To the UK, on to Budapest, back to the UK and back to Sydney
I find that there are two reasons for not posting to the blog:
1. Not enough has happened.
2. Too much has happened and writing it all down becomes a daunting task.
The situation at the moment is 2. Still, here are some highlights from my company trip to Budapest; I've tried to keep it short (hah!) to avoid causing anyone to fall asleep while reading.
Back to the UK
I left last Wednesday evening and arrived 3pm at Heathrow on Thursday, not feeling too bad. I got to bed at a reasonable hour but had to get up early to go to work, still feeling not too bad.
After working remotely for 4 months, it was really nice to go into the office. I got some stuff done that I needed to talk to people for, I was in the same time zone as my customers (for one day) and I installed some software from the network that would have taken about a day to copy over the internet (and then only if I could keep the VPN up for that long). Everyone seemed to remember who I was, which was nice.
I then went out to the pub Friday evening. This was my one night to see everyone I know. Tall order, huh? The evening actually went well with relatively few complications. It was really brilliant to see everyone and I feel that I had at least a short chat with everyone who made it along.
Even though we were kicked out of the pub at a reasonably prompt 11:30pm, by the time I got back to Essex and into bed it was 1:30am. Alarm set for 8am to make it to the airport the next day.
This is where my body clock started behaving oddly. Despite clearly being short on sleep, I woke up at 6:30am. The only reasonable explanation I can come up with for this is that having been on three 7 hour flights, I was not used to sleeping for more than 5-6 hours. Still it meant I had plenty of time to pack.
On to Budapest
Budapest is a spa town. Being an idiot, I had left my swimming costume back in Australia. Still, my swimming costume was bought when we were last in Australia (2002) and has got to the saggy stage so I did need to buy a new one.
Gatwick turns out to be not too bad for shopping: I managed to get a costume in Monsoon. While I was there I also bought a dress for a wedding we are attending in the summer. I have been worrying about this as I am going to be the girlfriend of the best man, which is surely some kind of responsibility but without a pre-arranged outfit included (being a bridesmaid is much easier). It seemed a bit silly to be buying a posh dress and then taking it to and from Budapest with me, but it exactly matched a hat of my sister's that I had just been offered so there was really nothing I could do.
I felt I needed a sleep when we arrived, but I only had time to unpack and then it was straight out to dinner.
We dined in a lovely courtyard restaurant on Castle Hill in Buda and I had some super duck in sour cherry sauce. Cherries seem to be big in Hungary, which is good with me! I completely forgot to take any pictures until it got too dark (no change there then). After the restaurant we wandered around trying to find a bar (or more precisely the bar that the rest of the company was in) for about one and a half hours. Tom complained but I thought it was great. Randomness late at night was always the best part of an evening for me (in general if I could skip 9pm - 2am and start there it would suit me fine) and now I don't drink, bars are even less exciting. When we finally arrived at the bar it was noisy and I was refused a chocolate based non-alcoholic cocktail (I think they didn't have one of the ingredients). I went to bed.
Sunday: I walk
I was up at 9:30am to catch the end of breakfast. (I woke up earlier but forced myself back to sleep again - enough is enough.) Breakfast was a big disappointment after the Hydro Majestic the weekend before. Ric found something unpleasant looking in his eggs, the sausages were widely panned and not much enthusiasm shown for anything else. I found some fruit (OK, but not exciting) and had some pastries that had been described as "OK" (the highest praise from my breakfast companions for any item). They were indeed "OK".
I started the day by walking to the Gellert baths and having a swim. On the way I bought a dress that was vaguely reminiscent of a Hungarian peasant dress from a shop clearly aimed at tourists (it was open on Sunday). Still it made me feel like I was a proper Hungarian.
The pool was small but nicely decorated, however I think the description "like having a bath in a cathedral" is somewhat pushing it. I then found a cafe and had a cup of tea while I read my guidebooks to find out what to do. I survived the whole weekend using the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet. They complemented each other well but I think the rough guide did slightly better with its layout by area rather than attraction type. I selected the Museum of Ethnography as my destination.
I went back to the hotel first to put some sun-tan lotion on, but discovered that I could pretty much keep in the shade while I was walking through the town so in the end I just ditched my swimming kit. I then walked through the Jewish quarter (Erzsebetvaros, where out hotel was) and Terezvaros (which I would describe as the west end).
