Chiara and I spent six days trekking around Budapest and Lake Balaton with a good snowboarding buddy of ours, Gergely. Neither I nor any other of Gergely's other coworkers in Vail can pronounce his Hungarian name correctly (GAER GAY), so, throughout the week, we called him Greg, Gergs, Gergö, and Gergerly for the humor of it. We were THRILLED to add Gergely to our 2 man traveling team, and it was endearing that Gergely was as excited as we were for our visit! He was an excellent host, tour guide, and companion throughout the trip: He always had great ideas of places to go and things to do, and he was HAPPY to show us around, which was the best part. :)
Over the week, we were busy! We started off on the wrong foot--immediately getting a fined for buying the wrong ticket in the Metro (in a city that supposedly never checks tickets...so why buy them, they say...). We got turned away from the tourist office because the lady had "too many tourists to help." haha. We got caught by security after passing a fence, hiking across a former moat, and sneaking into a castle (it seems the best time to go is when it's closed). 
And, did I mention the political protest? One night, we were trying to catch the night bus, when we found ourselves in the midst of police in riot gear, a car that was being hosed down by a firetruck, and rumors of being tear gassed. We had quite a unique experience in Hungary.But the highlights were even more exciting: spending time with good friends like Chiara, Gergely and Andrea from Vail, and visiting a place NOT listed in my guidebook. It was quite a treat.
The best Hungarian experience ever included: a tour of Buda and Pest, with a spectacular view of Buda Castle and the Parliament which overlooked the Danube.
In Buda, we walked around Castle Hill, and saw the beautiful white Fisherman's Bastion castle, tip-toed through the dark underground labyrinth of Buda cave, and visited the Pàlvölgyi cave.
In Pest, we soaked in the Szechenyi baths and walked around Hero's Square.
Gergerly took us to the outdoor bars and hot spots at nighttime, where we danced and danced and danced. There was quite a nightlife in the city of Budapest.
He also took us on a countryside getaway to Lake Balaton. There, we met two of Gergely's kite surfing friends, enjoyed the small villages of Thiany and Vöröstö, and slept in a traditional cottage-like Hungarian home. We also did a bit of wakeboarding (on a windy day with a mogul field of waves) and sailing (aye aye to the Captain)!
And boy was I hungry in HUNGARY (sorry, bad joke)! Realizing that I seem to have a fast metabolism and have to eat all the time, I got to taste many different dishes in Hungarian cuisine. Hungary is most famous for paprika, which was quite delicious in the Hungarian goulash, fish soup, and the mushroom and pasta dish. We found a new cheese to love, the string cheese that unfolds in curly tendrils (parenyica), and a new kind of bacon too (aka a slab of lard). Not to mention, we certainly enjoyed this smorgasbord of duck, potatoes and plum sauerkraut served in a Hungary-shaped dish.
In the end, we had a great time in Hungary, the proud home of paprika, Unicum liquor, Rubik's cube (Did you know there are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible combinations?), and Gergely! We didn't want to leave (and almost didn't because we went to the wrong airport...) But, Oktoberfest and Monaco (the Italian name for Munich, not the country of Monaco!) were awaiting. ;)
BUDA BUDA BUDA!!! PEST PEST PEST!!!
"I am Greg"
No comments:
Post a Comment