1st of October - Budapest, Hungary
Billy's brother Scott studied in Budapest and has connections there, so he suggested that we get in touch with his old friend Agi. Agi insisted that we stay in her flat while we were in Budapest for a few days, as she had space for us in her daughters newly rebuilt room and they were away at university in the States. She was such a wonderful host and she opened her home to us as if we were family. She showed us Hungarian hospitality, which is a combination of gourmet homecooked specialties and warm company. She cooked incredible dinners for us each night and always insisted that we eat more of everything she prepared. She even packed lunches for us to take during the day while we were out sight seeing in the city. It was so nice to be cared for, to sleep in comfortable beds, to have a place to call home with all of the creature comforts that we have missed over the past ten months.Because of infrequent buses from Romania to Hungary, we arrived at Agi's doorstep at 4am. She had breakfast prepared for us and we all went back to sleep after eating something. When we woke up later that morning we did laundry and ate constantly throughout the day while Agi cooked and gave us lessons on how to make palincsintas (crepes filled with milk curd, sour cream and sugar) and celery root soup. We lazed around the house talking with Agi and getting to know her. That night her boyfriend Janush drove us all to the citadella atop the hill so that we could see Budapest lit up at night, which is spectacular. It is a stunning city and it is especially dramatic at night. We stared down at the Danube River and its bridges and all the old buildings on the banks of the river. We went for a midnight stroll around Castle Hill, St Stephen's Cathedral, government buildings and the ornately decorated buildings that house the National Art Museum.
We went to the Terror Museum, which we were both impressed with. The subjects explored in the museum were the occupation of German Nazis and then later the occupation of Soviet Communists and how each regime terrorized Hungarians. We visited the Jewish synagogue and went to the very artful memorial constructed on the grounds of the synagogue. The memorial was a metal sculpture in the shape of a tree and each leaf had a Holocaust victim's name engraved on it. It was a very touching monument. We poked our heads into the Four Seasons hotel, because it is really opulent and we were curious to see how they justify charging 700 Euros per night for a room. We walked around the park, Heroes Square, Parliament, the Opera House. We went to Hungarian thermal baths to experience this pastime among men and women who like to torture themselves with hot and cold temperatures in saunas, steam rooms and pools. It was relaxing and the setting was like a Roman bathhouse.
We hopped on a metro train with tickets that Agi advised us to purchase and we thought that we were abiding by the rules until we were stopped by transit police as we exited the train. They asked for our tickets, which we produced, but they claimed weren't valid because we didn't get them stamped before entering the train. There were no instructions posted anywhere and it didn't seem like a very logical system, so we just didn't understand how to use the tickets we purchased in advance. We tried pleading our case, but in the end we were faced with the choice of accompanying the officer to the police station or paying a fine. We paid the fine, but we weren't happy about it. As we were leaving, we noticed that other tourists were being pulled off of trains and subjected to the same treatment and heavy fines. We have no complaints about Budapest other than this one. In fact, we loved Budapest, but this experience left us with a sour taste in our mouths. From what we could see they were taxing unsuspecting tourists on the metro and we didn't think that this was fair treatment.
Back at Agi's house, many more delicious meals awaited us, so there wasn't much time to fret over the metro debacle. We feasted on Porkolt, which is a paprika stew made with pork and Galuska, which is a homemade pasta (like spatzle) to soak up the sauce with. We also sampled Hungary's well known Egri Bikaver (Bull's Blood) red wine, which lived up to its reputation. Agi made us a vegetarian pasta one night that we have cooked for ourselves since. We also tried Hungarian Dobos Torte at a cafe one afternoon that was very rich and tasty, but it wasn't as good as the one that Billy's mom makes. We also had to try Hungarian goulash soup, which was flavored with paprika and warmed us up on a cold afternoon. We basically ate non-stop the entire time we were in Budapest and loved every minute of it.
After 3 days in Agi's home, we really didn't want to leave. We were just starting to get used to eating like kings and lapping up all of her special treatment. Our memories of Budapest are fond because of Agi's spirit, warmth, generousity and hospitality.
posted by The Blaus @ 4:57 PM
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