Romanticism on the banks of the Danube
It's early, the bells of the St. Stephen's Basilica they announce eight o'clock, but Andrássy Avenue has been alive and active for a while now. Mansions, Renaissance palaces and some of the most emblematic corners of the city line up around this great boulevard that connects the Erzsébet square and the heroes square , and which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2002. This epicenter of luxury shops, cafes and restaurants is also the most important bike-friendly artery in Budapest, which makes this method of transport the best alternative to get around and visit this area of Pest.
The opera , with its neo-renaissance style, the horror museum , with its great historical load, and the Plaza de los Héroes are a bike tour intense enough to justify a lunch in one of the most visited places in the city: gundel . Since Karly Gundel founded his restaurant in 1910, it has been a benchmark for Hungarian gastronomy in Budapest.
St. Stephen's Basilica, in the Pest area
Its fame is not only due to the savoir faire of its kitchens , a combination of traditional Hungarian cuisine and the best of contemporary international cuisine, as well as its will to remain intact and maintain its spirit after two world wars and various economic crises.
Its age, its elegance, its impeccable service, its magnificent facilities and its privileged location make this culinary titan an institution . The team that makes up Gundel, trained in the most luxurious restaurants and hotels in the world, is led by the chef Gabor Merczi and the sommelier Mihaly Fabók . Both work side by side to offer their customers a round pairing with uniquely flavored dishes and a large selection of their own wines. Highlights include meat dishes, game, poultry, homemade foie gras, pike perch from the lakes of southern Hungary, soups, goulashes and the most spectacular desserts. A country in your mouth!
Trio of homemade foie gras from Gundel
The contrast between the modern and the classic is one of the greatest attractions of Budapest and a hallmark of the city; in the same street we can find more classical and Renaissance buildings and the coolest or avant-garde 'garitos'.
Sitting on the rooftop of the Aria hotel, an example of the harmony of elements, the contrast could not be more evident. This modern and newly opened hotel, located around the corner from the neoclassical St. Stephen's Basilica , has spectacular views of the city and a very particular style where music is the protagonist. Its 49 rooms, all different, reflect colorful designs inspired by jazz, rock, opera or contemporary sheet music . In addition to a piano bar, a magnificent spa and a culinary offer that promises in the gastronomic scene of Pest.
Street food fairs are a funny anecdote that we can find in certain squares of pest . I was lucky enough to come across a very lively one in the Plaza de Vorosmarty in which there were a multitude of stalls selling sausages, chorizos, goulash-filled bread, lángos (a kind of potato pizza with different ingredients) and some exquisite cinnamon-cream eclairs called Kurt Skálacs , composed of a spiral-shaped dough on which caramelized sugar is placed, forming a sweet and crunchy crust, while the interior dough remains soft and soft.
Kürt skálacs, typical Budapest cream puffs
In the same Vörösmarty square stands, elegant and self-confident, one of the most important pastry shops in Hungary: Gerbeaud . Founded in 1858 by Henrik Kugles , the fame of its cakes and tarts have spread from mouth to mouth throughout Europe. The best cake is served in its luxurious nineteenth-century establishment Dobos from Hungary , one of Sissi Emperatriz's favorites, and for a few hours, also one of my favorites.
Just around the corner from classic Gerbeaud, the restaurant onyx shines with its own star since 2011 thanks to what they say is a unique culinary commitment by its chef Tamas Szell and his colleague and executive chef Szabina Szullo. Chandeliers, chandeliers, velvet armchairs, silver ceilings, orchids and onyx in the room are combined with stoves in which, they say, the best fresh national raw material is combined in a modern and daring revision of the traditional dishes of hungarian cuisine. With a waiting list of more than two weeks, I had to settle for having a tea and trying one of the delicious desserts on their menu.
Shopping and walk through the Vaci street , then a tram to cross the Liberty Bridge to the gellért hill and citadel , and from there admire the views from the highest point of the city. Going down, it is essential to stop at the gellert spa . Tiled mosaics, fountains in the shape of a lion's head, columns and beautiful pools make this former hospital, today these thermal baths, one of the most popular and beautiful in the Hungarian capital. Its waters, coming from the underground springs of Mount Gellért, they are rich in sulfates, calcium and magnesium , which gives them medicinal properties. Spending the afternoon soaking in its different rooms is a typical, suggestive and healthy plan.
Gellert Spa
It's Friday and the streets, shops and terraces of the center are filled with people, lights and bustle. In the Liszt Ferenc square , one of the busiest and liveliest in Pest, we find Menza . Always crowded and full of beautiful people, it is one of the trendy restaurants on this side of the Danube. Good cuisine, good music, the friendliest waiters and the best atmosphere, make it a perfect starting point to start the night. 15 minutes from Menza, the Budapest Jazz Club is a great option to have a drink and listen to good jazz.
It's eleven in the morning and in the Central Market there is not room for a single soul. Located opposite the fovam square and attached to the Liberty Bridge, this spectacular glass and wrought iron building is one of the favorite places for locals and visitors to take a walk and buy fresh and typical Magyar products. Galleries full of stalls of pápikras, sausages of different colors and sizes , strings of garlic, vegetables, fruit, meat, foie gras, prepared foods and souvenirs of all kinds are reason enough to visit this beautiful market, get lost among its picturesque stalls and why not spend a few guilders on traditional products.
