Last days in Budapest.....

• I can't believe it, I really can't....but alas, my time in Budapest is coming to an end. I can't tell you how much I have learned about myself, the world around me, and most importantly, about the people who populate it. It's exciting!

I came here with no expectations....I wanted to see what was here before I made any decisions about the people of the country that hosted me, the region and the whole 'living the expat life'. I am glad I took this approach. But I won't lie, there were times when I caught myself judging; judging about 'their way of life', 'their country', and 'their beliefs'. Eventually when the frustration subsided, I got to know the city, the locals, the expats, the customs and also 'got over' what ever the issue was, I knew those judgments were only half true. The other half of the truth was manageable. I guess if we were all the same, the world would be kind of boring anyway.

When I arrived in Hungary back in May I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Having never lived abroad, nor spent extensive amounts of time in a place where I was the second language learner, I guess I was slightly nervous.......the nervousness turned into slight panic when I arrived to, was jet-legged, lost, knew know one and realized that I couldn't just 'ask'.... but, it didn't last long. When they both subsided soon came the 'oh man, what I have gotten myself into, I'm lost, it's raining, it's cold, it's loud, I want my bed'. But then I began to meet some people here, both at work and the fellow 'interns'. Meeting and getting to know these people, their stories and beliefs, caused my perceptions to morph my thinking to, 'okay, so, it's not so bad, maybe this actually could be fun'.

When the old interns left, and replaced by new interns, when friends came to visit and I was suddenly the tour guide and cultural translator, and when a new roommate arrived, exhibiting the same nervous confused behaviors I remember having when I arrived...I knew that I'd finally reached the ' wow, Budapest does have charms beyond Castle Hill'......I think this is a good thing to leave with.

I had my final exit interview with my supervisor and the ambassador yesterday. Besides discussing the standard 'so how was your time here, what was your job, what did you learn, how was your team etc', the Ambassador asked me about the expectations that I brought with me. Both to the job and to the internship. I had to be truthful, and told her I didn't know enough to come with expectations.... but I am leaving with a whole new perspective on things....like poverty, racism, nationalism, minority rights, and history. I also am leaving with a new appreciation for communication, well timed public transportation, Balkan Beats, a stable government and public service and Kraft Peanut Butter (never will I leave the country without a stash). According to the ambassador, my desire for Peanut Butter is what 'typical' Canadians ask for when abroad....I smiled at the fact that my neurotic behavior was a 'typical Canadian thing'. We also talked about the wonderful people that work at the office, their approach to life and their jobs, and the general positive outlook that most bring everyday. This was one of the first places I'd ever worked where people were more worried about their own jobs than what other people were doing, they worked together like nothing I've seen before, and gossip was always that afterthought of a conversation, not the purpose of it. I was amazed at how this impacted my work, and the whole environment of the office. Something I will take with me to where ever I end up.

She also thanked me for the Canadian cupcakes we'd made her upon her arrival (and mentioned that she knew it must have been a 'Canadian' who would have suggested it). (The entire office was thankful for the treat mum).


Hungary is a beautiful country, and like many countries in this region and the world, still struggles with its past, and is unsure of its future. But this uncertainty needn't be a pejorative thing... if properly managed, uncertainly breeds creativity and innovation. Both of which can help move any struggling country, region, or person forward....

The last 10 days....

The last 10 days have been, well, some of the finest here in Budapest. It was really nice to have Becca and Amanda visit and to have them experience some of the things that I have experienced here (both good and bad).

The two travelling Canadians confirmed the things I LOVE about Budapest, like the views, the quirkiness of the city, the metro stop announcers, and to some extent, living in a place where the language is so foreign that it become comical attempting to understand something….I think they both experienced this at one point or another during their stay (and I will note: Amanda couldn’t figure out the water on the first try as well (so I am not that nuts!)). They also confirmed some of the things that get slightly frustrating about living here…. like how communication takes on a whole new meaning when your operating in a non-English zone, how a simple trip to get one thing is never so simple, what I mean by 'the city is covered in a blankey of soot' and what noise pollution really sounds like at 2 am....

