Our Year in Europe: Part 1 Hungary

Last year my husband and I packed up our condo, loaded our car, and spent three days driving 17 hours a day across Canada from New Brunswick to Alberta with only our most sacred possessions (aka my shoe collection, our puppy, bags of clothes, and some life memorabilia). Oh, and my little sister who we brought along for the adventure! We were about to embark on a life journey we will never forget and before I start to I thought I'd better blog about it! We were moving to Hungary for 8 months for Kyle to play professional hockey from August 2012 until April 2013 and this is what we did...

Szekesfehervar, a small town half an hour from Budapest, was about to be our home and we were in for a few surprises and a lot of fun. I was so pumped to be able to pick up a new language, but it didn't take long to realize it was a battle I would lose.. (although I did learn to order drinks & count to ten, what else do you need?)

Our little town was filled with gypsy's, cobblestone streets, very little English, an awesome Italian restaurant called Lorenzos; where I went weekly for spaghetti, merlot, and tiramisu, and endless celebrations. Some days I would walk down to the square and to my delightful surprise the whole town would be shut down with a huge market, concerts, mojito stands, and food vendors.. I guess that's what happens when you can't read their language, or listen to the radio!

 

 

The first time we went to Budapest was for their national holiday and blew our minds with the coolest buildings & castles, the most intense show of fireworks, hot weather, and relaxed attitudes of everyone, beers in hand, wandering the streets.

 

 

 

My husband loves zoos, so obviously when we heard that Budapest has a huge open concept zoo with animals running amuck we had to go. There was every animal you can imagine and bats flying all around and hanging by our heads and sloths by your feet, or on a building by your head.. all I could think of was Kristen Bell on Ellen crying over sloths thinking she would be oh so jealous!

 

 

We made the amazing friends from Canada, the US, and Hungary and together we took advantage of ridiculously cheap food & drinks, enjoyed endless days and nights at the Turkish Spa, and explored Castles and churches built in the 17th Century, and the best part was having our puppy Aydah with us along for all the adventures and to keep me company in our tiny Hungarian flat when Kyle was away playing hockey. Oh, and you can't go to Hungary and not try their national "welcome" shot of Palinka, whether homemade, or store bought that stuff is terrible, but they sure do love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, it was the start of a year we will always remember!