Monkey Bistro

A merger of two old cities in 1873 - Buda and Pest, separated by the Danube River - the capital of Hungary seems like a place out of a fairy tale. 🏰 With some castles here and some other majestic buildings there, I found it to be an elegant, chic and romantic city, with different cultural influences (such as Roman, Ottoman, Slavic, Jewish and Austrian). Known as the “Paris of the East” or the “Pearl of the Danube”, the city is also designated as the “City of SPAs”, therefore this guide includes a list of some famous thermal baths and SPAs, alongside dining/drinking and shopping venues. Of course, all the major tourist attractions are included, as well. 🌶️Hungarian cuisine is synonymous with paprika. Few cuisines are quite so intertwined with a single ingredient as Hungary’s is with paprika — the spice that gives some of the country’s best-known dishes their intense orange colour and characteristic peppery flavour. Paprika is made from the dried ground pods of several types of capsicum annuum pepper, and it comes in a range of heat levels from édes (sweet) to csipos (hot) and different levels of coarseness. In Budapest it’s sold everywhere, from small grocery stores to local food markets, where small-scale producers sell it by the kilogram in unlabelled plastic bags. For the highest quality, seek reputable family producers such as Hódi or PaprikaMolnár.

What makes a sightseeing tour fun? Especially when kids are around? Conventional tour buses are okay, but I rather try to find alternative ways to explore a city. For this, I have an amazing idea. 🤩 Budapest has been conquered by mini sculptures made by Mihály Kolodko - a Ukrainian sculptor, who moved to Budapest in 2017. These mini sculptures are mostly made out of metal & after installation, he usually posts only a photo (maybe a hint) on socials, about the location of the new addition. IMAGINE a family approved sightseeing tour in Budapest, where the small child(ren) can play ’treasure hunt’ searching for these art installations, 🕵🏼 while the whole family gets a unique glimpse of Budapest’s city center. Personally, I love unique ideas & for me it would be a perfect alternative approach for a traditional sightseeing tour.