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Hey Ho! Hey Ho! It's of to Sir Lancelot we go..!!

(The following presentation is brought to you by Malin...In blurred vision when drunk...)

Spring came and went...and the snow keeps on falling. Which did not stop us from bathing in the beautiful Széchenyi bath in the city park on Sunday. The water was hot and the air cold, the place was filled with mist and the wonderful smell of sulphur. The healing thermal water springs from natural underground wells. It’s filled with goodies for body and soul but, as said before, smells pretty nasty...

Unfortunately it’s not allowed to take photos in the bath. After that we went to Liszt Ferenc tér (at Oktogon) for a bite to eat and some delicious deserts. After a quick stop at an internet café to check the situation on the Iron Maiden concert in November (in Gothenburg) we headed home exhausted and happy.

However, as nice as the week ended it did not start as good. Mondays are always dull as was this one. Nothing in particular happened to cheer it up. Work, work, work.... On Tuesday we took a long evening walk to check out the Friday night eating place, Sir Lancelot. Saw plenty of interesting restaurants to keep us well feed the rest of the stay. We also had time to stop for some sightseeing, eg the Western Station’s (built with the same steel as the Eiffel tower) McDonald’s [Going sightseeing to se a McDonalds... Now how do you like that?! (Andreas) ] which is beautiful (and has good coffee as my mom will agree on).

Friday we met up for lunch outside the big market hall where we were last week and did some grocery shopping. After that we went home and relaxed in bed reading our books and waited for time to pass until our 7 o’clock reservation at Sir Lancelot. The restaurant is located downstairs
in a cellar decorated with armour, swords, axes and shields, all to enhance the medieval feeling.

We ordered ourselves two different Knight’s meals and some beer and had a look around in the small but cosy cellar. As our drinks arrived our table companions did as well. What do you know, the only other Swedes in the restaurant and they are places at our table. Coincidence......? The platters of food carried by our table were huge and looked delicious and many of them had to be carried by two waiters!! We got our soup, served in a loaf of bread, accompanied by the mandatory Palincka spirit and some salty bread. The main course followed and was just as delicious as it looked (off course we had to eat with our hands, using just a knife to cut the meat) and after that desert and some sweet Tokaj wine.

Just some random rants...

During my daily walks to and from the office i've noticed a few things:

1) Nearly all dogs are overweight... which i find kinda funny since looking at the amount of dog poo on the streets there should be nothing left but skin'n'bone on these poor pooches..

2) All birds in Budapest are Italian... Why else would the old ladies be feeding them dry pasta!?

3) It is not suprising that some of the shots from the film Underworld are filmed in Budapest when you look at some of these buildings.

4) The paralament is HUGE! not to mention really, really cool!

5) A lot of the buildings are really heavly ornated and beautiful at the top and roof tops.. too bad you miss most of it since you are too busy watching out for that darn poo!!

6) Parking can be found everywere.. right on every corner.. literally!

Anyway... Tonight me and Malin are going to a really special resturant... Sir Lancelot! Where the waitresess show their stomachs..!! (well.. atleast according to malin)

We walked past it before on one of our walks through the city.

Anyway.. take a look at their menue! Looks really good... needless to say i'll be bringing my camera out for this one!

See ya soon...

Valentines Day!!

Another week, another weekend but i guess the biggest question on everyone’s minds is ”VALENTINES DAY”!! What did we do? What did we eat? In what romantic manner did we celebrate this day created for consumption of wine and chocolate? The answer? Nothing... well at least not very romantic anyway. Ok... well i did make Malin breakfast in bed... and i did buy her a rose on my way back from work but other than that nothing in particular. But remember Monika & Christian? The couple that picked us up at the air port? Well they had invited us for dinner so that is where we headed in to dark night of Budapest.

