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Let's hike the city - video

Let’s hike the city – video

This is a short video covering the hiking routes in Budapest we mentioned in our previous article. You can see what the best hiking spots are like in this video. Cheers!

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Interview with Belgian Erasmus student

I had the possibility to interview Marie, an Erasmus student who is studying at Corvinus University. I asked her questions about the differences between Belgium and Budapest. I already gained insight into her feelings about her life in Budapest more than once. She again made it clear with her answers, that she is more than happy here.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

My name is Marie…

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Károlyi garden, the downtown Paradise

When we were chatting about our project, making a photo reportage about Budapest 100 – The festival of 100+ years old buildings, me and my teammate both had the same idea: “Let’s meet in the Károlyi garden!” It’s a favourite spot of both of us, it’s near the uni, and it’s impossible not to find it something straight out of a fairytale. We just had to share it. It was full of people, full of life,…

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Interview: Hungarian politics according to a German student

The Hungarian election was a huge thing for us, Hungarians. Newspapers would write about it, the news would speak about it, our friends and family would talk about is non-stop. A huge amount of people went to vote on the 8th of April, in Hungary and in some foreign cities, like London or Amsterdam as well.

Most of my friends stayed awake that night curiously waiting for the results, or…

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"No responsibilities for a year"

“No responsibilities for a year”

I had an interview with Amy, an English student who arrived in Budapest in September 2017 and decided to do an Erasmus for an entire year. She studies Law at the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) and told me about her experiences living in this city.

First of all, what made you choose to come to Budapest?

Unfortunately Riekie, I don’t really remember choosing Budapest. I knew I wanted to go on a…

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Street food tour

In our previous article, we showed you two street food places, Zing burger and Leves and how they became so famous thanks to the co-owners. Now, in this next part, we want to show you 7 other places near Astoria, Kálvin and Deák Ferenc square that are also special for various reasons. And, of course, all of them are super tasty. So prepare your stomach and let the street food journey begin!

Bors

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Erasmus friendships vs old friendships – who’s better?

Me and my Erasmus friends from different countries. We love travelling together! The picture was taken in Timisoara in Romania.

In my twentythree years of life so far I have moved from one city to the other. I said goodbye to my friends, favorite places and my cozy room. It was the first time I had to survive being apart from the people that I love very much. But we have managed to do it and we…

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How to survive a festival

Sziget festival guide

Every year around August, the Óbuda Island in Budapest turns into an enormous festival, trying to express the value of freedom to all of its visitors.

Even though we have never been to this festival ourselves, we have experienced other festivals in our home countries and beyond. Therefore, we would like to share with you our personal guide to surviving a festival. This…

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New life, new me? It was the first day of my new life. We got into the car with all of my huge packages and started our journey to the capital.

“I didn’t know there were so much people studying Hispanics in Budapest!”

Interview with Natalia Muñoz

Source: Natalia Muñoz

By María Jara

Born and raised in Cordoba, Natalia decided to change Andalusia’s sun for the Hungarian capital, where she came to study Hispanic Philology. Before arriving in Budapest, she was studying the degree in Granada, one of the most beautiful cities in Spain, where she had learned to start from scratch in a new place and, of course,…

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#Budapest #Education #erasmus experiences #Hispanics

Hiking inside the city? Well, it isn’t impossible in Budapest (honestly, nothing is impossible in this madness)! Actually, it isn’t surprising if you think about geography. Budapest is divided by the Danube into two parts. Pest is the flat part, and Buda is… the hilly one!!!

That was pretty good news for us since we love hiking. Being surrounded by nature, far from the noises of the city. For us, this is the real recreation, when we can recharge our own dead battery. Do you feel the same? Read our guide to get ready for the new – inside the city – adventure!

Our first advice: be prepared!

We had to learn the hard way that hiking – even if you don’t need to leave the borders of the city – isn’t an easy walk in a park. Here is the list, how you can be prepared!

Proper shoes

No flip-flops, no converse, and of course no high heels (they are not for high- hills, haha). In Budapest, you don’t need the most expensive hiking boots, but at least cheap hiking shoes are recommended. I used my running shoes and I failed. Literally. In the mud.

Waterproof clothes

Check the weather forecast before you leave! And if it says there is a chance for rain, don’t trust in your luck! It will rain! Especially if you leave home without your raincoat. So if you don’t want to be the part of the “sweating + cold rain = being sick for two weeks” equation, then bring that raincoat!

Food and drinks

Taking care of hydration is recommended. And some food can be useful too. Especially if you get lost – as we did – and have no idea when you will find your way back to civilization and be able to buy gyros.

Know the way!