Amanda arrived on Tuesday morning, fresh off a bus from Prague. We had breakfast together, I gave her a very brief almost skeleton sketch of things she should venture over too and explained the basics of Budapest (ie: duna, metro, key metro stops, and where I live (in proper Hungarian pronunciation)). Then I took her to see the embassy, and sent her on her way. We all met back at the house around 5 and went to the opera! The Opera was on only because of ‘BudaFest’, a summer arts festival going on. It just so happened that the week that both of them were going to be in Budapest was also the same week the opera was playing the summer show, Il Travatore….so I got tickets and off we went. There must have been a famous hungarian singer because everytime one of the singers came on stage the crowd went nuts. Becca read a summary of the opera before the show (and subsequently translated the events after each scene).

While the show was sung in Italian with Hungarian surtitles, it didn’t much matter as the building was so opulent and ornate it was very easy to get lost just staring at the shimmering gold, statues, and peoples faces as they watched. We had a balcony seat right near the front and I think we all felt slightly posh (even if we arrived huffing and puffy on the account of our own tardiness). During the intermission we were free to roam around the building taking pictures and exploring all the rooms. We ended up finding a cool balcony on the 3rd floor where a small reception was happening…..although we were ignored by the waiters as I guess we were the ‘crashers’ so to speak. After the Opera I took them to Szimpla, but it was really busy and I think both of them were slightly overwhelmed....

Wednesday I had to go to work, but I sent Becca and Amanda to Széchenyi Baths. It is the most touristy of the bpest baths, but still, it's beautiful. Then Wednesday night I took them to the place where I had by birthday dinner. The trofea grill (a kind of Tuckers Market Place for Hungarian foods). While the food quality is similar to any buffet, the type of food was all Hungarian (and we got a kick out of trying all the really rather interesting dishes……including foe gras….ewww…).
we had two rules about the night. 1) everyone had to try everything 2) each person got one ‘I will not swallow this’ pass. I used my pass on this crunchy creaming cold salad thing (that I still have no idea what it was). Becca used her'son the foie gras. Amanda was a trouper and tried, and swallowed, Everything.
The most ‘Hungarian’ dishes included Dill and chicken soup (we all liked this one). Goulash, Sour Cherry Soup, Chicken in a mushroom sauce, a roast that was made of something similar to game with a sweet gravey (gammet? I think that's what it was called), potato dumplings, some very odd cold cuts, pickles, saukraut (Hungarian style), pogàcha, chestnut Spaghetti, a weird cream salad in which NONE of us could figure out the ingredients too, Potato cheese pizza…etc... As always, I liked the dessert best, and may or may not have had 2 helpings....We didn’t eat full servings of anything….or else I think we would have all exploded…..we made mini bites (except, I had a full serving of dessert...), and I think it was enjoyed by everyone. PLUS they got to see the firework/birthday candle (and agreed that the candle would probably be considered a firework in Canada, and would not be found on a cake).

After dinner, we were all feeling like we were in a food coma so I decided to take my guests on a night tour of Budapest (to ease the digestion process). I took them to the Petofi Bridge to get a glimpse of all the bridges at night, the Danube Embankment where both got to see the Holocaust shoe memorial, then to parliament, hero’s square, the chain bridge, and St. Stephen’s Basilica.

We got home around midnight, spent a couple of hours getting ready for the next leg of our trip, then went to bed.



We got up 4 hours later to catch a 6 30 train to Zagreb!

Bratislava welcomes you!

Saturday Becca and I got up an went to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The train ride was hilarious. First there were about 20 or so hung over or exhausted (or both) people heading home from the Sziget’s music festival (going on in Budapest at the time). One guy was sleeping on the floor of his compartment….with his head in the hall…… Becca and I managed to get our own harry potter looking compartment and happily enjoyed it until we hit the Slovak border….at this point three grown men, and a kid about 7 years old, decided to join us…..based on their state of cleanliness, the amount of stuff they had, and well, their stench (to be blunt), they had just come from Camping. The kid was eating garlic chips, which apparently smelt (according to becca). I couldn’t smell anything but the mix of beer, people smell, and wood smoke that was radiating from the man beside me.

