Defenitely NOT Hungry in Hungary!
Trip Start
Nov 27, 2006
1
24
53
Trip End
May 08, 2007
Budapest,
Hungary
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Hungary was certainly a bit of a shock coming from Western Europe, but we are getting used to it fairly quickly. The language came at a shock especially because it really has no resemblance whatsoever to English, French on Spanish. We had no idea what to expect coming here...mostly in terms of how "westernized" it would be. Apparently, it's the city that is the most a mix of EAST and WEST. Some people speak a little English, but by no means all. The food it quite different, and hunting wild birds and game is popular.
We are staying with a nephew of a friend right now, and they graciously lent us their flat because it is too tiny for 4 of us. Tomorrow we head to the city of Miskolc where we have another empty and free flat to move into. We feel so blessed to have all these wonderful connections and accomodations! (Thanks so much to Erika in Whitehorse!)
The buildings are no Paris, but unique in their design nonetheless. (Actually, this city is supposed to be rather similair in structure to Vienna because Hungary was occupied by Austria for a number of years. Another fun fact!) We paid a visit to the Royal Palace, the local castle (there's one in evers Europian city, I swear), and the parliament. We got lots of in-depth history of Hungary in WWII, being controlled by the USSR, and eventually their freedom from the USSR after 1989. It was so neat and touching to get the stories from someone who actually lived them (Kristian our host). The public tranport is simple and efficient; none of the locals pay for the tram so we don't either! Also, we found a great farmer's market in central PEST where we got delicious local meats and cheeses.
We are even learning a few words in Hungarian, despite the long constanent blends like "dsz" and "tsz". So, "Köszönöm" for stopping by our website for the latest and greatest adventure recounts!
Cheers, Gwen and Jenny
