Banan

Ja banan lär inte vara favoriten när vi börjar med mat till Ludvig, han har precis avslutat en pencillinkur med banansmak. Första gångerna var det intressant och spännande men nu försöker han bara putta ut kletet med tungan. Tur det var sista dosen idag.

Andreas har varit i Stockholm ett par dagar på begravning så vi har varit ensamma. Och det märktes verkligen på tålamodet och orken kan jag säga. När klockan var 5, ungefär då Andreas vanligtvis kommer hem, tittade jag på klockan och tänkte suckande att det är 5 timmar kvar till kvällsamning och sova.... De fem timmarna gick väääldigt långsamt. Mycket långsammare än hela dagen.
Men vi fick endel gjort iaf. Öppna förskolan på tisdagen, promenad, yoga OCH dusch på onsdagen. Satten upp lite saker på Ludvigs rum och åkte och köpte ett nytt (bättre begagnat) soffbord. Nästan dubbelt så stort som det vi hade innan så nu får äntligen lite stämningshöjande ljus plats på bordet (tills lille skrutten lär sig stå, eller krypa och dra i duk). Bordet är vitt och inser nu att nästan allt här upp är vitt. Lite trist sådär. Tur vi har lite färgglada kuddar och gardiner iaf. Försökte liva upp med blå löpare och blå ljusstakar men det tar nog lite tid att vänja sig.

Var hos en neurolog idag. Massa böcker om alzhimers och hjärnan. Känndes lite skrämmande. Men jag skulle bara kika på min arm som varit "domnad" sedan förlossningen då jag fick en spruta. En nerv som kommit i kläm och inom ett halvår ska det vara helt bra trodde doktorn.

Nu vaknar skrutten till liv i vagnen så det är dax för mat...och ännu ett avsnitt av NCIS på datorn.

Bulle

I går drömde Andreas om en bulle igen. Det är så mycket som talar emot att skaffa hund just nu, jobb, bebis, pengar, UTRYMME och TID. Men drömmen finns kvar!! Och jag hoppas verligen att det inte kommer någon dum lag mot bullterrier innan vi hinner köpa en. De är ju såååå underbara hundar tycker jag.

SOL!!!

Underbart! Solen skiner och himmlen är blå. Har varit ute i kylan (-6) en stund med barnvagnen. I går var det lika fint och det känns verkligen att solen ger energi.
Vi hade en riktigt bra dag i går, det var en skönt känsla över hela dagen. Ludvig var glad o lugn, sov länge mitt på dagen och natten innan hade funkat bra. Vi fick gjort massor av saker utan att stressa och hade dessutom tid för både promenad och myspys. Tänk om varje dag var sådan...

Hade en bokad tid i dag så jag gick upp kl 8, och nu 3,5 timmar senare känns det väldigt skönt att redan ha klätt på mig och Ludde, ätit frukost och varit ute. Fast kl 8 var det inte lika kul...

I lördags var vi på babysim för första gången. Det var kul! Ludde gillade det ända tills han fick lite vatten i örat och sedan gnällde han resten av tiden. En liten filmsnutt kommer så snart den kommit ur mobilen till datorn. Det var en liten grupp på 4 barn och det kändes väldigt bra, alla barnen fick uppmärksamhet av läraren. Vi är i en liten pool på ett äldreboende, med glasväggar så vi kan se när barnen ska under vattnet senare i kursen. Andreas badade med Ludde denhär gången och nästa gång är det min tur.

På söndag ska Karl Ludvig Jonathan döpas. Jag ser verkligen fram emot det! Inte så mycket för själva dopet egentligen utan för att träffa alla gäster. Flera av dem har jag inte sett på väldigt länge, mina kusiner med familjer tex och det ska bli riktigt roligt. Det blir många gäster och jag har räknat till 13 barn i olika åldrar (ej inräknat spädbarn).
Jag har fått frågan vad Ludvig "önskar sig" i doppresent och det är en väldigt svår fråga. Egentligen känns det tillräckligt att de vi bjudit in kommer och vi får träffa alla! För mig är dopet ett sätt att välkommna Ludde in i familjen och släkten och då är det just mäniskorna som är viktiga. Det känna oxå konstigt att "be" om pengar, men ändå tycker jag att pengar är en bra doppresent, man sätter in dom på ett konto och de växer i takt med barnet. Några hundralappar hinner växa ganska så mycket på tex 18 år.
Just nu är jag mest orolig för hur det ska gå med kaffet, eftersom jag inte vet vad som finns i köket i form av kokare och termosar...