Sadly, as we can’t speak Slovak, and they couldn’t speak English, we smiled for a second or two, then well sort of ignored each other. They were chit chatting in Slovak and we were chit chatting in English. About 10 minutes after they arrived in our cabin the trolley came around. It was manned by an Italian man, who seemed to only speak Italian (except for the words ‘coffee sanVitches’), and yelled at the campers every time he walked by (the campers stuff, including a boat motor and paddle were in the hall way). Then at one point, in the middle of the Italian rant, we heard a crash….the trolley made an unexpected collision with something….after the crash came silence and we never saw the man again……

As we rode we all continued to chat (in our respected mother tongues)...but then the kid traveling with them start randomly saying English words. Becca and I gathered that the adults were 'testing' the kid on how much English he knew (the adults knew none)....it was funny for a while because amongst the millions of Slovak words we would hear things like 'blue', 'Red', 'tree', and 'Vi-o-let (he struggled with this colour)'.....actually when he started repeating vi-o-let (to practice his pronunciation I assume), both becca and I had the urge to turn around and say 'puuuurrrple'....I'm not sure why becca didn't say it, but I refrained because I thought it might freaked the kid out a bit...then he started to count. But got stuck at three….well…actually, he confused four with ‘twelve teen’….really…he said ‘voooone, twoooo, sztree, twelve-teen’. It was priceless……over and over again….

The English test FINALLY ended with the struggle between ‘happy home’ and ‘happy house’….to convey whatever Slovak word the adult were asking him to translate….truthfully I have no idea…but you could tell (and hear) that the kid was thinking hard about that one….after we left the train becca made the point that the odd sounding nature of ‘one, two, three, twelve-teen’ probably sounds similar when I attempt to speak Hungarian (mispronouncing words, or mis using words) and more specifically, how I count in Hungarian (I also struggle with the number four…)….I think she might be right on that one!

After a 1.5 hour ‘tree on the track’ delay we arrived in Bratislava (we learned of the tree through a charades act with one of the Slovak campers...the kids English didn't go past 'tree'..so to adult used his arm to mimic a falling tree and then say the work 'track'....we got the gist...).
When we got there we consulted RS, who, typical to form, did not give very good directions. We ended up walking the wrong way for about an hour, looking for an ‘onion shaped dome’…we weren’t sure what type of onion he meant…..

But in our ‘lost in Bratislava moment’ we witnessed a car crash! (well, one car side swiped another). No one was injured (which is good), but it was still a very interesting way to say hello to a city.

After walking around lost for an hour, and saying some unpleasant words to RS, we finally found the ‘large fountain’, and ‘onion shaped dome’ leading us through St. Micheal’s gate into the Old Town. (Before I go further, I must say that the first thing in Old Town is ‘Marzipan World!’. I was not impressed as the Marzipan Museum, back in Szentendre, said they were the only thing of it’s kind in the WHOLE world….tsk tsk…).

Oh well, the more the merrier I guess.
The Old Town of Bratislava is newly gentrified. During the Communist era, it was actually a rough and tumble dangerous area of the city that no one went to without a reason. However, the local government and some business investors decided to reinvent the area a couple of years ago, and it is now a cute place to spend the afternoon. Beyond the standard, pretty, town square, coffee house, souvenir parts bits (which are like all the rest), the town is known for the four fun statues that have been placed throughout the old town.
The city decided to put these comical statues in the old town to lure people back, and I think they did a pretty good job. One is of a Napoleonic Soldier leaning over a bench. One is on the ground looking like he is coming out of a sewer (with the sign ‘men at work’), and one is of a man hugging the corner of a building looking through a telescope. The last one is of a local man wearing a top hat. The story of this man is that he was a local shoe maker who used to walk around the city centre cheering people up (with the use of his top hat). All the statues were happy-go-lucky and really neat to see! We then walked to an open art exhibit, watched two guys play a game of chess using pieces the size of my leg (really the pawns came up to my knee), and then watched some street tai chi. It was a really nice, calm sort of thing just to stroll!

We strolled around for a bit longer then ventured to the Slovak Pub to have some traditional Slovak grub and beer before heading back on the train. We decided to get the ‘sampler plate’ and some Wiener Schnitzel (Becca wanted to try it). The sampler plate had home made perogi’s called Bryndzové pirohy (My favourite of the three, they were made with dill and sheep cheese!), these little potatoes dumplings with more sheep cheese and thick bacon ‘squares’ (which tasted like ‘macaroni and cheese’ made with sheep cheese (which is similar to goat cheese) called Bryndzové halušky), and Strapačky a form of sauerkraut with bacon and, MORE potato dumplings. We washed the carb comatose down with some local beer (Zlaty Bazant, a very light summer style beer). We took a picture, but, as the plate was filled with potatoes (in one form or another) and white sheep cheese, the photo made the white glob of food look kind of gross....and well we decided that the photo didn’t do the food justice…... We got through half the plate before admitting defeat, and decided to walk the 1 km to the train station….to uh…help with the digestion.

