illinois: Chicago

This was the first time I set foot in the states (not counting embassy visits) in just under three years.
To get to the states I had three flights. The first was kyiv to Barcelona. My layover there was 5 hours, so I got the passport stamp, then took the train into the city center. I wanted real food, and I knew there was plenty of it in Barcelona.
I went to a tapas restaurant is visited last summer, and stuffed myself :)
I walked a bit just because I could, then went back to the airport. My next flight was from Barcelona to Madrid. The flight landed later than scheduled, after 8pm. I figured that was too late to go into the city (I'm not a fan of walking around brand new cities in the dark) so I walked around the airport looking for a place to hang out for the night.
The airport in Madrid is not the most comfortable place in which to be stuck overnight.

My last flight was from Madrid to Chicago. My feeling of being overwhelmed started on that flight, I'm not used to being around that many native English speakers!
As I only had a carry on bag, I was able to go through a shorter, quicker queue when I landed in Chicago. Yay! I asked the passport control officer for a passport stamp even though they don't normally stamp the passport of returning Americans. Of course I'm allowed into my own country :)
I found a place to sit, and after about 30 minutes my friend Kelley picked me up. It had been three years since I'd seen her but we picked up like there hadn't been any time at all. Traffic around the airport wasn't bad, it was around 1300.
On the way home, Kelley took me to two supermarkets. I know I've previously mentioned my love of supermarkets, I can explore for hours. 

Our first stop was Trader Joe's, which has its own line of products. Just about everything they sell is from their own brand. Some people are fanatic about various trader joe's products.
Our second stop was Marianno's, another chain supermarket. After buying too much at both places, we went home.
We picked up Kelley's husband, and went to dinner at a sushi place. It was my first experience at one of those places where sushi pieces are put on a moving belt, and you can take whateva you want. Yum.
After dinner we went to another American 'icon' (but I don't want to admit to the name) for basic necessities like shampoo and lotion and travel size bottles. (I'd had those bottles previously, but left them in the baths in Budapest.)
For dessert we each had a shake at Steak 'n Shake. More yum.

Before flying to the states I'd told Kelley I wanted to get onto the right time zone as fast as possible. I didn't sleep much on the flights, and wanted to stay awake until at least 8pm, which wasn't easy. As we were returning from dinner and shopping Kelley could see me nodding off in the car, so she suggested a walk to a nearby lake. Perfect idea. We walked for a bit, and I was quite proud of myself for staying awake until 2100.
The next day was the 4th of July, a major American holiday; so we had lunch at a fantastic Japanese ramen restaurant called misoya. I'm told it's authentic. You get to choose what type of broth you want, and what goes into the pot.
We 'celebrated' the holiday by doing what Americans do best: shop. I had a list of stuff I wanted to buy while I was in the states. I walked out after spending money in an apple store, cinnabon, t-mobile, and teavana.
That night we had dinner with two friends I met during the Ireland trip, it was good to catch up and meet their new baby. The baby cried both times I held her, she didn't cry with anyone else, boooo. After dinner we all stood on the front lawn and were able to watch the fireworks being set off by the city of Mundelein. Fun stuff. That's another thing done very well by Americans: set off fireworks.
The next day was a Sunday, but Kelley had to work. She wore black because she want happy about working. 

I continued my shopping spree with Kelley's husband by going to an electronics store and spending a heap more money.
The husband and I got home before Kelley, so we went to the gym. I swam for 30 minutes, feeling as though I was going to drown the entire time. At the same time, it felt good to do something active.
Monday Kelley dropped me off at a train station, I rode into Chicago. I got to meet up and spend a few hours with my friend Laura; she and I met when we taught at the same school in Seoul. I love catching up after a few years, in a new place. Go figure, the first restaurant we wanted was closed, as was the first bakery we tried. Fortunately, second options were available for both main course and dessert.
For dinner I met up with another girlfriend I met overseas, Megan. Megan and I met in garmisch, more than 10 years ago. She is making a big change in her life, changing careers, I'm excited for her.
Getting home ended up being an adventure. It turns out the trains to the suburbs stop running at something like 1900. That's not very helpful if you're a visitor like me. I definitely don't party all night, but 1900 still strikes me as super early.

