Római Part

Római Part [map]
Buda, III, Romaifürdő (HÉV), 10 min

Sometimes, on a sunny Sunday afternoon at 3.30pm, you may look out of your window and think: why do I always drink so much on a Saturday that I can’t get out of the house on a Sunday? Well, stop right there, Miss Hangover! Don’t think that thought, Mr. Beer-then-wine-fine! Put your shoes on and get yourself on to the Szentendrei HÉV this minute.

Ok, I’m on the HÉV. Now what? Keep going until you get to Római Fürdő. Under the underpass, where everyone else is heading and along the quiet, leafy road. Római Fürdő itself, an outdoor bathing complex popular with Hungarians, is worth a stop if you’ve remembered your swimming stuff... maybe if you’d got here a little earlier. Equally, if you’ve brought your tent, you might want to camp out for the night at the campsite. But, if you’re anything like me, you could just keep walking.

It’s a pleasant suburb, and you should already be feeling a lift, and probably, at this point, your girlfriend has started singing “Éhes vagyok!” at you (“I’m hungry!”). Disaster: I didn’t tell you to bring any money! You check your wallet and her purse: you’ve got 1700Ft between you.

Once you reach the river (and this is your destination), you’ll find something like a resort area with a few bars and food stalls, some selling the Hungarian equivalent of fish and chips: fish and chips. Between you, you can just about afford a pint of beer (hair of the dog), a large piece of fish, a couple of bits of bread each and some pickles. The fish is cooked in a breadcrumb batter but there are bones in it, so don’t eat it too recklessly.

Along the river, a path leads the way past hotels that would once have adorned ultra-modern postcards but now sit motionlessly dreaming of the past. Not quite so motionless was the small floating pier, on which we lay peacefully in the sun being violently rocked by the passing boats. If the water really appeals, you can hire canoes, which cope with the waves rather better.

Further along, ice cream, lángos (savoury doughnuts) and palacsinta (pancake) huts will tempt you and I would certainly have bought a palacinta from the hatch at the bottom of someone’s garden, if I'd had sufficient funds. On our remaining 180Ft, we had to settle for a rainbow rocket lolly.

Római Part has its charms: like an old seaside resort that’s just got enough left to keep it ticking over: the river, the sun and the fish being an eternal attraction. In fact, I’m told that the ‘resort’ opens year round, so for some at least, the fish and the river are enough.

Take the
HÉV (suburban railway - green and white trains) from Batthyány tér - you can do this on a standard transport ticket or, indeed, a BKV pass. Alternatively, catch a 106 bus from Árpád hid metro stop on the blue M3 line.
Romai Part, Roman banks
Andy Sz.

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