En liten bild på "tjockisen" som nu väger (enligt våran hemmavåg) 6 kilo. Han växer med rasande fart!!! Lite roligt att vi nu väger ungefär lika mycket ihop som strax innan han föddes. (bilden tagen 21e jan)

Ja, det var allt för denna gången. Fick en liten pik igår att jag skriver alltför sällan här i bloggen...

länge sedan

Oj vad länge sedan jag skrev. Mycket har hänt.
Det viktiga är att Ludvig växer så det knakar! Ett tag gick han ner i vikt och vi började med tillägg och nu går det åt rätt håll. Börjar växa ur stl 56 och så smått börjat med stl 62. Tack vare vänner och familj har han massor av fina kläder att pröva nu (eller ja kasnke är det mamma som tycker det är roligast ).
I morgon ska vi på öppen förskola med granntjejen som är 6 mån.

Trodde jag skulle få ett par minuter att skriv här men Ludde bestämde annat.... Så det blir inte mer än så denna gång.

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Ett par timmar senare får jag lite tid över. Ludvig ligger i sitt gym o tittar på Labolina och bajsar. Han har börjat göra väldigt mycket stönanden och det är faktiskt väldigt skrattretande :)
I gåt kväll fick han syn på min vita tröja och sträckte ut handen och tog på den, klappade nästan. Han börjar försöka mer och mer att ta på det han ser men han får inte riktigt till det ännu. Han kämpar verkligen.
Dagarna går väldigt fort och det är ibland svårt att se hur han växer och utvecklas, det liksom smyger sig på. Sen så plötsligt gör han något, låter på nåt nytt sätt eller visar med kroppsspråket något nytt. En lite udda reflektion är att hans huvud nu är större än mitt bröst, det har varit tvärtom innan.


Om två veckor ska han döpas och dagen efter är det första vaccinationen.

En vanlig söndagskväll

Julmusiken strömmar ut högtalarna, glöggen är upphälld och safffransbiscottin är torr och god......och Andreas byter bajsblöja på Ludvig. En helt vanlig söndagskväll, första advent, julstämningen stiger och längtan efter snön kommer som vanligt varje vinter. Men en skillnad är det - vi har lilla Ludvig hos oss!!

Ludvig är idag 3 veckor och 3 dagar. Han kom till oss den 6e november, efter en riktigt lyckad förlossning. Efter några dagar på BB kom vi hem till två nyfikna men reserverade katter. De mjuknade snart och bara efter några dagar sov de åter i våra sängar. Jag är väldigt glad att det fungerar så bra.
Kan inte riktigt fatta att det redan gått tre veckor, dagarna går så fort! Visst vi sover till 9-halv 11 tiden på morgonen så redan där har ju halva dagen gått :) Sedan är det matning (till bebis och mamma), blöjbyte och nån tupplur, en promenad och så kommer pappa Andreas hem. Sen upprepas allting innan det är dax för sängen.
Ett o annat besök eller utflykt hinner vi med oxå givetvis. Idag har vi hälsat på moster och kusin Nea och träffat mormor o morfar dessutom. Det blev en kort men skön tyst tupplur i bilen på vägen dit o hem. Välbehövligt både för mor o son (fast jag sov inte jag körde ju).

Tänkte försöka skriva lite om vad som händer i våra liv, men det blir nog inte så ofta i allafall inte de närmsta veckorna. Lite bilder på lillprinsen blir det oxå vad det lider.

Trevlig 1a advent!!
/Malin

Where did the time go?!

Well.. it's finally happend.... The last week in Budapest. This friday we will be leaving and locking the apartment for the last time. Oh how we will miss the cold floors and the funny toilet. The leaking roof in our kitchen and the spiders and bugs that have layed their eggs for malin to find.