The following day Kelley and I had a girls day. We started by going to the Chicago botanical garden, I'd never heard of it before. The entry fee is per car, so it can be cheaper if you come with more friends.
The entire area is divided into separate areas of themed gardens. We both liked the Japanese gardens the best. It was nice to wander and relax.
For lunch Kelley found an afghani restaurant, called Kabul house, in Skokie. Not only was the food great, it was really well presented. On the way out of that town to our next sight, we stopped at a bakery called sweetie pies, or something like that. I had no willpower at all, and ended up buying a red velvet cake truffle, a raspberry chocolate chip scone, and a raspberry/blueberry pie. That pie was AMAZING.
Our second sight of the day was the Baha'i house of worship. Beautiful building. There was a visitors center, showing both the history of the religion in general, as well as the history in the Chicago area. I really like the way it takes aspects of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc....
These few days were a fantastic way to adjust to being back in the states. Kelley and her husband are awesome.

hungary: budapest again

I really like Budapest. i love that i can walk all over the city. i love that it's always possible to find another sight to see.  i love that there are so many cafes with so much wonderful food. i love that the language of hungary is completely unrelated to the languages of the surrounding countries. i love all the ways i can use public transport.  i love that there are outdoor and indoor sights. Amazing city, i'm surprised it isn't more well known? I rediscovered the city in August 2014, though that visit was only 2 days. I was thrilled when I realized I could visit again this summer, and for a longer period of time.

My flight departed kyiv at 0620, then landed in Budapest at 0700. Not much in the budapest airport was open at that hour. I was able to use triposo to figure out a public transport way to get into the city. Not particularly fast, but at that hour, who cares. plus it was a lot cheaper to use public transport than to use the shuttle service.  a LOT cheaper.
i found my hostel, and though i was early, i was able to check in and drop my bag. it turned out that this hostel was mostly student housing during the school year, so there were interesting aspects to the hostel...there was a library!! of course, all the books were in hungarian, and i have no idea what the topics were, but THERE WAS A LIBRARY!!

my room was considered a double room, but it actually had six beds...three of the beds were lofted, 3 on the floor...i had my choice of any of them...each bed had a couple plugs nearby...there was also a large table that would've been good for studying if i was a student...im curious how much students pay for housing each semester, and how long the semesters last...
after resting up for a while, i went out in the city...i walked toward a sight close to my hostel, the tomb of gul baba...on the way to the tomb i walked past millenium park...it was small, filled with flowers, very pretty...
to get to the tomb, i went up some stairs...i was huffing and puffing when i got to the top, but there was a sense of silence that i loved...definitely a good place for contemplation...

after seeing the tomb, i walked down the hill toward the river running through the city...i walked across st margarets bridge, over the whole river...in the middle of the river, touched at one end by the bridge is st margarets island...on the island are places for various sports, as well as a fountain, and nice park...the fountain often plays in time with music...really fun to watch for a few minutes...
after crossing the entire river, i walked along for a while with no particular aim in mind...as i walked past one cafe i saw a giant piece of cake covered in cream...a GIANT piece of cake...even though it was only the middle of the morning, i figured hey, why not?

it was good, and very rich...so rich that i couldn't finish it...if you know me, you know that means it was really big, and really rich...i gave it my best effort, but failed :)
i found a church with open front doors, but the inner doors weren't open, so i couldn't really go in...i felt like i was peering in, doing something wrong...when are churches actually open for me to wander?
i figured out that i wanted to see heroes square, as i hadn't seen it last summer...on my way there, i walked through a rather long tunnel under train tracks, covered by graffiti the whole way...despite its length, it smelled normal, not like people relieving themselves...awesome!

