Going for gold

On a street in Budapest’s Castle District, surrounded by quaint architecture and cobblestones, is a statue of a horse with enormous golden testicles.

It’s a sight equal parts baffling and beautiful. I’d call it one of Budapest’s hidden gems, but these gems are anything but hidden. There's something a bit magical about the way the light catches on those gonads. They are (quite literally) larger than life. The rest of the horse and the man astride it fade to oblivion, rendered in ordinary grey metal. By contrast, the gold is striking.

Naturally, our tour group gathers to gape, equal parts awestruck and flabbergasted. Nearby children snicker and point. Elderly tourists radiate disapproval, jowls aquiver. Noting our interest, a passing local seizes the opportunity, and jumps up to stand on the base of the statue. In thickly accented English, he starts to give us an impromptu history. There’s a gleam in his eye akin to the gleam of the statue.

We have no way of knowing if he's telling us the truth, but we take him on faith. He tells us that he doesn't know how the golden balls came to be, but that they're something of a good luck charm in the area. On the cusp of exam season, local students flock to the statue, climbing up the base to rub the gold for good luck. Our new tour guide demonstrates with a flourish and a wink. An elderly lady harrumphs, scandalised.

We all end up clambering onto the statue to take a turn. It’s not a feat for the faint-hearted – the base of the statue is quite high, making it an ungainly and awkward trip up for the short and unfit. One man hit his head on the horse’s nether regions – we were undecided on whether that counted for extra luck. As for me, I think the luck was in finding the statue at all. Participating in a local tradition, especially an absurd one, brings a strange sense of intimacy to travelling. And if nothing else, it makes for an incredible story.

If you’re after a bit of luck of your own, take a trip to Buda Castle (also beautiful in its own right), and then have a wander around. Or if you’re feeling lucky, go ahead and ask a local. Just make sure to brush up on your Hungarian first – this probably isn’t the kind of request you want to have to mime.