Budapest Central Market
IN THE BOWELS OF THE JEWISH QUARTER
The jewish quarter has become, in recent years, the art scene landmark and the most alternative scene in Budapest. Art Galeries, ruin bars and some of the trendy pubs and restaurants are concentrated in these streets that years ago were the scene of one of the most tragic episodes in the history of Pest. Gozsdu Udvar it is one of the phenomena that best reflects the transformation that is shaking the neighborhood. Former residential area, this gallery of seven buildings connecting Kiraly and Dob streets , in a very short time it has gone from having a couple of bars to positioning itself as one of the epicenters of drinks and restaurants in this part of the city with more than 20 premises including shops, cocktail bars, gambling dens, bars and restaurants.
Hidden from the tumult of Gozsdu, ** Sáo ** has conquered, in less than a year, the palate of lovers of Asian street food in Budapest. This small restaurant with delicious decoration and better atmosphere serves authentic Vietnamese and Chinese comfort food . Soups, noodles, dumplings, salads or mochis are dispatched non-stop from the open kitchen bar, supervised by its three owners and founders. Three friends who one day decided to unleash their dreams and make your hobby, cooking, your professional project.
To go for drinks in a more underground circuit, the ruin bars arouse passions in Budapest. ** Szimpla Kert **, in the center, is the most famous in the city. Different corners and environments, a big garden and the most eclectic decor imaginable These are some of the keys to the success of this bar, considered one of the best and funniest in the world.
Keepers of São
A walk along the bank of the great river to the chain bridge and the way to the Fisherman's Bastion is well worth coffee and cake at Ruszwurm. If we are lucky, we will sit at one of the small tables on the terrace, the most pleasant option for a sunny day. Some Japanese take selfies next to me and, further on, at a table, a blonde couple looks at each other dumbfounded.
A few meters from the Fisherman's Bastion and the Ruszwurm, excavated under the castle of the hill of Buda and camouflaged in long caves, is the Rock Hospital , a huge bunker that was a key refuge during World War II, the revolution of 56 and the Cold War, and today is one of the best preserved Hungarian historical sites. Since it reopened to the public in 2008 and to help stage the reality that was experienced in the most dramatic times of this clandestine hospital, more than a hundred wax figures that recreate the figure of doctors, nurses and wounded soldiers who witnessed the harshest situations of those conflicts. One of the curiosities of this place is that at the end of the guided tour we can buy authentic gas masks, first aid kits and even syringes of the time. What souvenirs!
Enter the coffee new york is to start a journey to the past marked by the glamor and classic luxury of the European Belle Époque, when this majestic cafe lived its years of splendor. Considered one of the most beautiful in the world, it is also the flagship of Budapest and a must for those of us who love a good breakfast or snack in an atmosphere steeped in history and elegance. Their cakes, coffees and chocolates they are simply wonderful.
Bombastic Cafe New York
Although I am somewhat reluctant to the typical tourist plans, I could not avoid the temptation to make a sunset cruise on the Danube , and I don't regret it. My recommendation is to take the boat that begins its navigation at sunset and ends at night, when all the bridges, buildings and monuments are illuminated. Stunning views of the illuminated Parliament from the river They make the river trip worthwhile. On the boat, next to me, an impeccably dressed middle-aged gentleman said to me, in rudimentary but full of goodwill Spanish: “ Isn't it the most beautiful moment in the world? Don't you feel like making a wish? If you close your eyes, wherever you are, you will always remember a sunset in Budapest, I assure you.” I smiled but didn't ask who he was. I preferred to imagine that he was a poet, an artist, a teacher or a lonely dreamer. Weeks have passed and when I close my eyes I see Budapest lit up in wonderful pinks, oranges, ochres, and blues.
A cruise on the Danube is a must
LAST CALL ROUTES
The wealth of hungarian viticulture It was one of the great surprises of my trip. Although I have known for a long time the famous Tokay sweet wine I was completely unaware that there were so many different varieties of Magyar wines, until I visited Double Wine Bar , one of the most famous specialized places in Budapest. In Doblo you can taste a wide variety of wines, craft beers or listen to a live concert, as well as tastings and light dinners based on cheeses, sausages and pâtés. These gastrotours usually last 80 minutes in what is intended to be a tour of the most important wineries in Hungary, with six wines from some of its 22 wine regions.
One of the most pleasant sensations of discovering a new city is to let go and walk without more . I am an insatiable curiosity, but on the last day, whatever happens, I leave it to walk without further ado. No maps and no rush.
have breakfast in the Coffee Lotz , the café located on the top floor of the Alexandra bookstore, walk and visit some shops in Andrássy, browse the art galleries among the dilapidated buildings on Kazinczy street and eat a hamburger with an icy Dreher in Spiler It is a more than great option to enjoy the first part of a last day in Budapest.
Coffee Lotz
Walk around empty until the call street fashion and do some last minute shopping. At number 17 Deak Ferenc street we find Nanushka , the shop of the young designer Sandra Sandor. Sandra began designing with her own firm in 2005 and since then she has been characterized by her own style away from trends and fashions. The Hungarian is distinguished by garments with a simple, comfortable and functional cut, but with a strong avant-garde character.
Comme Chez Soi was a treat for the last night in Budapest. This romantic and tiny restaurant is popularly considered one of the best . Delicious Italian and Hungarian dishes, generous portions, a service that wins you over at first, magic in the air and on the plates are some of the keys to its success.
The night is my favorite time to hang out. The avenues, the bridges and the illuminated monuments make everything more beautiful, enveloping the city in its great aura of romance. The nostalgia of past times and the historical load coexist with an emerging present . This is the new Budapest, two cities that are one, a river that articulates everything, enveloping pleasures, creative force. It is surely for these reasons one of the most suggestive destinations in Europe.
* This report is published in the October 88 issue of the Condé Nast Traveler magazine and is available in its digital version to enjoy on your preferred device.
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Heroes Square