November 12/13, 2010: A Visitor arrives; Snowboarding competition

November 12, 2010: After my meeting with Ica, one of my Hungarian teachers (the one who teaches me Hungarian in exchange for a lesson in English), I returned home to prepare for my weekend guest whom I would meet at Keleti Train Station. His train was to arrive at 4:42 p.m. and I arrived there with several minutes to spare. Around 4:35 my cell phone rang and it was Kent telling me that the train would be about a half hour late. I sat down on a bench where his train was to arrive. Shortly a Hungarian gentleman sat on the same bench and spoke to me in Hungarian. I told him (in Hungarian) that I don't speak Hungarian and he said "English?". I nodded and he proceeded to talk with me about his job, etc. It was a very nice conversation. He eventually left to try to find his train (the electronic signs at the gates of the trains are not well or accurately marked and it appeared that trains were running late to add to the confusion). Shortly thereafter a rather drunk hobo sat next to me and started to talk with me. I told him my standard sentence (" I don't speak Hungarian.") but that didn't stop him. He shook my hand and talked a storm. I eventually walked away and I saw the hobo get on a train and eventually leave. Meanwhile no sign of Kent. Finally two hours later, Kent's train arrived. He told me that although his train had arrived in Budapest an hour and a half earlier, they were sitting on the tracks until the train in lane 4 had left. Note to self for the future: arrive at the train station with plenty of time to spare to ensure that I'm at the right track and on the correct train at the correct time!

Kent and I decided to go directly downtown for dinner. We first roamed Vaci utca before I took him to what has become my favorite restaurant -- in fact the first restaurant that I ate at in Hungary when I arrived on August 14th. When we arrived, the restaurant was filled with vibrant people eating their meals. A harpist was playing music, and it felt good to sit down in such an atmosphere. I ordered the beef in red wine sauce dish -- delicious! I then ordered a home made lemon tart for dessert. A great meal was had by all.


We roamed the streets a bit more and returned to my apartment. The next day we went to Tesco where I got my first haircut since arriving in Hungary. The hair cutter spoke a bit of English and we managed to discuss a few topics while she cut my hair. Then I bought some groceries and we returned home, made a quick lunch, and went downtown to do some sightseeing. Kent wanted to go to the market and then the Museum of Agriculture so we took the bus to Ferenciek ter. We walked inside the building undergoing renovation so I could see the ceiling during daylight hours.

building under renovation near Ferenciek ter

Building under renovation near Ferenciek ter

From there we walked to the central market. After visiting the main and second floors, we went downstairs to see where fish and pickled vegetables are sold.

Pickled vegetables for sale at central market

Happy vegetables for sale at central market

From there we walked to the Opera House which Kent had not seen before and walked the rest of the way to Husok tere. On the way, we stopped for a cup of lemonade and a coffee flavored bakery delicacy at the Alexandra Book Store. We walked from there to Husok tere where I could hear loud hip hop music coming from the park just next to Husok tere. I looked over to see that an enormous ski jump had been constructed and there were snowboarders coming down the slope and they would jump in the air doing summersaults, etc. before boarding themselves to the finish line (or falling). There was a huge crowd watching this event. Kent and I decided not to get closer since it required paying for a ticket to enter the area any closer. 

snowboard ramp constructed at Husok tere

Instead we walked through Husok tere and ended up at the Museum of Agriculture. The sun was just setting so I got a good picture of the castle (which you've seen now many times in my blog -- I just can't help myself) with the sun shining off the statues at the top of the building.

Museum of Agriculture at sunset

After seeing the castle, we went through the park and ended up quite near the ski jump just outside the fenced in area where ticketed people roamed. It was close enough to see the action:

After watching the snowboarders for several minutes, we proceeded to Liszt Ferenc ter for dinner. We tried to go to the same restaurant Ric and I went to two weeks ago, but there were no tables available. Not wanting to wait, we went to a different restaurant, a Spanish one, and had our dinner there. Not as good as the restaurant I had wanted to eat at. 

Then we walked to St. Stephen's Basilica to meet two other CETP teachers for drinks. 

St. Stephen's Basilic by night

Both of these teachers were younger than Kent's and my kids, but it was fun to talk with them. They both were extremely bright and had traveled extensively. One of them, Meg, is from Canada and this is her second year in Hungary where she teaches pre-school children. Her students are the children of some pretty well connected Hungarians, people who are movers and shakers in Hungary. The other woman is Indian and the daughter of someone who works in the UN. She has lived in Cambodia, South Africa, and has been in Hungary for two years now. She received her degree from UK. Both ladies were eager teachers and seemed to know a lot about Hungary, its history, and know Budapest well. 

After a drink, we all proceeded to our homes where Kent and I crashed ... after all, we had walked several miles by the time we met Meg and Rani.