hungry for hungary

this was our first night in hungary visiting with three friends who are living there: ariel ann and adam (centre) in budapest, and angie in siofok.


big, beautiful church in the middle of pest. the city's divided by the danube river; pest is the east side and buda the west.


we arrived on saturday and went down to the parliament buildings (below) that night to join the protests against the hungarian prime minister. he had recently been caught on tape saying that he had lied to the public for two years about the state of the economy in order to get reelected in april. people demanded his resignation but he refused, even after admiting that it was him on the tapes.


about 30,000 people were at the protests on sat night and they had been going on all week. a major economic problem for hungary when we were there was price increases: heating and electricity had gone up by about 35% over a few months.


above and below: this was a cool pub we visited on sat night called szimpla. indoor, outdoor, plastic lanterns, movie screens, beer, plants, delapidated walls with peeling paint, a bike room, cozy nooks and tons of character. this is double a's great shot of a cozy nook




a jewelry stand for girls to play in.


graffiti on the walk to lunch the next day.


lunch! really yummy, fusiony food. i was impressed we found more than meat, dumplings, paprika and sour cream.


wicked facades on old buildings.


tone and double a in the sun near double a's hood.


music academy where liszt studied.


the courtyard of ariel ann and adam's flat in pest.

...and we haven't even got to lake balaton yet!!! more excitement to come.