The dinner began with the compulsory shot of either Palinca or Unicum. Both has the ability of making your day very regretful if too much is consumed. Then we hade some wine before we had even more wine and some what sounds like “lápshó” a Hungarian sausage stew, prepared by the excellent chef Christian. After dinner we talked a bit more over some coffee and tea. And that was our Valentines Day. Not much more to speak of.

The rest of the week has been spent indoors working, watching episodes of Rome and generally complaining about the piss poor weather we’ve been having during the week. That however changed during the weekend.

On Friday i went to visit Malin at her company together with Aniko. The one that managed to get all the internships here in Hungary. She’s also the mother of Monika. We started planning for a weekend in Sopron where there are a lot of wineries... and stuff. For lunch we went to one of the many indoor marketplaces. It’s got two levels and tones of stands that sell everything from saffron to Absinthe. As well as any part of any farm creature you can come to think of.

On Saturday malin started her Hungarian speaking class. Too bad the timing is a bit bad. 10am -1pm during the peak shopping hours. Anyway... while malin was away i did some laundry, the dishes and even vacuumed the kitchen and hall... no point in shopping alone. Anyway... so malin came home... beaten and tired from the brutish language class and i was a bit knackered as well from all the house hold duties i had preformed that we ended up watching episodes of MI. Which was a shame since the weather outside was really nice. Our dinner that night consisted of pizza and watching “Wedding Crashers”.

Woke up Sunday morning and the sun was shining brightly in the sky and not a cloud to be seen! Perfect weather for a stroll down to the city centre.
Which reminds me. Malin and I have an agreement that on every Sunday visit a coffee shop for some coffee / tea and a pastry. So this was our main goal for the day... as it will be on every Sunday. Not forgetting to see the sights on the way of course. On the way in to the city we walked down the alleys of Budapest and looking at the old buildings... we turned a corner and suddenly the entire city just opened up and there was the biggest most amazing building i’ve seen in a long time. The “St. Istvan Cathedral”. Now this thing is huge!!! Usually i have no problem fitting things with in the frames of my camera, quite the opposite. I have trouble filling it. But this cathedral is awesome in stature. Big bummer was that there was a sermon going on inside so i didn’t want to take any pictures inside... But have no worries. I’ll get some later on.

On our quest to find a good looking pastry we came upon several small antique shops filled with everything from odd screws to air pilot helmets and gas masks. So if you ever need a Russian astronaut helmet this is the place to get it.

We finally found (well... Malin knew where it was) a small tea-house where the tea menu is longer than most bar menus are. So we settled in in this cosy place, ordered our tea as well as some chocolate cake. Something strange though... there must have been some kind of drug in that tea cuz i felt really sleepy afterwards.

Since the time was pushing 3:30pm we decided to head back to our apartment. But not before we found a store that sold chips... so... here we are, back at home eating chips and writing the blogg.

I wonder what next week will have in stall for us?

12 grader varmt.....

....säger dom att det ska bli på lördag. Vi får väl se. Just nu e det snö o dimma o nån plusgrad. Men visst hade det varit skönt med värme, färgglada vårlökar och solen som värmer ansiktet på väg till jobbet på morgonen. Då kanske min äckliga förkylning släpper oxå, vilket skulle vara ännu skönare.
I går handlade vi mat för....håll i er.... nästan 20 000! (huf alltså.....) Man får en liten shock innan man inser att ok dela med 40 så blir det rätt....
Händer inte så mycket på jobbet. Ska surfa runt lite om Raul Wallenberg idag tänkte jag, har är ju en stor hjälte här och jag kan inte så mycket om det så jag tänkte fördriva tiden med det. Mitt projekt har ännu inte gått igång ordentligt men jag småpillar lite på det då och då ändå.
Har vanligtvis en superfin utsikt från mitt kontor, över Donau, Margaretaön och Parlamentet....men inte i dag....



Kramar tills nästa gång

Our first week has come and gone...

A week has passed... and so has the weekend. And what did we do you might ask? Will i tell you? ooh indeed i will.