i came to heroes square, and loved it...it's a big area, with a tall column in the middle...around the bottom of the column are some statues, they're probably telling a historical story...on the back side of the square (which isn't really a square) is a series of columns/gates...the ground has nice decor, almost like mosaics...if only i could've taken photos of the entire place without other people...
behind heroes square is a palace...i don't remember the name...in the palace complex was a small church, that didn't have an entrance fee but did request donations...not very impressive, but i'm glad i looked around...the best part of the palace area was the park surrounding the entire area...

it didn't look as though the entire thing was built at one time, as i could see different architecture in different parts...or i could be totally wrong...
after the palace, i walked on a major street called andrassy utca, back to the city centter...this street is a unesco sight, though i'm not entirely sure why...on one street corner is a place called house of terror...
the house of terror is a museum and commemorative place that shows different aspects of life under the soviets, and life under the nazis...it's the same type of place i've seen in other places that used to be part of the east bloc, and it's just as disturbing each time i see the evidence....

there were photos of people who disappeared during these years, there were photos of people who were tortured...(thank goodness there weren't picture of people after torture)...there were displays of what people had in their homes...it's a very intense place, you walk out feeling a sense of exhaustion; and relief that it didn't happen to you...
my next stop was the area around parliament...parliament is a gorgeous building, always stunning...it's the kind of place that always catches your attention, no matter how many times you see it...the museum of ethnography is across the street on the backside of parliament...i didn't go in this museum, but took a few moments to appreciate the architectural beauty from the outside...

not far from parliament on the river side is a permanent exhibition katie and i didn't get to see last summer...it's called shoes on the danube...very moving, heartbreaking...
my next sight was supposed to be the glass house, but i ended up getting there about 15 minutes after it closed...argh...
eventually i started making my way back to my hostel...it wasn't very late, but it had been a long-ish day of walking, on top of me waking up super early to catch my plane...
as i walked up the other side of the river, i passed the entrance gates to one of the many thermal baths in the city...absolutely gorgeous...if i get to come back to budapest a few more times i hope to spend time in each of the baths, to figure out which is my favorite...

as i got close to my hostel, i realized i was walking along the river at the same place where the stalls had been set up for st stephens day when katie and i visited the summer before...only this time, these sidewalks were under repair...i'm assuming everything was supposed to be finished in time for the holiday later in the summer?
the next day, after returning from esztergom, i went back to a place katie and i had visited last summer...a cafe called gerbaud...maybe it was because i visited by myself, or maybe there is another reason, but it wasn't nearly as awesome this time...the inside is still gorgeous, and the presentation of my apple studel was still lovely, but it just wasn't as nice...the service took longer, and seemed less than concerned with my experience...

i left the cafe and walked toward st stephens basilica...no matter how many times i see this place, i'm always stunned...the outside is nice, but the inside is awesome...this time, when i walked in i realized a service was taking place...the front section of seats was reserved for people attending the service, the back area was the only place for tourists during the service...
after the church i walked along a pedestrian zone and chose one of the many thai massage places...i wanted a foot massage...i ended up with an hour long foot massage, though it wasn't what i wanted...i wanted a 90 minute foot massage, and it was listed on their menu...

the manager guy first tried to get me to go for a full body massage, and when i said no, he tried to charge me more for the foot massage than what was on their menu! argh...eventually he said a 90 minute massage wasn't going to happen, even though it was on the menu and they had three massage therapists sitting around...
i walked home along a street called fo utca...lonely planet tells me it's a street with nice stores, but i didn't see much of note...i stopped at a spar market to pick up water for the next day, and of course spent more time in there than expected...i always get 'lost' in supermarkets :)

the next day, after returning from visegrad and szentendre, i made my way to a cafe in the city center called anna...i chose it because the previous day i'd seen someone eating a giant ice cream sundae...i ordered the same thing...it was huge...served in a glass that was taller than my guidebook!! four scoops of ice cream, plus whip cream and sauces...yum...not terribly good for my teeth, or waistline, but i didn't care :)
the next morning my first sight was the citadel...it's on top of a hill on one side of the river...it was hot and sunny, and humid, so i was sweating like mad when i got to the top...there were plenty of bugs too, i felt as though i was swatting them away nearly constantly...

