booze news
With the Kert Season Upon Us, It's Safe to Call the Romkert Scene Over
Speaking of drinking outside, although the start of Budapest's famous kert season is upon us, it appears pretty much safe to declare the demise of the romkert (ruin garden) scene. Ultimately, it proved not to be the nénis or British stag nights, but not-so-surprisingly, developers, among other things. The Kultiplex is still standing, but it's no longer open. Szimpla Kert, while still going strong, has now become a tourist trap, and the service isn't always the best, (and yes, bartender girl with the red scarf who applies her eyebrows with a Sharpie, I'm thinking of you!). Oh yeah, there have also been reports of alleged pepper spray incidents. The latest bad news that got us to write this post? It involves West Balkán, which recently cheerily announced that they won't be opening up for the summer.
On their website (in Hungarian), West Balkán announced that due to construction works, they will not be opening up for the summer kert season. Also, they've added that unlike before, their new location will not be in an old derelict building, but that they are building it themselves to be überfantastisch, and will open after the season is over sometime this fall or winter. In other words, they're taking the rom out of romkert, and not even getting the opening dates right.
After closing their former location last New Year's Eve, (referred to either as Új West Balkán or Nagy West Balkán), their website announced a new location, before getting all quiet about it, the details of which they announced recently. The Nagy West Balkán already missed the cheery chaos that greeted the visitor at the Kis West Balkán (seen in the image above) behind the Corvin Theatre, not to mention the trees in the middle of the yard. Now it appears that this latest incarnation will not even stretch the definition of what exactly a romkert is.
Following the demise of other places, and the "becoming so popular that no one goes there anymore" aspect to Szimpla, barring the sudden opening of a bunch of new establishments, it's fair to state that while the kert scene certainly shows no signs of ending, the romkert scene, however, is regrettably over.
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COMMENT!I hate British trash littering this capital. Then again, Hungary is a stinking dump. Oh, this is about rubble gardens? I apologize, I must've digressed. Or did I?
Hey! British trash here, and proud of it. I really wouldn't blame us for the smell, although it has been on my mind of late, and the thought often occurs: "Is it me?" Still, there's always Keret, which is due to move to another shitty premises in Nugati later this year. A couple of happenings don't make a trend, you hacks. But then I digress as well.
http://www.chew.hu/i_can_tell_you_everything_abou.html
Let's hope that the new kerts or their equivalent will only spread by word of mouth instead of through sites like this one so that it'll keep out the Eurotrash.
