Since we’re still waiting for that elusive snow-and by the looks of it, we might very well wait forever and then some, this year’s moody Budapest winter tries to compensate with other phenomena, such as this weekend’s insistent fog. And it looks quite spectacular too, especially as it hovers over the Danube, filtering the rays of the midday sun into an orange tinted fuzz that actually makes the air feel much warmer than it ought to.

Lovely opportunity for a Saturday stroll then, if it were not for the fact that this fog is perhaps a bit too insistent, and does not seem lift over the day, as most sensible fogs do. Come to think of it, the whole set up starts to feel like our own personal Beijing, or perhaps a non-Victorian and geographically displaced rendition of the London pea soup fog.

Smog it is then- there’s even an alert in place for the next few days, though I do not envy the authorities trying to convince people to leave the luxurious conditions of their cars at -14 for the dubious comforts of a BKK vehicle,  with a special thought spared for the Arctic atmosphere of the 47/49 tram line, serviced by historical items with two hardly functional heaters and about two dozen badly insulated crevices. 

This being said, we still went for that stroll- because fog or smog, it still looks quite spectacular, plus there’s that temperature under which adding extra discomforts to your misery is barely noticeable. The fruits of our endeavour are below- because we’re ever the useful types, and we want to spare you the bother of a smoggy walk if you don’t really insist on it.