Sightseeing in Budapest

Thursday 9/20/12

We headed to Budapest via the Train from Gyor.  Budapest is a very large city with over 2 million people.  There are many old Historic Buildings in Budapest including a Basilica, Parliament, Buda Castle, Hero's Square, Monuments to the fallen in WWII and the Holocaust Victims.

St. Stephen's Basilica started in 1860-1905 completed 

Carmen & Ryan at the Shoes on The Danube Memorial to the holocaust victims that were shot into the river during 1944-45 WWII

Ryan shaking hands with former President Reagan in recognition of
helping to end  communism

Historic Buildings at every turn many built in the 1500-1700's

Having a little fun with the Eagle at
Buda Castle

Parliament in the background beyond the Danube River





It was a great day jam packed with sights all day and into the evening. On to the next adventure.  Catch you Later Gator  :)
Karyn

Happy Birthday Ryan - Boldog Születésnapot Ryan

Tuesday 9/18 was Ryan's 17th Birthday

We got to celebrate it in style with an Official Hungarian Dobos Torta  - pronounced Dobosh- invented by an Hungarian baker named Dobos.  This is a similar cake that I grew up with in New Orleans that we called Doberge Cake.  Come to find out a Hungarian woman living in New Orleans in the 1940's adapted the chocolate buttercream filling and carmel topping Torta with pudding/custard filling and chocolate or lemon fondant to make some extra money.  She sold the recipe to Gambinos & Maurices and changed the name to Doberge to make it sound more French.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doberge_cake 

 
We celebrated with our Hungarian hosts Ference & Anna Ihasz and another colleague Miklos Banhidi.  Ryan asked for Red Beans & Rice, Coleslaw & Cornbread -- his favorite meal.  Shopping for these ingredients was fun at the local grocery.  Cabbage & Corn meal are popular here so that wasn't too much of a stretch, found some huge dark dry red beans and used google translator to help with the seasonings.

Oh Happy Day -- Our growing young man
Karyn

Monday Morning Regular Routines

Monday 9/17
Back to a somewhat regular routine.  Kevin heads to work at the University of Western Hungary just 5 blocks away with his colleague and our Host Professor Ference (Franke) Ihasz.  These two are like peas in a pod collaborating and discussing the overall meaning of the phrases in the developing research manuscript. Somethings get lost in the translation and grammatical structure of sentences from Hungarian to English.  When they get completely frustrated then it is time to head to the TeKa (Cantina) for lunch and a Kave (coffee).

The kids rise slowly 8am while I head to the SPAR (grocery) just 2 blocks away for milk, bread and a few other items for tonite's meal.  I finally figure out the word for Black Pepper (Feketebors) with a little help from Anna Ihasz while we were cooking on Sunday.  I am proud of myself for figuring out the words for the basic items that I need in the kitchen for meals: Tej (milk) sold by the liter not by the gallon; Bazsalikom (basil) Ok that was easier; Kenyer (bread) baked fresh daily and put on racks for you to select & put in paper bags; Feketebors (black pepper).  Success at the grocery!

Back at the flat the kids are getting dressed & having breakfast.  They get their books out and start some lessons. I get to do laundry clean up our small flat.  We have lunch around 12pm and then prepare to head over to the University to meet Ryan's Sax instructor.  Erzebeth is a PhD music student from Budapest that travels to Gyor twice a week to give private lessons to students at the local High School of Performing Arts.  These students are completely commited to the performing arts and are preparing to attend a University for Music Degree.  Ryan will have a lesson once a week to keep his skills and Erzebeth is not only willing to help with the classical music but also support Ryan's Jazz program too.

The evening takes us to our selected workout activities; Ryan & Kevin to the Spa Gym for weight training; Carmen to the stationary bike at the University w/ myself & Anna in an Aerobics class lead by Ferenc.   A fun time for all and then some much earned down time with books back at the flat.

Czia - tomorrow is another day.
Karyn

Weekend from Gyor to Kimle

Saturday 9/15
Carmen had an opportunity to play Futbal (Soccer) with a youth league nearby.  A former Hungarian UNI exchange student coaches the group and invited Carmen to participate 2x/week.  She met some new friends and had a great time.