While Malin has been good enough to finish her report a week or so ago reality has slapped me in the face with its harsh glove and some where deep inside me a small part is begining to panic. But have no fear... Like Glori Davies... I will survive!

Is it summer or what?

The Easter week flew by, maybe even as quickly as the witches fly to Blákulla.
Malin is done woth her project at work and can now engage fully in the writing of her essay (and surf the web for cute future dog pictures),

while Andreas is preparing for the final presentation at work.

On Friday we went out to Ikea in the suburbs where Malin worked last year. Bought some easter eggs and made plans for the Prague trip with Romi, the girl we are hitching a ride with.

Saturday was spent on a blanket on Margaret Island, the sun was way stronger than expected and our backs still hurt last night from the burn. As cash is something we dont have lots of anymore there were no nice restaurant visits on Easter, but some yummi home cooking. And choclate pudding!

On Sunday we flip floped our way to the synagogue (the largest one in Europe) but it was closed, so we strolled around in the former gettho for a while. Mainly a renovated street with expensive designer’s shops. And some söröszö offcource (beerhouses for those not familiar with the term). After that we went up the Andrassy Avenue which is a world herritage and had some cakes at Müvesz, an over 100 years old café. Then we continued to the city park to eat our picknick.

A nice movie and popcorn entertained us during the afternoon. Insider was what we saw and it was great.

On Sunday we had passae a wine festival in the city and on Monday after Andreas had been to work we went there to test some wine. It was in the open air without fences and age control (imagine that in Sweden) and we started by bying some „nature candy” which looked much better than it tasted, it all tasted the same. Then we tried 3 different types of wine.... Some good and some better. After that we headed home to have some easter supper.

Now it’s already Wednesday (about 20 degrees celcius and sunny) and only 2 weeks and 2 days before we go home. Can’t believe the time has passed so quickly. But it will be nice to get back home again. It is very nice to be here as well but as the sying goes „there’s no place like home”....

Happy Easter

I just wanted to say Happy Easter Everyone!!

And remmember...

"My favorite Catholic holiday is Easter. For those of you who don't know, Easter is the day we celebrate Jesus rising from the grave and coming back to Earth as a rabbit that hides colored eggs!" -Adam Ferrara

There's something in the air tonight.....

There must be something in the air......or in the electric outlets..... What to believe when both our laptops have the same symptoms, and both are not working....but.....wait......I can see light at the end of the tunnel.......no it was just the laptop freezing again.

Fortunately we have a great neighbor called Csaba who lent us his DVD-player and thereby saved our movie weekend. Many thanks to this helpful Swedish speaking Hungarian. It is handy to have someone to explain the constant notes from the gas adn electricity company....

In the middle of the week Malin almost had a small heart attack when two months work was corrupted.... Fortunately she had been smart enough to save a copy at her USB-memory, however a week old it still saved her a lot of time when recovering the document. The project is to be sent to Germany this week for a review from the Big Boss over there :)

After the last Hungarian class on Saturday we strolled to a Hare Krishna restaurant Andreas had heard about and had some Indian lunch. It was very good and nice cheap student prices. Then we went back to the St Stephen Basilica to take some more photos and to look at an old cut of hand from an old long since dead bishop of some sort. Kinda’ weird actually. After some window shopping on Vaci utca we had coffee and coke in the sun.

On Sunday we had a late start but finally arrived at the zoo – where we fed and petted giraffes, a rhinoceros, zebras, and a sloth. Andreas played some kind of „hand-me-the-grape”-game with a bird with a huge white beak and we had pancakes on a bench opposite the monkey house ans ome funny ice cream made up from small balls (looked like packing material). It was altogether a very nice day! On our way home we picked up some groceries and bought kebab, at a new place this time.



We had kebab on Monday as well, since we were too tired to cook. Then we walked along the Danube and watched how far back the water had drawn. All the roads are clear now but the traffic is still not running properly. The Island is open again and the Budapestians can once again enjoy their cool runs along its shore.


Happy Easter everyone!! And good luck with the egg hunting!

And it rose, rose, rose... the ring of water, the ring of water.

