After spending two unbearably cold days in Kraków, we ventured south to Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
I think the first point to note about Budapest is that its name is not pronounced as what it appears to be. All my life I had pronounced it as Bu-da-pest but our Sandemans tour guide hurriedly corrected us.
“Bu-da-pesht,” she said, mincing each syllable. Well, we learn something new every day.
Budapest is quite similar to Singapore. Its pavements are clean, its signage is clear and the interior of its subway trains resembles the MRT. It was lovely.
As compared to the likes of Prague, Salzburg and Vienna, however, Budapest failed to trigger any excitement in me. To me, Budapest lacked a distinct identity. If you were to ask me what exactly in Budapest left the deepest impression, I would say it is the night cityscape. Even so, I don’t think there is anything particularly unique about looking at buildings lit up in the dark. Don’t get me wrong; it is beautiful, but only in the aesthetic sense.
Budapest, I will be back again (hopefully in summer). And I will make sure I fully appreciate what you have to offer.
My Eastern Europe adventure concludes here. I felt a little sad to be coming back to Lugano (mostly because everything here is expensive) but at the same time I had begun to crave for some stability already.
… Only for three weeks though, because I will be leaving for my next destination on Monday!
Pickledpumpkins 