My Hungarian Home

I lived in Budapest for 4 years and loved it!  To say all that I loved about in 500 words requires a poem that I haven’t yet written, so...

I had the best flat ever in Budapest.  It was in the castle district, almost brand new, and considered a luxury flat.  I rented it from a Hungarian woman who was partnered with a British fellow I’d met through the Chamber of Commerce.  Getting it at the price I paid was an act of pure manifestation.

When I first viewed it, it was priced out of my range; then one day I was walking across Margaret Bridge and purely expressed, with all my heart: “I now live in a beautiful, luxurious flat at a price I can afford.”  20 minutes later I bumped into the woman who owned the flat who told me she had dropped the price.  Further negotiation, and she agreed to a price I could afford!

It had an extra wide, south-west facing terrace accessed with sliding glass doors from both bedroom and living room.  It ran the full length of the flat, and overlooked the Vérmező Park and Buda Hills.  The sunsets were magnificent.

Besides being in a fantastic location, it was incredibly comfortable, with modern central heating, an efficient boiler, and double-glazed windows.  Luxurious by Hungarian standards, it had a fully equipped kitchen with a full size fridge/freezer, modern cooker with gas hob and electric oven, a built-in dishwasher, lovely marble-topped counters and plenty of spacious, cupboards with high quality fittings.  The bathroom was done in rose colored Italian ceramic tiles, nice big bathtub with shower, and built-in automatic washing machine.  The hallway had a built-in wardrobe with mirrored sliding doors. The floors were hardwood, except for kitchen and bath which were large, square stone tiles.

Location Location Location

I had a bicycle in Budapest (of course) and so used it to get around most of the time, but if I was going out for the evening, I often left it at home because I loved walking back to the flat, through the castle district, late at night.  The area was alive with Rigo bird song, even in the middle of the night, and other wise, incredibly peaceful.  One of my favorite bits, was walking behind the castle, along the perimeter, the night sky ablaze with stars and the Buda Hills dotted with lights from people’s homes.

I could also walk to one of my favorite hang outs: Jazz nights at Nyitott Műhely.  I heard some of the best concerts of my life there.   Here’s a video of Juhász Gábor and Gyémánt Bálint playing at Nyitott Műhely.  Gábor is on the left.  I wrote a lot of poetry listening to him play!

Here’s the Buda Folk band with Dresch Mihály at Nyitott Műhely. Mihály is seated in the foreground on the right. A sensational saxophonist, he makes his wooden wind instruments himself.

I wrote a lot about Budapest and Hungarian artists while living there, both as a freelance writer with the Budapest Times and  as a blogger on http://www.alisonboston.com.  If you search the Wayback Machine you will find some of those posts.  There are also a few of the Budapest Times articles published on this blog. Find them under categories: Budapest Years and Previously Published Writing.

Related articles

• Spotted by Locals: Nyitott Muhely (spottedbylocals.com)
• Hungary’s president resigns amid plagiarism scandal (foxnews.com)
• Exhilarating Nirvana in Budapest (saifthesquarepeg.wordpress.com)
• Buda+Pest=Budapest (deltiolog.wordpress.com)
• From Where I Stand: Street Art in Budapest, Hungary (livinlove.wordpress.com)