Central Kavehaz

Although I have been saving lots of money on dinner by frequenting the falafel house next door (they know me by name!), our visit to Budapest wouldn’t be complete without visiting a coffeehouse.  So a few of us took Rick Steve’s advice and decided to have a three hour meal at one of the nicest and oldest of the coffehouses in Budapest: Central Kavehaz.  It was a very relaxed atmosphere, despite the fancy presentation, and really quite reasonable (by American standards at least).  The best part was hanging out at the dessert counter to personally pick dessert!  In true Hungarian style, it took us three hours to finish, but that could be because it took a full hour to figure out the bill and tips.  Too many cooks…

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Kerepesi Cemetery

In order to be buried at the Kerepesi Cemetery in the middle of Budapest, you would have to qualify as a “famous Hungarian.”  Yet given their habit of explaining everyone as a “world famous Hungarian,” it’s amazing the place isn’t full yet.  Still, you can learn a lot about a place by seeing how their honor and memorialize their dead.  In this case, we found out the origins of all our favorite tram stops.  For instance, “Blaha Lujza Ter,” our home away from home, is named for the famous actress who was so beautiful people fought to drink champagne from her shoe.  Naturally, her site is quite large. 

Interestingly enough, the graves of dictators and tributes to communist leaders remain as part of the grounds.  Their memorials and statues still stand, and in the case of Kadar, are even respected by a few.  The people I’ve met argue that they should be taken down, or placed elsewhere, but at the same time many Hungarians simply accept this part of their past and do not look to hide it.  They are not ashamed to admit that their political past was tainted.  It’s a refreshing sense of honesty, but as an American, I can’t help but to side with those who think such people do not deserve a place of honor.

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Everyday Budapest

So here are the shots that are less about the architecture and more about my feelings at the moment…

Our Fulbright hosts are fantastic people and always go above and beyond to make us happy.  Note the plate of food especially for me, the vegetarian in a world of pork and potatoes.

I feel very independent riding the trams, buses, metro, etc.  Navigating the city isn’t too hard, and this was really a big deal for me since I haven’t ever lived in a city and always rely on others to lead me around.  So to all my friends who went to college/lived in/regularly explore the cities around me, just think back to the first time you managed to get to a store on the other side of town without help.  It’s quite empowering!  We are such a car culture…speaking of which, the Polo pictured is probably one of the fanciest cars I’ve seen here, and very much the standard size.  One would be very out-of-place here in an Accord.

Then there’s Kati: my little Hungarian doll that feels like a friend.  Laugh all you want, but she has been in my purse, ready for all sorts of ridiculous photo opportunities without complaint.  I’ll have lots to show my kindergarteners!

Eating ice cream is something people do here between 9 am and midnight, at least three times a day.  They are serious about their ice cream, but good luck if you want fresh fruit.

Hanging out at the cafes has been lots of fun–good for people watching, or watching people watch the World Cup.  Had I been at home I never would have known who made it to the finals.  Nor would I have been hanging out at a bicycle repair shop/bar while consumed by cigarette smoke.  There are lots of smells in Budapest, so I am convinced people smoke to disguise the rest of them.  Thank goodness for nasal allergy spray.

Reflecting on my time in Hungary isn’t something I want to do right now–I am going to miss it so much!  Here comes to cliche message–we really are more alike than different.  Really.

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Duna TV, Szechenyi Baths

The temperature has been sweltering in Budapest, so it’s only fitting that I returned to the baths to cool off with the locals.  The Turks aren’t generally well regarded here, what with trying to take over the empire and all, but fortunately they did stick around to create all sorts of fabulous bathing areas right in the middle of the city.  Hooray!  These days the baths offer many different pools, all with their own temperature, so you can find one just right for you.  There are indoor and outdoor spaces to enjoy, a sauna, steam rooms, mineral baths, and even special cabins for massages and such. 

My favorite part of Szechenyi is the circular area inside one of the outside pools where the jets take you around and around in circles and quite some speed.  It’s a little tricky to get in and out of this circle area because the jets are strong and there are lots of people around, but still, it’s such fun once you get moving along with the current.

We also visited the Duna TV station.  I was on TV!  Okay, so the TV wasn’t broadcasting, but it was still fun to pretend I was an anchorwoman  I looked right at the teleprompter and “UFO’s” on the camera like a pro!  Maybe one day…

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The Mayor Takes Us to Kindergarten!

In Budapest, there is a mayor for each of the districts who acts like a superintendent of schools.  What luck–we got to meet the best one!  No really, he was so passionate about education and proud of the work his teachers accomplished–which is every teacher’s dream, right?  After a talk at his office about how the school district works, we were off to visit a kindergarten school before an elaborate lunch in our honor.  Wow.

Here is the necessary background: Kindergartens can be public or private–many parents opt for private ones because they want the best for their kids (such as smaller class sizes and foreign language instruction…)  However, schools in Hungary are not designated by district, but by choice, so teachers and principals work hard to make their programs attractive.  This is also important because with twice as many teachers and schools than needed, the threat of having your school shut down is always real.  Nonetheless, schools are half funded by the state and the other half comes through district taxes.

Kindergarten is a three year experience; children are approximately 3 to 6.5 years of age.  As far as I can tell, there is little emphasis on reading and writing–more on alphabet knowledge before primary school begins at age 7.  As you can see, there is naptime for all!

