgrade I shrivel up and can't function. They feel bewildering, not because they are big cities but because they are so grand and manicured. I like grit. I need noise and people around me. I need the kind of atmosphere where people are coming and going, talking and laughing, where there is loud music, coffee and too much smoke. Where there are nooks with cafes so small they seems to close in on you. San Francisco, New York, Brussels, Sarajevo, Pristina and Budapest are like that. Another thing they share, that I think makes me feel more at home, is that they are home to more than one culture.
She was a bit of a scam artist. Her booze-breath and how she ushered us into a bus through the back door without paying made me think twice. But everyone does it in these countries anyway. Turns out, she supports her daughter who attends college in the U.K. by renting out her places to bewildered tourists who haven't a clue as to where to go :) It's a real disadvantage to land in a place like this at night. I arrived at 10 p.m. when the tourist and money exchange bureaus had closed. The ATMs in the station were all broken, too. Taxi drivers circled like vultures just waiting to overcharge someone like me carrying a 500 pound backpack going across the river to Pest. So I caught up with her and Swede and muscled my way in. He was very nice about it.
The city is divided by the river into Buda and Pest. Buda is where all the churches, museums, stores, etc. are. Pest to the west is where the old fortresses, castles, Roman ruins, etc. are. It's quieter and things are spread out. Today is a working day. I have no real interest in running around to a bunch of museums. I would rather write and drink coffee and meet people. Tomorrow we will head over to Castle Hill in Pest for some sightseeing and wine drinking.
It feels so good to be back in a city with character. When I am in cities like Zagreb or Belgrade I shrivel up and can't function. They feel bewildering, not because they are big cities but because they are so grand and manicured. I like grit. I need noise and people around me. I need the kind of atmosphere where people are coming and going, talking and laughing, where there is loud music, coffee and too much smoke. Where there are nooks with cafes so small they seems to close in on you. San Francisco, New York, Brussels, Sarajevo, Pristina and Budapest are like that. Another thing they share, that I think makes me feel more at home, is that they are home to more than one culture.
posted by A.W. Woodall at 3:02 AM
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