The most interesting event of the week has been the flooding of the Danube. It’s become a bit scary actually with the water rising, and rising, and rising….seems there is no end to it. The Margaret Island is closed of for public; all boats (restaurants, hotels and sightseeing boats) along the river are no longer accessible, but rather small islands themselves by now. The road we walked on the first evening of the flood was covered with water the next morning…. and so it has continued. It was such a special event that even fish went up to see what the heck was going on. Talk about a fish out of water…

But the flooding did give us a chance to inspect the backside of the parliament since the road had been closed for traffic. Hopefully it has now stopped but we’ll let you know how it ended. In the meanwhile you can watch the pictures and see for yourselves…

Ice Age 2 had premiere here on Wednesday and so we set out to see it on the weekend, bought tickets on Friday just to be sure. And Malin got to show Andreas some other parts of the city (since we had to go to a new place to catch the movie in English). After a very nice meal at Karma in West End the evening was long enough for a movie and then to bed we went. On Saturday Malin had her class as usual, and Andreas meet up with her at one pm, Destination: Gellert Hill. We walked up the hill, stopped for some brought along lunch half way up, and gazed at the amazing views of the city. When mostly going to and from work you don’t really get it how big the city is. Now we have a better clue. At the top stands a liberty statue tall and proud, and behind lies the Citadel, a defence building now holding a museum and different exhibitions. Unfortunately we did not carry enough cash to get in so we enjoyed our ice creams in the sun instead. Oh yeah, the weather was wonderful, warm and sunny enough to get the first shade of a tan.

On Sunday we did not have to execute our “in case of rain” plan (going to the Rudas thermal bath) but instead took a walk to the City Park where we got close and friendly with the Anonymous, (BTW. This statue features in a Vampire movie were there is a female vampire who puts flower at its feet for her former master/lover who also was a vampire. If anyone know which movie this is let me know.) saw the castle made from bits and pieces of Hungarian architecture and managed to get a bit lost.

We strolled around the amusement park, wondering if we would dare come back to go on some of the rides – it did not look as well kept as Liseberg but rather easterly European. After saying hello to the elephants at the zoo, we went to the Iguana for margaritas and yummy tortilla lunch. The city was packed because of some election meeting and we had a hard time finding our way down to the Danube since the city was blocked off by the police. We checked out the development of the flooding and then went up the castle hill to the old city. The sun was shining warmly and (God forbid) we actually thought it was too warm. And to make up for not being to be able to play in the simulator at the millennium park Andreas got to play with another aviator…Lucky for us we got too cool down watching Ice Age 2.

Well that was that week. Nothing more to say….

Spring is really here now - hurray!!

The week that passed was pretty event less, and for me (Malin) it hasn’t been such a good week at all. Not only did my allergies kick in, which makes me sneeze all the time and makes me very tired, but also my laptop is freaking out. It started a week ago or so, and now I think I might just dump it in the nearest bin.... It is sooo frustrating when things are not working properly. Anyhow, I have to write everything on the computer at work now, and it does not have the same keyboard settings as the laptop so I get everything wrong all the time. Fortunately the Hungarian language has those weird letters that we have in Swedish, so at least that is not a problem.
I had a break through at work when my project was shown on some big meeting on Friday, however I have still to hear the comments....
Om Saturday I had my Hungarian class again (only 2 classes left now) and then we met up with my friend Romi for some lunch at a tapas restaurant. The food was great, and also the wine. After that Andreas and I went to the nearby National museum for a visit.
On our way home we did some grocery shopping and found everything to make tortillas, except for the bread. Weird, they had taco sauce, taco spices etc but not the bread....
On Sunday we were lazy, did some window shopping and had ice cream in the West End shopping mall, rented a movie and had dinner. Oh and almost forgot to set the clock…..but only almost….
No pictures this time, they will come up later I hope. Can’t be all fun and play every week.
Til next time....xxx

Shortest Week Ever... (Comicbook guy voice)

Probably the shortest week ever... Wednesday was National Holiday so everyone was out in the streets... even yours truly. Flags everywhere and even though the weather forecast predicted it to be at least partly sunny it was still cold as hell. Thank God for Hot wine! It really saved the day... that and the Hungarian bread-roll with sugar and cinnamon on it, which is baked on a wooden stick. But hey.. atleast i got to pet a horse!



