Budapest: Puszi, Pálinka & the World’s Most Suspicious Salad

The Jocular Pugilists take an international field trip to Budapest, where the water comes in shot glasses and the showers require an instruction manual.

Fresh off a work trip to the Hungarian capital, the crew gets into Budapest’s Buda-versus-Pest personality split, Danube views, towering history, weirdly efficient yellow-cab Ubers, and the terrifying math of paying 5,000 forints for a salad. There is also a crash course in Pálinka—the 50% alcohol “finish it or we’re enemies” drink—and a Hungarian word for kisses that Americans should absolutely approach with caution.

Plus: the history of a city in turmoil, why Budapest is becoming a serious production hub, how Dune made Hungary look like Arrakis, and whether a person could realistically trade Los Angeles prices for a year in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities.

In this episode:

•  Budapest travel stories: solo walking, safety, food, tipping, currency, and culture shock 
•  Buda vs. Pest: castles, commerce, hills, history, and the Danube in between 
•  The hotel shower that nearly became an athletic event 
•  A suspiciously empty restaurant, two shaved-head guys, and a salad worth paying cash for 
•  Pálinka etiquette: 50% alcohol and zero room for interpersonal beef 
•  Why “puzzi puzzi” does not mean what American ears initially fear 
•  Budapest’s World War II, Soviet-era, and post-communist history 
•  George H. W. Bush’s unexpected Budapest cameo 
• Dune, Origo Studios, production incentives, and why filmmakers keep looking toward Hungary 
•  The case for moving abroad—or at least putting Budapest on the travel list before your next Volvo service appointment

Let us know what you think.

Email Phil or Tomas at: 

thejocularpugilists@gmail.com

And check out our website at: thejocularpugilists.com