Gombar/Varsanyi Weekend!

This was by far the best weekend I have had in Hungary. I got to meet some of the family that I've never met before and had a great weekend with them. Olga and her husband, Gyula, picked me up from my dorm on Friday afternoon.

Friday - We walked around Godollo and saw the Royal Palace there. That night Olga made lesco for dinner. It's sort of a vegetable stew but soooo good. I'll be eating a lot of this whenever the weather gets cold. Also that night she made two sweets that we snacked on for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday - we made a trip. First driving through Vacs before going to Nagymaros to ride the ferry across the Danube to Visegrad. The prettiest scenery I have seen so far. After Visegrad we went to Budapest (I slept like a baby in the car) and did a bus tour, walked around, did a night boat tour, and walked around some more. That night Olga made my favorite - CHICKEN PAPRIKASH! and man, oh man, it was so good.

Sunday - One of the Istvans (Isi) and his girlfriend Ancsa (sp?) came over and we had a feast! Vegetable soup for the first course; mashed potatoes, fried cheese, fried turkey, and a cherry dish for the second course; and ice cream for dessert. I'm gonna say it again, it was sooooo good!

Godollo town square

The Royal Palace in Godollo (also where the EU Council met last year while in Hungary)

Eating LANGOS!! in Nagymaros, Danube and Visegrad in the background

This sums Hungary up... beer, the Danube, and a castle... If only there were a festival going on :)

The wonderful Olga and I in Nagymaros with the Danube and Visegrad in the background

From the top of the castle ruins. View of the the Damube Bend (Dunakanyar)

Me :) and the Dunakanyar in the background.

Chain Bridge and Buda Castle

Buda Castle

Parliament

The Family!

Top Row (left to right) - Botond, Aron, Isi, Gyula

Bottom Row (left to right) - Olga, me, Ancsa

I'm so grateful to Olga and family for making the weekend so amazing. They are all some of the nicest people I've ever met. We just met but I felt like I've known them forever. They opened up their home and hearts and gave me memories I'll never forget. I can't wait until the next visit and meeting even more of my family.



** I need to learn how to cook like Olga and Grandma!!

September 18

Oooh, Budapest! It was a long but memorable day. When we first arrived we went to the Sweets Days chocolate and sweets festival in Buda Castle. Free Samples!!

the entrance of Buda Castle from the inside

an over view of Sweet Days

the group taking a break at Sweet Days

Then we went sight seeing around the Pest side of the Danube. We went around Parliament (we didn't go in but I plan to on another day), a nice park that I'm not sure of the name where we saw the eternal flame in honor of the 1956 revolution, then to Andrisis Utca (sp??) where there was another street festival and horse galloping in Heroes Square.

Corvinus University

Heroes Square

eternal flame for 1956

group shot in front of Parliament

Parliament

a street in Pest, Parliament in the background

view from Buda Castle

view from Buda Castle

view from Buda Castle (one of my fav pics from the day)

Parliament

Hungary's Statue of Liberty .. simple and elegant

in Buda, carved right out of the hills

one of the cool bridges crossing the Danube

Next weekend I'll be back in Budapest with my family that I finally get to meet :) This is exciting!

Pub Crawl!!

I think our group went to six or seven pubs.. everything kind of fades together after the third one. I only drank Hungarian alcohol. The beer was Soproni, there is no such thing as non-Hungarian palinka (I had raspberry with honey and cherry), and feny is a shot that everyone says was invented in Veszprem (vodka, syrup, and soda water). Aw yeah! :)

At the end of the night we went back to a pub called Sport that's open 24/7. Unlike the US, you can buy alcohol at any time of the day or night. Shots of palinka at 5am, psh. no big deal. They have the best drunk munchy food there for very cheap. It's a life saver.

I finally feel like I connected with the other international students. Who knew that it just took a little alcohol?! Also, nothing was lost or broken. My Hungarian cell phone has officially lasted longer than my one back at home. haha.

I live for the nights I can't remember with the people I won't forget

Today is dedicated to sleep and absolutely no alcohol! bleh.

The Past Few Days

Mostly it was the usual; breakfast, class, lunch, Facebook/Skype/Oovoo, dinner, drinks, hanging out, meeting new people in the Erasmus and International programs..

One night about 20 of us internationals went to the beer cellar in the Var Utca. You literally walk downstairs into the cellar for the pub. In total I had 2 liters of beer. At first I was like, "Wow, this stuff is weak. The tap had to be watered down". Then we start walking in the Castle District a little later than midnight... The beer was not weak!

The Castle District at night is beautiful. I remembered my camera but I have to read how to make the settings better for taking pictures at night.

I also realize that although the water is perfectly safe to drink it's awful to my hair. At first I thought it was the products but talking with other girls here, it's totally the water. The side-braid is my only option some days :(

And remember this cliff from previous posts?

I peed behind that bush right there. Overlooking the city at night, slightly drunk, poppin' a squat - it was magical. How many people get to say they've had that experience?!

It's the little things that count most

*My half Scottish, half Irish professor told me I was the famous American here on campus... makes me feel a little weird. So much for blending in...

And to the directors at CSU who told me that everyone here could speak English and I would have minimal issues communicating and there might be other Americans here - HA! wrong, wrong, WRONG! Everyone that finds out I'm American is completely shocked. I know I'm not the first in Veszprem but I do think I'm the only one here now and maybe the 10th one here ever.

*The drinking age is 18. I got carded for the first time here last night. That means she thought I was 17 or younger!! ugh.

September 10

Lazy day, oh yea. Let me just say I love Oovoo.

Silly Dan

Justin and half of Grandpa

More to come. I need to take way more.

September 9

Sightseeing in Veszprem today. Var Utca and Love Island.