there isn't one main way up the hill, just a bunch of paths that constantly branch off...if you constantly aim up, you'll get to the top...
the guidebook says the citadel is open 24 hours, but the doors were closed when i got up there...i don't know if i was too early, or it was monday, or what...oh well...i still enjoyed the views over the entire city...awesome...plus, there is a giant statue on one side...
i followed a path down the other side of the hill, equally lovely...it wasn't as covered, so there were fewer bugs, and more views...the bottom of this side brought me to the entrance to gellert baths, another of the city's baths...

i crossed the bridge over the river, taking me straight to the central market...when katie and i were here last summer, we walked by the market on the holiday, so it was closed...this time i was able to go in, which was nice...i was there pretty early in the morning, so there weren't too many others wandering around...
the central market is in a giant hall; it's filled with stalls selling produce, bread, meat, products made from red peppers, etc...i bought 620 grams of raspberries...YUM...my favourite fruit :)
the raspberries were my breakfast, and i ate them as i walked...i love raspberries so much that they were all gone in about 30 minutes...soooo good...

i walked, and walked and walked and walked...i think i walked at least 10km to get to a place called momento park...it's on the edge of the city, and it turned out to be a lot further out than i expected when i started walking...
momento park is full of soviet realist statues...they're really big...some of them were originally in this park, others were moved here over the years...it's not a big park, but there are plenty of statues to look at...the historical aspect of this park is awesome...totally awesome...i saw lenin, and other leaders well known during communist times...after i took photos of every statue, made my way out of the park...

the entry clerk told me the once daily tourist bus back to the city center was already full, even though it wasn't supposed to come for another hour...argh...fortunately, she told me where to catch a public bus back into the city, it wasn't far from the park entrance...
when i got on that public bus, i tried to pay for a ticket...but the bus driver wasn't selling tickets, he said i had to have a ticket already, or have a city pass...needless to say, i didn't have one of those...and there was no place at the stop to buy a ticket...how is that supposed to work? fortunately, the driver let me ride for free, he saw it wasn't my fault i couldn't get a ticket...

as i got back into the city i chose another cafe, tried another piece of chocolate cake...it wasn't nearly as good as what i'd had a couple days earlier...oh well, they cant all be amazing...
i went back to my hostel, stopping for a quesadilla along the way...after relaxing for a couple hours, i walked to szechenyi (sp?) baths...this is probably the most photographed of the thermal baths in the city, located kinda close to heroes square...
i chose the cheapest entrance fee, which got me a locker key...you can also choose a cabin, but that seemed ridiculous...i changed into a bikini, figured out the locker system, and locked everything else...

the outside area has three pools...the middle pool is a lap pool, you have to wear a swim cap to go in there...on either end are heated pools, one warmer than the other...one side pool is heated to 30-34C, the other to 37-38C...amazing to hang out in the pools...you can sit on the stairs, halfway in, which is what i chose to do...i went back and forth between these two pools for over an hour...
then i decided to explore the inside baths...there were saunas, as well as more baths...people wandering among all the pools...each pool had a different temperature, anywhere from the upper 20s to 38C...i was quite pickled and dehydrated when i finally left, but it was awesome...

the baths were full of tourists, but who cares...they're still totally awesome...i loved hearing all the languages, watching all the people...
is it bad that i had another giant sundae from anna's cafe on the way home? yum...
the next day, after returning from godollo, the first thing i did was get off the metro at the wrong stop...fortunately i'd gotten to know the city well enough by this point to know where i was, and not be worried about the additional walking...
i walked my way to a park with a jewish memorial to the holocaust/WW2 at one end...very moving, it probably always will be...
the glass house wasn't very easy to find, it wasn't at all what i expected...the glass house is called that because it used to be a glass factory...the owner sheltered many jews during the rough years of WW2...it's no longer a factory, but you can see examples of some of the paperwork arranged to help the jews flee the city and country...

