There is no anybody, who is able to drink such an amount of wine. There is not, but there was. The Hungarian writer, Gyula Krúdy was the creator of a special type of ’fröccs

It is not a coincidence, that there stands (or literally there sits) a statue of Szindbád on the historical central square of Óbuda (District3, Budapest). Everybody knows Sindbad the sailor from the Tales of 1001 Nights, but Szindbád is also the main character of a lot of short story by Gyula Krúdy. He is not one of the Krúdy heroes, he is actually the most known fictional person by the writer.

Szindbád on the main square of Óbuda (photograph: Wikipedia) 

Why Óbuda? This neighbourhood was a home for Gyula Krúdy during the last three years of his lifetime. Picturesque, ancient buildings and streets in the old city center, restaurants, coffeehouses, beautiful women – a really nice place to live for a bohemian artist.

Gyula Krúdy (photograph: Wikipedia)

 If you step closer to the statue, you will see a wine carafe and a soda-fontaine on the table, beside a wine glass. Sindbad is drinking ’fröccs’, what was the favourite beverage of the writer. And there is a special type of ’fröccs’ named after Gyula Krúdy: ’Krúdy-fröccs’. It is a mix of 9 dl wine (traditionally it is dry white wine, but someone uses red wine for it) and 1 dl sparkling water.

 Who is able to drink 9 dl (0,2 gal) wine at once? They say, Krúdy was, indeed, it was his favourite beverage. If you would like to try it, I recommend an Óbuda tour. But be carefuly! Krúdy really was a naughty guy. Who knows, perhaps ’Krúdy-fröccs’ is just a joke. Nevertheless it is true, you do not know until you try.