I found a lot of things on my wanders including an English language bookshop (run by an American environmental activist who now needs to earn some money as his girlfriend wants 4 kids) - I bought some books, of course -, the State Opera house, St Stephen's Basilica and the Houses of Parliament.
Treehugger Dan's English Language Bookshop
The entrance to the State Opera House
Inside St Stephen's Basilica, a choir and orchestra were practising so I stayed to listen for a while. I only realised when someone asked a resident old man if the concert was that evening that Sunday night had been designated as a "free" night when we could go off on our own. I had previously ignored this as I had assumed that I would not want to go anywhere toute seule but it seemed that this was no longer the case.
The museum of Ethnography had been described in the guide book as one of the finest museums in Budapest but little visited by tourists. It was correct.
Outside the front door was a sign saying something about "Juin" and "zarva". Zarva is one Hungarian word I had managed to learn. It was on all the shop doors on Sunday; it means closed. The museum certainly looked closed too, but as an eternal optimist I tried the door anyway. It opened.
However, once inside I was still not convinced that the museum was not indeed "zarva". Had they closed the museum and forgotten to lock the door? The entrance hall was large, empty and unlike a museum. There was a brightly colored sign about an exhibition, which was reassuring - it was the only clue that I was in fact in a museum. Then, as in a film about a bookshop where strange things happen, an old man behind a glass screen in a dark corner came slowly in to focus. I gave him my money.
Getting to the exhibits was also peculiar. The whole building resembles an old palace. There were printed A4 sheets of arrows directing you to the exhibits, but none of the other branches were roped off implying that you could go that way if you wanted. I was too scared though so I followed the arrows. There were also a whole load of doors with names on them as if the building were also used as an academic institution.
The exhibition itself was very interesting and was basically a complete description of 19th century Hungarian peasant life using objects from the period. There were some lovely shop signs for hatters, boot-makers and so on and a wide range of clothes, utensils, furniture, work tools and so on. There were descriptions in each section in English so you knew what you were looking at.
An example of an exhibit: Some old Hungarian musical instruments
The lights went off just as I finished looking round and I realised that the museum was shutting. I took some photos of the building, which could itself have been a tourist attraction and nearly got locked in. I saw only 3 other people while I was in the museum and only one of these seemed to be actually looking at the exhibits; the others seemed to be more on their way through to somewhere else.
The ceiling of the Ethnography Museum
I then wandered until 7pm when I joined the throng trying to squeeze into the Basilica. The concert was free so there was a great deal of demand and no tickets so I was pleased I had got there in plenty of time. I enjoyed the concert, although the music was not as good as the snippets I had heard earlier had led me to believe (not quite sombre enough for me). I don't go to see enough music and I'm pleased I went, especially as Budapest seems to be a very musical city.
St Stephen's just before the concert
I got home at 10pm and had a bath. The guide book said that Budapest was hot and dusty, it was right there as well. I was going to go out to the pub and meet everyone else but I didn't manage it...
Monday: I walk, but less enthusiastically
At breakfast on Sunday, I found an exciting chocolate cake, the kind you get for afternoon tea and a kind of creamy dessert. This improved breakfast somewhat.
My first aim was to go swimming in the Lido on Margaret Island and I made the same sun-tan lotion decision that I had made on Saturday. Unfortunately half way there, I realised that this was the wrong decision. If I was swimming in an open air pool there would be nowhere to hide.
At breakfast, Matthew and Karen said that they were looking for things to do that didn't involve too much walking as they had worn themselves out and blistered their feet. At the time I thought that could never possibly happen to me, however after walking halfway to Margaret Island, back again and then all the way there I felt that walking no longer had the same appeal. I sat for a while by the fountain which plays music through black speakers on sticks. The whole area was immensely redolent of The Prisoner (60s TV show): the grass was green, there were speakers stuck in the ground playing cheering music, everyone was smiling and brightly dressed and there were several odd two man cars and bicycles that I have not seen anywhere other than this island and in The Prisoner.
The Fountain
I flaked out a bit on the rest of the day. I failed to visit my pre-determined targets of Heroes' square and the Palace of Miracles (which is the rather-oddly-named-for-a-religious-city Science Museum).
