"Europe's most underrated big city, Budapest, can be as challenging as it is enchanting."

Rick Steves

On September 11, 1989, Hungary threw off its ties to the Soviet bloc and tore a hole in the Iron Curtain by lifting restrictions on travel to Austria and enabling tens of thousands of East Germans to flee to the West. The events in Hungary are often described as the first cracks in the Berlin Wall, which came down two months later on November 9, 1989.

In February 1990, five months after Hungary eased restrictions and three months after the Berlin Wall fell, my husband and I spent a long weekend in Budapest, Hungary. On a Friday after work, we drove from Munich, where we were living, via Vienna and stayed at a Gasthaus in Austria near the border crossing at Nickelsdorf, Austria/Hegyeshalom, Hungary. It took us about half an hour to get visas at the border, though we had filled out the forms ahead of time and brought along two photos each.

We arrived in Budapest at about 11 am on Saturday and found a parking space (with a "capo" to watch the car, similar to Italy) to shop until the stores closed at 2. There was a big pedestrian zone, and they had western shops like Benetton, Adidas, and McDonald's. It was more affluent than the Poland and Czechoslovakia we had visited ten years before. We did see a long line outside the Adidas store. I wasn't sure if that was normal due to restricted numbers allowed entry at one time or if they were having a special end-of-season sale like the "Winterschlussverkauf" in Germany.

We checked out some large department stores outside the pedestrian area on one of the wide boulevards called Rakoczi. The stores reminded me of Poland in 1980—not very attractive, unexciting goods, etc. Clothes prices seemed equivalent to those in America if you were buying Eastern European goods. If you were buying Western European or American goods, the prices were similar to what one paid for American goods in Germany. Levis, for example, cost the equivalent of about 60-70 dollars. I saw vendors on the street selling T-shirts with rock group logos, just like at home. 

Electrical appliances were very expensive, but they did seem to have everything available—computers, video cameras, etc. With the relaxed border crossing, several appliance stores had been established in the Austrian border town, and we saw many Hungarians returning from Austria with things such as color TVs.

 In contrast to the affluence we saw in many places, we went to one outdoor market in the city aimed at extremely poor buyers. Most stands sold used clothes, and the fruits and vegetables looked like rejects. They were even selling stale bread scraps.

We found a reasonably priced room at the Hotel Nemzeti (National Hotel), which was recommended to us by a friend in Germany. We were surprised it had color TV with the Super Channel and the Euro Sport Channel in English. You could also watch Hungarian, French, and German channels. The room had a modern ensuite bathroom, a minibar, and a radio, and it was as nice as any western hotel room. The breakfast buffet was equivalent to those at Austrian hotels.

Eating out was relatively inexpensive. We went to a first-class restaurant, and for two courses, wine, and coffee, it cost us only $30 for two. Our lunches were under $5 for two. Many of the restaurants in Hungary had Mardi Gras decorations up. (They call it Farsing, similar to the German Fasching.)

We bought some Hungarian wine (which was inexpensive) and paprika to take home, as well as a large metal pasta strainer, which cost only about a dollar.

The city itself was quite interesting. Divided into two parts, Buda is on the northern side of the Danube River, and Pest is on the southern side. Buda has many hills, the most famous being Varnegy (Castle Hill), with a beautiful view of the river and the city. The castle had several museums, and the surrounding cobblestoned streets were gaslit and picturesque with ancient row houses. The Pest side has wide boulevards, grandly decorated buildings, and many large squares. The largest square, Hosok ter (Heroes Square), was surrounded by art museums, a zoo, an amusement park, and a huge city park. The city park had a big lake with an island containing a castle in the middle. There was also an island between Buda and Pest in the middle of the Danube. It had a national park with jogging trails, swimming pools, an open-air theater, gardens, and a couple of hotels.

When we left Budapest on Monday, we drove southwest to Lake Balaton, the largest inland lake in central Europe, almost 48 miles long and more than 8 miles wide. It is very popular with German and Austrian tourists in the summer. (By the way, most Hungarians spoke German.)

From Balaton, we went to the town of Veszprem, famed for manufacturing beautiful Herend porcelain. Even though we were at the source, we still couldn't afford to buy a piece. For example, a tea tray, individual teapot and two cups and saucers would have cost us several thousand dollars!

From Veszprem, we drove to the border crossing of Rabafuzes, Hungary/Heiligenkreuz, Austria. When we left Hungary, no one checked the trunk of our car or even asked us what we had bought. It was quite simple, and I had no anxiety like I did in 1980 leaving Communist Poland and Czechoslovakia.

We stopped in Graz, Austria, in the Steiermark area, a large city with a big university. There was a large pedestrian zone with great shops and lots of alleyways and courtyards to explore. On the way home to Munich, we drove through the Dachstein area, which the German ADAC guidebook recommended as a "5-star ski area." Snowfall was light that evening, however, which made driving through the mountains easy.

All in all, it was an interesting trip. Hungary was quite clean and lots of new construction was going on. The city of Budapest was lively, with lots of people out, day and night. I was able to buy a London Times there on Sunday. (However it was the previous Wednesday's edition!) They printed a local English-German newspaper called The Daily News, but it was sold out.

Hungary had a transitional government then, and it was expecting to have free elections soon. We passed one Soviet military base, and there were a lot of police officers on the streets at all times. In fact, a policeman stopped our car one evening and asked for our identification. However, when my husband told him our passports and visas were at the hotel, he said, "Auf wiedersehen! and sent us on our way."

Today, Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic. It joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. Though the country has a president, it is Hungary's Prime Minister who has executive powers. That position is held by Viktor Orbán who became nationally known after a 1989 speech in which he openly demanded that Soviet armed forces leave the People's Republic of Hungary. Lately, however, Orbán has curtailed press freedom, weakened judicial independence, and undermined multiparty democracy. He frequently styles himself as a defender of Christian values in the face of the European Union, which he claims is anti-nationalist and anti-Christian. His portrayal of the EU as a political foe while accepting its money and funneling it to his allies and relatives has led to accusations that his government represents a "kleptocracy."