We arrived back in Budapest around 11 and proceeded to pass out for the night.

Today is my Friday, but really it's Wednesday.

This Friday is St. Stephen's Day. A national Holiday here in Hungary. It also means I have the day off, and when certain important people found out that I was headed to a destination some 8 hours by train away, they offered an extra day off for me...this is how today is my Friday. yeah!

This past week I have fallen back into the tourist mode here in Bpest as two visitors have ascended upon me. With the exception of a couple of lost moments (in the dungeons of the underground cross walks), I think I've done okay as a tour guide.

So where to begin? Well, Becca arrived last Thursday and after picking her up, taking her to my flat, and then gawking at all Canadian things that found home in her suitcase, and a cup cake that came in her carry on, I took her on a mini tour. Well actually, I took her on the exact same tour that Janet took me on my first day (minus all the logistical information that was fed to me. I didn't think Becca really needed to know that the spice shop beside mammut mall sells every kind of spice available in HU). Although jet lagged, she seemed to have enjoyed the Great Market Hall, the Danube, Parliament, Buda Castle etc. I made her stay up until 9 pm and by then she became slight loopy (nearing the 9pm line she asked me why the numbers on my clock were "flashing". I looked over to find no such flashing, and then thought it best to let her sleep).

Friday morning I was off to work, leaving a sleeping Becca in Pest. at 2 she met me in Buda, and I took her to the children's railway. The children's railway is a railway that runs through the Buda Hills, and with the exception of the train driver and one adult supervisor, every role and job on the railway is done by a kid between the age of 6 and 14. It was quite odd to be ushered onto a train by a 12 year old, be soluted 'goodbye' by a six year old, and listen to an 8 year old kid screaming 'all aboard (in Hungarian)'. It dates backs to the communist era, when it was called the Pioneer Railway, and was meant to teach children about work ethic, and attached to the Communist version of the Boy Scouts, etc. Today, its run my kids who get extra credit at school for their work on the railway. It was very unique to say the least.

We took the train about half way along its course, getting off to head towards a lookout spot (Janos Hegy). The railway website said it was 'a few minutes walk from the stop'. They lied. It was a 1.5 km up hill hike, through the woods. After trudging all the way up to the stop (and failing to see the chair lift, which would have been friendlier way of getting to the top), we arrived at a slightly intimidating white stone tower. The Erzebet Tower (named after Sissi....as everything seems to be here). There were three levels, with a double helix stair case. I think the tower was used for a lookout at one point in time (as the windows and view points seemed to be strategically placed with places to put the barrel of a gun.....BUT gun whole or not, the views were spectacular! Really, you not only could see all of Budapest, but also all the surrounding towns and villages for miles. The first level was in doors, and had a mini exhibition about the towe itself. All in Hungarian. We looked at the pictures and went on our way. The second story was great, windy, but the views! Wow! We also saw a lizard. Very Random.

Then we decided that the 500 metre high tower just wasn’t high enough, and ventured to the top. We had to walk through construction to get there though. At first we were stopped by a sign in Hungarian and German, we didn’t know what the sign meant, but decided to be cautious and follow the rest of the pack up to the top. It was one of those ‘dumb traveller’ moments, as well, in order to get to the top of the tower we had to climb over several green metal support beams, up stairs covered in paper, and walk past cement walls that were still wet. When we got to the top, there was nothing but a guard rail that came up to my hip. Oh man. Being over 550 metres in the air with nothing but a rod iron guard rail, on top of a tower being held up by metal support beams, all the while the wind is blowing, my skirt is flying everywhere and the ground looking a lot further away than we imagined, meant that we stayed there for about 3 minutes. Just enough time to check out the views!

After spending about an hour at the tower we made our way to Keleti Railway Station to buy tickets for Bratislava and Zagreb, and then we went home and made Chicken Paprikash! Becca really enjoyed it too (and we’ve packed some souvenirs accordingly).

Walk Left, Stand Right.

Please do not judge.

I understand that living in a foreign country also means that one must conform to the customs of said country.

Most of the time, I am very happy to conform. Really, I am.

But when one is running late for work, one seems to revert back to their cultural 'instincts' for how this "should be done", and one may have a tendency to display behaviours of the 'typical rude American', but in actuality, these behaviours are typical of a ‘late for work Canadian’.

