Public Transport Tiecket Budapest

It will be over with the little orange strips called “Vonaljegy” that you need to validate in trams, busses and the metro in Budapest soon. Well not too soon but at least starting from 2014 progressively a new so called E-Ticket system will be introduced. Plan is to have it all done by 2014 which is not a tough deadline I would say.

The tickets will be step by step replaced with a plastic card which is based on the same technology as PayPass and many people know already from cities like London where the Oyster Card also replaced paper tickets.

The first step will be to replace time based tickets such as monthly tickets which allow owners to travel unlimited within Budapest. As a second step than the one time tickets will fade out and the last step is the installation of automated entrance and exit stations that might will probably result in less jobs in the public transport sector as inspectors will drop out by 2015.

Additionally the city is planning to introduce P+R parking spots connected to the HÉV stations which are the suburban trains and also for Metro Line M2. With this step obviously the heavy city traffic should be reduced.
The entire project is connected to a cost of 1.1 billion HUF which is roughly 3.75 million Euro.

I myself started learning Hungarian in 2005 and can agree that it is a very hard to learn language but once you get into it and you mix with the locals and speak to Hungarians a lot e.g. at work or in the pub it just gets in your brain as it probably does with any other language to learn. In case you would like to learn Hungarian here is a list of Language Schools in Budapest or in case you just come for a visit check out some words you can learn and use quick.

So Hungarian is hard to learn and it is spoken only by a few people, why to bother? I think that it is only fair and showing respect towards locals if you at least make an effort towards them the same you would expect it from foreigners in your country as well. Not that you need to speak perfect Hungarian but at least some basics and some friendly expressions that help you through the day. Just my 2 cents concerning this topic.

What is your opinion on Hungarian as a foreign language? And what do you think, should expats learn Hungarian or is it not necessary?

Cost for Food in Budapest

• Daily Menu in the business district – 1.300 HUF
• Fast Food Menu (e.g. Big Mac menu) – 1.200 HUF
• 1kg of chicken breast – 1.200 HUF
• 1 liter of milk – 250 HUF
• 1kg of tomatoes – 480 HUF
• 12 Eggs – 400 HUF
• 1kg of normal, local cheese – 800 HUF
• 1kg of apples – 300 HUF
• 1kg of potatoes – 330 HUF
• 0,5l can of beer – 200 HUF
• 1l bottle of normal quality red wine – 1.800 HUF
• 1l Coca Cola – 330 HUF

Housing costs in Budapest

• monthly rent for a 85 m2 furnished downtown apartment – 125.000 HUF
• monthly cost of utilities such as gas, electricity, heating etc (2 people in a 85 m2 apartment) – 40.000 HUF
• 8MB internet flatrate per month – 5.000 HUF
• 40″ flat screen TV – 150.000 HUF
• Microwave – 20.000 HUF
• Cleaning help (hourly rate) – 2.500 HUF

Costs for Clothes in Budapest

• Pair of Levis 501 – 25.000 HUF
• 1 pair of Adidas trainers – 20.000 HUF
• 1 pair of average business leather shoes – 18.000 HUF

Costs for Transportation / Mobility in Budapest

• Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDI – 4.300.000 HUF
• 1 liter of gasoline – 420 HUF
• 1 ticket for Public Transportation – 360 HUF
• Monthly ticket for Public Transportation – 9.000 HUF
• Taxi from the airport to the city center – 3.000 HUF

Costs for Personal Care

• 6 days of normal medicine against flue – 1.500 HUF
• Average Deodorant – 580 HUF
• Regular Hair Shampoo – 750 HUF
• 4 rolls of toilet paper – 370 HUF
• Tube of toothpaste – 470 HUF
• Standard Mens haircut – 2.500 HUF

Costs for Entertainment in Budapest

• Basic dinner for 2 persons in neighborhood area – 4.500 HUF
• 2 cinema tickets – 2.500 HUF
• 2 theatre tickets – 7.200 HUF
• Dinner for 2 in an good restaurant incl. wine and dessert – 10.000 HUF
• 1 cocktail in a city center bar – 1.300 HUF
• Cappuccino in the downtown area – 500 HUF
• 1 beer in the pub – 450 HUF
• Monthly fee in the fitness studio – 15.000 HUF
• 1 package of Marlboro cigarettes – 690 HUF

Please keep in mind, as mentioned above, that prices are only approximate as they very much depend on the place and also change very fast. A proper dinner for 2 can also be 6.000 HUF only or exceed 15.000 HUF easily. Beer in a real kocsma can be 300 HUF only but in trendy bars don’t be surprised to pay 750 HUF. This article should just give a rough overview of what to expect for certain services. If you have a special request for a service or product  or you disagree strongly with a point just drop me a line in the comments.