Study carefully the itinerary! You can be lost easily in the Buda hills, but don’t worry! Even if you find yourself on a different route, you will be able to get out of the forest. Don’t forget, you are still close to the city! Bear Grills skills are not required here.

Other useful information:

There are plenty of hiking groups in Budapest. Unfortunately, the websites are mostly in Hungarian, but they are not too hard to understand (thanks for the icons, not the language).

Here https://tturak.hu/ for example, they organize hikings all around Hungary. There is a small fee you have to pay when you show up, but in exchange for the money, you will stay on the right route for sure! They even go for night hiking, which sounds like great fun. Sadly even if we planned to join them, something ( sickness, travel, or just bad weather) always intervened.

An other option for finding hiker partners is the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/budapesthikers/

Now you have all the important information about hiking in Budapest. So put your boots on and let’s go on an adventure!

The Apáthy adventure

We met at Széll Kálmán tér early morning. This was our first hike together. We were excited and enthusiastic despite the gray, rainy weather. We were kind of unstoppable, let’s say.

Our real aim was to hike the Apáthy cliff – Kecske hill – Árpád viewpoint circle. Our decision was made after a long research and discussion. We were looking for a route close to the center, but still out of the touristic zone. Something long enough to get tired, but still bearable for our -out of shape- condition. And well, Apáthy cliff seems to be the winner.

Stop one: Széll Kálmán tér: We met at one of the most typical Budapestian meeting points ever. Which is the clock at Moszkva, sorry, I mean Széll Kálmán square. From here you can take the tram 56 or 61, as we did, to reach the starting point of the hike.

Stop two: Nagyhíd tram station: The starting point, Nagyhíd station is surprisingly still in the located area. After arrival, for around five minutes long, we were just confused, running up and down, trying to find the direction of north and the painted green arrow. This was the sign of our route in the beginning. That’s what we followed blindly, up the Battai stairs, then through muddy paths and dark forest.

Stop three: Apáthy cliff: That’s how we arrived at our first goal, the Apáthy cliff. From there we had a nice view of the opposite hills. Even tho the weather tried it’s best to hide everything in big gray rain clouds.

Stop four: Unknown: So we followed the path after the cliff. For a while, a fence protected us from falling down, and at the same time, the flowers from our footsteps as well. We were just walking, sliding, falling and walking again until we found ourself crossing an asphalt road. Here we supposed to follow the red sign, but it won the hide and seek game. Eventually, we just picked a random route and continued to hike. We didn’t know where we are, but suddenly we realized, we arrived at our ultimate goal.

Stop five: Árpád viewpoint: We have no idea if we did teleport without recognizing, touched a port key or crossed a wormhole, but we were there. Without crossing the Kecske hill and seeing the Lion rock, we arrived at the Árpád viewpoint. Actually, I am not hundred percent sure about the Lion rock, maybe we just didn’t recognize, since you need quite a lot of imagination to say: “Hey! That piece of stone looks like a lion!”. So we agreed to don’t care and just enjoyed the view!

Last stop: fun: Eventually we totally gave up to follow the original itinerary. We just followed our heart, continued to walk in a random direction. That’s how we found our favourite part of the route. We could hear the birds singing and filled our lungs with fresh air, before going back to the civilization. We even saw a cyclist and agreed in not to copy him ever. The path was narrow and slippery enough to provide us adrenalin even while walking.

Altogether our hike in numbers: 2 hours of walking; 4.5 km distance; 2 missed stops and 2 tired girls.

If you are looking for a calm place to hike, still close to the center, we encourage you to try this one! And if you made it, please let us know, where did we go wrong! Cheers!

The János Hegy Adventure

Here comes the story of our second adventure!We mentioned about the hills on the Buda side. That’s the place where János hegy is hiding as well. The reason it caught our attention is the fact, that János hegy is the highest peak between the Buda hills. That’s why we aimed to climb the hill, including the Erzsébet Lookout Tower on the top of it. We wanted to touch the sky and enjoy the view from there. The tower seemed super far away from our starting point, but we made it. Are you asking us, how? Keep reading!

Stop one: Széll Kálmán tér: We met at Széll Kálmán tér. Yes, again. From here, the bus number 21 and 21A goes to Normafa which is the last station. We started our hike there.

Stop two: Normafa: First it didn’t seem complicated to find the right way (not like as it was at the Apáthy cliff). There were signs everywhere, we just had to follow the one for “Erzsebet Kilato”. After walking for a while, we saw different signs and colors on the trees. So we just got confused again. Eventually, we needed a big amount of intuition and luck to find our way.

