We went out last night on the town of Papa with Dad and his friend from work. We started at the Black Hole and ended at the Teddy Bear.
The Black Hole is a bar and restaurant upstairs, and a dance club downstairs. There were four girls behind the bar and a few guys sitting as customers. We sat at the bar and ordered from a brunette who spoke a little English. I had a wonderful espresso which was served with a small packet of cream and two cubes of sugar...it was delicious. Just as before, the espresso was served with water (this time soda water). TVs were playing music videos, and an eclectic variety of music was playing, which did not match up to the videos :). The music included Hungarian dance music, Britney Spears and German rock. There was no AC in the bar, so needless to say to is hot and muggy. A fan blew but pointed at the bartenders. After sitting and people-watching we decided to check out the club downstairs.
There were not many people downstairs but it was still early..10pm, yes, 10pm is considered early here!! The bars stay open all night...and all morning!! lol!! The downstairs was dark and mostly concrete and a bit musty. Booths were situated to the left, and the dancing area was to the right. A small bar sat to the right, across from the dance floor. It looks like a fun place to dance, if you can stand the heat and thick air.
We next headed to the Teddy Bear Rock & Roll Night Club. The owner is native Hungarian though lived in Orange County for a number of years. Before we walked in, Dad and his friend said to just walk straight upstairs. As we cruised in, we passed the downstairs bar to our left, and headed up the stairs to the club. I heard a man behind us trying to get our attention, I turned and said, "I'm sorry?" He rolled his eyes and waved us through. Later, we found out that he wanted us to pay the mandatory cover charge...it pays off sometimes to not speak the local language.
Upstairs was full of people all signing karaoke together. A traditional Hungarian song was playing and they were all signing along to it. Dusty and I found a seat at a comfortable booth and began to people-watch, again. Dad and is friend were sitting at the bar talking to people they knew. The club was very hot and smoky....Dusty and I think that everyone smokes here! lol. The club was very different from what we were expecting, it was a 50's American Rock & Roll style (hence the name!!) The "Teddy Bear" we assume, is from Elvis's song, seeing that there was alot of Elvis memorabilia.
The music was again very ecclectic, but nothing went together. There was old American Rock & Roll, Hungarian House Music (which is extremely popular here), old traditional Hungarian songs, Blue Grass sounding House, Pop souding House, Classical sounding House...all very different. The people were all dancing to it though!! We didn't, I don't think we knew where to start! Every clothing fashion was represented! Women entered in skin-tight mini dresses (some very shiny), jeans and tops, mini skirts, capris, sandals, high heels, platforms, tennis shoes....and so on. The guys, of course, rocked alot of capris and cut off shirts (tank tops)....lol.
Most patrons were drinking beers and mixed drinks, we did not see any martinis or glasses of wine all night. People appeared to do alot of group dancing, and switching of dance partners. The whole scene was very different. When a local young Hungarian guy, who works with Dad arrived, we jokingly asked him when the dance music was going to begin! He asked us what we meant, he said the dance music was already playing. He asked what we were used to, and we answered hip-hop. The Black Hole, he responded, was the only club in Papa which played that modern music. He also said that we were at the Black Hole too early, but it was most likely packed now (it was 2 am!!) We laughed and talked with him for a little while and then decided it was time to go ...2:30am....people were still arriving...and dancing...and signing karaoke.
All-in-all it was a very interesting experience to go the clubs and experience the local night life of Papa. We are excited to go back to the Black Hole....and maybe actually dance this time!