you can see photos of some of those housed there...you can see the statistics, some of which are horrifying...i'm not sure why there aren't more people visiting...never forget...the volunteer working there spoke only hungarian and german, thankfully i was able to understand about half the german...nice guy...
the glass house is now just a small room in the building, all dedicated to carl lutz...
after the glass house i went back to st stephens basilica...no service was happening this time, so i was able to wander all over...stunning, as usual...there is no entrance fee, but next time i visit i think i will pay the extra fee to go up the bell tower...
dinner that night was at a vegetarian place right next to my hostel...it seemed like a cafeteria, i'm sure it was full of students during the school year...good food, i should've eaten there more often...

after dinner i walked through the big mall close to my hostel...one of the four floor monstrosities, full of shops that are just regular shops...nothing of interest to a tourist...
the next morning, i flew back to kyiv...i really want to see more of hungary :)

hungary: visegrad and szentendre

one of the many reasons i like hungary is the possibility to stay in one city or town for a while, and do day trips to nearby towns...it's really nice not to have to pack up every day or two...i used budapest as my base for this entire trip, as it is easy to get to a number of nearby towns, yay!
remembering what i'd learned the day before about the necessary bus stop i got up around the same time, and out the door the same time, but this time got to the bus stop a good thirty minutes earlier...for whateva reason, i don't think i got to a town any earlier, but that's beside the point.

visegrad is another small town on one side of the danube river...the bus stopped quite regularly along it's route, i was never very sure which stop was the main one for visegrad...(even at the end of the walk around town i still didn't know)...
according to lonely planet, visegrad has the most history of the towns in the area, but very little of it is still visible...it's heyday was during the renaissance...its hard to believe the town used to be quite powerful, and used to control a sizeable area of the country...
i am sure that the stop where i got off wasn't the 'main' stop...i'm not sure what prompted me to hop off the bus there, but i did...thankfully i like walking, so it wasn't a big deal to walk a ways down the highway to get to something...

i found a tiny chapel on the river side of the highway, a very cute exterior...unfortunately it wasn't open...triposo tells me this is a roman catholic chapel, named after mary...built in the 18th and 19th centuries...
i managed to find the tourist information office; the man on duty was one of the rudest information people i've ever met...i walked in, he immediately asked 'what do you want?'...given that this was the information office, i would've thought that was obvious...he gave me a map, without pointing out any landmarks on the map, then told me i should go outside if i wanted to look at it more closely...i didn't feel at all as though he wanted to help me see the town...

the lonely planet guidebook mentions very few places to see in visegrad, the first of which is a palace...(triposo and tripadvisor don't even mention this palace)...only it isn't a real palace...well, it is, but it isn't, at the same time...
according to lonely planet, the palace once had 350 rooms...what exists now is nearly all a reconstruction, and even then it has only been partly reconstructed...i didn't like it at all...the reconstruction looks new, and the actual remains of what used to be don't make much sense at all...you get to see about 12 partly reconstructed rooms, i didn't feel as though i was seeing anything interesting
the gardens are nice, and i hope were much more extensive at one point in time...
i bought a few postcards on my way down the street after the palace, the
my next sight was a church...the front doors were open, but i wasn't able to go into the church past the front doors...there was an inner gate of sorts...too bad, as i would've enjoyed a few moments of quiet reflection...

what i could tell is that the central aisle had a carpet of flowers.  they were beautiful designed, i loved it. the pattern went all the way down the aisle, absolutely lovely. i'm assuming visitors were blocked from entering the church in order to keep the flower design looking awesome
i next found the beginning of the path that took me on a nice hike to the remains of the fortress overlooking the entire area...it was a nice hike...as i got to the fortress, i also found the parking lot, where it seemed most people started their visit to the fortress...the parking lot was surrounded by tourist stalls, none of which sold anything that interested me...

