The most popular “Hungarian” fish!

It is summer, and in the summer Hungarians escape Budapest and visit Lake Balaton instead. And what do they eat there? The most popular “Hungarian” fish!

You should be warned, some people will not agree on calling this the most popular “Hungarian” fish. There are some other popular fish types in Hungary, for example, carp, catfish, perch, and pike. But, when the Hungarians travel to Lake Balaton, they eat something completely different, namely the “Merluccius Merluccius“, better known as the European hake (in Hungarian “Hekk“). The funny thing is that this fish doesn’t origin from Hungary, and not even from Europe, but from the coasts of Argentina.

A picture of the popular "Hungarian" fish
A picture of the popular “Hungarian” fish – Source

According to this article, the fish is captured in Argentina and transported to Hungary, where it is almost served as a “national” fish. According to Wikipedia, it is a popular fish to catch also in Europe, but the one we are eating in Hungary is supposed to origin from Argentina. It is, however, due to the popularity of the fish in Hungary that it is often considered a fish of the Hungarians, and thus it should origin from Hungary, at least in the minds of the people.

How do Hungarians eat the fish?

If you buy this fish by Lake Balaton, or somewhere else, it will most likely look something like this.

The Hungarian fish

It is normally fried in oil and server together with white bread. It is very easy to eat as the meat can easily be removed from the fish-bones (which are so big that it is no trouble at all getting rid of them).

So, the next time you want to eat a fish course in Hungary, consider the European Hake, better known as “hekk” in Hungary. But, be warned – you will not find it in normal restaurants, only by Lake Balaton, along with the “Romai part” (in Budapest), and other places with beach-like circumstances.

FINA World Championship in Budapest 2017

In the time between July 14th and July 30th Budapest and Hungary will be invaded by the worlds best swimmers and lots of supports.

The FINA World Championships were not actually supposed to be arranged in Budapest, but after the winning bid which was made by Mexico, didn’t want to arrange the event after all, then the sport-loving Hungarian Prime minister Viktor Orban said that Hungary could fix it instead. Since then a brand new arena has been built, the Danube Arena, just a bit to the north of the Arpad Bridge, and together with the Hajos Alfred arena at the Margaret Island and the Balaton Lake, these will be the venues in use during the event.

Just like during the Summer Olympics, the water events will be divided into two periods. The water polo competitions will be running all the time at the Margaret Island, but in the Danube Arena the World Championship will start with synchronized swimming and diving, and then followed by swimming in the end.

Fina World Championships 2017

Who will the Hungarians cheer for?

The most popular Hungarian swimmer at the moment is Katinka Hosszu. She won three gold medals during the Summer Olympics in Rio, and the chances are great that she wants to win even more as she competes at home in Hungary. There are even more Hungarian swimmers capable of winning medals during the event, for example Laszlo Cseh.

Be aware of this!

You should be aware of the fact that there will be loads of traffic in Budapest during this event, and this summer the Chain Bridge will also be closed down due to maintenance work. We therefore expect there to be a sort of traffic chaos in town, not only during the FINA World Championship, but throughout the entire summer. If you want to buy tickets for the event, then you should hurry up, at least if you want to grab some good seats for your favorite events. For those who want to stream the event online, the following guide can help you out.

What else to do in Budapest?

Have you thought about what you are going to do in Budapest when there is nothing happening in the arenas? Are you looking for some cool activities? Here are some of our suggestions:

  • If you like sports (and the FINA World Championship), you might be an athlete yourself. Go for a run around the Margaret Island and enjoy the nice weather and the beautiful running track.
  • Feel thirsty after cheering for your favorite athlete? Join us on our brewery visit where you can taste Hungarian beers, get lots of local food and taste the Hungarian fruit spirit.
  • If you want to enjoy a good dinner an evening, then visit a wine cellar restaurant where we arrange a five course dinner with six glasses of wine. This is in the center of Budapest, and is available every single day.
  • Discover Budapest on one of our guided tours with a private English speaking guide.

