Fungarian

20/12/2024

We look forward to welcoming you to Hungary in 2025! Thank you for the immense trust you placed in us throughout 2024 by choosing us for your Budapest tours.

Tamás, Gabi, Argi, Gergő, Balázs, Barna

What to do in Budapest? Join us for a thematic Communist tour, Jewish walk, a course to learn basic Hungarian words, or choose from our other private tours.

12/12/2024

Discovering the Sweet Tradition of *Szaloncukor* 🍬🎄 If you're planning a trip to Budapest this holiday season, you're in for a treat—literally! Hungary’s spirit wouldn’t be complete without *szaloncukor*, a delightful Hungarian confection that has charmed locals and visitors alike for centuries. ✨ What Is *Szaloncukor*? 🧐 Pronounced *“sa-lon-tsu-kor”*, this sweet treat is a type of chocolate-covered candy that comes in a variety of flavors. From classic marzipan to coconut, caramel, and fruity fillings, there’s something to please every palate. These candies are beautifully wrapped in shiny foil, making them not just delicious but also decorative. 🎁 Traditionally, *szaloncukor* is hung on Christmas trees 🎄 across , adding sparkle and sweetness to the festive decor. The ritual of sneaking a piece (or two!) from the tree is a fond memory for many Hungarians—just try not to leave the empty wrapper behind! 😅 --- A Sweet History 🍫 The tradition of *szaloncukor* dates back to the 19th century when it was inspired by French *fondant candies*. It became a Hungarian holiday staple, with families carefully selecting their favorite flavors each December. Today, you can find *szaloncukor* in every supermarket, Christmas market, and even high-end artisan chocolate shops in Budapest. 🏙️ --- Where to Experience *Szaloncukor* in Budapest 🚶‍♀️🍬 If you're visiting Budapest during the festive season, here’s where you can dive into the *szaloncukor* culture: - **Christmas Markets** ✨: Head to the iconic Vörösmarty Square Christmas Market or the Basilica Christmas Market, where local vendors offer handmade *szaloncukor* in traditional and creative flavors. Pair it with a cup of mulled wine 🍷 for the ultimate holiday vibe. - **Sweet

https://www.fungarian.com/2017/12/24/hungarian-fondant-candy/

Hungarians’ obsession with SZALONCUKOR (fondant candy), the traditional Christmas tree sweet, goes deep into the national psyché. The fun part of it involves hanging them ...

06/12/2024

🎅 The Story Behind the Virgács: A Unique Hungarian Tradition 🇭🇺

Have you ever heard of the Virgács? 🌿✨ This Hungarian twist to the traditional Saint Nicholas tale makes our Mikulás Day (December 6th) truly special.

In Hungary, Saint Nicholas (Mikulás) visits children, rewarding the good ones with chocolates, fruits, and small gifts placed in their boots. But here’s the kicker: if you've been naughty, you might find a Virgács instead—a small bundle of golden or silver birch twigs. 😅

But don't worry! The Virgács isn’t meant to scare; it’s more of a playful reminder to do better next year. It’s part of our fun, lighthearted way to celebrate Mikulás and spread the holiday cheer. 🎁✨

Hungary's Virgács is a perfect example of how different cultures add their unique flavor to Christmas traditions. Have you experienced anything like it? Let us know in the comments!

Budapest private tours 3 hour class and walk, Jewish Budapest, Hungarian Art Nouveau, life under communism. And even more great programs in Budapest.

03/12/2024

The Hungarian Santa Claus QUIZ
In Hungary, like some other European countries Santa Claus comes on December 6, keeping the Medieval tradition. The Hungarian version of Santa Claus has some pecular features. Guess which answer is correct.👇🏼

https://www.fungarian.com/2021/12/04/the-hungarian-santa-claus-quiz/

❗️📌If you happen to be in Budapest in December, don’t miss the Xmas Fair and enjoy a Fungarian tour.🎄

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Budapest private tours 3 hour class and walk, Jewish Budapest, Hungarian Art Nouveau, life under communism. And even more great programs in Budapest.

22/11/2024

Hungarian JEWISH HERITAGE tour.

OVERVIEW
Budapest’s Jewish culture is a beautiful tapestry dating back centuries, with the community’s contributions visible in the architecture and lifestyle of many places citywide today.
Our tour provides an exclusive guided walking excursion with detailed insight for those who want to get a comprehensive picture of the roles of the Jews in 19th-century Hungary, and to identify causes of 20th-century anti-Semitism culminating in the Holocaust.