I did make it to a famous cake shop I wanted to go to (Gerbeard) but couldn't face going in, as I had only brought my guide books with me and was sick of reading about Budapest.
I got home about 4:30pm and listened to Cadfael on audio tape. This had the required restorative effect and I was raring to go by the time we met up in the bar at 7pm.
We went to a very posh restaurant on Sunday night; amazingly I don't think we embarrassed ourselves too much. The vegetarian and non-vegetarian starters were both a limp looking salad (the non vegetarian one had a few slices of duck and some mushrooms on top of it) - not impressive - but for my main course I had steak with goose liver, which was very good indeed. Goose liver is another Hungarian speciality so I feel I did well.
Also in the restaurant was a "fellow from Cambridge" - I think the restaurant misunderstood as we found out later that this was in fact a "fellow, from Cambridge" i.e. he had been there once - who was filming for a Channel 5 show on culture in Budapest. Culture sounds a little unlikely for channel 5, but it is certainly low budget TV.
I was out with the last remaining survivors on Monday, which was a mistake. I only realised at 4am that if I had to get up at 7am to catch a plane (which I did), I would only get 3 hours sleep. I am no longer used to getting by on so little, I was very worried when I went to sleep. Still, not drinking helped and although very surprised when my alarm went off I survived Tuesday with a minimum of discomfort. There were more "afternoon tea" cakes at breakfast, I had 5 and then had to stop as I felt very sick.
Wednesday: And back to Sydney
I have discovered the key to long haul flying: sleep as much as you possibly can, even if you are going to sleep straight away when you get to your destination. The only reason I went to sleep on my last flight was because I couldn't keep my eyes open and I was still knackered when I got home at 9:30pm.
I had booked tickets for the cinema on Friday - it was the Sydney film festival while I was away and this was the only day we could make. The film was being shown in the State Theatre, which is a 1920s cinema that I have wanted to visit for ages. They don't usually show films so this seemed like an excellent opportunity to relive the past. However I was too tired to make it out on Friday night so I shall have to wait until next year.
I started to feel better on Saturday: another post to follow about that...
I find that there are two reasons for not posting to the blog:
1. Not enough has happened.
2. Too much has happened and writing it all down becomes a daunting task.
The situation at the moment is 2. Still, here are some highlights from my company trip to Budapest; I've tried to keep it short (hah!) to avoid causing anyone to fall asleep while reading.
Back to the UK
I left last Wednesday evening and arrived 3pm at Heathrow on Thursday, not feeling too bad. I got to bed at a reasonable hour but had to get up early to go to work, still feeling not too bad.
After working remotely for 4 months, it was really nice to go into the office. I got some stuff done that I needed to talk to people for, I was in the same time zone as my customers (for one day) and I installed some software from the network that would have taken about a day to copy over the internet (and then only if I could keep the VPN up for that long). Everyone seemed to remember who I was, which was nice.
I then went out to the pub Friday evening. This was my one night to see everyone I know. Tall order, huh? The evening actually went well with relatively few complications. It was really brilliant to see everyone and I feel that I had at least a short chat with everyone who made it along.
Even though we were kicked out of the pub at a reasonably prompt 11:30pm, by the time I got back to Essex and into bed it was 1:30am. Alarm set for 8am to make it to the airport the next day.
This is where my body clock started behaving oddly. Despite clearly being short on sleep, I woke up at 6:30am. The only reasonable explanation I can come up with for this is that having been on three 7 hour flights, I was not used to sleeping for more than 5-6 hours. Still it meant I had plenty of time to pack.
On to Budapest
Budapest is a spa town. Being an idiot, I had left my swimming costume back in Australia. Still, my swimming costume was bought when we were last in Australia (2002) and has got to the saggy stage so I did need to buy a new one.
Gatwick turns out to be not too bad for shopping: I managed to get a costume in Monsoon. While I was there I also bought a dress for a wedding we are attending in the summer. I have been worrying about this as I am going to be the girlfriend of the best man, which is surely some kind of responsibility but without a pre-arranged outfit included (being a bridesmaid is much easier). It seemed a bit silly to be buying a posh dress and then taking it to and from Budapest with me, but it exactly matched a hat of my sister's that I had just been offered so there was really nothing I could do.