I am sorry. But I like the logic of two lines on an escalator. Walk left, Stand Right. Walk right, Stand Left, it doesn't much matter to me, but the mayhem of the Budapest metro where it's walk, crawl, stand, sit, snort, waddle, dance, or embrace, cuddle, kick, kiss....well it was just too much this morning....

(on a separate note, Becca’s and a suit case of Canada is here! This excites me!).

That is all.

Goooodbiiyyyye (as the tram 4/6 says at the end of the line)

Spandau und Potsdam

This weekend I ventured over to Berlin. With Max stationed there for the summer, and an easy jet 1 hour flight it makes it easy to go for the weekend. well except when there is a rain storm while you are in the passenger bus ready to go to the plane. Did i mentioned that the passenger bus was overcrowded and the doors, skylights all seemed to have lost their water proofing? did I mention that they left us in the bus for the entire duration of the storm. did I mention that there was ONE window? and it was 30 minutes of waiting?

okay. So the flight there wasn't as smooth as it could have been.....but arriving an hour and a half late didn't really ruin any plans...as well the weather sort of did that already (who wants to have a picnic at a castle when it's raining?).

In lieu of actually doing Berlin again, we decided that this weekend we would go to the outer skirts of east Germany, to a small town called Paretz (which, well, was no very exciting), and then to Potsdam. We headed to Paretz to see an exhibition about Queen Louise, the fashion icon of the Prussian monarchy. The exhibition was at the Schloss Paretz, the country home of the Friedrich Wilhelm III and Luise, and was completely devoted to what both monarchs wore and how fashioned evolved during their reign. It was pretty cool to see the jewelry, hats, scarfs, coats, dresses, toothbrushes, makeup, paintings, and even their marriage carriage (which by the way looked EXACTLY like the one from Cinderella). Each room was devoted to a particular 'time of day' or 'type of event' and they had the original clothing and accessories (and English translation) to explain when things were worn, why, etc. I took pictures. but I cannot display them for reasons discussed below. After the Exhibition we decided to wander around the small town, and after about 30 minutes of strolling and poking our heads into a tiny cute-ss-church-i've-ever-seen church, we decided to get into the car and head to Potsdam.

Potsdam, known to me as the place where the Potsdam conference was held at the end of WWII, is actually a pretty cool little town. But slightly odd as well, it has a lot of neat things, everything was sort of all over the place, and the main city centre was not really too interesting. The city itself, other than for the Potsdam conference, is actually the capital of Brandenburg, one of the federal entities in Germany. It is also home to a neat Russian quarter, where the Russian government built a whole neighborhood that looks like old world Russia for the Russian orchestra that was living there. There is also a dutch quarter that looks like your walking down a street in Amsterdam. And of course. there is the Park-Sanssousi. The summer palace of the old Prussian princes and kings.

When we arrived in Potsdam we decided to check out the city centre and the dutch quarter first. This is also where I experienced my first pickpocketing. Yes, my camera was stolen right out of my pocket!!!! This is why there are no photos of the weekend. Some stupid person who stole a half broken camera from my pocket and I didn't even feel it! It makes me angry on so many levels! I guess you can never be too careful (even in Potsdam!).

So after we searched for the camera and I had a slight fit, we decided to break for lunch then walk to Sanssouci. This was a good plan as the camera incident required some time to settle (and I had to get used to the fact that I can't control stupid people or the fact that my camera and memory card are gone). After lunch we started the 1 km trek to the parc. We stopped for some ice cream (walnut fig and rasberry lime sorbet was one cone, and Cactus and salted caramel was the other....I mention the flavours because they were so novel!). When we arrived at the gates of the park we were greated by perfectly placed bundles of yellow, orange and red/pink flowers. We stopped to take a look, then began our 5km trek around the park and it was great!

We arrived at 3 ish there so it wasn't too busy and we could walk around without being trampled by the usual array of tour groups. The Park itself has two large castles (the Neues Palais and Sanssouci (google them to see the beautiful pictures!)). There is also a chinese tea garden (Chinesisches Haus), an Orangerie, a guest house, a wind mill, roman baths, and so many other wonderful little structures all over the perfectly manicured park. We decided to hit Sanssouci and the Neues Palais, the two largest building, but of course we also took detours to visit some of the other things too (like the Chinesische Haus and the Wind mill).

