Faurest, Kristin: Ten spaces - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)
Károlyi-kert
Óbudai Múzeum with its great local history collection. Once there, it’s also a good idea to marvel at the rose-coloured palace or, in summer, visit the outdoor bar-restaurant. Speaking of life's appetites, there is no shortage of places to eat or drink here at Fő tér, particularly if the craving is for something simple, substantial and traditional. For one, there is the Postakocsi restaurant, which got its name from the fact that from September 1752, it was from here that postal coaches departed for Vienna. Across from it, the Új Sipos Halászkert includes architectural details from church remains dating to 1346. The building has housed a restaurant at least since sometime in the 19th century. Here in 1898 Márton Goldinger opened the Central Café (Központi Kávéház) In front of the restaurant was a coach stand ("konflis"), later a taxi stand, that ensured that guests could easily arrive there from all over the city. The building was renovated and expanded into neighbouring businesses in the 1980s, originally with the plan of moving the old Sipos restaurant from Lajos utca here — but the old Sipos stayed on, and this restaurant, opened in 1983, became the new one. Károlyi-kert The very inner core of Pest, that part that once lay inside the city walls, has its own distinctive charms - and this square is their perfect embodiment. It’s just a few steps from the rude noise and smog of the segment of the Small Boulevard known as Múzeum körút. How easy to forget that for a brief time during the First World War this perpetually-congested artery was called Mehmed szultán út for the Turkish ruler Mehmed Resid — but it would be hard to find a Budapest street without an astonishing name change somewhere in its past. Károlyi-kert, located in District V., is dominated most days by crowds of children with parents on its several play areas. Its maintenance is near- immaculate, its stands of stately trees well-kept and healthy. Fenced in on all sides and surrounded by quiet streets that make approaching it on foot a pleasant experience, it feels social, comfortable and sheltered. The square is very social and lively, with attractive touches like ivy-covered archways marking the entrance to the play areas. One of its several focal points is the 20