Since everything was closed during this holiday we went to the cinema to see what movies were showing. Top of the list was Casanova and Syriana. First we opted for Casanova but to give ourselves more time to eat dinner down at the food court we (Andreas) chose Syriana. Bad idea... should have chosen Casanova. Even though the speech was in English (Hungarians have a bad habit of dubbing everything... probably even MTV if they could have it their way... ) the parts spoken in Arabic had Hungarian subtitles... so me and Malin were left in the dark (no pun intended) about what was really going on. But definitely worth watching again once we get back to Sweden and can get some proper subtitles. And since this has been such a straineous week both me and Malin got some facials done..

On Thursday we both left early from work to get to the train station to catch the train to Sopron. This is not the easiest thing in the world if you are two youngsters who don’t speak fluently Hungarian trying to communicate with people who don’t really care what you are trying to say. Finally we found a compartment with free seats, non smoking and not entirely unlike a sauna. Which turned out to be a compartment in the wrong end of the train since the train splits up into two separate ones about an hour away from Sopron. So we had to move.
Anyway... we finally arrived and were met up with Aniko and Ákos (mother of Monika, and the husband) who had prepared dinner, an apartment for us to stay in over the weekend and two aprons with the Goulash soup recipe on them. After A LOT of wine and a fine dinner they drove us back to the apartment that we’d be staying in, but since me and Malin weren’t ready for bed yet we went to a Sörözö (beer hall) for a night cap.
The day after we went to one of Fresenius’ dialysis centres for a fieldtrip together with Malin’s “boss” from Budapest. Which was interesting in one way and disturbing in another. The fieldtrip was followed by some local sightseeing tour with Aniko, including both a coffee break with the mandatory cake, and lunch. After this we went home and watched a movie until it was late enough for us to have some dinner.
On Saturday morning i had an appointment with a dentist for my irregular check up. The prognosis was more than i had money for but at least now i know what needs to be done once i can afford it, or have my teeth knocked out with a baseball bat. But for our concerned readers i can say that i am not in any pain and nor will i be for a couple of months. I hope. The later part of the day we walked around town but since the weather was still a bit nasty we headed home early for an afternoon nap and movie before we left for a BBQ restaurant, Papa Joe’s. This was probably the only time that the beer will be more expensive than the food. It was quite ironic that even though it was an American country western inspired restaurant the only beer that was close to being American was Corona, which is Mexican. No Miller, No Lite... not even American Budweiser.. but they did have the Czech Budweiser though.
Finally, on Sunday, the weather changed and suddenly we were able to sit and eat our lunch in just our T-shirts... WTF! Why couldn’t it of been like that the whole weekend instead of wind, rain and snow!? It was nice though to see other parts of Hungary than just Budapest. Sopron is small and picturesque (at least the old town) and bears a great and interesting history.

This last picture is from the old Ghetto...
Anyway... we are on the train back to Budapest now and apparently it is going to be at least above the 0 mark the whole week. So at least that is good news.. Spring might finally be here!! It is true what they say – there is no place like home (in this case Budapest since that is the closest we have right now).

Another week.. Another blog... = )

(As we can not keep away from each others writing this is a mumble rumble from us both)

The weekend in Sweden was as eventful as I could expect it to be... Met celebrities, friends and fans. I didn’t have to sign any autographs this time but I was sure to get 4 from Elijah Wood. (Got the plaque for my Sting (TM) signed... yay!)

Anyway... the pictures from the weekend can be seen in the gallery. Back to Budapest...!!

On Tuesday we went up to the Castle Hill for some real sightseeing. We saw the Fisherman’s Bastille (we were able to go on top now before the tourist season), the St Matthias Church (the inside as well, which was beautiful, and had a museum where you could see a mummified hand and a skull of some important bishop), and the Castle (where no royalty has ever lived. See definition of irony.) We had some roasted chestnuts and the sun was shining merrily. Went into the Hungarian National Gallery, but were too hungry to stay and see it all.



