 | McLae´s guide to Hungary |  |
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Hungary Internet country code: .hu International telephone prefix: +36  Hungary is a country in Central Europe. Member of the European Union since 1 May 2004. The country offers many diverse destinations: relatively low mountains in the north-west, the Great Plain in the east, lakes and rivers of all sorts, and many beautiful small villages and hidden gems of cities. Top this off with Hungary's great accessibility in the middle of Europe, a vibrant culture and economy, and you get a destination absolutely not worth missing if you're in the region. The country is not very different from most other European countries: you can expect to find safe food and water, good safety and generally political stability. Hungary doesn't attract terrorists and keeps drug and crime levels moderate. Some people think that this country is "red" (communist), some other think it's the "country of gypsies". It isn't. Hungary had probably the softest socialist regime, and in its last 20-30 years there wasn't much "redness" in the country apart from the Russians, who left the country a bit late, in June 1991. Since then the country has elected governments, and it is considered a market economy. Recent years have even seen a conservative backlash. In some areas there is a significant Roma population ("gypsy" is considered a slur for these people) which reaches 5% according to some census. However, Hungary has been ethnically diverse since its inception, and while over 90% of the population are ethnically Hungarian, pockets of ethnic and cultural Slovaks, Romanians, Germans and others dot the country. Language: The metro and tram systems in Budapest are easy to negotiate, but the language is not. Hungarian (Magyar) is unrelated to any European language other than Finnish, Estonian, and the far northern Sámi — it belongs to the Finno-Ugric language group, so cheating with high school Romance or Germanic languages isn't possible here. On the plus side, Hungarian is written with the familiar Latin alphabet, with the addition of some accented characters (O"o"U"u", which are the same sound as ÖöÜü but longer, plus áéíóú, which are long vowels). In the west of the country many people understand German, and English is usually handled with more or less success. The younger population usually speaks either English, German, French or some other major language. While the entire population took mandatory Russian language classes under the socialist system, very few bothered to keep up with their studies after the Iron Curtain fell, and attempts to use Russian may meet an icy reception. Have no fears though if visiting the major tourist areas in Hungary as these regions (Budapest and Balaton) will, in almost all cases, be very familiar with both English and German. It must also be said that any effort made by a visitor to use Hungarian will be welcomed. So it is worth trying to pick up a few basic phrases to make your visit more pleasant. Eating and Drinking: Hungarians are quite proud of their cuisine, and most of the time not without a reason. Food are usually spicy (but not hot by general standards), and it's rather tasty than healthy — many dishes are prepared with lard or deep-fried. The national spice is paprika, made from ground sweet bell peppers and which actually has some flavor when fresh. The national dish is, of course, goulash, but Hungarians call the thick paprika-laden stew known as goulash elsewhere by the term pörkölt and reserve the term gulyás for a lighter paprika-flavored soup. Less well known in the rest of the world are csirkepaprikás, chicken in paprika sauce, and halászlé, paprika fish soup often made from carp. Goose is also quite popular in Hungary. While tourists gorge on goose liver (libamáj), still cheap by Western standards, probably the most common dish is sült libacomb, roast goose leg. Stuffed (töltött) vegetables of all kinds are also popular, and Hungarian pancakes (palacsinta), both savoury and sweet, are a treat. Common snacks include kolbász, a Hungarianized version of the Polish kielbasa sausage, and lángos, deep-fried dough with a variety of toppings. A Hungarian meal is almost always - even at breakfast - accompanied by Hungarian pickles called savanyúság, literally "sourness". These are often dubbed saláta on menus, so order a vitamin saláta if you want fresh veggies. Starch is most often served as potatoes, rice or dumplings (galuska or nokedli), the primary Hungarian contribution in this field being an unusual type of small couscous-like pasta called tarhonya. In major cities and next to the highways you also can find restaurants of the major international chains such as KFC, McDonald's, Burger King, Subway or Pizza Hut. Vegetarian food: Vegetarians will have a tough time in Hungary and strict vegans will starve to death. Budapest is not a problem, as there is a wide variety of restaurants to choose from, but in an ordinary Hungarian restaurant the non-meat mains on the menu are pretty much limited to rántott sajt (fried cheese) and gombafejek rántva (fried mushrooms). However, in recent years, Italian food as become a lot more popular, so as long as you don't mind a pasta heavy diet as a vegetarian you will find a wider choice. If one self-caters from supermarkets or local shops and markets, however, the selection of fruits and vegetables is quite good, especially in summer. Wine: Hungary has several famous vine regions, most known are Villány, Eger, Badacsony, Tokaj, Szekszárd. Prices are reasonable. Liquor: In Hungarian, pálinka denotes any strong brandy-like liquor distilled from fruit, wine, corn or pretty much anything. Perhaps the best known is barackpálinka, made from apricots and "szilvapálinka" made from plums, many Hungarians make this at legal distillation plants with apricots and plums that they have grown that year, this will be served from wine bottles, medicine bottles and anything without the original label, this drink is not for the feint hearted, if you are a beginner stick to the "Zwack" Kosher or other similar mass produced version. Beer: Hungarian beer is average compared to other Central European countries like Germany and the Czech Republic as it has long been a wine culture. The most common beers are Dreher, Borsodi, Soproni Ászok and Arany Ászok, available in the styles világos (lager) and barna (brown). Imported beers like Pilsner Urquell and Budweiser (the Czech variety) are widely available in bars and markets for not much more than the ubiquitous Hungarian brands which cost about 150-200 Forints at a store and 300-500 at a bar. |
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