The first on the two big buildings was of course Sanssouci (meaning, 'without a care'). It was the summer home of the Prussian monarchy and build by Fredrich the Great between 1745 and 1747. It is Baroque style yellow building with a green roof perched on a hill, with an enormous half garden stair case to reach the entrance. When you reach the top of the stairs, the first thing you see is huge bold etchings that says 'Sans Souci'. Magnificent! It is actually only one story (which may explain the short building time), but I think that the one story is what makes it so eye catching!

As we arrived there so late, the person at the entrance suggested that in lieu of buying the normal day ticket (that gives you entrance to everything in the park), that we pick one of the 'attractions' and just tour one (you really need to devote an entire day, not a mere 3 hours for this park!). On Max's suggestion, we decided to not actually go into Sanssouci, but to head to the Neue Palais or New Palace.

The Neue Palais is brick, but looks pink from far away. It was built between 1763 and 1769 and is at the opposite end of the Park Sanssouci, 2km from the main entrance). It was built by Fredrich the Great to brag about Prussia's huge expansion post seven years war. Yes, back then people built 220 metre long castles, complete with over 400 hand made sculptures to show off their wealth and power.

There is one large main house and two 'smaller' servants houses (which now house parts of Potsdam University). When we arrived we got our audio guides and just before I headed into the first room I was handed a pair of felt slippers and instructed to put them on while I walk through the castle. This would have been a perfect photo moment..... When I thought about it, and although we all looked slightly retarded, the slipper idea is a good one. 1) so guests don't ruin the mixture of granite, marble and wood floors (depending on which room), and 2) free floor polishing with every person who where's the slippers! As first it was hard to walk with them on (over your shoes), but then I started to sort of glide like one does when walking on curling ice (yes, I curled for two years in highschool). Once I got the hang of it, it was quite fun indeed!

The palais, like most things in Europe, is going through serious restoration. But it was still interesting to see the varying states of deterioration, and what and how the restoration artists go about fixing it up. In the main reception room the walls were covered in gems and sea shells! Each room is carefully decorated with a specific theme (one room had peacocks!). We weren't able to access the whole palace, but we did see two of the kings (and his kids') apartments, the state hall (where they celebrated Christmas!), a couple writing rooms (larger than my entire apartment), dressing rooms and 'sleeping quarters'. Very Nice. Very Cultural. and walking with 5 pound slippers on your feet also meant that we had a workout! hehe.

After the tour was over we ventured to the gift shop and I bought some post cards (to replace my lost photos) and a book about German castles, stately houses, etc (in English, complete with cool photos of each place, driving directions and 'places to go nearby') and we began our trek back to the car, and eventually back to Berlin (well, Spandau, the suburb where Max lives).

We got back to Spandau around 8 and decided to have dinner in the backyard and just relax (after walking all day!). Not much more to report, but still a nice weekend!

Becca comes in four days and Amanda comes in a week and two days! Visitors to Budapest means I can be a tourist again!!!

Stay tuned for updates!

Gödöllő and the Sissi Palace

Last weekend, well, last Friday to be exact, and amidst the Formula one crowds that had descended on the city, I decided to take another Hév adventure. (for a recap, the Hév is the suburban railway. like the GO, but without shocks, air-conditioning or heating, door sensors (they slamn whether you, or your purse, is in between then), and with a foot-ish size step up to actually get on the thing).

While Szentendre is in the Buda burbs, I decided to venture to the outskirts of Pest, to a small town called Gödöllő, home to the summer castle of the former King (not Kaiser) and Queen of Hungary, Franz Joseph and Sissi.

Officially, the Royal Palace is called Királyi Kastély, but unofficially, it is called Sissi's Palace. Primarily because Sissi spent alot of time there and also apparently loved everything about Hungary. A reciprocal relationship soon developed between the people of Hungary, and Sissi (who even managed to learn Hungarian! Now THAT should receive some props my friends).

Anyway, Királyi Kastély was where I was headed and Királyi Kastély is where I ended up (eventually). As this point I feel it necessary to thank the nice old man who attempted to help me in my frantic 'OMG, I have no idea what stop we are at, OMG which stop do I have to get off of, OMG what if I get stuck in the forest, OMG, why can't I ever remember words when accents are involved. The multitude of OMGs caused me to develop mild form of OCD and I was getting up to check the Hév map every five seconds thinking something would change. It also made it look like I was a panicked maniac. If I could have told the nice old man, that I was just a stupid person who can never keep track of metro stops, I would have. Instead I said 'Nem, Kussi Sapen' (short form for No, thanks though) and smiled.