I felt I needed a sleep when we arrived, but I only had time to unpack and then it was straight out to dinner.
We dined in a lovely courtyard restaurant on Castle Hill in Buda and I had some super duck in sour cherry sauce. Cherries seem to be big in Hungary, which is good with me! I completely forgot to take any pictures until it got too dark (no change there then). After the restaurant we wandered around trying to find a bar (or more precisely the bar that the rest of the company was in) for about one and a half hours. Tom complained but I thought it was great. Randomness late at night was always the best part of an evening for me (in general if I could skip 9pm - 2am and start there it would suit me fine) and now I don't drink, bars are even less exciting. When we finally arrived at the bar it was noisy and I was refused a chocolate based non-alcoholic cocktail (I think they didn't have one of the ingredients). I went to bed.
Sunday: I walk
I was up at 9:30am to catch the end of breakfast. (I woke up earlier but forced myself back to sleep again - enough is enough.) Breakfast was a big disappointment after the Hydro Majestic the weekend before. Ric found something unpleasant looking in his eggs, the sausages were widely panned and not much enthusiasm shown for anything else. I found some fruit (OK, but not exciting) and had some pastries that had been described as "OK" (the highest praise from my breakfast companions for any item). They were indeed "OK".
I started the day by walking to the Gellert baths and having a swim. On the way I bought a dress that was vaguely reminiscent of a Hungarian peasant dress from a shop clearly aimed at tourists (it was open on Sunday). Still it made me feel like I was a proper Hungarian.
The pool was small but nicely decorated, however I think the description "like having a bath in a cathedral" is somewhat pushing it. I then found a cafe and had a cup of tea while I read my guidebooks to find out what to do. I survived the whole weekend using the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet. They complemented each other well but I think the rough guide did slightly better with its layout by area rather than attraction type. I selected the Museum of Ethnography as my destination.
I went back to the hotel first to put some sun-tan lotion on, but discovered that I could pretty much keep in the shade while I was walking through the town so in the end I just ditched my swimming kit. I then walked through the Jewish quarter (Erzsebetvaros, where out hotel was) and Terezvaros (which I would describe as the west end).
I found a lot of things on my wanders including an English language bookshop (run by an American environmental activist who now needs to earn some money as his girlfriend wants 4 kids) - I bought some books, of course -, the State Opera house, St Stephen's Basilica and the Houses of Parliament.
Treehugger Dan's English Language Bookshop
The entrance to the State Opera House
Inside St Stephen's Basilica, a choir and orchestra were practising so I stayed to listen for a while. I only realised when someone asked a resident old man if the concert was that evening that Sunday night had been designated as a "free" night when we could go off on our own. I had previously ignored this as I had assumed that I would not want to go anywhere toute seule but it seemed that this was no longer the case.
The museum of Ethnography had been described in the guide book as one of the finest museums in Budapest but little visited by tourists. It was correct.
Outside the front door was a sign saying something about "Juin" and "zarva". Zarva is one Hungarian word I had managed to learn. It was on all the shop doors on Sunday; it means closed. The museum certainly looked closed too, but as an eternal optimist I tried the door anyway. It opened.
However, once inside I was still not convinced that the museum was not indeed "zarva". Had they closed the museum and forgotten to lock the door? The entrance hall was large, empty and unlike a museum. There was a brightly colored sign about an exhibition, which was reassuring - it was the only clue that I was in fact in a museum. Then, as in a film about a bookshop where strange things happen, an old man behind a glass screen in a dark corner came slowly in to focus. I gave him my money.
Getting to the exhibits was also peculiar. The whole building resembles an old palace. There were printed A4 sheets of arrows directing you to the exhibits, but none of the other branches were roped off implying that you could go that way if you wanted. I was too scared though so I followed the arrows. There were also a whole load of doors with names on them as if the building were also used as an academic institution.
The exhibition itself was very interesting and was basically a complete description of 19th century Hungarian peasant life using objects from the period. There were some lovely shop signs for hatters, boot-makers and so on and a wide range of clothes, utensils, furniture, work tools and so on. There were descriptions in each section in English so you knew what you were looking at.
