Fun in Budapest & Krakow

The Hungarian Mustache

Josey — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:54:13 +0000

I'm talking about Hungaro-Mém. A website and Facebook page dedicated to creating memes by putting Hungarian-style mustaches on celebrities or characters from films and adding hilarious captions in an old, countryside Hungarian dialect.

Furmint February is here to beat the freeze

Josey — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 14:53:50 +0000

In Tokaj, Hungary’s truly legendary wine region which boasts the world’s oldest classification system, much effort has been put into transforming the elegant Furmint grape, which forms the backbone of the sumptuously sweet and legendary Tokaji Aszű, into one that also makes world-class dry white wine.

A Sparkling Conversation

Josey — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 12:50:23 +0000

Hungary has been making Peszgő sparkling wines since the 1820s. It seemed logical after centuries of making Tokaj, a golden wine of a slightly different character, but also a wine that seems to go naturally with any kind of celebration. During the dreary soviet days Pezsgő production trailed off, but it has come back with a vengeance in the last 20 years. Bravo! Or should I say, Bravő!

Bathing Beauties

Josey — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:49:18 +0000

But even as you dip your toe in the soothing and invigorating thermal waters, you will start to notice three very distinct strands in that culture. The Three Great Ages in Hungarian Bathing, let’s call them, so that we sound like history professors as well as people who like to be pampered.

A Feast for all the Senses

Josey — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:34:56 +0000

Of course there are plenty of good Hungarian restaurants, and even some that update or modify Hungarian dishes to create a kind of ‘Magyar fusion’. Naturally, there are also Italian and French restaurants, some very good ones as it happens. But the variety of restaurant continues to deepen and widen with every passing year.

Christmas Markets – The Stars of the East, Part II

Josey — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 09:53:13 +0000

In 2006 Travel & Leisure Magazine selected Budapest’s Christmas Fair as one of the top ten Christmas programs in Europe. In 2008, some 600,000 visitors went shopping among the stalls on Vörösmarty square. Here folk artisans and craftsmen sell goods handmade in the traditional way from natural and organic materials.

Christmas Markets – The Stars of the East

Josey — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:18:39 +0000

Nobody does Christmas quite like the Central Europeans, and among the Central Europeans, nobody does it quite like Poland. The market in Krakow is particularly recommended. It is probably the largest in Central Europe and in no time will have you buzzing on retail therapy and mulled wine in astonishingly beautiful, traditional ‘Christmasy’ surroundings.

Hungarywood or Hollybud - Which Sounds Better?

Josey — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:05:08 +0000

But first, an update on what I like to call Hungarywood. It’s not just hype anymore. Eighty million dollar sound stages like Raleigh Studios just outside Budapest are doing brisk business, and Angeline Jolie is generating controversy with a movie she is producing here about the Balkan wars. She has set up camp high in the Budapest hills with Brad Pitt...

Beefing up Budapest

Josey — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:17:41 +0000

Just tooting our own horn if you don't mind - we've been beefing up our website a bit with things to do while you're in Budapest and Krakow!

Check out all the new Budapest and Krakow activities available:

Budapest: Boat Cruise, Market Tour & Hungarian Cooking Class, Trabant Tour, Thermal Baths Trip, Wine Cellar Dinner and Wine Tasting.

Krakow: Boat Cruise, Brewery Dinner, Vodka Tasting and Snowmobiling.

If you don't find what you're looking for, just give us a ring (+36 1 336 1917) or email us and we'll make it happen.

See you in Eastern Europe.

70 year-old archive footage of Budapest

Josey — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:18:12 +0000

Sweden's national television archives posted this gem of a tourist film: "Bathe in Buda" (Bada i Buda). Filmed in 1936, the film includes, among many things: aerial views, the Fishermen's Bastion, folkdancing, the Chain Bridge, Heroes Sqare and, as the main attraction, Budapest's bath scene - which the reporter describes as the world's most beautiful baths in Europe's most beautiful city. The quality is amazingly good, it really feels like time travel. Enjoy!