the fortress had a couple options for an entry fee, i opted for the one excluding the wax room...i didn't need to see wax representations of anything...each room in the fortress had an exhibit about one aspect of the history of the area...very well done, much more so than the palace i'd already seen...
perhaps the best part of the fortress was the ability to look out over the entire area...fantastic views...if there was a bridge to cross over to slovakia, i would've explored a couple of the small towns on the other side of the river :)
i wasn't able to find the path going down from the fortress, so i ended up going down the same way i came up...i didn't mind, since it was still pretty...

as i got back into town, i found the closest bus stop on the highway...i got lucky, and a bus came along within 10 minutes. yay!!
i got off the bus in szentendre...go figure, i hopped off at yet another stop that wasn't the right stop to get to where i wanted to be...i ended up wandering, and purely by luck ended up in the town center, the cute area of the town...
szentendre used to be ruled over by visegrad, but doesn't have a lot of history itself...it's now mostly an artists colony popular with tourists...there is a small central platz, with a memorial cross in the middle...

streets stretch out in several directions from this central area, all filled with shops and restaurants for tourists...i couldn't help but wonder where locals eat, because i'm pretty sure they wouldn't pay the prices these restaurants were charging...the shops had all sorts of kitchy stuff, none of which interested me...(except postcards of course, and i saw those in less than half the shops)...if i'd had the room in my tummy, i would've bought ice cream at the various shops, just to see which place had the best...hee hee hee...i exercised some willpower and only had one cone...with two scoops of course...
the one sight i enjoyed was the serbian orthodox church and museum on top of the hill in the middle of town...the church was quite small, but i was the only one in there at the time, so it was quiet and comfortable...the iconostasis was beautiful...
the museum was full of religious art...the signage was fantastic, in both hungarian and english...it was only two large rooms, but i really liked both of them...if art interested me more than it does, i would've enjoyed it even more...

also on top of the hill was a church dedicated to st john the baptist...again i got lucky with being the only person in there during my visit; it felt welcoming and comfortable...(i couldn't help but wonder if all the tourists down in the center platz saw anything on the hill)
there wasn't anything else to see in szentendre, so i wandered through the back streets to find the same bus stop at which i'd gotten off the bus when i arrived in town...not too long afterward, i arrived back in budapest :)

hungary: esztergom

Esztergom was the first place I've been in Hungary other than Budapest. The original plan was to visit Esztergom and another town in the same day, but it took longer than planned to get to Esztergom, and I spent longer there than planned, so it was just the one town for the day.

I woke up plenty early in my hostel, and of course took longer than planned to get out the door. The person working the front desk gave me the name of a bus station so that's where I went. It wasn't close, and I went the wrong way at one point, so it took even longer than it should've. 

When I got to that bus station, the ticket clerk told me it was the wrong station, so I had to go all the way to the other end of the metro line to get to another bus station. Ugh.

Fortunately when I got to the correct station, I got a ticket for a bus leaving in less than 15 minutes. Yay!

The bus ride was longer than I expected. The guidebook said 90 minutes, it was actually more than two hours. Especially because the bus got stuck in a traffic jam just as we were coming into Esztergom.

Finally I arrived, yahoo! By this point it was almost noon, I'd originally been thinking I would be there by 1030. 

Anywho, I got off the bus, and started walking. The first thing I found was the end of a local produce market, only a few stalls were still open. 

My next stop was the platz in the middle of town. I was the only one there, even though it was the middle of Saturday.  In the middle of the platz was a memorial, to the victims of a plague epidemic that happened several hundred years ago. Rather depressing to see, even though it was quite pretty. 

One side of the platz was cute, and very photogenic, of course I took photos. 

From this platz I walked a bit north, making my way toward a bridge mentioned in lonely planet and triposo. The bridge is important because it goes over the Danube, to Slovakia. I walked the bridge, just to say I visited Slovakia during this trip.

