Like a good wine, Budapest gets lovlier over time
Written by Masha Stambler, March 2019
My first encounter with Budapest was at the tender age of nine. Even back then, I got a good sense of just how good Hungarian wine was. But it’s not what it sounds like – I promise.
We were on holiday with my parents in early September and that means one thing: the wine festival in the Buda Castle. My parents enjoyed the wine so much that I was the responsible adult that evening, who had to navigate the town and get us back to the hotel safely. The year was 1999 so not that many Hungarians spoke English, meaning the task was pretty daunting.
It was a good 11 years until I found myself back in the Hungarian capital to attend the Sziget Festival in 2010, which means that this time around I was doing all the wine drinking. Like, A LOT of wine drinking. Unlike my first trip to Budapest – the wine drinking had some positive results for me – I met the love of my life who happened to be Hungarian.
By 2010, Budapest had been spruced up a bit, had gained some much-needed color amidst the post-Communist grey and became more English friendly.
Over the past nine years, I’ve been back and forth between not only London and Moscow, but also Budapest and witnessed the city undergo an incredible transformation – and not only in terms of where you can drink wine (before it was mostly sketchy little kocsma’s or necessarily overpriced tourist traps).
If back then the attitude towards Russians was uneasy, now strangers in the metro are excited to share with me all the Russian they remember from school. Now, I don’t get wild stares in cafes and bars if I ask for oat milk with coffee or inquire about a vegan menu. And, believe it or not, the BuBi bikes weren’t always here and not that many people cycled a few years ago. Last but not least, the vibe has gotten decidedly warmer, hipper and more vibrant.
So I guess what I want to say with this is that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. If someone told me a few years back that Budapest would become Europe’s leading tourist destination, I would have spat out in disbelief all the wine I was drinking on a bench at Moszkva tér (present day Széll Kálmán tér for those who don’t remember the good old days).
