Today is the post where I'm supposed to pick my favorite site from our trip to Rome, and all week long, I've been laboring as what to post because my favorite thing about Rome, was Rome itself.
The feeling of walking through history...
...and catching a glimpse of the modern with the ancient.
All the achitecture and color from a city that I hoped, but never believed, I would visit.
And yet, here I am, IN ROME, with the four people I love the most.
How lucky can one girl get?
Adam: His favorite part of Rome was St. Peter's Square and Basilica. How could you not be impressed and awestruck by that?
It's an understatement to say that the place is huge and filled with history. And that's even before you get inside. Built upon the ruins of Nero's Circus, the Egyptian obelisk is all that remains of from that pre-Christian era. Peter, it is said, was crucified upside down at this very place and then his body was taken to a nearby chapel to be buried. Jump ahead three hundred year and Christianity has become all the rage, and the small chapel with Peter's bones was one of the holiest site in Christiandom. The small chapel was eventually replaced by the structure we know today.
Designed by Michaelangelo, the basilica is unbelievably big but everything is engineered to feel smaller, thereby allowing for large masses of visitors, but at the same time, giving each visitor a feeling of closeness with God. Despite, being 2 football fields in length and 1.5 football fields high at the dome, everything is done to scale, which means those 6-foot cherubs frolicking around the 15-ft statue appear to be baby-sized until you look more closely.
That tall bronze structure surrounding the alter is called a baldacchino, created by Bernini. Each column is 65 feet tall.
In the oval stained glass window in the background, there is smallish-looking dove, which has an actual wingspan of 6 feet. Crazy.
So, yes, the basilica is huge, but maybe even more impressive is how all that massive space is filled to the brim with art, sculpture, mosaic and symbolism. The highlight is the Pieta.
Adam and I took 11 separate photos of the Pieta and not a single one did it justice. The Pieta (meaning Pity) was sculpted by Michelangelo when he was only of 25 and the only piece he ever signed. The emotions are raw, felt even at a distance and through bullet-proof glass. Because none of the shots did it justice, I am using stock photos.
Here's a shot from up close that is a much better representation of the work.
Beyond the Pieta, there's a statue of St. Peter, whose toe has been rubbed by the faithful for centuries, erasing all distinction between his toes and feet.
I could add numerous other photos, but instead I will end with what I find to be an interesting, if humorous, part of the visiting St. Peter's Square: the Vatican guards.
Dressed in, what can only be called, a historically accurate uniform, the Swiss Guard has protected the Vatican for centuries and seemingly without a change in wardrobe.
This is a Guard's "every-day" uniform.
Lincoln: His favorite site in Rome was the Colosseum, or as he called it, the Smalloseum.
A prerequisite site for a visit to Rome, be sure to buy tickets online ahead of time, as you can easily spend more time in line that you will inside. We went on a Sunday afternoon when the city closes the main thoroughfare, allowing pedestrians to have a beautiful stroll along the ruins toward the Colosseum.
Once inside, there are endless opportunities for boys to imagine all sorts of gruesome gladiator fights, which is the whole appeal, right?
Although, the Roman Forum is technically not part of the Colosseum, I'm including several shots that we took of the Forum from the Colosseum walls.
Here's Adam and the Arch of Constatine.
Lincoln and Kyle overlooking the ruins of the Temple of Saturn.
And here's the boys and I with the Forum and Colosseum in the background.
Kyle: His favorite part of Rome were the fountains.
Trevi Fountain is probably the most famous. A legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. This was the theme of 1954's Three Coins in the Fountain, but even before the movie this was a special fountain. The water comes from one of the aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome for more than 400 years. In 19 BC, supposedly with the help of a virgin, Roman technicians located a source of pure water. This scene is presented on the present fountain's façade.
Just to give you a sense of the crowds, here's the fountain shot from a nearby church steps. Yeah...we didn't exactly have the place to ourselves.
Although Trevi Fountain is the most famous, we had many others to choose from. Here's the Four Rivers by Bernini at the Piazza Navona--a piazza with not one but three fountains.
And here's the kids at the Mouth of Truth, which may not be a fountain, but we're including it anyway.
And another fountain in front of the Pantheon:
But without a doubt, Kyle's (and Lincoln's and David's) favorite fountain is an incospicuous fountain sitting at the base of the Spanish Steps. (see below)
Fontana della Barcaccia (or "Fountain of the Old Boat" for those Italian-challenged, like me). It is so named because it is shaped like a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its bows. The shape was chosen because, prior to the river walls being built, the Tiber often flooded and in 1598 there was a particularly bad flooding. The Piazza di Spagna was flooded up to a meter. Once the water withdrew, a boat was left behind in the square, thus inspiring the fountain. My kids loved it because it offered the best opportunities to ham it up.
Don't ask me why they are all so aggrieved. I don't have a clue.