An uneventful week of mundane working hours and watching downloaded episodes of Rome and Medical Investigation led up to a Friday night out having dinner with one of Malin’s old workmates from her time as an intern at IKEA last year in Budapest. I had the perfect meal selected for my hungry stomach but just as i was about to order Malin ordered the same thing.. D’OH! and i can’t have the same thing.. what’s the point in that? So by pure principle i ordered the lasagne instead. Which resembled... well, your guess is as good as mine. It sure didn’t look like lasagne, i can tell you that much. Thank God i was able to taste a few bits of Malin’s pizza. Mmmm... pizza good... (Napster bad) A bottle of wine later (which is almost cheaper than Coke) we hit the streets and came across one of the more.. bizarre arts i’ve seen in a long time.

Saturday morning we got up at 9 am, had breakfast and planned what sights to see. Malin, the ever present tour guide, suggested Hero’s Square and the Millennium Monument. This saturday must have been really special since me met a lot of people at the square in steel-tip boots, black BDU’s, black T-shirts and black jackets. If it hadn’t been for all the shaved heads i might have thought that there was a Metal festival happening and i would have been inclined to join them. Anyhow... since most of the square was sectioned of for these people (don’t know if it was to keep them in our us out) we went down to the Millennium Subway, which Malin thinks looks like a HUGE public lavatory. I found it quite charming. But considering that one of the stops is named BAJZA (bajza read in swedish sounds like “taking a dump”) it still feels somehow that Malin does have a point.

Well... after a quick ride in the underground metro we got of and headed to one of the exclusive (and expensive) cafés in Budapest: “Gerbeaud”. We sat down for an espresso, tea and chocolate cake. Yum! Yum! Having satisfied our sweet-tooth we headed back to the apartment prepared some stuffed peppers, watched a few episodes of Rome and went to bed.

Sunday started of much like the previous morning. With a lot of walking. We headed out to Margaret Island which is a small island in the middle of Donau. The island itself is not very big but still manages to hold a number of different things. A rubber track for joggers that goes all the way around it, 2 sports arenas, several swimming pools, Spa Hotel, numerous restaurants, a small zoo (with animals that just don’t seem to be that ok) ruins, a chapel and a small Japanese Garden. When we finally made it to the gardens we stopped for some warm mulled white wine and a pretzel. Some of the pretzel we fed to the pigeons and other birds that suddenly arrived. We even saw a Robin. ( Batman, however, was nowhere to be seen).

On the way back it started snowing real heavy so we headed straight home. But don’t believe that the sight seeing stopped there. No! We went past probably one of the coolest restaurants in Budapest. Darkness! Have to go there some day... if we live to tell about it, we will.

Considering we had been out walking for 2.5 hours we were both really tired and went to bed for a quick nap. An hour or so later i was awaken by Malin who hade prepared a pizza for dinner. I’m amazed she actually made it out of bed ‘cuz i was beat. Anyway... ate the pizza and got dressed again since we had decided to go and see a movie at the Cinema. Tonight’s choice? “Walk the line” the Johnny Cash movie. To those who haven’t seen it.. Go now! Drop what ever you are doing and go see it... We where a bit nervous though since Hungarians tend to dub most of their movies... but it only had Hungarian subtitles thankfully. 2,5 hours later we left the cinema, but the night didn’t end there.... we actually bumped into a Swedish couple here on holiday. Small world...
But that is it for now... stay tuned..

Our "home" address...

Vill ni skriva till oss kan ni göra det till:
If you want to write a letter to us you can do so at:

Andreas Andersson / Malin Löfstrand
c/o Balogh Péter
Budapest
Pannónia Utca 49/b 4.em.3
1133

mer bilder o annat gott kommer senare...
more pictures'n'stuff coming soon...

Finally.. the blog that should of been posted before..

