Weekend in Budapest

Well we had the big mini-marathon this weekend.  I am thrilled that I didn’t have to run a whole marathon, but the weather was just perfect for those who did.  I’m getting ahead of myself…

I left early for Budapest on Saturday – and got into town about 10:30.  I headed for the mall right away because I needed winter boots (preparing for the pending cold weather) and I’m in search of some petite brown pants.  It’s hard enough shopping without having to search for petite items.  Yeesh.  Some stores had things marked as “short” but I didn’t have much luck with the pants.  Dang.  I found some boots – and they were 20% off – so I was thrilled.  They ran me about $30.00 – perfectly reasonable.  Shoes here are VERY expensive, particularly if they are an American brand or a name brand that is famous in the United States.  My running shoes, which are about $80.00 in the US run for $210.00 here.  A pair of Columbia sandals that I have, ran me about $20 or $30 – I don’t remember – in the United States, and here they are $98.00.  I don’t get it, but whatever.  It certainly has (temporarily) quashed my shoe fettish. 

I wandered around a bit enjoying being inside out of the wind- the weather had turned rather nasty on Saturday.  Cold and windy… so the mall was a welcome reprieve from walking around outside.  There were these awesome escalators there - they are like the moving sidewalks at the airport but they go up- I have included a picture.  I went to the bookstore and picked up a book I had been looking for “Hungary and the Hungarians” – it is supposed to be a good read about the Hungarian people and their culture.  I also got a Harry Potter book in English – I miss them.  I headed to the food court for lunch, and it was so busy that I ended up eating my Chinese food standing at a ledge that was made for eating.  I was just minding my own business when a man came and set his tray down beside me.  He began to talk to me, and from what I could gather, he wanted me to watch his food while he went in search of salt.  I turned and said “igen” – (yes).  He returned shortly thereafter and continued to talk to me in Hungarian which made things increasingly more awkward.  I still haven’t figured out the appropriate time to butt in and say “actually, I don’t speak Hungarian.”  Is it just as they get going?  When they pause for a breath?  When they are all done with their statements?  This time, I waited until he was finished, and I told him I didn’t speak Hungarian.  He then switched to pretty good English.  He asked if I wanted some of the fish he had for lunch.  I said no thank you, and of course – how very Hungarian of him- he cut his filet in half and put half on my plate.  Crap.  I don’t like fish.  In fact, the smell makes me gag.  I didn’t know what to do.  I had a shark on my plate- it was HUGE!  What to do.  Not to mention that I had just finished a huge plate of sesame chicken and rice… crap crap crap.  So, I dug in.  I thought I was going to die.  It was breaded and fatty like fast food usually is, but there was the fishy taste that just kills me.  Literally – for the rest of the day, I thought I was going to puke.  I choked down as much as I could as we chatted.  He asked if I was from Budapest, and I told him I lived in Tata.  He has been there and we talked a bit about how beautiful it is – nice pleasantries.   I think I’m going to puke.  Luckily, I had some rice left, so I was able to mask part of the taste – but man.  These Hungarians and their food. 

After the mall, I thought I was going to meet up with Megan, but she changed her plans, so I headed towards Hero’s square to check out some art – or so I thought… I ended up getting REALLY lost and having Hanna talk me through several trams and busses to get to her apartment.  Her place is so cute – it’s very homey and such a nice size.    We dropped off my stuff and headed to get our race numbers. 

I was getting excited because I love race expos – and I figured this one was going to be big, since it was a big international race.  Well – it was kind of big, but fun none the less.  There were ads for many other European races that Hanna and I might think about doing in the future….maybe.

We headed off to the pasta dinner and to enjoy some entertainment.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a ticket for the dinner for some reason, but that ended up being okay.  Hanna got some sort of dish that was pasta and a cottage cheese type thing, and a beer.  The only beverage choices were beer and iced tea.  Of course, beer has more carbs, so she opted for beer.  We wandered a bit and then headed in for a fairly early night after a quick visit to Jake and Ellen’s.