Budapesters have never quite gotten over the loss of their pre-WWII café culture, when nationally known writers and journalists held court, spending their entire day hunched over a manuscript and a coffee cup. Some of the historic cafés remain open to this day, and are well worth a visit – Café Gerbeaud and Centrál on the Pest side, and the 18th century coffee house Angelika over in Buda, but the guest at the next table is more likely to be a backpacker than a bard.