I did actually get off at the right stop and find the palace. No thanks to RS. I mean really what does 'when you get off the train, the palace is kitty cornered to the left' actually mean. Whose left are we talking about?

I did end up finding it, based on the logic of 'hey, that looks like a rather large house, maybe I should venture over there'.

The Palace was built in 1735 by a Count named Anton Grassalkovich. He didn’t like Garlic or Draculas (if you were wondering, as the only count I know was purple, had wings, and taught me how to count backwards and forwards, by ones and by two every Saturday morning).

It was used by the count, and his family, for a while and was even visited by Maria Teresa in 1751 (the historical highlight pre-sissi). In the Grassalkovich part of the castle there were old costumes, swords and maps of the time…pretty historically cool! After Grassalkovich died, the palace went through several owners (on the account that Grassalkovich family had no male heirs).

Franz Josef and Sissi received the castle as a coronation gift in 1867 (and decided to useit partially because they thought it a good idea to have a home in one of the countries they ‘reigned’ over during the Austro-Hungary days of yonder). After World War I, and the demise of the dynasty, the palace came under supervision of the Regent Miklós Horvath, then after WWII the Soviets took control. They used it for several purposes, including a barracks for their troops, social housing, and then a nursing home. Sadly, the turn over post WWI lead to serious, decrepit deterioration of the entire palace.

In the Mid 1980s, renewed interest also meant the beginnings of a large scale refurbishment of the castle, and in 1996 the first rooms were made available to the public. Over the years more and more of the rooms and areas of the castle are becoming open to visitors (including this springs re-opening of the Palace Gardens).

When I arrived, I bought my ticket at followed the signs to open areas. The whole palace is more like a museam, taking you through the years of the Grassalkovich occupancie and general Hungarian aristocratic culture of the time, marshalling you through various apartments with clothing, furniture and paintings tell the story of the family. There are two other ‘wings’ of the palace, one devoted to Franz Josef, and the other to Sissi. It is silent on the Regent and Soviet Occupation (which I thought was kind of sad as it’s apart of the history even if it’s not exactly the most charming part). I liked the Sissi wing as they displayed photographs of Sissi and her ladies, books, china and furniture all over her small ‘apartment’. There was also two wedding paintings of Franz Joseph and Sissi, and a painting as large as a living room wall of their coronation at St. Mathias Church.
It was cool to see the coronation ‘in action’ as St. Mathias church was the first church I visited in Budapest. I remember learning about the coronation when I visited the church and thinking about what it would have actually been like. The painting showed me and that is neat-o.

One of Sissi’s rooms was purple. Something I thought was also cool.

Other notable palace features were: the servants’ doors, who actually walked through the walls to each room. When the count built the palace, servants were not to be seen, so the walls are built wide enough for people to walk through. The ovens (heaters) in each room are also backwards as the servants would refill them and churn them from inside their wall passage ways (can you churn an old heater?).

After walking through the second floor apartments, the chapel viewing area and the state room (which was fantastic), I went out to the Gardens. Other than the white pebbles that attacked my feet, I was happy to be out of Buda (but not pest), happy to be relieved of all construction noises (they are rebuilding the tram line in front of my house) and also, was happy to enjoy the very low people to square inch ratio. (I’ve been here for a while now, but I still have a North American need for space).

In Gardens just opened in May, and had beautiful green manicured lawns, and very beautiful flower beds. The palace stables were out there too (but they haven’t finished the renovations) as was a small Pavilion. I am not sure what the purpose of that was though (there were no signs. At. All.).

The gardens also gave way to a whole section of the palace that was most definitely no where near complete, broken windows, doors, floors, dust, dirt, peeling walls, etc. It was a very stark contrast to the wonderfully renovated areas, but also a humble reminder of what happens when one lets things deteriorate, and how much work has been put into making the palace what it once was.

After the palace I decided to give the town of Gödöllő a once around (which is all it needed). There was one tiny church that looked more like a chapel, and a statue of a guy named Pétofi. There is a Pétofi bridge in Budapest, and I wondered if this was the same guy. Could be. But the trouble is that there are many many common Hungarian names…so who knows! Then I grabbed a gumbloc (ball) of tiramisu Fagy (Fudggy) or ice cream (my new favourite flavour and dessert), and walked back to the Hév…..and headed back through the formula one fans (the race was in the ‘burbs as well) to my flat in the city. to spend the weekend in the city.