Preparing Buffet 

Ryan spent 2 days on a Bike tour with some of the college students from the University of West Hungary.  One of our colleagues, Miklos, organized the program and included his 17 year old son, Marco.  The tour group also included 4 Portuguese girls & 2 Korean girls who all arrived last week to have a semester aboard  in Hungary.  Additional students from Hungary rounded the group to about 19 people.  The exchange students, Marco, Miklos, and some of the Hungarian students spoke English.  Each day the group rode about 20km (12 mi) and had an open fire cookout to end the night.  Kevin, Carmen & myself took the train from Gyor to Kimle to meet up with the group on day 2.  We had a great Hungarian Stew w/ Rice & Langos (fry bread).  Then we took the train back to Gyor.

Hungarian Wine to share

Hungarian Stew

Sunday:  9/16
Anna Ihasz came to pick us up and take us out to their home (Ference & Anna are our host family) in rural Gyor.  We had a wonderful Traditional Hungarian Brunch with Chicken Soup, Cabbage Salad, Pork Stew w/ rice, boiled potatoes, Stuffed Chicken breast, and an apple strata.  After brunch we took a long walk around the village and enjoyed some great views of the village from an overlook hill. Then we took the Busz back to Gyor.

Sunday late afternoon Kevin & I walked around the Sorkopot (beer) festival and took in some sights and sounds.  We also were able to enter the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary and the Carmelite Church.  The pictures do not do the church justice.  The golden statues, wood carvings as well as the painted ceilings were incredibly ornate.

 

Cathedral of the Virgin Mary 

Carmelite Church

Well tomorrow is another day.
Czia (pronounced C 'ya - hello/goodbye)
Karyn

Work & Play on a Friday

Yes Kevin is working as a Fulbright Scholar

http://turizmus.gyor.hu/lang/en/  - 

link with map and facts of Gyor in english

 We (Ryan, Carmen & myself) went to see Kevin at work at the University of West Hungary just 5 blocks away.  He spends 6 hours a day working with Ferenc on their research project and then Saturdays working with the students collecting data using Fitness Assessment and Accelerometers.

Host University

Walking around the city at night with the Basilica in lights is very beautiful and romantic. Walkways are lit up as well as bridges across the little Danube.  It is a college town with 3 campus locations around the city, meaning lots of college students walking around at night.  

Gyor at night surrounded by protective castle wall

Host Colleague Ferenc & Anna Ihasz w/ Kevin @ Beer Fest

                                                   

 Well Kevin wouldn't miss a Beer Festival - 27 beers from around the region - Czech, Belgium, Hungary, etc.  No they didn't try them all but tasted a couple at least.  Music played in the Square well past 11pm.  Our flat is just 1 block away from the Central Square so we can hear the entertainment easily.

Sornot (Shur = Beer) Festival

That's all for now - Saturday takes us out to the rural town of Kimle for a bike tour and cultural exchange with some of the college students.
Later Gator,
Karyn

Wandering the Streets of Gyor

Now that we have spent some time recovering from our very long air travel, we are exploring the area.  Classic Baroque style buildings.  Kave (coffee) is sold in small cups -expresso- not the large American style. A Bakery on every block -fresh Bread & fresh pastries - not as sugary as american.  Drinks come without ice, water is ordered as soda water w/lemon (carbonated).  People shop the grocery daily not weekly or monthly. Grocery carts are very small and you bag your own.  There are no Mini Vans only small cars and mopeds in the city that go fast.  Streets are narrow and parking is on the sidewalk next to the buildings.

Lots of different languages can be heard around the city, Hungarian, German, Slovakian primarily but no English.  Very few signs include English, most signs, store front advertisements and Billboards are in Hungarian.  The hardest thing to figure out is the $$ money, 225 Forints = 1 US dollar.  A cup of coffee can range from 150-225 HUF, 1320 HUF for a McChicken Meal ($6) vs Hungarian lunch 850 HUF ($3.70).

 Museum in Town Square

 consonants a plenty in hungarian language

Ryan is amazed at the Benedictine Church Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Benedictine Church Saint Ignatius of Loyola

 View out of the window of our flat

It is like staying in downtown New Orleans with it's old world feel.  Most people walk, bike or take trains to get around and back/forth to work.  That's it for now.  Back to exploring.

Send Off with a Hitch, Poor Anne

Well this is our first entry in getting ready for the great Hungarian Adventure.  Friends at work had a Pre-Halloween party for a send off.  Anyone who knows me knows that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  Still lots of little stuff to do so I will go for now.