It’s time for us to go on a summer holiday but since WeLoveBudapest so much we are not leaving the city. Instead of travelling and going on a vacation we are launching a new series that introduces the different international cuisines, cultural aspects and other sorts of national heritage in the city: we taste the dishes, we sing the songs, we dance the dances, we try everything and we take a good look around. Our first stop is Russia.
1/5
Arbat – Russian delicacies on Fény Street
When we were kids we probably never really came across the following drinks, foods and other goods: kvass, borsch, mackerel, berberis candy or halva. For some strange reason however, we feel that we are kind of familiar with these delicacies. Maybe that’s why the delicatessen shop on Fény Street, called Arbat, reminds us of the good old times. We can find almost anything in the shop: there’s meat salad but we can also find spicy mustard, smoked fish, savoury jams and so on. It seems like time stopped here at least as far as the packaging of the products is concerned. There’s the so called Alenka chocolate for example, which has a packaging that is decorated with a little girl who has an innocent look and a dotted scarf around her head. We also tried the ancient ancestor of Túró Rudi – the Russian version comes in ten different flavours. We tried the coconut flavoured one and the one with poppy seed. Although we are eager supporters of the Hungarian Túró Rudi we must admit that the Russian dark chocolate is crunchier and the cottage cheese filling tastes a lot more like actual cottage cheese.
Before you hit the town don’t forget to buy a bottle of Russian vodka at Arbat! It tastes phenomenal and its price is more than reasonable. A bottle costs only 2000 forints – it’s a real bargain isn’t it? Na zdorovje!
WEB
Facebook
2/5
Russian Disco – Tchaikovsky reloaded
If you got yourself a nice bottle of vodka you should get the party started - virtually on Facebook with Orosz Diszkó (Russian Disco).
You can find all sorts of genres and artists: there are Rotfron Emigrantski Raggamoffin Kollektiv, Leningrad, Alla Pugacheva, Baba Yaga, and Katyusa songs, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev remixes, folk music, dance music, crazy beats, modern and retro tunes, Vygotsky, Kino and the list goes on and on. Last but not least you can also listen to the Russian national anthem every day at midnight. Don’t worry if you are not so keen on such online gigs! Orosz Diszkó goes offline every now and then and they take the Budapest nights away.
Here’s a bit of a teaser from a Russian girl band called Strassz including for young ladies who have Russian origins.
3/5
Russian culture – Get the ‘druzsba’ started!
Druzsba is the name that was given to chainsaws in Russia but the word also means something completely different. For those who grew up in the Soviet Union ‘druzsbázás’ means going camping in summertime, having a picnic in the nearby forests or going on trip with family and friends. Vodka and singing are just a few things that you should expect for when you go on a druzsba. Nowadays you don’t have to travel a lot to participate in one of these programmes; you just have to find the Isztoki Orosz-Magyar Egyesület (Isztok Russian-Hungarian Association). They organize druzsba parties annually, where they have herring, shaslik and Russian crème cake. Last but not least not only do they drink Kalinka, they also dance the Kalinka dance.
The ultimate druzsba is the Russian theatre. Did you know that there’s one in Budapest as well? There are all sorts of performances and concerts in the original Russian versions of course. я не говорю по-русски – Do you speak Russian? If you don’t you should check in the Russian Cultural Centre first to attend a language course.
4/5
Russian Fashion – Anna Zaboeva
Let’s just put Swarovski aside for a moment, especially since we already have our very own Hungarian-Russian fashion design. In the 7th district there used to be a milk factory, right at the corner of Dob and Rottenbiller Street. Nowadays a two-room flat in this building gives home to the workshop of Anna Zaboeva, which is always loud from the sewing machines. Anna grew up in Siberia where it is absolutely all right to work with leather. She made the first pair of leather shoes in Siberia, and that was the beginning of her own brand Pleasemachine. We can meet Anna not only in her workshop and in her shop but at clear-outs as well. She designs and manufactures shoes from recycled materials as well. Of course the materials are cleaned so the outcome looks like a brand new pair of shoes.
Siberia (closed)
Address: 1077 Budapest, 19 Wesselényi Street
