A week for Prague and Budapest

Four of us, who were spending the week of Thanksgiving 2003 in Budapest and Prague, were annoyed that we couldn’t escape popular American music playing everywhere. Also, while we weren’t surprised to find McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC, in Prague we were caught off guard to see pizzerias on every block.

Although it dates from Roman times, Budapest is basically a 19th-century city. Most of the public buildings, apartments and monuments date from this period.

Although we had a Budapest card that gave us a pass to the metro and trams, we used taxis during our visit because the public transit was too crowded (standing room only) and we couldn’t read the maps. Although we had been forewarned about Budapest taxis, we didn’t know that they could alter the meters and so we paid the meter rate. We learned to call a taxi from the hotel or the restaurant rather than flag one on the street.

Transportation in Prague was very simple. We chose two trams that ran, every three minutes, from the Old Town to the castle. Most of the historic district in Prague dates from the 15th and 16th centuries and is beautifully preserved — almost too much (it seems like an eastern Disneyland).

We ran into an influx of American, German and British tourists at the Christmas market in Old Town Prague. We didn’t see any T-shirt shops, but we walked by about a zillion crystal shops, clothing stores, etc., in the heavily commercialized district. We didn’t buy anything at the Christmas market in the old square, comprising temporary shacks set up to sell trinkets.

In both cities we walked miles on the cobblestone streets, leaving us exhausted, but in the narrow streets of the Old Town and castle districts of Prague there really isn’t any other option.

Paul Laifer Tours (106 Parsippany Rd., Parsippany, NJ 07054; phone 800/346-6314) arranged our flights, hotels, airport transfer and half-day tours in each city online for a very cheap price, with excellent hotel locations and excellent service throughout. They offer package tours of several other Eastern European cities as well; the cost is determined by the season and the choice of hotels.

We flew Czech Airlines from Newark, New Jersey, to Prague and then took Malév Hungarian Airlines from Prague to Budapest as part of the package deal. Both cities have modern airports and airplanes, and we had efficient, friendly service, although the food was poor. Obviously, Eastern Europe is catering to the tourists.

Because the Czech Airlines flight from Prague was an hour late, we missed our flight back from Newark to Raleigh, but that was the only mishap of the whole trip.

We had a half-day bus tour in Budapest, but we had our own personal guide for a 3-hour walking tour in Prague. He told us a lot more historical facts than we wanted to know, but he also provided information and orientation helpful in our quickly getting acquainted with the city.

We saw two one-act operas at the Budapest State Opera plus “Carmen” at the Prague National Theater. These were second-rate productions, both in the quality of the stars and the staging. We bought our tickets six weeks in advance via the Internet. The elegant Baroque auditoriums were nearly full but not sold out; both obviously had been regilded recently, since the gold shown brightly.

We attended chamber music concerts Saturday and Sunday nights at a restored palace in Prague that featured very talented young music students who performed much better than the state opera. Nearly every building in the historic district in Prague has been restored to look new, but Budapest still shows signs of 50 years of Russian domination.

We were pleasantly surprised at the good quality of the food in the local restaurants that we picked at random for convenience. We sampled beef, pork and fish — and managed to avoid pizza and hamburgers for the entire week.

As in most of Europe, ATMs (they call them Bankomats) were readily available and offered the best exchange rates. We pooled our foreign currency so we wouldn’t get stuck when we left the country. Both countries are due to join the European Union in 2004.

We thought we were going off season, but, judging from the mobs of tourists in both countries, there is no off season. Most people we met spoke English, and tourism already has assumed a major part in the economy in the decade since the Russians left.

The tourists have discovered Eastern Europe but have not quite ruined it yet. I guess it’s a tradeoff for comfort and convenience in contrast with prior cheap prices and uncrowded streets.

JOHN SUDDATH
Raleigh, NC