So we’ve been back in Budapest from Gyor for a week. It’s been nice to have a week to relax and start to get into a rhythm. Sammie has kayaking practice every day, so we’re starting to figure out how to fit in some of the sightseeing of Budapest. We’ve done a little this week, but we’re going to start hitting up a lot more this weekend. I am really enjoying Budapest! It’s an awesome city and it’s very easy to get around. The people are all very friendly too, but it can be a little hard sometimes as quite a few people don’t speak english. And currently my Hungarian vocabulary consists of “yes” (igen), “no” (nem) and “thank you” (köszönöm), which is helpful in maybe two contexts, and absolutely unhelpful in all others, considering I have no idea when someone asks me a question. Ah, well, guess it’s all in the adventure! Although we haven’t done much sightseeing, we have done some. On Sunday we went to Hero’s Square, and then walked around a cow festival that was being held outside the agricultural museum. To get there, we had to take the metro line 1, which apparently is the oldest metro line in Europe. That’s where the Budapest metro started, with line 1. Pretty cool! The rest of the day was spent hanging out with one of the guys from the USA canoe/kayak team and one of his friends from the Hungarian team. She told me I should come back to Budapest next August for the Sziget music festival. It’s a week long music festival and it sounds amazing, so if I could I definitely would! And oh, I guess sziget is the fourth word I know in hungarian, it means “island”. Fun fact, the festival is held on the same island as the kayak club where Sammie trains. Anyway, on Sunday we hung out on Margaret Island (which is a different island) while the sun was setting. Margaret Island is primarily a recreational island; a lot of people go there to work out. I’ve been quite a few times already, since they have a running track all the way around it. It’s about 5.3k long, so it makes for a nice running distance. I can’t wait to explore the island more. On my last run, I took a detour from the track into the middle to get a change of scenery. There are a number of public pools and a lot of open field space as well as ruins, potentially roman (I think, I couldn’t read the sign) and a small castle type thing (again, couldn’t read the sign). They also have a big fountain that lights up with different colors at night and will put on a little show to the beat of a song playing. It did that while we were there this past Sunday and it was ironic that the song that was playing was “Budapest” by George Ezra. I have no idea why he called it that when it really has nothing to do with Budapest itself. I recorded it and I’ve put it up on YouTube for you all to enjoy: click here! On Monday I had the day mostly to myself since Sam had two training sessions. I went for a run and walked around near us, just looking at everything. I really like being near the Danube, it’s an awesome place. Sam and I also traversed the grocery store on Monday, after trying and failing on Sunday. Apparently no store, of the grocery, drug or department varieties, is open on Sundays in Budapest. Just for future reference if you end up in Budapest on a Sunday with no groceries. Like we did. Anyway, we made it through the grocery store on Monday with a lack of knowledge of the language, which was good. The only thing that went slightly awry is that we thought we had bought a can of alfredo sauce, and it ended up being a white mushroom sauce. Not that it tasted bad at all, it was just slightly unexpected. I went for a run while Sam was at afternoon practice, and then we went to dinner with a few people from the USA canoe/kayak team. It was pretty good, and over the course of dinner I was rehired as staff for the 2017 marathon world championships in South Africa (Michele, I am holding you to that. Cheers!). We ended the night by being driven up to the Liberty Statue, which has an amazing view of Budapest. And seeing the city all lit up at night was so breathtaking. I think that might be my favorite part about this city, seeing it light up at night. I want to go back to the Liberty Statue during the day so I can appreciate it itself, but for now that view at night was enough. This week we also cooked our first sit-down-together type meal in our tiny kitchen. Which is how we discovered the pasta sauce mistake. I went down to the grocery store to buy chicken and a baguette the day of cooking; we have to do this because our fridge is basically a mini fridge and there is no freezer, so we can’t freeze stuff to save for later. I cooked a chicken and pasta dinner on two stovetop burners and no counter space. I had to cut the chicken on a cutting board on our staircase. It was pretty funny, I wish I had taken a picture of it. I will next time, don’t worry. Wednesday was jam packed. Sam and I went to play water polo! Now, I was super excited and incredibly nervous. Nervous because we had a feeling we were going to train with the Hungarian national team. We weren’t positive, but we were pretty sure. We show up to the pool, and we can’t figure out how to get into it. I go to ask the woman at the counter and she doesn’t speak English. Then she gestures in a way that makes me think no one that works there speaks English. Luckily, this boy shows up who seems to have finished his before school swim workout and asks if he can help. He translates for me to the woman, who calls someone, who calls her back and then tells the boy to tell us that we should wait there because the coach is coming. We thank him and then we wait. I’m starting to feel like a huge inconvenience to this coach who has no idea who I am and probably thinks that I play for the USA women’s national team or something like that. Anyways, he shows up, lets us in and we finally get to the pool. We get in to warm up before the team gets there because they had all been running before practice. In my head, I’m thinking “oh good, they’ll be tired maybe they won’t notice how much better than me they are”. Well, it ended up not mattering because the coach noticed before we had even touched a ball. Sammie and I played with only two of the girls, both who are still in high school. We definitely could hang with them, and I was having a good time. Until the two girls had to leave for school. Then Sammie and I were left alone for like 15 minutes just chilling on one end of the pool while the rest of the team trained on the other. They were good. I was glad I wasn’t over there, but I was also not too happy about awkwardly being in their pool and taking up space. It was a weird situation to be in. Anyway, we got out and the coach came over to us and said practice was over, and that I could come train with his younger team. All I hope is that younger doesn’t mean 12. I guess we’ll see when I go, if he sends me next week's schedule. Hey, it could have been worse. He could have banished us from his pool forever so that he never had to be disgraced with our presence and lack of water polo prowess ever again. We came home for a nap, then Sam went to kayak practice and I went off to teach some English. One of the families that is helping us out has a young daughter who already speaks English very well, since she was in Florida for her first few years of school, but she needs a little refresher on reading and writing in English. They asked if I would want to help her, and I said yes. So I spent my evening with her. She is a whole ball of energy, and super sweet. She loves to dance, so we had to take dancing breaks in between lessons! She also gave me a lanyard that says “Africa Racing”on it. I tried to tell her I didn’t want to take her stuff, but she really wasn’t taking no for an answer. I’ll treasure it forever. I had a great time and I can’t wait to help her again soon. This morning we explored around and took some photos around Margaret Island, as well as stopping at Olympic park and Hungary’s parliament building. We didn’t go inside parliament because the visitor center was packed full of people, but that’s alright because being outside was lovely; it was a really pretty and hot day! Tonight we’re going to a barbeque with the family who is lending us the apartment, so I’m looking forward to that. I think that’s all. Remember to check out the photo gallery page! Til next time! P.S. Just kidding, I know a fifth word in Hungarian. Anya. Yup, that’s right. My name is a Hungarian word! It means “mother” and it’s even spelt the exact same! Literally every person I’ve met so far has told me that fact. Its also funny when occasionally I hear a voice say “anya anya anya!” and I turn my head real fast only to realize that it’s a child and they’re definitely not calling after me.
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Meet AnyaHi, Hola, Bonjour, Ciao!
I’m Anya Phillips, a data analyst and travel enthusiast who is always on the lookout for the next adventure! Categories
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