Monday, July 12, 2010

Mother-Daughter Magyar Nyár

It's been a little while since my last blog entry, because I have been away on holiday in Hungary where I did not have access to wireless internet. I was only really able to quickly go online once a day, and whilst I was at the Balaton, not at all. This sporadic access to my gmail and facebook was kind of torturous, and has highlighted to me just how reliant I am upon being able to freely surf the interwebs. A friend of mine pointed out that it was like I had gone to rehab for 10 days....except it didn't cure me - I am still addicted.

So anyway, I'm back in London now, and I'm ready to start my post-holiday diet and job search! (Note the use of exclamation mark in order to sound upbeat, when in this case, it is in fact equal to 'sigh'). But first, more about my hols...


I used to go to Hungary every summer throughout my childhood and for the majority of my teenage years (I'm half Hungarian), but prior to this trip it had been around 9 years since I was last there. I love Hungary in the summer because it gets HOT (over 30c), and I can prove this with the super tan I have come back with!


Now, down to one of the most important matters: delicious food. Ahead of the trip, I had said to myself, these are the things I want to eat during my stay:

1) Meggyes rétes (sour cherry strudel)
2) Lángos (a type of deep fried doughy bread that you can cover with garlic, sour cream and cheese)
3) Pogácsa (a savoury puff pastry scone)
4) Túró Rudi (a chocolate bar filled with soft cheese that is kind of like a cross between quark and cottage cheese - it is used in many sweet dessert type dishes).

I can safely say, that I ate all of these things at least once, although I developed a slight pogácsa addiction, and ended up eating them nearly every day...


It was great being back after all this time, although it was quite frustrating that whilst I could understand most things, my spoken Hungarian had become a little rusty. After a few days though, I got back into the swing of things and it became a lot easier to have a conversation, except, unfortunately, my sarcasm gets lost in translation. Those that know me will understand how it pains me not to be able to chat freely with unlimited humorous interjections about....well, everything.

My amazing mum treated me to this holiday, and we stayed at my cousin's house in Budapest for the majority of the time, but then also went down to the lake Balaton for a couple of days. I pretty much spent both days at Balatongyörök in my bikini reading on the balcony, and at night we played scrabble. It was lovely and relaxing, although, there was no internet at the house, and as previously mentioned, it nearly drove me insane!


On the last morning by the lake, I woke up at around 5am, and watched the most beautiful sunrise, from a rocking chair on the balcony - it was so breathtaking, and definitely worth abandoning sleep for...




The architecture is so beautiful in Budapest that I ended up taking hundreds of photos of buildings. The Szent István Bazilika is the largest church in Hungary and it is absolutely spectacular. It was also the setting for one of the funniest moments of the trip. My mum was walking around inside the church and had just knelt down on a prayer bench when her phone started to ring with the Dom Joly ringtone. It took all my strength to keep from laughing too loud, and I just kept hoping for a live 'Trigger Happy TV' reenactment, where my mum would answer the phone and shout "HELLO? I'M IN A CHURCH....A CHURCH....YEAH, I'M PRAYING!....NO, IT'S RUBBISH! CIAO!"






My last full day in Budapest was spent at the Széchenyi fürdő which is a beautiful spa with outdoor baths. It was wonderful to spend the whole day relaxing in the sunshine, alternating between laying out in the sun, and hopping between the hot bath, the cooler bath (which has jacuzzi jets at various points) and the swimming pool.


One of the baths has two circular sections in the middle of it, which people can sit on the edge of. On the very inside of the circle is a jacuzzi and between the inner circle and the outer circle the water is like a whirlpool that drags you around! So fun! Adults and kids alike went into the whirpool thingy and as funny as it was being pulled around by the force of the water it was even funnier watching people bumping into each other and squealing as they grabbed onto the wall trying to stop themselves being swept around!


Other memorable moments from this holiday included:

Going swing dancing on the Europa boat, as the sun was setting, and into the night, with two floors of freestyle dancing, as well as numerous dance performances....




A trip to an all-you-can-eat buffet (this included all-you-can-drink champers) for my mum's birthday, where, at the end, they brought her out a cake which had the mother of all sparklers in it (this thing was practically a firework) and she was really surprised!






Wandering around the city, taking in all the sights...








Eating numerous ices creams, which included flavours such as mango, caramel, apple, coconut, apricot...


This was a fab holiday, and it was great getting to spend time with my mum after being away in San Francisco for three months. I saw so many beautiful places and took sooooo many photos on this holiday that I have come away with lots of wonderful memories...

2 comments:

  1. Melanie, loved reading about your experience after all those years.
    You made me miss my home even more...i have to go now...im going to book my ticket. Bp here I come! :)

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  2. Awww Ildi, I'm glad you enjoyed it! There was so much to talk about I couldn't fit it all in, otherwise my whole blog would be about Budapest! :P

    I had so much fun! Let me know next time you go, and maybe I could go over at that time too...

    I took SO many photos - they are on Facebook! xxx

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