The phonetic similarity of the names of the two capitals lends itself to constant confusion among those who visit them and has left behind succulent anecdotes like the one that starred Michael Jackson himself in 1992
Six French fans confused Budapest with Bucharest and traveled to the Romanian capital instead of the Hungarian, where they would have liked to go to see the France-Hungary of Group F that was played on Saturday in Budapest, reports the Romanian newspaper Jurnalul National today.
All six realized their mistake on the same Saturday after landing and catching a bus downtown, while drinking beer with Ukrainian fans moved to Bucharest for Monday’s Ukraine-Austria (Group C).
“Do you come from Kiev?” The Jurnalul National journalist asked them, to which the fans replied that no, they had the wrong venue for the Eurocup and had tickets for Hungary-France that was going to be played in a few hours in the Puskas Arena in the Hungarian capital.
A SECOND CHANCE IN OCTAVOS
Once aware of their mistake, the six fans of the “Bleus” decided to stay in Bucharest until today, when France they face Portugal in Budapest in the last match of their group.
If they finish first in Group F, the French team will play the round of 16 on June 28 in Bucharest. In that case, the six French will try to buy a ticket to see, this time, to France live at this European Championship.
“It’s funny that it is the national team that comes where we are,” said Manuel, one of the fans of the “bleus”, about the possible outcome of the mess.
“WE NEED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EUROPE”
Confusing Budapest with Bucharest was not the only mistake of these French who work together in a computer company on their ill-fated trip to the East.
Neither the Romanian flags nor the language spoken by the officials at the airport made these fans realize that they had reached the wrong place, who also thought that the Ukrainian fans waving their country’s flags were followers of the French rival.
“We thought they were Hungarian fans going to the game and we followed them, thinking that as they were from the city they knew the way to the stadium,” said one of the French about how they got to the old town of Bucharest, where they finally discovered their mistake and ended up watching the Hungary-France on TV.
“We have to learn more about Europe”, recognized one of the members of the group.
A MISTAKE ALSO MADE BY MICHAEL JACKSON
These young people are not the first to confuse Budapest and Bucharest.
The phonetic similarity of the names of the two capitals lends itself to constant confusion among those who visit them and has left behind succulent anecdotes such as the one that starred in the same Michael jackson in 1992.
Before his first concert in the Romanian capital, the famous American singer greeted his fans from the balcony of the Palace of the Romanian Parliament. “Hello Budapest!” He yelled Michael jackson before his Romanian followers.