Last week I was travelling by tram in a remote outskirts of Pesterzsébet. It was tram no 52 I wonder how many people living in Budapest knows it. Suddenly I was struck by a certain sense of atmosphere that belongs only to Budapest public transport, just as a certain, and very definite atmosphere belonged to the tram rides in Prague or in Wroclaw. Probably it is true for every city in the world – that is those who has a functioning public transport system. I was moving in a completely unknown part of Budapest, in between nondescript one-storey buildings on a street without name in my head at least – and I felt very much at home.
I wonder whether this could have happened if the tram is not an old Ganz tram but one of the relatively newly bought German cars. I doubt it. Funnily enough, I have found that these type of trams are not supposed to be running any more. Who knows, I might have had a ghost experience.
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| Source: Villamosok.hu |
For me, these trams belong to Budapest. Even now, as I'm writing this, I can feel the smell of some chemical, probably used for maintenance, that I felt so many times on tram 49. I can feel the hard bumps tram 19 produces, while you must sit on the wooden seats. I can hear the terrible squeaking noise it makes while descending into the underworld of the tunnel under Chain Bridge.
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| Source: Wikipedia |
Have you ever travelled by these trams? Or No. 21 or 42 or 47? They run to obscure places in the outskirts of the city, where tourists have nothing to do. This is the hidden side of Budapest not known to even those who live and work in the inner city. In a way, I think, these parts belong much more to Budapest than the iconic images of the Parliament and the Chain Bridge and the Buda Castle.
I love to travel on these lines, and not just trams. Every spring I plan to try out all these unknown buses and trams. I remember once we went with a friend all along the route of trolley 74, this most typical vehicle of Budapest. We had nothing to do there, we only wanted to check what kind of place Csáktornya park is. It had a vague taste of romantic castles ('Csáktornya' = the tower of Csák) and nice walkways in parks. But it was only a little bit disappointing to learn that it is actually a big socialist-era housing estate with ugly blocks of flats. The weather was very cold and it was snowing, so we had a coffee in a small pub near the trolley station and went back. Still, I think it was worth going – I still remember where that route ends.
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| Forrás: Veledutaztam |
However, most of the time this plan stay what it is – just a plan. I usually try new lines only when I'm forced to do so. This spring, since I moved to Pesterzsébet, I have discovered whole new numbers that so far I haven't associated with public transport at all. Tram No. 52 is one of them. Bus No. 148 is another. And buses No. 212 and 36 and tram No. 21. I love how the trams meander between small houses. It gives me a thrill when the bus I'm riding, and which crosses the inner parts of the city on a strange route, suddenly turns onto a street I probably have never seen before.
And then I realize that I will never know this city completely. There is always something new to learn and to explore. And it's a good thing to feel.