11/11/2024

🍂 Celebrate St. Martin's Day – A Taste of Hungarian Tradition! 🦆🥂

On November 11th, Hungary celebrates St. Martin's Day, one of the most cherished autumn traditions! This festive day is all about gathering with family and friends to enjoy delicious dishes, especially goose, as it’s said, “Those who don’t eat goose on St. Martin’s Day will go hungry all year.” 🥖✨

From roast goose to special St. Martin’s Day wine, it’s the perfect time to indulge and discover Hungarian culinary traditions. 🍷

Have you tried any St. Martin’s Day delicacies? Let us know in the comments!

November 11th is St. Martin’s day. Márton (nickname ‘Marci’, prounounced ’Martsee’) is quite a popular name in Hungary. The story of Saint Martin and the geese provides ...

04/11/2024

The genius behind the discovery of vitamin C

As the previous post proves Hungarians are crazy about lecsó and not only because it’s delicious; it’s incredibly healthy as well. Paprika contains several times more vitamin C than lemons or oranges and we can thank Hungarian scientist Albert Szent-Györgyi for this discovery in 1932. Five years later he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his innovative findings.
Time magazine of the day just called it the ‘Paprika Prize,’ deservedly, since after more than a decade of experimentation Szent-Györgyi discovered the rich vitamin content of the paprika by analyzing it chemically instead of eating it, he disliked it anyway. Though today vitamin C is a routine part of our diet, at the time it was revolutionary. It hindered the development of scurvy, hence vitamin C’s official name: ‘a-scorbic acid.’ Famous for his bon-mots and special talent to make science understandable, Szent-Györgyi put it this way, “A vitamin is a substance that makes you ill if you don’t eat it.”
If you’d like to know more about Albert Szent-Györgyi adventurous life and learn why Hi**er demanded that Hungary should extradite the ‘Schweinhund Szent-Györgyi’

Budapest private tours 3 hour class and walk, Jewish Budapest, Hungarian Art Nouveau, life under communism. And even more great programs in Budapest.

26/10/2024

THE HUNGARIAN ACCENT.

Even if a Hungarian pretends to speak impeccable English they are often given away by their accent, which is due to the following reasons:

in Hungarian letters correspond sounds and pronounced clearly (’What’ will/may sound ’vaht’)
in Hungarian stress is always on the first syllable (A’merica will sound ’amerika)
some sounds are pronounced the Hungarian way like ’r’ ’th’ and no differentiation between ’e’ and ’a’ (Carl: ’’ so I brought the good brandy”)

https://www.fungarian.com/2021/01/28/the-hungarian-accent/

Even if a Hungarian pretends to speak impeccable English they are often given away by their accent, which is due to the following reasons:

22/10/2024

What do Hungarians celebrate on 23 October? 🇹🇯
October 23 is national holiday in Hungary and you’ll see national flags with a hole in them all over the city, a sign of the missing Soviet emblem missing from the middle.
But what should we call the turbulent events of October 1956?
In the foreign press, the events of the ten days between October 23 and November 4 in 1956 were given various labels like uprising, rebellion, anti-communist insurgency, etc. The Hungarian terminology is equally confusing.
The Communist leader, Ernő Gerő, called the people who were in front of the Radio Building, fasiszta csőcselék i.e. a Fascist mob in his radio speech of October 23, just as you can read in today’s history textbooks issued in Putin’s Russia.
During these events, even János Kádár, the new leader installed after the Russian invasion, called it a revolution. However, later on the new regime called it a counter-revolution to legitimize their system. This word was in official use until January 1989 when a committee of historians defined it as a popular uprising and thus the old system lost its legitimacy.
The official name now - echoing the definition ‘Revolution and War of Independence’ which was given to the events of 1848/49 – is the 1956 Revolution and War of Independence. In both cases events started out as a revolution and then evolved into wars for independence: in 1849 against the Habsburgs, and in 1956 against the occupying Russian (Soviet) army.
This, we can be satisfied with the proper definition of historians.

Budapest private tours 3 hour class and walk, Jewish Budapest, Hungarian Art Nouveau, life under communism. And even more great programs in Budapest.

20/10/2024

🎃🐾 Pet costume contest 🐾🎃

Halloween is coming and now is the time to show how creative you are! 🎉 Join the Pet Costume Contest and win fantastic prizes!

How can you participate?

1️⃣ Take a photo of your pet(s) in their Halloween costume!

2️⃣ Send the picture in the comments or upload it to your own profile with the hashtag

3️⃣ The picture that gets the most votes wins the Grand Prize! 🏆🎁

Vote:

🔹 Pictures can be submitted between 20 October and 31 October.

🔹 Voting starts as soon as you upload the photos! Collect likes and show your pet favourite costume to all your friends and family!

What can you win?

🎉 A 30-euro Fungarian coupon and a copy of the book Now You See It Now You Don't / House of Cards.

