A Budapost About Budapest

I have to give credit where credit's due. So shoutout to Dad for the pun.

Budapest the capital of Hungary. Split by the Danube River. Giving Budapest it's two personalities. On the West side you have Buda and Pest in the East. How do you know what side you're on? If you're able to look down on the city, you're in Buda. Buda is historically hilly and with castle views. It's also greener. Pest is flat, urban, the heart of the city with shops and restaurants and night life. No better saying than they're two sides of the same coin that make up one identity.

What I love most about traveling is realizing how similar we all are—no matter where you go. People either love or hate their government. They’re either working to live or living to work. But either way, they keep grinding. And in Hungary? That grind runs deep. But why? It comes down to Hungarians want to excel. Look around, in the arts, literature, science.

Here’s a country shaped by brutal winters and decades of repression. The Russians controlled much of Budapest and pretty much all of Hungary until '91. Hungarians know and understand what it's like to be under someone elses control. And for most being under control of someone else was one and done. But they use that time as a reminded for when people train their bodies and sharpen their minds inside buildings still scarred by bullet holes. Where inspiration hits you at the door—sometimes in the form of a poster of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

For other sources of inspiration we have to take to waters. Thermal baths in Budapest are as old as, well, the earth. Thermal baths come from the hot springs deep underground and Budapest sits on a land mind. These Spas are so illustrious starting with the Roman Empire then the Ottoman, then into modern era such as Szechenyi Baths. Even during the war the Szechenyi was left untouched. Thermal baths are known for their healing powers, although I didn't feel any different. I mean when it's 30 degrees outside I'm not feeling anything anyway.

I have to be honest, I had reservations about these spas. The complex is beautiful, historic in that rugged natural wear and tear type of way. But walking through the spa I was grossed out. The smell of sulfur, the wet sticky bodies - one on top of another, the hot thick air. My neurosis almost couldn't handle it. Most definitely couldn't use my hands to open doors. But once outside my mind was a little more at easy. Still not able to jump into the pool where the water is warm. Pools use chlorine, hot springs don't. So it gives the water a less cleaner feel if you will.

The interesting, in Budapest you can feel that they encourage small businesses. Like you know those little family owned businesses that have been past down generation to generation. That have been around for years? Because outside the scattered higher - end boutiques the blocks are filled with these markets and speciality shops. I wish back home made me feel the same way. Yes applause should be given to the 0.0001% of people who make a billion at 23 years old. But the real shout out, the real love should be given for the grinders. The ones you never hear about. The ones who figured it out, who own their business who hustle day in and day out to keep it running no matter the cost. All in the vain of wanting to build something and have something of their own. And not having to answer to anyone ever again.

Budapest, Hungary for that matter - is a relic of sorts. It's been large it's been cut down. But it continues to hang on and prosper. Speaking of old relics. Budapest is the home of the preserved right hand of Saint Stephen. It rests at St. Stephens Basilica. Stephen, who legend says was sealed into a barrel of nails and sent rolling down a hill for standing by his beliefs. Makes sense that Budapest is his home.

Hungary isn't a country most people think about other than hearing Budapest is beautiful. But a lot of pop culture has come out of it. A country that brought magic to the masses with Harry Houdini, challenged our minds with the Rubik’s Cube, and boosted the world’s immune system with Vitamin C.

Hungary doesn’t just endure. It perseveres.

Beautiful? Absolutely. Hospitable even when they don’t need to be? Without question. Inspiring? You’re goddamn right