I took all kinds of photos; I took photos of each of the four 'ends' of the bridge, I took photos of the 'welcome to Hungary/welcome to Slovakia signs in the middle of the bridge, I took photos of the boundary line marked on either side of the bridge, and one of my feet on either side of the border. 

After the bridge, I walked through and around a park near the river. Very pretty, and I was the only one there. By this point I was really wondering where all the people of this city could be found. It was Saturday, and a beautiful day.

Up the hill from this park I came to a city museum, as well as a BIG basilica.

It was really big, especially considering the size of the town. The entry fee included several options, namely the crypt, treasury, cupola, and more. 

I started by wandering the main area. Beautiful frescoes all over the church, and I loved the ceiling of the cupola as I usually do. Then I found the stairs heading up to the treasury and cupola. The treasury was about halfway up. I showed my ticket, then went through the turnstile. The displays included gorgeous vestments worn by important people in the church over the years. I also got to see items of importance, like candlesticks and plates and more. Great displays. Some of the signage was in Magyar and English, but not all. I didn't read all that was in English, just because I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information. Still, the effort put forth by the museum was very much appreciated.

I continued up the stairs, all the way to the top, by which point my legs were like jello. 

That being said, it was worth it. My ticket allowed me to go on a walkway around the outside of the cupola. Fantastic views all around, including over the river into Slovakia. (The town on that side looked very different from Esztergom.) I could've stayed up there foreva, if there had been a place to sit down. As it was, I took heaps of photos, though none of them really showed what I was seeing. 

The stairs back down made my legs feel even weaker, hee hee. I got back down to the main sanctuary, then found the stairs down to the crypt. The crypt wasn't big, and seemed mostly devoted to one person. At least, I could only see one tomb. 

After climbing up the stairs and going in front of the basilica, I enjoyed looking at the front of the whole building. It's big, to say the least. It took me a while, (waiting for the area to be clear of people) but I finally got a photo of the whole thing. So pretty. 

I wandered back down the hill by another series of streets. I stopped for a late lunch at one of many gyro places, and picked up water and snacks at a supermarket. 

Eventually I got back to the bus station, and got lucky with a seat on the next bus back to Budapest. For whateva reason, the ride back to Budapest was at least 30 minutes faster than it had been on the way to Esztergom. 

belgium: brussels

I love the way various members of my extended family have lived in different countries. For this visit, my cousin Bryn was my host in Brussels, Belgium.

My flight left kyiv early in the morning, so there was no traffic to interfere with me getting to the airport on time. Yay! The line to checkin was long and slow, argh. Why doesn't Ukrainian Airlines do online checkin? The flight departed late, I never figured out why.

Upon arrival it was easy enough to take the train to the central train station (Gare Centrale) where cousin Bryn met me. We walked to his flat and caught up for a while before heading out again. 

We walked toward the city center, stopping in a church or two, and heaps of chocolate shops. Belgium is known for chocolate, for good reason. Pieces of chocolate, not bars of chocolate, though they were available as well. By the time the day was over if bought about 10 different pieces of chocolate. And this was just the first day :) I decided my goal was to find the best couer framboise.  Some stores were more expensive than others, sometimes that corresponded to taste, sometimes not.

The city centre is full of tourists, as well as small places to buy waffles and frites (French fries.) 

When we turned the corner into the Grande Place I was well and truly impressed. It's basically a giant platz. The buildings surrounding the platz are almost all big, and beautiful. I loved it. Definitely a good place for people watching. Photos didn't turn out as well as I thought the whole area looked, i hope that's because the sky was flat and grey.

After going through the Grande Place we followed another street or two, finding ourselves in front of Mannekin Pis. It's a lot smaller than I expected. Mannekin Pis is a statue of a little boy peeing, with water coming out of that part of his body. I don't get it, why is it famous? During this visit the statue had a costume covering most of him. How often does that happen? 

At that point both of us were hungry, we decided to be tourists sortof. We each ordered frites at a random place. I chose mustard as my sauce, you could have ketchup and mayonnaise and a few others as well. Mayonnaise is the typical sauce, I'm so not a fan. 

