The Hard Streets of Budapest

A capital, a bustling city, and a tourist destination all in one.

Rules, I think, are mostly optional in Budapest. There are signs everywhere advising what should not be done. Perhaps it is due to cultural and historic reasons, but for the most part people ignore the harmless rules. This is simultaneously interesting, and saddening. The foot paths leading up to the Citadel are littered with the remnants of bygone parties, empty bottles hauled up by tourists, and the unmistakable wear and tear from thousands of feet.

I saw countless people crawl under ropes labeled with ‘keep out’, people climbing on things that said ‘do not climb’, and a universal disregard for the societal norm of waiting in lines. That I suppose, is the raw, emerging unrepressed modern Hungary.