You can read more about these and lots of other Budapest activities here in our Budapest Guide. If you have any comments or questions, use the comment field beneath!

Balaton Sound 2015

Balaton Sound is another popular festival in Hungary during the summer. The festival takes place at Zamárdi which is a small city right next to lake Balaton. In 2015 the Balaton Sound will be arranged between July 9th and July 12th.

Balaton Sound 2015

Balaton Sound is held every year in the beginning of July in the summer and in 2015 the festival will open its gates again from 9th July until 12th July in 2015. Just like Sziget and Volt Festival Balaton Sound is also one of the most visited festivals in Hungary and every year the quality of the festival gets better, apart from the greatest concerts and parties Balaton Sound also offers a wide selection of other programs for the visitors.

An extra that the festival is just right to the lake Balaton where you can cool yourself down during the day time when the weather is boiling hot. The programs and concerts for next year has not been announced yet but like in every year the visitors can except the best performances and the most popular musicians, singers and DJs.

Last year’s biggest names were David Guetta, Wiz Khalifa, Armin Van Buuren, Martin Garrix, Martin Solveig, Rita Ora and so on. If you want to know more on the programs and concerts of last year check the following site where you can get the newest infos on the festival, the concerts and the tickets as well.

Increasing number of tourists coming to Hungary

Hungarian State OperaI heard on the news this morning that an increasing number of tourists came to visit Hungary in 2008. Around 9,5 million tourists visited Hungary last year. That was an increase, but at the same time the amount of nights spent in Hungary in average has gone a little bit down. This might be due to the economical problems, but then, who knows?

Most tourists come to visit Budapest, but Balaton also draws a lot of tourists in the summer time. To find a good hotel in that area visit our hotelpage, and select Lake Balaton or Wellness hotels from the city-menu.

The picture on the top-right shows a picture from the inside of the Hungarian State Opera, a place loads of tourists and Hungarian visit every year.

Volt Festival in Sopron, 2-5th of July

In only a few days the Volt Festival in Sopron will start. Sopron is a cute city, located very close to the border to Austria, and every year they arrange the popular Volt Festival. The main attractions this year is Cypress Hill, Manu Chao, the Offspring and several others.

The english webpage of the festival can be found at http://www.myspace.com/voltfestival. There you can read more about Cypress Hill, the Offspring and in general about the festival.

Other festivals in Hungary 2008:
Volt Festival
Balaton Sound
Sziget Festival 2009

Sziget Festival 2008

Sziget Festival 2009

In 49 days the Sziget Festival 2008 will start in Budapest. Every year several hundred thousand people come to Budapest to take part in this festival. You can live in tent at the island (Óbudai Island), or if you want more comfort you can stay in an apartment or hotel in Budapest somewhere.

The Sziget Festival 2008 starts 12th of August, and lasts until 18th of August. The price of the daily ticket is 32 Euro, a full festival non camping ticket is 120 Euro and with camping 150 Euro. These price are only valid if you buy the tickets in advance. Go to the webpage for more information.

Among the artists you can find: Danko Jones, Alanis Morisette, Che Sudaka, Carl Cox, Brisa Roché, Iron Maiden, Justice, Kraak & Smaak, R.E.M., Serj Tankian, Sex Pistols, Ziggi and more…

Other festivals in Hungary 2008:
Volt Festival
Balaton Sound
Sziget Festival 2008

Balaton Sound – Festival in Zamardi

Would you like to combine nice weather, cheap food, beautiful Balaton and loud music, you might want to visit Balaton Sound. This year Fatboy Slim, Massive Attack, Goldfrapp and several other artists will make sure you cant fall asleep before midnight in Zamardi, on the southern side of Balaton. The festival starts July 10th and lasts until July 13th.

For some reason they havent managed to make a good English page for the festival, but the address of what they have is: http://www.myspace.com/balatonsound

For some nice Balaton pictures, go here!

Other festivals in Hungary 2008:
Volt Festival
Balaton Sound
Sziget Festival 2009

Eger – Balaton