After that, I decided I wanted a waffle too. (Obviously, a healthy diet was not going to happen.) I chose one covered in whip cream and strawberries, Bryn had Nutella. By the time I finished eating I was stuffed, I had no room for 'real' food! Oops! As often as I talk about eating healthy, this was an epic fail, but so worth it!

The next morning the first thing Bryn did was show me how to get to a nearby large supermarket. (This was useful the next day when Bryn had to go to work, but I had a few more hours to explore.)

From there we continued walking. We crossed another platz, this one set up with a farmers market of some kind. I found the stalls with baked goods of course :) I didn't buy any of those items, but I did buy when I found the hot chocolate stall. Yum. They had three different types: milk, white, and dark. Why don't all places that sell hot chocolate have these choices? 

Eventually we made it to a BIG park. I think the name of the park is Cinquantenaire. There is a giant 'gate' in the middle of the park. On this particular day the park was the start and end point for a running festival. The main race was a 20km. (Why not a half marathon distance of 21.1km?) there were people everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Bryn and I have both run multiple marathons, though he takes running and training in general a whole lot more seriously than I do. I'm just happy to finish any race I run, he has actual goals. Seeing all these people made me think I should run the event next year.

We walked out another exit of the park, making our way to the area of town where the EU commission buildings are located. All I have to say about them is that they're not architecturally appealing. At all. 

Those buildings were yucky, so we decided to walk through the gardens close to the royal palace. The gardens are pretty. A few statues, walking paths, old trees, etc... We got to the palace itself, and due to the crappy weather there weren't many people out in front. Yay for photos without people. I wonder if it's ever possible to go inside the palace. It's big, but not super impressive outside; is the interior the same?

From there we walked to a monument which I think was an eternal flame. I'm not sure though. As we got there the wind picked up, as did the rain. YUCK. I know I've mentioned previously how I feel about rain. YUCK. Wind and rain make picture taking more difficult as well. 

The main Cathedral was close. It was big, and the front facade was quite nice. The interior wasn't nearly as impressive. Or maybe I'm just churched out. 

It continued being windy, and raining from time to time. To get out of the crappy weather we stepped into a cafe with a lovely display in the window. It ended up being a great choice. I had a slice of a raspberry tart, YUM. 

More time in the city center, including another church. This one was much more appealing to me. Smaller, much more friendly. 

I got another waffle, saw flavors as before. Again, YUM. At this point I realized it's a good thing I don't live in Brussels, I'd be HUGE! Between the chocolates and waffles, eeek.  When I ordered this waffle I had an entertaining conversation with the guy who worked there, in French. I love being able to speak a little of another language. 

I bought more chocolates. I think I ended up buying chocolates from all the main brands in Brussels. Except Godiva, I've had that brand plenty of times in other countries.

I wasn't hungry, but I realized I needed 'real' food, as I hadn't had any in a couple days. Bryn knew of a nearby street with several good choices, I ended up choosing a pita. Protein and veggies, I needed those. Since I wasn't full I didn't enjoy it as much as I could've, but I'm still glad I ate. Of course by the time I was done I wasn't feeling so good, I had way too much food in me.

The next morning I packed up, and walked Bryn to work. It was still a holiday for me, but not for Bryn. Then I made my way to the supermarket. I wanted to bring back chocolates for everyone at work, I figured I could find a box or several for cheaper than the stores in the city centre. I think I ended up buying three boxes :) 

Then I made my way to a metro stop, and figured out how to get to the atomium. It's a big, um, thing. Several of the molecules are part of a science oriented museum. That didn't interest me, I just enjoyed looking at the exterior. The atomium is in the middle of a park, I enjoyed strolling around and watching people.

At some point I realized I needed to hop back on the metro and get back to the airport. So I did. I got there later than I wanted, but being late meant there was almost no queue left at checkin. Thank goodness for not having to  check a bag!