We had lunch next to the statue of the horse whose balls students touch for good luck. The statue is grey and green but the balls are shiny as polished gold. After lunch we headed down into the grottos beneath the and labyrinths beneath the streets for some after lunch excitement... and as it turned out a underground wine well, a big head and erotic art.



On our way back home we did some shopping in “our” market hall. Among other things we bought some wine a lady sold in plastic flasks from big tanks. All we have to do is to go back to the same shop and get a refill for no money at all, well... hardly anyway. We rushed home to prepare dinner for our guests Monika and Kristian whom we had invited after their delicious meal. They came, we had a great dinner, enjoyed each others company and served a surprise for Kristian. As a desert we had Swedish “delicato bollar” which he is very fond of. For Monika we had Swedish candy and salty liquorish (Monika grew up in Sweden).

On Friday Malin stayed home from work to do some work on her essay, and the laundry.... Malin met up with Andreas in the city to go shopping. In the evening we went to The Darkness to eat dinner and yet another idea for a restaurant in Sweden took form. (The first idea came from Sir Lancelot) The place served good Bloody Marys and good food as well, however it was not so scary after all. It was quite funny when Andreas first tried to pay the 8000Ft check with a 1000Ft bill, and then changed it to a 2000Ft bill and 3 1000Ft bills. Malin had to rescue the situation by paying with a 10 000ft bill, and leaving Andreas ashamed for the rest of the evening while trying to figure out where the heck he had spent all of his money!??!

On our way back we decided to take a drink at some bar but didn’t find any good ones so instead we decided to rent a movie. It was however not as easy as we thought. First you had to get a card (and pay for it) then you had to charge this card, then order the movie in a “ATM for movies” and then put your card in a different slot and retrieve your movie. They had 24 hours service but when Andreas wanted to return the movie within a 12 hour (there are several to choose from) limit the machine refused to accept the card. So, annoyed and disappointed he went home again to see me off for my Hungarian class. (Pictures coming later.. forgot to transfer them to the laptop... D'OH!)

On Saturday Malin had her Hungarian course as usual so I was left at home to do some chores. I scrubbed the stove, mopped the kitchen floor and waxed the dolphin.... At lunch time we went to see the inside of the parliament. Since it was only 3 pm when the tour was over we decided to go to the Terror Museum. Many of you might think, as I did, that this was a wax cabinet of some sorts with some medieval torture tools.... I was wrong. The Museum was much more terrifying than that. It presented a quite real imagery of the terror Hungary suffered while it was occupied by the two most unforgiving dictatorships in our century: Hitler with the Nazi Arrow Cross Army and Stalin with his Communist Red Army. Both had their headquarters in the very same building and used the same brutal methods to control the population, with Terror. Inside the house there are two monuments commemorating those who where captured, tortured and killed. One is a wall at the entrance with all the victims’ faces with a T-64 Tank at its base and the second is a room with all the names cut out in sheet metal. The impact is far more real and hard hitting than any other museum i’ve been to. You leave it feeling empty and futile. As we walked home neither of us felt like cooking se we sat down at a restaurant and had some pizza. Feeling a bit better after getting some food in our stomachs we walked home. As we walked home the alcoholic in me wanted to have some coffee and liqueur so we started to look for a liqueur shop that was still open. Luckily we found one so we went inside and bought some Marzipan Liqueur. Safe and sound back home i made myself some coffee and marzipan liquor and crept under the sheets and watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire.

On Sunday we had decided to go to a science museum (a touch and experience kind of museum). However, the queue was too long and the wind too cold so we went to the mall Mammoth for some shopping instead. After shopping, lunch and some ice cream we went back to the museum. We decided to go only to one of the museums (there are two: one for younger kids and one for older kids). Now we started to get disappointed: the Flight simulator was fully booked, the Mars tour was fully booked, the psychological test booths were full and the touch screens in the Future Café didn’t work, Andreas had a hole in his sock and we both had blister on our feet from all the walking this weekend, and on top of it all most texts were in Hungarian! We did try some of the experiments and at least had some fun, but then it was suddenly half past five and our blood sugar was plummeting uncontrollably to the bottom. We made a quick stop at the grocery store for some breakfast before we headed home to make dinner. Then we both tried the mysterious wine bought at the market hall and the marzipan liquor. Mmmmm have to buy a bottle to take home to Sweden (Malin)!

