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Monday, July 4, 2011

Sweet Magyarorszag

In honor of 4th of July today, I began my German course in Vienna.  I thought for sure I'd run into at least one American (especially since I was at a language school all morning), but when I finally heard that North American accent, I froze, got too shy and just kept stumbling through a German conversation with a classmate from Turkey.  Dang.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, though, let me tell you about Hungary!  When I left Hungary after my exchange year, I told my families and friends that I wanted to try to come back to visit every two years.  To be honest, I was really trying to convince myself it would happen, but I was pretty sure it'd be impossible to afford that (and especially at first!).  BUT!  Two years ago, it happened to work out with a great ticket find, so I visited!  And when I committed to this au pair deal in Austria, I realized it'd be really easy to visit again--I'm so grateful for this.

So I took off on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon for my old stomping grounds.  When I landed, I met my friend Josh in the airport!  Josh and I studied together in South Africa last year and we were both Resident Advisors this year, so it was so wonderful to spend the first few days in Europe with him.


Zsombi is a friend from my Hungarian high school.  Since his university is in Budapest, we got to stay at his apartment while there.  We completely ate up Budapest in those 5 days Josh was there.  Most of this things I got to see as an exchange student, but it was so cool to go back, be reminded at the history of the city and gawk at the beautiful buildings and scenery.

On our first day, we walked around the city for the whole afternoon.  We stopped to buy cherries on the bottom floor of the giant market at the end of Vaci street and ate them outside on a bench outside Zsombi's university.  We saw St. Stephen's Basilica, a beautiful, giant church which is also home to the holy right hand of St. Stephen (Szent Istvan), King of Hungary.  Yes, that's right.  His hand.  Want to know what makes it better?  St. Stephen was the king of Hungary from 1001-1038.  That's a really old holy hand.  If you'd like to see a picture of the relic, then look here, as there was a funeral going on while we visited, so I didn't get a picture on this visit.  But here's Zsombi, me and Josh outside of the church!


We walked for what seemed miles and miles that day...we actually did a giant circle through Pest (did you know that Budapest is actually two cities?  Buda and Pest are divided by the Danube river).  Naturally, we were famished by the time we got home, so we changed into comfy clothes watched a movie and ate palacsinta!  I was so excited...these are definitely one of my favorite Hungarian foods.  


We went to Parliament the next day, and I could do an entire blog entry on just that.  Instead, I'll just share a few things I didn't already know that I learned that day:  
-Everything used to build and adorn the building are from Hungary.  This not only stimulated the economy, but is still a reason for pride.
-The exception to this is in the entryway.  As you climb a grand red-carpeted staircase with gold leaf all over the walls and regal decorations everywhere, you can see 8 giant pillars of marble.  They weigh 4 tons each and I believe our guide said they were 3 meters high (don't hold me to either of those...my memory's a little foggy).  They came from Sweden and there are only 12 like them in the world.  The other 4 are in the Parliament in London, making Hungary richer, or so our guide jested.
-New addition since my last visit!  There are now Buckingham Palace-style guards watching over the crown jewels.  They're to keep straight faces, but you're not allowed to go up to them to try and squeeze a laugh out.


My friend Levi (also from my Hungarian high school) joined us that evening to go up to the Citadella on the hills of Buda.  From there, we had an incredible view of the Danube river, the Buda Castle (on the left) and Parliament (the dome building lit up on the right, just above the bridge).


I'll try to go in fast motion now.  We hit the Buda Castle district...beautiful, no?


And couldn't resist the opportunity to climb on artillery.  


We went to the beautiful town of Szentendre, where we ate delicious langos,


Took pictures at beautiful churches, walked the cobblestone streets and stairs throughout the town.


On our way back home, the light on Parliament was stunning.  Photo op?  Definitely.


Then it was time to say goodbye to Josh as he headed to Finland to see family...


And hello to Debrecen!  My former home as an exchange student!


I saw all 3 of my host families.  They were just as welcoming as ever.  Some of my highlights:


Flying kites with sisters Csenge and Flori and my host-aunt.


Just hanging out at Anya and Apa's with host aunt, Apa, Ica-mama and Csenge.


Evening excursion ending with our newest Olympic sport suggestion: partnered roller blade racing.


Cooking with the girls in Anya's kitchen.


Delicious Hungarian food around a cozy table.


Csenge officially becoming a GINMAZISTA (high schooler)!!  


And dinner on the farm with Klari, Laci and the dogs.

I wish I also had a picture with the Toth family as well!  They were also wonderful hosts and very dear to my heart--but our picture together is on their camera.  I'll have to e-mail them to get it soon.  =)

All of these make for a very happy Hilary.

Look out soon to hear about my life here in Austria!  German classes began today, so I'll have studying and homework to do, but I promise I'll find some time soon.  Hehe, the less time I wait, the shorter the blog will be, promise.

Grace and peace (and a happy 4th of July!),
Hilary



  

1 comment:

  1. I love hearing about your adventures. Great to see your beautiful smile in your wonderful photos. I love you and miss you!
    Patti

    ReplyDelete