Girls' trip to Budapest

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all keeping well. I hear its warming up back home ...and I suppose that means its not long until the taunting and teasing starts about the perfect weather and how you've been to the beach etc etc. Well, in preparation I'll attempt to make you jealous in the meantime!! Two weekends ago I went to Budapest with my friend Michelle (a social worker from Bunbury near Perth) and three of her friends (all nurses from Melbourne). It is a really beautiful city with two parts, Buda and Pest, separated by the Danube river. The newer buildings and most of the nightlife are on the Pest side and on the hilly Buda side there is an array of picturesque churches, castles and monuments. We were lucky to be in Budapest for one of their biggest national days of celebration, St Stephens Day, which provided a festive atmosphere over the whole weekend.

On the first night, after finding the "Ginkgo hostel" where we were staying (which I would thoroughly recommend if you ever make it to Budapest), Michelle and I wandered the cobbled streets down by the river in search of some authentic Hungarian food. We stopped at a nice little place where a violinist was playing and an old couple were waltzing. Unfortunately the food did not quite match the atmostphere, but it was still pleasant. We then went to a couple of bars, one of which was packed and had some great live music, before heading off to meet the other three girls at the late night Turkish thermal spa (opened from 10pm til 4am). We lounged in the various pools for hours just chatting etc.

On the Saturday we headed to the "Terror House" museum which gave an excellent overview of Hungary's modern history. Hungary was occupied by the Nazis and communist Soviet Union at different periods for years and the persecution of Hungarian Jews was horrific. One statistic that shocked me was that 10% of the Hungarian population perished as a result of war atrocities. We spent a good three hours in the museum before heading to one of the most famous Budapest streets for a beautiful lunch. After this we headed down to the river where there were markets set up and also an air show where planes were doing tricks and flying underneath the bridges! We watched this while enjoying some local brew and then in the evening boarded a boat for a cruise on the Danube to take in the city lights. After the cruise we listened to some opera at the main stage by the river before making our way home.

On Sunday Michelle and I visited a beautiful Synagogue, the second largest one in central Europe, and then made our way up to the Buda hills to visit Matthias church and to take in spectacular views of the city. The highlight was having a glass of wine overlooking the city while being entertained by some charismatic Hungarian musicians. After this we made our way to Margaret Island, a beautiful little island in the middle of the danube, and hired a little pedal-powered car to get around in! At that point we met up with the other girls for some lunch followed by a paddle in a big fountain that was cued to spurt in time with classical music that was being played.

That evening, we headed to the pest side of the river to enjoy the fireworks along with millions of others. I was just saying to the girls what a perfect night it was when out of absolutely nowhere, this incredibly strong wind whipped up (we were later told it was 100km/hr). Suddenly there was dust and rubbish flying everywhere, and people just started running in all directions! Michelle and I grabbed on to each other and ran behind the first row of buildings and ducked into an alcove at the entrance of an apartment block. I pressed all the buzzers and a nice man came down and let us in to the foyer area. We spotted the other girls across the street and they came in also. We managed to get inside before the SLEET started coming down!!! At this point we were all looking rather dishevelled and had dust all over us including in our ears and mouths. (Please refer to "dishevelled" photos). After about 45mins we walked back to the hostel and couldn't believe the destruction! Check out the photos below.

The next morning Michelle and I went to the famous Gallert thermal spas to have a final relax and soak before making our way to the airport. I would certainly recommend Budapest to any of you planning a trip to Europe! We thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

Just to make you a little greener, last weekend Col and I went to the Reading festival! Highlights included seeing Pearl Jam, Franz Ferdinand, The Vines, Jet, Goldy Lookin Chain, and The Kooks, but I'll leave it for Col to tell you all the details in his next post.

Anyhow, I'd better get out of my PJs as its 2pm! Take care and love to you all,
Ang, xoxo.

Budapest pics (in reverse order, just to confuse you)

Life in London

Hi everyone!

Well... what can I say? We haven't been gallavanting around Europe at all since the last post! I'm on school holidays so have been doing a lot of job-searching - looking for both casual jobs with an immediate start to earn us some pounds over the hols but also for jobs in mental health that would provide me with great experience. I think I'm at a point now where I've overcome the trauma of the Masters degree overload and am ready to take on a bit more responsibility if needed. I saw a fantastic job advertised the other day for a student counsellor at a college in central London (for 18 to 20 year olds) which I will apply for. Fingers crossed! I've been doing a bit of caring work for a young woman with Cerebral Palsy which has been working out well, and I just heard that I got a telsales job that I applied for (oh the shame!). Well at least it is for a good cause as it is raising money for charities.

Col has been really busy with work as per usual but he is still really enjoying it. The job is demanding with loads of important deadlines etc., but Col takes it all in his stride and manages to stay cool calm and collected. (I need to watch and learn!) This Friday his team are all heading off to the dog races in Birmingham.

While we haven't been abroad lately we've been planning a few trips. Next weekend I am off on a girls-only four-day weekend to Budapest with a new friend Michelle and a couple of her friends. Pretty keen for the thermal baths!! As it happens we will be there for Hungary's national day so there will fireworks and plenty of celebrations going on. For those of you feeling sore and sorry for Col, never fear, he is contemplating a kitesurfing trip to Portugal with one of the guys from work. We have also just booked a weekend trip to Dublin in September, and last but CERTAINLY not least, we have now booked our accomodation for a 2-week ski trip with Leigh and Sarah to Val D'Isere in the French Alps in January!!!!! I cannot tell you how excited we are about this one!

We've been doing quite a bit socially lately. A couple of weeks ago we went out for drinks and a great Lebanese meal with T (Col's cousin) and her partner Chris. Also been catching up with a couple of the young teachers from my school. We went to see a band at the Carling Academy whose lead vocalist is the partner of another random friend I have made over here. It was a fun night out. We've also had a couple of catch-ups with the St Peters crew that are over here, and tomorrow night we're off to Kath's murder mystery party (with a medical theme). Col is a dodgy doctor called Mal Practice and I am a pharmacist called Dee Spence. I hope we make it out alive!

Anyway, hope you guys are all doing well back in Brissy. We miss you all lots! (Really truly!) Keep the emails and blog responses coming, we love getting news from home and hearing about what you guys are up to :)

Lots of love,
Ang and Col, xo.