An example of an exhibit: Some old Hungarian musical instruments
The lights went off just as I finished looking round and I realised that the museum was shutting. I took some photos of the building, which could itself have been a tourist attraction and nearly got locked in. I saw only 3 other people while I was in the museum and only one of these seemed to be actually looking at the exhibits; the others seemed to be more on their way through to somewhere else.
The ceiling of the Ethnography Museum
I then wandered until 7pm when I joined the throng trying to squeeze into the Basilica. The concert was free so there was a great deal of demand and no tickets so I was pleased I had got there in plenty of time. I enjoyed the concert, although the music was not as good as the snippets I had heard earlier had led me to believe (not quite sombre enough for me). I don't go to see enough music and I'm pleased I went, especially as Budapest seems to be a very musical city.
St Stephen's just before the concert
I got home at 10pm and had a bath. The guide book said that Budapest was hot and dusty, it was right there as well. I was going to go out to the pub and meet everyone else but I didn't manage it...
Monday: I walk, but less enthusiastically
At breakfast on Sunday, I found an exciting chocolate cake, the kind you get for afternoon tea and a kind of creamy dessert. This improved breakfast somewhat.
My first aim was to go swimming in the Lido on Margaret Island and I made the same sun-tan lotion decision that I had made on Saturday. Unfortunately half way there, I realised that this was the wrong decision. If I was swimming in an open air pool there would be nowhere to hide.
At breakfast, Matthew and Karen said that they were looking for things to do that didn't involve too much walking as they had worn themselves out and blistered their feet. At the time I thought that could never possibly happen to me, however after walking halfway to Margaret Island, back again and then all the way there I felt that walking no longer had the same appeal. I sat for a while by the fountain which plays music through black speakers on sticks. The whole area was immensely redolent of The Prisoner (60s TV show): the grass was green, there were speakers stuck in the ground playing cheering music, everyone was smiling and brightly dressed and there were several odd two man cars and bicycles that I have not seen anywhere other than this island and in The Prisoner.
The Fountain
I flaked out a bit on the rest of the day. I failed to visit my pre-determined targets of Heroes' square and the Palace of Miracles (which is the rather-oddly-named-for-a-religious-city Science Museum).
I did make it to a famous cake shop I wanted to go to (Gerbeard) but couldn't face going in, as I had only brought my guide books with me and was sick of reading about Budapest.
I got home about 4:30pm and listened to Cadfael on audio tape. This had the required restorative effect and I was raring to go by the time we met up in the bar at 7pm.
We went to a very posh restaurant on Sunday night; amazingly I don't think we embarrassed ourselves too much. The vegetarian and non-vegetarian starters were both a limp looking salad (the non vegetarian one had a few slices of duck and some mushrooms on top of it) - not impressive - but for my main course I had steak with goose liver, which was very good indeed. Goose liver is another Hungarian speciality so I feel I did well.
Also in the restaurant was a "fellow from Cambridge" - I think the restaurant misunderstood as we found out later that this was in fact a "fellow, from Cambridge" i.e. he had been there once - who was filming for a Channel 5 show on culture in Budapest. Culture sounds a little unlikely for channel 5, but it is certainly low budget TV.
I was out with the last remaining survivors on Monday, which was a mistake. I only realised at 4am that if I had to get up at 7am to catch a plane (which I did), I would only get 3 hours sleep. I am no longer used to getting by on so little, I was very worried when I went to sleep. Still, not drinking helped and although very surprised when my alarm went off I survived Tuesday with a minimum of discomfort. There were more "afternoon tea" cakes at breakfast, I had 5 and then had to stop as I felt very sick.
Wednesday: And back to Sydney
I have discovered the key to long haul flying: sleep as much as you possibly can, even if you are going to sleep straight away when you get to your destination. The only reason I went to sleep on my last flight was because I couldn't keep my eyes open and I was still knackered when I got home at 9:30pm.
I had booked tickets for the cinema on Friday - it was the Sydney film festival while I was away and this was the only day we could make. The film was being shown in the State Theatre, which is a 1920s cinema that I have wanted to visit for ages. They don't usually show films so this seemed like an excellent opportunity to relive the past. However I was too tired to make it out on Friday night so I shall have to wait until next year.
I started to feel better on Saturday: another post to follow about that...
posted by Zoe at 6:03 PM
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