Eating Turkey and Playing Tourist

This week has been full of exciting things to be thankful for. Despite living in Hungary, the CIEE group and I were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with a fantastic feast. On the same day, my parents landed on Budapest soil for a five-day visit as the first leg of their vacation. I’ve spent most of the past three days feeling a joyful combination of spoiled and stuffed!

Buda Castle and Széchenyi Chain Bridge

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is an odd holiday to celebrate outside of America, mostly because it doesn’t exist anywhere else... That didn’t stop us from having a celebratory feast in Budapest!

We (unfortunately) had classes on Thanksgiving Day, but several of us spent the hours between those and dinner cooking up our home specialties. I made Oreo balls the night before so that I could use the time to meet my parents who had reached their rented apartment while I was in class.

There where lots of hugs and “I missed you’s” before the “where can we eat?” slipped out so I brought my parents to Púder Bárszínház (my favorite restaurant on Ráday Utca, where I live) for dinner. I couldn’t resist getting my own meal (I did say it is my favorite restaurant). Two hours later I headed back to the dorm for round two of eating.

CIEE hosted the Thanksgiving dinner in the dorm kitchen. They brought the turkey and several side dishes in addition to those made by students. People in the program made sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, salad, wild rice casserole, stuffing, and more, as they would have back home. There was homemade pálinka (Hungarian hard liquor), several bottles of wine, and lots of talking and laughing.

Everything got rave reviews and people loved the Oreo balls (not to brag or anything). We ate until we could barely move but there were still a lot of leftovers remaining. There was a whole other turkey we didn’t even touch! CIEE comes prepared.

Tourist for a Weekend

I’ve had the enormous pleasure over the past few days of being able to share this beautiful city with my parents. My sister and her husband are having a second wedding ceremony in India (where he is originally from) later this week and so, once Mom and Dad decided to attend, it wasn’t a far stretch to stop in Budapest to see me on the way.

Having them here has allowed me to revert a little to tourist status. We’ve gone places new and known to me: Spinoza Café, St. István Bazilika (St. Stephen’s Basilica), Café Gerbaud, Buda Castle, Halászbástya (Fisherman’s Bastion), and Christmas markets all over the city.

Four Seasons Gresham Palace

Gresham Palace Christmas Market

Gresham Palace Christmas Market

We’ve had a ton of delicious meals and plenty of mulled wine to keep us warm outside. We even accidentally found out that St. Stephen’s Basilica has a short version of The Nutcracker projected onto the front in the evenings. It reminded me of the Christmas “show” in the Comcast Center in Philadelphia – except on the face of the biggest basilica in Budapest instead of on cleverly disguised screens in a lobby area.

St. Stephen's Basilica Christmas Market

St. Stephen's Basilica Christmas Market

The Nutcracker on St. Stephen's Basilica

Rain and snow could not affect how thrilled I am to have been able to share such an incredible place and my experiences with my parents – and there were both! It was nice to take pictures as if I were here only for the weekend and would never see these people again.

Fisherman's Bastion

It was even better to be able to act as a guide and to know where I was and how to get from point A to point B in the easiest manner. I realized how much I take my sense of direction for granted because Mom and Dad had no idea where we were most of the time.

It was best to be able to hug my mom and dad for the weekend. (My debit card and) I will have a hard time saying goodbye again, but I’m thankful to have the opportunity.

Let it Rain, Let it Rain, Let it Rain

Growing up in New England, I have certain expectations from nature during any given season. I’m used to being surrounded by trees and I’m used to those trees displaying brilliant fall foliage before becoming bare. I’m used to colder weather and the possibility of a mid-October dusting of snow.

Hungary, however, does not care about my expectations.

Living in a large city is the first limit to my interaction with nature. Instead of trees, buildings surround me in Pest. These building are examples of some of the most breathtaking architecture I’ve ever experienced firsthand and each with its own story. They breathe life in a different way, but they’re also constant, unchanging.

Pest

Simply walking across a bridge to Buda brings you to a whole different world and you can feel the change in the atmosphere. While still being littered with small shops and restaurants, it’s much more residential and home to most of Budapest’s natural aspects. When I need it, it’s a breath of fresh air!

