ELTE Füvészkert

This guide to ELTE Füvészkert in Budapest connects the university's historic botanical garden to Ferenc Molnár's classic novel The Paul Street Boys, set partly among its ponds and old greenhouse. It follows Nemecsek, the smallest boy in his gang, on the night mission that sends him into the freezing water of a garden pond to spy on a rival gang. You'll also hear how the garden itself began in 1771 as Hungary's first botanical garden, and about its Victoria House, home to a giant Amazon water lily whose leaves span over a meter.