Well today the garbage collector rang the bell and asked me if we need to get rid of that stuff. I answered “yes, sure”. From now on he called me “főnök úr” as he saw his business coming. So he asked me if I would pay 1000 HUF to take all the remaining garbage as well in this round. So I gave him the 1000 HUF and let them take it. Usually I would have put it step by step every thursday night in the litter bin until it is gone but come on for 4 Euro he took all the stuff. He and his 2 colleagues can have a nice beer in the pub tonight and I don’t have to care about the garbage anymore. Fine with me.

Thats how Budapest and Hungary is working. A bit of money and he just took the garbage. It is a one time thing, he is happy I am happy that’s it. You find these businesses everywhere, no matter if in the taxi, with the water installation guy or in the hair dresser. That is the daily life of Budapest.

Now why is Rossmann the superlative of bad? Well yesterday a friend of mine went to a Rossmann store to buy 3 articles. Now standing at the cash point the lady scanned all 3 of these articles and let my friend pay the bill but did not give a receipt. Well in 99,9% of the cases you don’t give a shit because you don’t need it anyways bit in this case she would have needed it. So when going to the exit the nice security alarm started to ring and the security guy (in nearly every store in Budapest you find a security guy) asked her to open the bag. She did, showed the three paid items but couldn’t show the receipt since she didn’t get it. They couldn’t even find it in the litter bin or anywhere.

My friend said that they should check the video camera to proof that everything was paid. The answer was a simple “we don’t have a monitor for it”. Second try was to check the system what was on the last bill. Next answer was “We can only do this after 24 hours”. Wow.

So result was that they called the police because of a shampoo which wasn’t paid. By the way it was the cheapest Shampoo and the wallet was full of money. The police had to write a report and asked my friend to sign it in which it basically said that she is a thief. If she would have signed it she would be. So she asked the policemen to let her write her story on this report which they allowed her to do after a long discussion (unbelievable that they want you to sign this report even though you have the right not to do so and exlain the story from your point of view).

End of the story is that Rossmann checked the system yesterday and found out that my friend paid all items which she took. Today the head of Rossmann called her to apologize. She will of course get the Shampoo (she paid it but didn’t get it) and some compensation which most probably will be a rubbish 5000 HUF shopping coupon or something like that.

Well, for having so unfriendly and incompetent employees and security guards I recommend to you to either go to Schlecker, DM or buy your stuff in one of the big stores like Tesco, Auchan or Cora.

While searching for free and legal parking spots the traffic will get stuck which will make it’s way anywhere into the city. I took a different way to work today because I saw already trouble on the Pest side of Budapest so I went on Buda side today because recently the Buda Rakpart, the fast road right next to the Danube, is almost completly open again.

I don’t know what the traffic is really like right in the city so I would be happy to hear somebodys view on that. Been in the city? Leave a comment!

1. Mangalica Festival

Most of you might ask yourselves what Mangalica is. Mangalica is a typical Hungarian type of pig which somehow reminds me of a sheep as well. The festival is all about this type of pigs, no matter if it is in shape of a sausage, living or in arts. Honestly this type of meat tastes absolutly amazing and has its price in the shops but it is worth to try it.

The festival offers a “pörkölt cooking competition”, pigs to see, information about the pigs and why they are Mangalicas as well as a lot to eat and drink as usual in Hungary. For further information on the Mangalica pig check out Wikipedia and for more information on the festival (unfortunaltey just in Hungarian) and its programme click here.

The festival takes place at Városligeti Vajdahunyad Vára between February 6th and 8th.

2. Budapest Spring Festival

The Budapest spring festival is taking place since years and years by now and is one of the most visited festivals in Budapest. It is mainly about concerts ranging from folk over opera to cross over concerts for 2 weeks. I assume that during these 2 weeks you are able to see more than 100 performances of all types of music. Also available are performances for children and some special which is this year Japanese performances.

It would be useless to start to tell you about the performers so I refer to the official website wich is the programme in the same time. For more information click here.

3. Summer on Chain Bridge

You might have seen it that during the entire summer the chain bridge in Budapest is closed for cars and busses because on saturdays and sundays the chain bridge is full of little shops selling arts, gifts, food and drinks as usual in Hungary. What you will find here is a nice walk across the chain bridge without disturbing traffic watching hand made arts and gifts while having a beer and a sausage or something similar traditional Hungarian.

The summer on chain bridge is not a spectecualar festival as it is not concentrated on one weekend per year but on the entire summer but for a nice sunday walk it is absolutly recommendable. I didn’t know but on research I found out that the festival has a website. Check it out here. It takes place from June 21st till August 17th.

