Hungarian Christmas comes Jesus- Boldog Karácsonyt!

Boldog Karácsonyt is Merry Christmas in Hungarian. We do not have any peculiar customs, but let's sum up our Christmas traditions.

First of all, there is no Santa Claus here (he comes earlier), it is personally the little Jesus (Jézuska) bringing the presents on the eve of the 24th. The Christmas tree is decorated during the day or afternoon, gifts are wrapped and then, as a child you are waiting excited to hear the little ring, or somekind of sign which tells you that you can enter the room with the shiny presents.

Since we worship Little Jesus this day, we usually have small stable installations, where supposedly baby Jesus was born. There is also an

Burlesque pride of Budapest - no cheap striptease please!

Melitta Honeycup

"Burlesque is a humorous theatrical entertainment involving parody and sometimes grotesque exaggeration." - says Wikipedia promptly when you look up the word. Some say it is high class stripping or stripping for fat people or not even stripping at all. Theater, acting, dancing,acrobatics, mime, its all in the pot, but is there anything more to it?

Do we know where does it come from? And most of all what does it have to do with Budapest? This city is famous for seedy strip joint not for glamorous variete theaters...Was it so always? Was there an era of a Budapest inhabited by comedians and starlets? 

In the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the circle of the 3 now eastern European capitals, Vienna, Prague, Budapest had their own way to name the variete theaters: "Orfeum"-s. This was the time, when operetta got big and set the scene for the future musicals. Imre Kálmán (or more familiarly Emmerich Kálmán) Ferenc Lehár, whose plays have even made to the Broadway, Pongrács Kacsóh, Jenő Huszka and so much more to mentioned have filled the theaters with their light enjoyable music.

Good Morning Budapest! - best breakfast places

„Wake up! Let's go working!  
-But why?  
- Because work is ennobling!”*

Budapest is in a phase when it has to re-invent, re-inaugurate and re-invigorate old, sometimes almost forgotten customs, urban traditions; such as the so pleasant ritual of breakfast or weekend brunch.I have to admit that Budapest seems to oversleep the date of these meals in weekends, whereas on weekdays, only few can afford the luxury of a leisurely-consumed breakfast when the arrival to the office (or school) is due at 8.00 AM.

Whats up Budapest? - Regular Underground Partyguide

Some people love surprises, some others just freak out of them. One thing is sure, surprises are stressful, they just raise the adrenaline in your body (good or bad way, depends on you and the manifestation of the surprise as well). Xmas is really the time of surprises... Just think about that rubber-made spider you got from your little brother last year, that embroidered table cover your granny gave you, or that ceramic angel-shaped candle holder you got from your boss. For those who want to avoid the stress of surprises already one week before the Xmas rush, I have good news. We've collected some parties which will be for sure just perfect for some weekend dancing.

XMAS FAIRY TALES WALKS - we have been there!

Wondering sbout our XMAS FAIRY Tales Sightseeing Tours? Scott Alexander Young and  a French Budapest Ambassador wrote their experiences:

On the 2nd December, the Ambassadors took a walk around a part of Budapest that is very familiar to most of us, but still coated in layer upon layer of history and legends. The Fairy Tales Tour by Budapest Underguide  took us around the Christmas markets, mulled wine in hand, where we heard

about colourful folk superstitions and traditions.

 

Whats up Budapest? - Regular Underground Partyguide

Santa Claus has already put the deserved chocolate or virgács to your boots (for being a good or bad party-kid in the past year), so it is time to get them out of the window and use them for what they have been invented by the ancient Greeks. That is walking (to a partyplace) and dancing (for nice music). Let's see where to walk and what for to dance this weekend.

Hungarian Santa Claus comes earlier - Mikulás 6th december

The US exported Santa Claus everywhere, and Coca Cola sponsored his red clothes forever. However, we in Hungary at least - and some other few countries - keep our traditions. Christmas is reserved for the Little Jesus, and our Santa Claus comes earlier in December and has no reindeers and does not live in Finland but in heaven, He is called Mikulás (from the name Miklós, Nicholas), has a big bag full with presents, and has some "evil" sidekicks, the krampusz, who deliver to the naughty children.

Every child knows this feeling in Hungary. 5th December, maybe snow is falling, and you are going to bed...