Ruin bar & Hungarian wine tasting

If you’ve read my last post, you probably realized that I didn’t drink much alcohol on my 21st birthday. Don’t worry… I saved that for the next day! By Saturday, I had gone to every place on my list except for one: a ruin bar called “Szimpla Kert”. Ruin bars are popular in Budapest and are found mainly in the Jewish Quarter, which is actually where my hostel was. Ruin bars are exactly what they sound like. They are abandoned buildings that were turned into bars! Simple Kert was only a one minute walk from my hostel, so I decided to check it out.

Before going to the bar, I needed some sort of breakfast first. I tried to go to Cirkusz again, but the line was all the way down the street. I eventually decided to get a chimney cake from the Christmas market because I was feeling lazy and hadn’t tried it yet. I had to laugh when I was waiting for my chimney cake to be made because one of the workers started to mimic a woman who walked up to the stand just to take a video of the cakes baking over hot coal. He just stood right next to her and pretended to be taking a video too. Obviously, the people working the Christmas markets get annoyed with tourists!

I went to Szimpla Kert right when they opened at noon, and I’m glad I did because the place filled up quickly! The main floor had tables set up where people were selling clothes, jewelry, and crafts. There were several rooms to sit in, each having their own aesthetic. For example, one room was lit with red lights and had lots of metal artwork and old TVs while another had mirrors and a chandelier. Further into the building, there was an outdoor area with a metal staircase leading up to a floor with even more rooms and bars. It was truly an impressive place and a unique atmosphere! I decided to sit down and drink a local Hungarian beer.

As I was sitting there, I realized that I still had not tried Hungarian wine! That was something that was considered a “must” when in Hungary. I quickly searched to see if there were any tastings available for the afternoon. I lucked out! There was one at 3pm at a wine cellar just down the road.

Before I knew it, I was sitting in a wine cellar with a table of random people trying five types of Hungarian wine. It was so much fun! I enjoyed chatting with the people on my end of the table and learning about Hungarian wine.

I really don’t know what I’m looking for when it comes to wine, but I thought it was some of the most delicious wine I’ve ever had! We tried two types of white wine, a rosé, a red, and a dessert wine. The guy explained that the reason Hungarian wine doesn’t appear on the market is because the names are in Hungarian and are therefore too difficult for people to pronounce. If people can’t pronounce the names of the wines they like, how are they supposed to remember what to buy? Even though few people have ever heard of Hungarian wine, it is no less wonderful than all of the expensive wines found in stores across the world.

I wish I could remember the names of all of the wines and cheeses I tried… I guess that is their case in point 😆.

When I got back to my hostel after the wine tasting, I met one of my hostel mates. She was from Florida, had just graduated from Northeastern, and was traveling around Europe by herself. After talking with her for a bit, she asked if I wanted to go out for drinks that night. I suggested that we go to Szimpla Kert because I was curious to see what the atmosphere was like at night. I got some dinner from the Christmas market (again) and then we went to the ruin bar.

It was much different at night than it was during the day. The place was packed full of people, there were disco balls and lights everywhere, and a DJ played music so loud that we could barely hear each other speak. It was a great time! I tried a cherry beer, which is apparently a very popular drink in Hungary.

We decided to leave at about midnight. On our way out, the line to get in the bar was all the way down the street! It appeared that we had gone at exactly the right time.

I woke up the next morning, packed my backpack, and made my way to the airport. My flight left at 9:30am, and I was back in Edinburgh at 12:30pm. It was nice to be back early in the day because I still had to take the train all the way back to Aberdeen. Everything went as smoothly as possible! I didn’t miss any trams, buses, or trains so I was able to make it back to Hillhead by about 5pm.

A solo trip to Budapest — what an adventure! That’s all for now.
Until next time,

Clara