Well we woke up at 6:30 am yesterday and for once actually got out of bed with out much hassle (cuddles). I had a shower while Malin made some breakfast. Had breakfast and packed the last of the stuff.. keys, passport, toothbrush.. what else..oh yeah.. wallet, creditcards and buss card! Left the apartment with plenty of time to spare.. which was nice for a change.. to actually not have to stress.
The trip to the airport was uneventful and boring. It had snowed a lot so the ride was slow and calm. Checked in our luggage and proceeded into the terminal. Sat down for a second breakfast and went to check out some manly perfume for me. We sprayed and smelled, smelled and sprayed... and now I had two different types of perfumes on me. We met up with one of the girls from school who works at one of the shops, had a quick chat and headed on towards our gate. Boarded the plane and headed on to Copenhagen where we spent 30 mins scouting out the tax-free shops for bargains on our 4 hour layover in Copenhagen when we return to Sweden in May. Went into another perfume shop and sprayed a bit more.. Now I smelled of 4 different perfumes.. And we finally settled for Hugo Boss: Dark Blue. After that we went to our gate and sat down to wait for the boarding to begin.. And this is when we slowly start to realize.. Hmm.... in less than a bad Adam Sandler movie (approx 2 hr) we’ll be arriving in Budapest!

The flight was 1hr 45 min so we had some time to kill... solving crosswords and checking out the country side from our window. Malin tried to take a quick nap but that was interrupted by the Captain who announced that we’d be on the ground in 15 mins.. (that’s a little vague don’t you think?! And who made this guy a Captain? If I might ask? Did I miss some swearing in ceremony? He’s a #%&* pilot and let him be happy with that! [Ref. George Carlin])

Anyway.. got picked up at the airport by Monika (picture later.. ) and her boyfriend who drove us to our apartment. (more about this later...) we unpacked the goodies that we had brought with us for them and got settled in. Later we left the apartment to get some groceries and other household items. Monika and her boyfriend had been kind enough to leave us a pot of Hungarian Goulash and red wine so that we’d at least not need to cook dinner on our first day here. Anyway.. got back and unpacked the groceries and heated the Goulash... which was EXCELLENT! Unpacked some more and drank the rest of the red wine. Considering we’d been awake since 6 am and travelling all day... and drinking a whole bottle of wine we both felt a bit tired.. so we brushed our teeth and watched an episode of Medical Investigation and went to sleep.. at 8 pm!!

Anyway... back to the apartment.. we’d thought we’d be getting a 2 roomer with a kitchen and a bathroom... well.. I don’t know how the count down here in Budapest but the apartment actually has 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. The apartment is pretty much like everything else here in Budapest. Stuck between the 21th century and the old east-block. Everything is a mix of these two periods. Our kitchen is recently renovated as is our bathroom, the rest of the apartment is painted but the bathroom with the toilet is a blast from the past. Which brings me to the toilet. Now either the Hungarians have equipment that would make Africans cry with penis envy or I’m using it wrong. Cuz the place where the No. 2 stuff goes is on a platform while the place where No. 1 goes is a big whole. (see pic. the grey is solid and white is the airspace..)

Anyway.. that is it for today.. Malin has gone for her first day at work and i’m left behind to take care of myself. Thankfully Malin left me with a tourist map so that i can find my way around the city.. and who would have thought... there is even the phone number to an escort service on the tourist map. They describe the escort as “Beautiful, Charming, Discreet”
hmm.. that is the first time I’ve heard a sight seeing tour described that way... i wonder what the sights are? I wonder if it goes to the Sauna Club which is only for men? Which i find kinda funny since there are 5 masqueraded women on the front of the ad.

Well... i gotta go and do some more shopping for the apartment.. a few light bulbs were broken and need to be replaced.. and we need to buy a bread knife... and .. and.. and.. well a lot of more stuff.. so.

Oh and by the way... there is an internet cafe pretty close so we’ll try and write as often as we can.