In this case, the children seen in the photos are kindergarten age, but they are part of a summer “camp” that acts as daycare for working parents.  The children are allowed to be in the program for as much as 10 hours a day, but most of the school building was closed off since the majority of kids are vacationing with their parents for the holiday.

My favorite part was seeing how much of the school is cared for by the teachers–you can see them embroidering more pockets for the children while they nap.  All the paintings, organizers, cubbies are labeled with little pictures to act as identifiers for everything from cups to combs to art folders.  Each room has a theme and teachers take pride in the results of parent satisfaction surveys, which are posted in the lounge for all to see.

In the end, there was a sense of familiarity about the place.  Pictures of special events in the hallway, schoolwide “zoo” for biology study, a playground full of equipment and even a daily attendance board with name tags.  Also familiar are the issues the school faces: children who have unstable homes or learning difficulties are given extra attention and planning.

Every child should be so lucky to be part of such a caring community of learners–the building was almost empty, but the sense of pride was still tangible.

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Pecs Sights & Sounds

The weekend was coming to a close when started our tour of Pecs.  We began with walking around the town square, where there was a complete orchestra warming up for their Saturday morning concert.  Why not celebrate Saturday?  After cooling off by the fountain and stopping for iced tea at a sidewalk cafe, we stopped by the old cemetery ruins and finally the Zsolnay ceramics museum.  The beautiful, shiny ceramics were fun to look at, but by that point we were all getting tired and ready to get back “home” to the hotel Ibis in Budapest.  So we boarded the bus an hour early and congratulated ourselves for our shopping restraint!

Well, as you can tell by the pictures, we were about an hour outside of Budapest when our bus broke down.  (Could it have had something to do with the wheat field romp from the day before?)  Nothing like standing by the side of the highway in 100 degree heat!  We took some pictures to amuse ourselves, then got very excited when a road emergency van pulled up.  The kind man put up a few signs and cones telling other motorists to stay away from us, then left.  At least I got a few pictures to use for my classroom project…

About 40 minutes later we make it to the rest stop, fill the radiator for another half hour, and finally limped home, arriving just two hours late.  The green Ibis sign never looked so good!

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A Day in Sopron

The weekend was a whirlwind and Sopron was yet another stop on our very busy tour of the East.  These pictures are from the main town center, minutes from the Austrian border (see the Pan-European picnic pictures…)  Interestingly enough, it seemed like the whole town was under renovation.  Nothing like watching the construction being carried out one stone at a time–there was such care being taken to return every stone back to it’s place where it has stood for hundreds of years before.

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The Hungarian Sea…

As a diehard Pisces, I have always been drawn to seaside towns.  Lake Balaton is no exception!  I only wish I had more time to actually swim while I was in Balatonfured, but alas…just an hour to eat a quick lunch by the lake, then a moment to sit and watch the swans and children playing in the fountains.  It really made me miss Watch Hill….I must find a way to go back!

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Extravagance and Devotion

For a study in contrasts, we visited the Esterhazy Castle and Pannonhalma Abbey.  The view from the monastery made me feel closer to the heavens.  It is also school where the students can make use of the largest monastic library in Hungary. 

Ironically, it is the Esterhazy Castle that is looking more worn for the wear.  Unfortunately it was abandoned for over 100 years and also used as a Soviet military hospital.  It was–and still is–the home of the Esterhazy family, as well as Hayden.  One thing is for certain–Hungarians have enjoyed very intricate, gilded (read busy and over the top) design work for centuries, and I am becoming hard-pressed to find a building with clean lines, white space, and modern design.  Perhaps I will find something more my style at the WAMP fair this afternoon in Budapest.  There is beauty in restraint!

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At the Austrian Border

After our exploration of communist oppression, it was only fitting for us to start our weekend vacation in Sopron, the sight of the PanEuropean Picnic in August of 1989.  Communism was fading fast and the leaders of Austria and Hungary had decided to hold a picnic celebration at the border between their countries.  The plan was to open up the gates (part of the Iron Curtain itself) and have both leaders walk across to show their friendship.  The picnic was heavily adverstised, and not surprisingly, many East Germans rushed to Sopron in hopes of making their way back to West Germany through Austria.  The miracle is that the border patrol, who were surprised to see hundreds of people approaching the gates hours ahead of the schedule, did not shoot at them (although they had orders to do so).  They realized that doing so would turn the happy chaos into a memorial ground.  For those few hours, hundreds of refugees left their cars and often families behind for a chance to be free…it was the first “brick” to removed from the Berlin Wall.

A note about the pictures–if it looks like we are driving through a wheatfield, that’s because we did.  The road to the border was “closed,” so our intrepid bus driver took us on a tractor path through the woods until we could no longer drive.  This is when our guides thought we were close, so then we walked over a motorcross path, until they realised we were nowhere near Austria.  This was followed by us returning to the bus, driving through more wheat, and finally making our way to the blocked road–which had only a chair and caution tape to stop us.  In the spirit of resisting oppression, they took down the caution tape (after all–the helpful folks at the local prison told us we could) and we drove on through the wet cement.  Then, while at the border, we watched as the Austrian Police blocked those trying to go around the closed gate to Hungary.  So much for an open EU!

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