Stop three: Libegő, felsö állomás: When we came out from the forest and saw the last station of the chair-lift, we knew we made it. Well, almost. The tower still looked so far. The good news is, that it’s not true. It is actually quite close to the station. But the bad news is that you have to climb again. We had two choices to make it: a really sloping road which is tiring, or the stairs, which are even worse.

Stop four: Erzyébet Lookout Tower: Finally! Here we are! If you get there once, order a cold drink just like we did. You deserve it! Not to mention that you will need to rest and spare some energy for the way back anyway.

Let’s see our hike in numbers again! : 2 hours of walking, 5.2 km distance, 2 tired girl + 1 really nice weather.

The Gellért Hill

Okay, maybe it is a bit too mainstream, but still a good hiking spot! The Citadella is one of the most touristic spots in Budapest. But with a very good reason! The view from the top is breathtaking, and of course, the way up there too. So if you are looking for some hiking in the heart of the city, Gellért Hill is a perfect choice.

Stop one: Liberty Bridge: Our suggestion is to start the hike from Fővámtér. From there, you need to cross the Liberty bridge. After seeing the river view from the bridge, seeing from above will be even more meaningful. That’s why we decided to cross the river from Pest to Buda by walking on Liberty Bridge. At the Gellért Hotel, we found our first green sign and started to climb up the hill.

Stop two: Gellert Hill Cave Church: We reached our favorite photo shooting spot in five minutes. It was in front of the Gellert Hill Cave Church. We did not enter the church but we took some really nice photos with the Liberty Bridge. Do not forget to take a good look at your surrounding! The view is beautiful but different from every viewpoint. You are rising slowly!

Stop three: Benches: We continued climbing by following the signs on the trees and stones. We took a few breaks, for example at the benches. It would have been too tiring to go upstairs without stopping in the warm weather. And anyway, we just wanted to enjoy some sight of the amazing Budapest.

Stop four: Citadella: When we reached the Citadella – which is a symbol of freedom -, whole Budapest was under our feet. We could look down to the whole city. The Danube, the Parliament, the Buda Castle… were stunning. It was amazing to see the whole city like that and it was worth all the steps! Extra tip: If you go there before sunset and wait till it gets dark, you can see the view both at daylight and with the city lights on as well!

Stop five: Statue of Szent Gellert: While walking down, we reached the statue of Szent Gellert by descending from a path surrounded by trees.

Again the summary: one and a half hours, 1.9 km distance, 2 tired girls +gorgeous view, historical statues, feels like home!

Let’s hike the city! Hiking inside the city? Well, it isn’t impossible in Budapest (honestly, nothing is impossible in this madness)!

Vivicitta Spring Half Marathon: The event

33rd TELEKOM VIVICITTA SPRING HALF MARATHON

We want to introduce the Telekom Vivicitta Spring Half Marathon through a video especially for those people who couldn’t come to the event. We have covered the event with the aim for everybody to participate next year.

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#Budapest #Gáspár Csere #running #sport #vivicitta

„Wherever the music comes from, if there is no focus behind it then it’s just noise.“ – Derrick May –

Having these words by techno pioneer Derrick May stuck in our heads we couldn’t wait to discover the „real techno experience“. We ultimately started to run around the city trying to capture the difference between techno as a form of art and techno which is simply noise. It didn’t take us long to understand that our mission wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be. The reason is simple but complex at the same time: Music is an experience which is strongly tied to emotions. The exact same piece of music can affect two people and their state of mind in a completely different way.

So the question is: How is it even possible to describe music with words?

Well, it is possible if you are able to express yourself in a certain kind of language. A language which can be spoken by every music enthusiast in every single country in the world. What we found were people who were happy to talk to us about what music makes them feel like – not using words but their very personal body language. Let the show begin!

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Music get’s you moving as well as it can make you feel lost. It can be emotional, it can be pure. Music is happiness or simply love.

As powerful as music might be, in the end it is not the only aspect that makes people experience a techno event in a personally different way. A tourist who is visiting the city for the first time might get excited about every Club and every single party impression he or she can get. It seems to be the same for Erasmus students, at least until they get familiar with the city and their favorite places. As a local, however, the situation is not comparable at all.

The Erasmus experience

Being an Erasmus student in an overwhelming city like Budapest, means discovering the best spots for oneself and coming across places on the way that one would never go to again as well as some spots one would never want to leave again.

