A Great Week in Hungary
We've returned from an epic week in beautiful Hungary. A week of excellent food and warm people ended far too soon. We spent the week in Veszprem while Angie worked in nearby Petfurdo by day and we ate all together at night. By all together I mean, us and our most gracious hosts. We ate traditional Hungarian cuisine all week: goulash, goose liver (libamaj or foie gras), pike perch and other delicious dishes. Every meal started with a drink/shot of palinka, a type of brandy made from fruit, and ended with a desert wine called Tokaij or another shot of palinka. Best week of food ever, not to mention that Hungarian wine is some of the finest we've ever tasted. Robert had a look around Vezsprem during the week and took a bus to nearby Lake Balaton one afternoon. It must be said that Robert had a difficult time with the language, even the Super Bowl was in Hungarian, but while coping with a different language in a foreign country isn't surprising, even the simplest of tasks can be a little frustrating.
The history of Hungary is so rich that we don't even want to begin to tell the story as not to diminish it in any way, but we can say that the story of the monarchy of Hungary began in Veszprem and ended in Budapest where we spent a long weekend together. Budapest is a big and beautiful city that is grand in every way. The city is split in two by the Danube River with Buda on one side and Pest on the other. We had a few days to see it all and although we saw a good deal of the city, we left wanting to return and see more. We did have the rare opportunity to see what is reputed to be the single-most comprehensive collection of the works of Vincent van Gogh at the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts and it was certainly a treat.