Hungry for Hungary?

Why are we writing about Hungary?

Some of the facts will be presented in our leaflet and to get to know the others, continue reading.

“Hungary is one of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe which we treat in Raben as a single common market, next to Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Baltic countries or Romania. The market has a huge potential for steady and continuous development thanks to its 100 million inhabitants. For Raben, this common market means the same transport solutions in all countries, the shortest possible transit time between individual depots and very competitive rates for customers from Poland and from other countries of the region.” - says Maciej Zieliński, International Distribution Director at Raben Logistics Polska.

Let's start from inventions...

Everyone remembers that thanks to a Hungarian, since 1974, the world has been going crazy about a cube - the Rubik's Cube.  But did you know that also a seltzer siphon bottle originated in that country? Gyor, the home town of the inventor, has a monument/fountain which commemorates this event. We also owe a ballpoint pen to Hungarians. Laszlo Biro, together with his brother, a chemist, invented a new writing tool inspired by the qualities of the fast-drying printing ink. No wonder then, that every writer-to-be looking for inspiration goes to Budapest, where, according to legend, anyone who touches the pen of an anonymous writer located near the Heroes' Square, will receive creative inspiration which will allow them to become an excellent writer.

A pen also comes in handy when signing Raben delivery notes! Although soon paper documents will disappear as a result of our paperless project.

This country perfectly fits the Raben model of operations in this part of Europe and not just because of the inventions.  

“We have opened daily round trips between our branches in Gliwice, Sosnowiec and Chlebnia near Warsaw and the Raben Group depot in Dunaharaszti near Budapest. We are convinced that the unique linehaul connections between the two countries and the high quality of our services are the keys to the success for the existing and new customers of the company in the Hungarian-Polish direction.” - comments Maciej Zieliński. - “In addition, on August 1, 2018, we introduced special, very competitive transport rates for our solutions to and from Hungary. In this way, we would like to expand our offer and make it more attractive, to join more of our depots with Hungary and to meet the expectations of new customers in this direction.” - he adds.

What to eat and drink?

Work and transport are not enough to live. Therefore, it is worth exploring the local cuisine. Before you check the recipe we selected for our leaflet (link here), we have a quick question. Do you like peppers? If yes, you can try a thousand different kinds of them in Hungary! The hottest of them is 100 times hotter than a chilli pepper. The national and the most characteristic dishes of Hungarian cuisine are goulash and delicious lángos. Visit Hungary and not try that? It’s a crime.

The longest Hungarian word - “Megkáposztáshúsítottalanítottátok” - is also connected with cooking. It means “you chop the meat for káposztáshús", and káposztáshús is a traditional dish made of cabbage and meat, quite similar to Polish “bigos”.

Experts say that local drinks also deserve attention. Not just Tokaji, but also Unicum or Pálinka are worth a taste. But we don't want to encourage you too much to drink alcohol. Especially that in the land of pepper and goulash there is zero tolerance for drink driving. It is 0.0 per mille of alcohol in the blood, which we strongly support! But if you drink and don't drive, we can just say: Egészségére! (Cheers!).

Faith, magic and superstitions... a bit of fun

Do you know what is the magic number in Hungary? It is 96. The first Hungarian king, Arpad, was elected in 896. The first underground line was opened on the 1000th anniversary of this state. The parliament building in Budapest (the third highest parliament building in the world) is 96 metres tall and the law prohibits building any structure in this city that would exceed this height. Not enough? Also the national anthem sung at the correct tempo should last 96 seconds!

The day of St. Lucy, December 13, is also special in Hungary. On this day, special rituals are performed that protect against curses. According to tradition, on that day women are apparently strictly forbidden to perform housework - the exception is shelling beans or plucking feathers. On the other hand, superstitious men start to work on the three-legged “Lucy’s chair” or, as some call it, a “witch's chair”. They have to finish the work by Christmas, and they make it from a certain number and types of wood, but without using nails. If someone manages to stand on it during the midnight mass on Christmas Day, they will see the witches who appeared in the church.

Enjoy the sights!

Many things can be written about interesting facts in Hungary. About the banknote worth 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 (a hundred trillion) Pengő - it was the former Hungarian currency in 1926. About 1500 wellness centres created because of one of the largest number thermal springs in Europe. About a triangular table located in the place where three borders merge: Austrian, Hungarian and Slovakian, etc. However, instead of throwing more information around, we encourage you to learn about this country by yourself.

And if you're hungry for Hungary, download the leaflet, find out what else we found for you and what we can do for the distribution of your goods in Hungary and not more...