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.