Just yesterday I walked to Buda on a whim to climb Gellért Hill. The hill is an odd combination of paved pathways and hiker-made dirt paths. The paved paths create a sort of maze of possibilities to get to and from the top on either side. Admittedly, I got a little lost on the way down...

Buda (Gellért Hill on the left, Buda Castle on the right)

It’s nice to have some access to nature where you can get a little lost and forget that you’re in a massive city. Still, this is a far cry from New England autumn (though I may be slightly biased). Here the trees that are not still green are a pale yellow or they skipped right to a crunchy brown.

I was told before coming here that Hungary has more of a rainy season than a winter before January. This should have been my queue to prepare for such, but instead I thought I’d see for myself first. Now I’m not sure why I doubted that.

Rain on Széchenyi Chain Bridge

It’s been raining the majority of this past week, a mix of sprinkles and downpours when we least expect with a touch of wind. In the evenings I find it beautiful with the glistening city lights, but I’d probably enjoy it even more if I had a raincoat (or any coat with a hood for that matter). I just got an umbrella a couple weeks ago and it’s already been put to good use – when I remember to bring it with me, that is.



It’s not what I’m used to but it is more-or-less what I expected for this time of year. I was mentally prepared for different, even if I wasn’t exactly materially prepared to be in it... And I appreciate every drop of rain that falls off my nose when I don’t have my umbrella.

Fe(a)stivals

When going abroad, it’s good to open your mind to try something (or a lot of things) new. I’m talking about food. Between a wine festival at Buda Castle, a renaissance feast hosted by CIEE, and a sweets festival at Buda Castle, this past week has been stuffed to the brim with glorious Hungarian food and wine.

Until last weekend, I didn’t know the first thing about how wine festivals work. My roommate and I were lucky enough to be with my tandem partner (a Hungarian student that CIEE paired us with to help make friends and get acclimated) who translated when a magazine worker offered us discounted tickets. Yes, they were legitimate and much appreciated.

People enjoying wine and the view from the wine festival at Buda Castle

We entered the 24th Annual Budapest Wine Festival with wide eyes and sparkling new glasses that served a dual purpose as souvenirs. The terrace was lined with huts for the more than 200 local and international vendors. Once we were on the terrace of Buda Castle it became a matter of watching and learning.

Eventually we approached a vendor and tried some wine we recognized as distinctively Hungarian, which we then brought over to the cheese vendor who helped us find the perfect pairings. We got the hang of it and found more pairings of wines and desserts before making our way back to the dorm.

Here’s where I remind you what your mother said before you boarded the plane: pace yourself, know your limit, and drink lots of water. It may be fun to be legal, but nobody’s having fun if you don’t make it to the trash bin.

Of course we wore the crowns

As a part of an excursion, our CIEE advisors brought us for a renaissance feast in Visegrád. I typically eat only chicken and turkey for meats so this meal was definitely going out of my comfort zone – and it was awesome.

The three-course meal started with venison soup with potato dumplings. The King Sigismund platter served as the main course and consisted of a larded turkey leg baked in whole, marinated pork ribs, and potatoes with cheese, plus cabbage boiled in apple and red wine. This was followed with the Knight’s Cup for dessert: fruits, sponge cake with cinnamon cream, chocolate sauce, chestnut cream, and a chocolate deer horn. It was all summed up with a nice cup of espresso.

Finally, I got to enjoy Édes Napok (Sweet Days), one of Europe’s biggest chocolate and candy festivals this weekend! With a set-up on the terrace of Buda Castle similar to that of the wine festival, huts lined the sides with chocolate, candy, and caffeine from all over Europe.

We started with a chocolate and fruit cup before getting some mysterious chocolates from the Csokiss stand (Hungarian “csokoládé”/“csoki” = English “chocolate”/“choc.”), where what made them mysterious was that all of the labels were in Hungarian. I still have no idea what they were other than delicious.

Chocolates from Csokiss

An added bonus of the festival was the ability to get a wonderful piece of cake to celebrate my sister’s birthday from the other side of the world. She didn’t get to eat any but I’m sure she appreciated the thought.

There’s always something to celebrate in Hungary, even if it’s just having the opportunity to be here!