Sunday, March 20, 2011

Budapest

Currently, I'm in the middle of transforming a bomb-scene like apartment into something a lot more habitable. Progress has been slow, but good. Most of the bedroom furniture has been assembled, and you can actually see the floor in the living room now. I no longer have to walk on boxes to get to other boxes. My hope is to have everything finally put away within the next two weeks. But we'll see.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of Budapest, where I went with a friend for my birthday weekend. A few facts about Budapest and Hungary that not many people know: Budapest is a combination of two cities, Buda and Pest. Hungarian wine, especially their whites, are delicious and unlike most whites that I have tasted. It's an absolutely beautiful city, rich in history and culture. Hungarian food is mainly meat based, but us vegetarians can always find ways to survive. Hungarian pastries and desserts are divine, and it's easily one of my top ten favorite cities in the world.

On our first evening in Budapest, we went to a wine tasting event in a cave, underneath the Buda Castle. We had to talk down about 60 steps to get to the actual cave. While trying to get out of the cave, I got lost, and ended up asking two of the servers to help me find a way out. They calmly climbed up 60 steps with me, pointed to the Exit sign, and asked me to go there. Apparently, my mind decided that the Exit door was merely a suggestion and that I had to find my own way out. Anyway, here's a picture of the cave where did the tasting:



After the tasting, we walked around the Buda side of the city, and took some pictures of the Chain Bridge:



And of the Parliament, which is apparently the second biggest Parliament building in the world:



The next day, we went to the biggest Turkish bath place in Budapest. But before we could go there, we were distracted by, what else, food. We suddenly found ourselves outside a cafe, and before we knew it, these Hungarian desserts had already been ordered and consumed:



At the bath, there were about 18 pools of various sizes and temperatures, and over 10 sauna rooms. Three of these hot pools were outdoors, and to be in a steaming hot pool, when the outside temperature is below freezing, was amazing. We were there for over four hours,and even after that, I didn't want to leave. Security almost had to be called to pull me out of water to get me to leave. But if you were there, you'd totally understand why I wanted to stay in there forever:



On the last day, we just walked around on the Pest side of the city and tried in vain to find a falafel place. We instead ended up going to one of the restaurants in the Castle district area, and we were glad we did, because our last meal was divine. On the way back to the airport, I had a glass water bottle in my handbag, which broke because my bag fell. As a result, everything from my cellphone to my glasses got soaking wet. This was clearly not my fault, because one can only buy water in glass bottle in Hungary! I blame the country of Hungary for the destruction of my phone and the near murder of my handbag and all the accessories it contained. The End.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Goooood Morning World!

Things have been mental. Insanely mental. Ever since I came back from New York, I've only had time for a 2.5 day cleanse, fondue, work, moving apartments, fondue...well I think you get the idea. I also went away to Budapest for a weekend, details of which shall soon be uploaded (I promise!).

As many of your know, I have currently moved to my new apartment. It's a tad smaller than the first one, but a lot more cozy and close to work. Bad news is that the new apartment currently looks like a bomb exploded there. Good news is that I now have ceiling lights, a semi functioning wardrobe, a fully functioning bookshelf, and of course, a fully stocked kitchen.

Move to the new place also meant that my stuff from New York had a place to come to, and arrived it did. The stuff also multiplied in boxes, I am sure of it. I don't remember having nearly as many books:



And when we counted the number of pairs of shoes I had, it came out to be over 40. This was clearly not my fault. I have an addiction issue. I'm on a drug - it's called Charlie Sheen. It’s not available because if you try it once your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body.

And with all the Tiger blood that I have running through my viens, I have no choice but to buy as many shoes as I can - it's in my Adonis DNA! People can't figure me out, they can't process me, I don't expect them to. You can't process me with the normal brain. People can't figure me out, they can't process me, and I don't expect them to. You can't process me with the normal brain. If all this makes no sense to you, just read up on it, and you will be enlightened.