4. Budapest Pálinka Festival

Probably the festival most people would like to go to because they can have a taste of Hungarys favourite shot, the Pálinka. Pálinka is like a fruit spirit in all kinds of flavours with honey (mézes) or without including fruits (ágyas) or not and so on. It is a really nice festival near Déak Ferenc Tér with Pálinka manufacturers from all over Hungary.

What I don’t really like at the Pálinka festival is the control which the exhibitors have from the organisators. Every visitor has to pay entrance which is justified with a useless Pálinka glas and you need value tickets for everything you want to buy if it is Pálinka, a juice or sausage. Also the Pálinka producers are bound to the prices the organizers give so that every exhibitor has to give a Pálinka away for a minimum of 200 HUF no matter if it is a really bad one or a high quality Pálinka.

Nevertheless it is a nice opportunity to try some different Pálinkas and maybe take a bottle home. Unfortunately there is no website for the year 2009 yet and no exact date but check out the website for more information.

5. Wine Festival Budapest

Another popular festival in Budapest which is quite much alike with the Pálinka festival as it has the same organizers I guess. What you find here is a large variety of wines from all over Hungary, from Villany to Tokaj you will get every wine and nearly every large winemaker of Hungary is present there. Of course you will get all types of other things as well like beer and food as usual in Hungary but it is all about the wine.

Same issue as with the Pálinka festival I don’t like the fact of control over the producers by dictating the price and asking money from the visitors but this is what we have to live with. Still there is no exact date for the wine festival in Budapest but it will be in the castle disctrict as every year.

6. Sziget Festival

Of course the Sziget Festival in Budapest has to be on this list as THE biggest festival among the listed and even in Europe according to the number of visitors. One week music on several stages on the “Óbudai-Sziget” which is the island in the north of Budapest. Still there is no lineup for this years Sziget but it will be a blast like every year. People from all over Europe coming for bands like Iron Maiden, Alanis Morisette, Jamiroquai, Sex Pistols, R.E.M. (all 2008), Manu Chao, Chemical Brothers, Pink, Sinéad O’Connor, Faithless (all 2007), Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters, Radiohead, The Rasmus, Placebo or Prodigy (all in 2006). You see I could go on and the names on the list don’t get worse but what I can guarantee you is that this festival is just blowing your mind. I mean you get anything from good music to sex, from food to drinks as usual in Hungary on Sziget festival. There is no way around not going there if you are from Budapest or here in this time.

The Sziget will take place between August 12th and 17th on Óbudai Sziget in Budapest and the ticket prices for the entire festival range from 100 to 150€ while the daily ticket will be again around 10.000 to 12.000 HUF (40-50€). Get more information, ticket information, videos and pictures here.

I think it is a quite good idea to learn some words if you are really a beginner. Here you can find the fruits video, animals and seasons.

Honestly this should have been done by a language school in Hungary. I mean the 3 videos have been watched around 3500 times together so that would have been a lovley promotion for the language school. Anyways, check out the videos if you are learning Hungarian or even if you are Hugarian as it is quite funny. I embedded the videos also in my First words in Hungarian page which Idefinetly have to renew as soon as possible.

The service ranges from B2B services for companies like all kinds of language problems over market research to an entire business launch of your company here in Hungary. Also available is PR work and much more. just check out their B2B section.

Further the “helpers” work for private persons, no matter if it is a moving problem or trouble with the public sector the helpers do their best to solve your problem. You have trouble finding a home? Buying a car? Finding your hobby in Budapest? Getting insurance? See, all kind of work can be done by the helpers for students, families, things concerning your house and just everything which might be a problem over here.

So who are the helpers? The helpers are a group of locals who all have experience in the life as an expat. As they describe it over at helpers.hu “The original concept – providing everyday assistance and problem-solving for foreigners – was a unique one, which quickly grew into the other areas of HELPERS Expat Services (paperwork, information search, property management).”

I think for people who have no private assistance and are left alone in Budapest, don’t speak the language and so on the helpers might be a good solution to get things right on the start. Of course these services are not for free so you can find the hourly fees here. Check it out.

Margit bridge in Budapest is one of the most frequesnted of all Budapest bridges and this traffic has to go somewhere. Mainly the neighbouring bridges Árpád and Chain bridge will have to carry this traffic thus people going to work across these bridges have to expect even heavier traffic in this time.

Only good thing about these news is that the tram traffic will not suffer from the construction, just cars and busses cannot cross the bridge anymore. Anyways, all this will happen in winter time when everybody is going by car to work. According to Caboodle the timing cannot be postponed as it is a EU project with strict deadlines but at least it also defines that the constructions have to be finished latest in 2010.