Submission deadline: 31.10.2024

Closing of voting: 31.10.2024 18:00


🐕🐱🐇 Everyone's favourite pet can now shine! 😍💫

Budapest private tours 3 hour class and walk, Jewish Budapest, Hungarian Art Nouveau, life under communism. And even more great programs in Budapest.

16/10/2024

If it's Wednesday, it’s again a Quirky Hungarian post!🤩📌 One-word sentences, sayings, and quirky quotes from famous Hungarians.
www.fungarian.com

13/10/2024

🍰Dessert Day🥞

Dobos torta (Dobos Cake)
Dobos torta is a Hungarian sponge cake layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel. Dobos means “drum-like” in Hungarian, but the cake is not named after its solid, drum-like caramel topping. The layered pastry got its name from its inventor, Hungarian chef, and confectioner József C. Dobos who created the cake at the end of the 19th century.

This well-known Hungarian dessert usually consists of five individually baked sponge layers filled with chocolate buttercream and topped with a layer of shiny, solid caramel glaze. According to the confectioner’s memoir, the secret of the cake lies in the perfect mixture of cocoa, chocolate

Where to eat Dobos torta in Budapest: , ,

08/10/2024

IN ONE MINUTE

The easy way to learn Hungarian is as follows. Just spend one minute each day in front of a Nemzeti Dohánybolt and you can learn lot. Repetition is the mother of knowledge as the Latin saying goes. You can learn how to say ’open’ (NYITVA) and ’closed’ (ZÁRVA) and also what to with the door: ’pull’ (HÚZNI) or ’push’ (TOLNI). To know the names of weekdays in Hungarian also can come handy. Mind you, we start the week with ’HÉTFŐ’ (Monday). The author of this board hid a trick for foreigners who want to learn correct Hungarian. A letter ’A’ is missing from ’NYITVTARTÁS’ – it should be ’ ’. Finally, you practice some forms of the verbs ’come’ and ’go’. ’RÖGTÖN JÖVÖK’ stands for ’I’ll be back soon’ - literally ’I will come back immediately’. Immediately may mean one or two minutes in western countries, however, the Hungarian ’rögtön’ can be between 2 minutes and half an hour. The last practical item is to make it in brief Hungarian that you are off to have lunch ’EBÉDELNI MENTEM’ literally: I have gone to have . Most probably this sign is up after the bells ring at 12:00 noon. Hungarians have the Pavlovian reflex to have lunch then.

04/10/2024

Budapest City game 😉

GROUP/TEAM-BUILDING GAME. DISCOVER BUDAPEST COMPETITIVELY!

OVERVIEW
Enjoy a fun teambuilding or group activity while exploring Budapest with our City Game – a great way to get to know Hungary’s capital while getting to know or competing with each other.
Participants are divided into teams competing for prizes by exploring the city using clues to solve a list of diverse challenges: fact-finding, photo-taking and other tasks that can be adapted to suit the customized requirements for every group/age.

Downloading and using the images on other websites is strictly prohibited.

https://www.fungarian.com/budapest-city-game/

02/10/2024

If it's Wednesday, it’s again a Quirky Hungarian post!🤩📌 One-word sentences, sayings, and quirky quotes from famous Hungarians. Follow our Tuesday posts and go to our blog for more inspiration. 👇

https://www.fungarian.com/2021/02/02/quirky-hungarian/

29/09/2024

Colourful Hungarian.🤩
Naming colours varies from culture to culture. What’s even more interesting is what associations go with a certain colour. Just think of the English phrase ‘green with envy’ which translates as ‘yellow with envy’ (sárga az irígységtől). 🟡🟢🔵🟣🔴🟠
This week’s colour is BLACK. 🖤
So, what’s BLACK in Hungarian? Read more in our blog. 👇👇👇

https://www.fungarian.com/2021/03/02/colorful-hungarian/

27/09/2024

What do we Love about Budapest? 🇭🇺

Budapest is the perfect blend of modern and historical, with its bustling city life and peaceful natural surroundings. From the stunning views of the Danube, to the beautiful architecture, the thermal baths, and its rich gastronomy, Budapest offers something truly special. 💙🏙️

The Parliament building illuminated at night, relaxing afternoons at Széchenyi Baths, or a stroll around the Buda Castle – every corner of Budapest offers new experiences! 🌉✨
What do you love most about Budapest? Let us know in the comments and share your favourite Budapest moment with us!

❤️

25/09/2024

The Life of Numbers in Hungarian 7️⃣
Why do Hungarians feel uncomfortable when they are in a company of 7? How many tribal chiefs were there under the leadership of Árpád when the Magyars took their present homeland in 895?
Learn more about the associations with number 7 in Hungarian in our blog post.👇👇👇
https://www.fungarian.com/.../the-life-of-numbers-in.../