Then, another week starts and we only have to look forward to next weekend when we go to Sopron to visit Aniko (one of our mentors) and to see the views of the picturesque town. Oh, and on Wednesday it is the National Holiday, so we will have the day of to stroll around the city and watch all the Hungarians celebrate their day of freedom.

Stay tuned... (more pictures will be added later.. )

Gräsänka för en helg...

The week went on as usual, working more or less 5 hours a day, which is a luxury for students only. No spring weather in sight (until Friday when I refused to wear my winter coat anymore and put my sunglasses on in the morning). On Wednesday we went shopping for some things for Andreas to take home with him, some bottles of wine and other things. We also found some nice clothes for Andreas but none for me :(. We were not in the mood to wait for a pizza to cook in the oven so we had dinner at TGI Friday’s in the West End mall, not as good as I had imagined but at least it was food. The beer however was excellent! Happy, we strolled home and Andreas started packing for his trip.

On Thursday I realised there are two new employees at the company, they felt as lost as I do so we had a little chat about that during lunch break.
The person I am working with in my project is very busy taking over someone else’s work and having vacation time at the same time so I am pretty much on my own most of the time, which is fine except I need to make sure I am on the right track….O well next week maybe. Gives me time to work on my essay instead. It’s easy to forget that part of LIA when having other things to do.

After a day of Terrible Homesickness on Thursday when Andreas left for Sweden my weekend actually was very nice. On Friday I meet up with Monika at Liszt Ferenc tér for a coffee. We ended up at Kharma, which has an interior design of Indonesian/Indian style, eating a delicious chocolate banana cake. On Saturday I had my Hungarian course which was quite funny this time. The group is getting more and more open as we learn more about each other. There are three other girls in the group, all three from South America.

As we walked to one of the Brazilian girls’ home (she is married to a Hungarian) nearby the school we tried to communicate in Hungarian, English, Portuguese and Spanish which was ok really, considering we all know just one of the above languages each…. (and the small amount of Hungarian word we learnt in class). Nem ertem (I don’t understand) and nem tudom (I don’t know) might be the most important phrases we learnt so far.

I walked home admiring the view from the Margaret Bridge on my way. Although the weather was boring and the rain clouds were hanging heavy over my head it was nice to walk home, thinking about the night out with Romi. The restaurant I wanted to go to on Saturday evening was full, so I reserved a table at the Club Verne, which we have passed a couple of times in the city looking curiously at the diver costume outside and the machinery look-a-like door. From the beginning it looked like we were going o be four people, but it ended up being just me, Romi and her boyfriend, which is not bad at all.

The place looks great except for one thing, brick walls in a submarine? I don’t get it. Anyhow, as I waited outside for the others I meet some new friends, a Hungarian rock band that had come for the karaoke night. They sang to me right there and then in the street, in both American and Hungarian. Unfortunately me never made it to the karaoke night because Romi’s boyfriend had the flu and they lest around eleven. I was really in a party mood but what to do. The food was good, the beer even better and we had plenty of laughs. Hassan (the boyfriend) is a Lebanese diplomat here in Hungary and had some funny stories to tell us.



I took a cab home, since the metro and trams stop running after eleven. There are night busses though, but taxi is cheap enough to keep me from trying to find them.

Woke up Sunday morning and what do I see – snow! Again! Why o why? I had plans to do some sightseeing today, but I guess I have to go shopping instead.
Ah, new shoes. All I need now is for the snow to melt. My friend Romi comes from Pragh and she is going there for the last weekend of April – and she has two seats in the car reserved for two very special Swedes. I only hope Andreas will come with me to see this supposedly beautiful and must-see city that I did not have the chance to go to last year.

Nytt mobilnummer till Malin

Nu har jag ungersk mobilnummer, sá jag kommer inte svara pá mitt vanliga...
+36702816038 fár ni ringa om ni vill prata med mig.

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.