Hungary

I took this picture our first night in the city. We went up by the castle to venture through the Labryinth.

We have reached our final night in Hungary. I have to admit, despite the rocky start - our time in Budapest has really been wonderful. Yesterday we took a free guided tour around the city and today we visited a huge market and spent the evening at Szcehneyi Furdo - the largest hot spring bath in the city.

More than anything the last week has really helped awaken my awareness to the stark reality that the end of World War II actually ushered in the darkest years for many countries in Eastern Europe as they fell under communist rule. Right now politics are sticky in Hungary because people are quite polarized - one half has a very difficult time trusting former communist political figures while the other half views the opposition as Nazi supporting fascists. It's an interesting dynamic - really it comes down to which side was the lesser of the two evils. . . We saw the equivilant of the White House (though it is an office only - not a residence)- but the president here doesn't wield much power as the role is more symbolic here. The actual power rests with the Prime Minister.

Most of Budapest was destroyed or damaged during WW2. A lot of buildings have been rebuilt and restored. It was interesting, though, because all of the statues in the city had been buried under the castle and were preserved from bombing damage.

The market was WONDERFUL this morning. We did some more venturing out trying to figure out public transport in a foreign language and experienced pretty good success. We stocked up on fruit, eggs and cheese for meals today (I bought some WONDERFUL dried cranberries. Twice. I ate all of my first batch while still in the market so I had to get some more :) I came across a sweater that struck me as being really nice for my Grandma Pearson, so I picked that up and will mail it to her when I get back home.

The market

Soaking in the baths tonight was PERFECT. They have about 9 different pools. We were in a couple of indoor equivilants to hot tubs and then we ventured into the cold and discovered how amaaaazing the outdoor pool was. The water was really hot which was creating a lot of steam against the cold, crisp, clear evening air. The sky was the most beautiful blue I have ever seen. It was very cool.

A few "take aways" (that's for all of you military folk :) from this trip:

* You cannot find food more inexpensive anywhere in the world than America. I thought that prices would be better in Hungary. While they were better than what I'm used to seeing in the UK, food was still relatively expensive. I am grateful to people like my daddy who farm and provide us with the world's yummiest and most affordable treats :)

* Communism plagued Eastern Europe not so long ago. The rebuilding process is very slow.

The area we stayed showed a very clear contrast of "East meets West"

* It is possible to navigate a city and confusing public transport system in which you do not speak the language - that's been a huge accomplishment, especially in Budapest

* Burger Kings are as common in Budapest as Starbucks are in New York City. Seriously, they are everywhere. An interesting observation is that fast food restaurants like McD's and BK are fairly fancy over here (as far as the buildings they are in - it's the same gross food). I decided that in America we go to these places for the "fast" whereas here they actually go here for the "food"

* European men of all shapes and sizes wear very tight, very short bathing suits. Very unsightly.

* Spending money is a bit more painful when you are forking out currency that is in thousands (the exhange in Hungary is 200 to 1) - even when you aren't actually spending a lot it still feels like it!

* I am really starting to appreciate the 2 become 1 piece of marriage. I am learning that while I can have a wonderful time away from Philip, as his wife I can't fully recharge without him. I really appreciate traveling with him as it's nice to feel safe, protected and have someone else having responsbility to take the lead.

* Apparently, I've forgotten exactly how cold Minnesota is. It's been really chilly here. Yesterday it was pretty windy on top of things. I made the comment, "this feels like Minnesota" to which Destiny looked at me and said, "it's obviously been a long time since you've lived in Minnesota. This is warm in Minnesota, Joy." It really was cold!!!!

We fly out on British Airways tomorrow at 12:30 and will get to London around 4. We'll be spending tomorrow night in Notting Hill. I love it when life is like the movies. . .