En route and onboard – destination Budapest! I have not had time yet, to google about Budapest and its attractions. I do have a lovely map given to me by a friend, and I decide I will explore it as I go! The girl next to me on the plane is a local, and she shares some of her favourite things to try/visit in Budapest - climb to the top of the basilica for a 360° view of the city, and to try Goulash, a famous Hungarian soup, and mentions it’s got lots of Paprika. I make a note in my diary. It's freezing as I make my way out of the plane down an open stair and decide to head straight to see my friends, hoping they are in a warm, cosy place. I arrive at the Szimpla Kert Ruin Bar, an amazing and one of the most fascinating bars I have ever seen! A maze of a place, every room filled with up-cycled random objects, beautifully fitting its new purpose - like a bathtub sofa, or an old phone handle on a door, and of course a wide range of beverages to warm one up. Come Morning, I try a delicious paprika cottage cheese spread for breakfast - Korozott! A note left by the staff next to it read, “try it, it’s a special Hungarian Spread, we love it.” Post breakfast, I would study the map and start marking the attractions/buildings I wanted to see and decide the direction of my walk for the day. Whilst exploring the building sites, I would keep an eye out for any local delicacies to try, when my stomach would rumble. And yes, they ALL had an ingredient in common – Paprika. I discover as I explore more of the city, there is paprika everywhere – the souvenir shops, market halls, graphics in art shops. No wonder then, when I spotted the statue on the faraway hill as I crossed the chain bridge across the Danube, I saw a man holding a pepper high over his head! Upon closer inspection, as I made my way up the hill, I was thoroughly disappointed and bemused, to see what it actually was – a woman with a palm leaf, the 'Liberty Statue'! Such a shame, the paprika did truly deserve to be there! My curiosity about paprika, its history and how it became an integral part of the Hungarian dishes revealed some interesting facts - most importantly, the fact that paprika was not native to Hungary, but originated in Mexico!
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