Asking our peers what actually makes a good party for them, we got lots of interesting feedback. Lina, 21 years old from Germany, explained that especially new tunes that she has never heard before are the key to a great party since she does not like to listen to the same playlists over and over again, as it is the case at „90‘s/2000‘s events“ with the same old songs. Partying at Corvin Club Lina told us: „Techno is a kind of music that I can never get tired of. I don’t need lyrics to sing along to when I can dance to melodies that make me forget my surroundings!“

The techno scene that she is experiencing in Budapest differs a lot from the one that is present in her hometown in the South of Germany. „You could say that I live on the countryside. At home, not many people seem to be big techno fans.“ This is why these kind of events are usually taking place in tiny bars or the yard of a farmhouse in summer. „It is nice to experience that there are so many people here that I can share this love with. We get lost together and to be honest, it is great to be able to do that in a bigger space.“

At the same event we asked Peter, a 26- year- old Erasmus Student, what drove him to this party. To our surprise we got a completely different response. In the course of our conversation, we realized that the music played at a party does not really matter to him or is at least not a priority. „Having fun with my friends, I can dance to every music. As long as it isn’t punk rock I don’t really care if they play techno or mainstream. The DJ only has to be able to make good transitions and get the people on the dancefloor no matter how.“ When it means that he can be with his friends and they are as many as possible, he even enjoys going to stereotypical Erasmus parties. „I like it when they have different dancefloors and offer us to move from one to the other. The party becomes a lot more diversified and you don’t even feel like you are staying for such a long time.“

Lili about being a local and a music lover

Having been brought up in Budapest, I kind of grew up liking techno, going to techno events and finally loving techno. It is the same with my friends: we are usually going to electronic music parties together and we all know the places that are cool. It is interesting how the party scene in Budapest works: a place becomes popular among the “cool kids”, the ones that you would call social media influencers or party animals. They would start attending this place frequently, tell everyone about it in real life and in social media as well. A few months later a wider group starts going to these places, because they think it is cool. That is when a place gets crowded and mainstream, so the “cool kids” will not visit it anymore. I have seen this happening to a few places in the last few years, Aether, Secret Room or Nomuri for example. Only a few clubs can stay authentic, and are not getting too mainstream for many years, I believe Larm is one of them.

If I asked my friends about the electronic music, they would say amazing things about it. Eszter, for example, started listening to techno only recently and she just can’t get enough of it. She would dance, she would talk to people and she is socializing. Soma, on the other hand, has been listening to electronic music as long as I have known him, I doubt that he has ever been to an R’n’B party. And he never really wants to, he sticks to his music choice: he would go to clubs and festivals, get wasted and listen to the music. Áron, another friend of mine, would only go to the underground events, illegal open-air sessions and house parties, where they play old- school techno with bakelites, listen to artists no one ever heard about or mix their own songs.

What I am trying to show here is how diverse the electronic music scene of Budapest is. As for me: I would go to any party, talk to as many people as possible and make friends from all of these kinds. I believe that this makes Budapest so amazing: the diversity, and how these different people would still be friends and occasionally go out for a drink.

If you want to gain more insight into the scene, read our previous article about how two professionals experience the world of electronic music in Budapest.

Learning the Language of Music „Wherever the music comes from, if there is no focus behind it then it’s just noise.“

#Erasmus #music #techno

Diáksziget - 25 years of history

Diáksziget – 25 years of history

History of the Sziget Festival

Nowadays, the Sziget Festival is one of the biggest European music festivals, attracting more than 450.000 visitors and being compared to Coachella and Glastonbury. But what is now a huge international festival started out as a small event with an emphasis on local music and arts.

Sziget Festival 2016 (source: abouthungary.hu)

The beginning

It was 1993 when…

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Interview with the Olympic runner Gáspár Csere

Source: Gáspár Csere

by María Jara

Tryng to get a professional point of view, we made contact with the Olympic runner Gáspár Csere. He told us about his personal experience and life style in the running world as well as his personal achievements. Moreover, Gáspár Csere gave us some advices and recommendations to start running without losing motivation.

When did you start running? Tell us about…

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Budapest 1OO "Share the square!" - The festival of 1OO+ year old buildings

Budapest 1OO “Share the square!” – The festival of 1OO+ year old buildings

After e-mails with the organizers of the event and brainstorming a lot of fresh ideas with my teammate, I headed to the Contemporary Architecture Centre for an interview with the two people behind this year’s Budapest 1OO. Meet Juli Libárdi and János Klaniczay – and the story of the festival of 1OO+ year old buildings!

Tell me about the first Budapest 1OO event! What would you like our followers…

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Dreaming of a waste free city

Have you ever seen the downtown after a Friday night, before they would start cleaning the streets? I have: trash, trash everywhere… I was recently so disappointed by the amount of unnecessary waste and the impact it has on Planet Earth, that when I met the no-waste wave, I jumped right on to it.

A plastic wrap I found on the coast near Lisbon – I was really upset about the amount of trash the…

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