Two weeks ago, Hungary had a long 4-day weekend, so we took off the other 3 days and spent the full week in Barcelona, Spain. We had beautiful weather. Barcelona has an efficient metro system and makes great use of its outdoor space. It seemed we couldn't walk 2-3 blocks without running into a playground, which for families with young kids, is a life-saver.
The beaches were enjoyable despite being too cool for swimming.
I'll say this about the Spanish people...they don't seem to have body issues.
Exhibit A: Old man wearing underwear, hat, tube socks and white shoes, fixing a bike before relaxing to catch a few rays.
Bwah ha!
Below is a video clip of 2-on-2 Volleyball/Football played by some football enthusiasts. You don't see it, but they serve too...by building little mounds in the sand and kicking. It was awesome to watch.
We tried paella and enjoyed fresh seafood, like prawns with the heads still on...but the kids were only so adventurous. Eventually, we had to go with something that felt familiar.
Now I promised (with the ole teaser headline) our version of Barcelona's best:
BEST CHURCHES
#3: Barcelona Cathedral--built in the 14th century and dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona, co-patron saint of Barcelona, a young girl of 13 who, according to Catholic tradition, suffered martyrdom during Roman times. Behind the chapel there is a secluded Gothic cloister where 13 white geese are kept, in memory of Eulalia and her 13 years.
#2-- The Church of the Sacred Heart. Perched atop the highest point in Barcelona, with beautiful vistas inside and out, this church has a unique perspective on Barcelona. This church is really two separate chapels. The lower building has amazing and intricate tile work on the floors and ceiling, whereas the upper chapel is stark, white and filled with light. By the way--the tiny green and red-shirted boys are Lincoln and Kyle.
#1--Hands down winner: Sagrada Familia.
This immense structure is like no other church I've every seen. The construction began in 1882 and Antonio Gaudi took over as architectural mastermind in 1883. Gaudí devoted his many years to the project and at the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. The final completion date is set for 2026. Currently the church has only 8 of the 18 towers completed, with the remaining towers set to dwarf the completed ones. It is so big that you can't really get a sense of its size from pictures. You really need to see it to appreciate it. The exterior is covered with vignettes from the Saviors life, depicted with statues set into alcoves around the entrances. The interior is hugely vaulted, white and bright with the most amazing stained glass I've ever seen.
One funny side note. We unknowingly took the elevator to the top of one of the completed towers at exactly 12 noon. The bells in the tower began to toll just as we began our descent on the stairs. I can't express how loud that was! Quite an experience.
BEST CEILINGS
#3-- Chapel Ceiling in Barcelona Cathedral in all its gothic awesomeness.
#2--Guell Park, specifically the ceiling in the Hall of 100 Columns, (although there are actually only 86 doric columns) which was another design of Gaudi's. The tiny mosaic tiling is just amazing.
#1--the ceiling in the dining room of Casa Batllo. Built in 1877 and remodelled in 1904-1906 by (you guessed it) Antonio Gaudi, Casa Batllo is one of my favorite experiences in Barcelona. It seems that Gaudi's goal was to avoid straight lines completely. Everything is fluid and curvy, inside and out. This particular ceiling seems almost like curves of a seashell.
BEST FLOORS (Can't do one without the other, right?)
#3--Flagstone in the courtyard cloister of Barcelona Cathedral.
#2--Tiled floor in the side prayer chapel at Montserrat monastery, depicting a monastery atop a mountain, which is an apt description of Montserrat.
To get to the monastery you have to take an hour train north of Barcelona and then a 5 minute cable car into the peaks of Montserrat. This picture gives a sense of the place.
And on to...
#1--Tile floor in the lower chapel of the Church of the Sacred Heart depicting two deer drinking from the "Fons Vitae" or fountain of life.
BEST WINDOWS
#3 & #2--the windows at Casa Batllo, both from inside...
and out.
#1--Best windows were easy to pick: Sagrida Familia. So bright, so light, these windows literally filled the room with multicolored shafts of light.
BEST DOORS
#3--Transept door in the very gothic Montserrat chapel.
#2--Hall door at the Casa Batllo. The woodwork was amazing throughout.
#1--Sagrida Familia chapel doors are works of art, covered with the complete books of Mark and John written in Latin.
BEST ARCHES
#3--Montserrat outer walls
#2--Guell Park's arched pathway
#1--The Arc Triomphe
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
#3--City Park
#2--Casa Amatller: sitting next to Casa Battlo along the Apple of Discord street. Interesting design and sits in great company.
#1--Sculpture in the cloister outside the Barcelona Cathedral. I chose this among the many other sculptures we saw because of the feeling it evokes.
We had a great time in Barcelona and I've only posted about some of the highlights. It is a beautiful city and we loved our time there.
5 Things I Love about living in Budapest:
1. The amazing sites in and around Budapest. Like churches and castles and monuments, just to name a few.
2. How close everything is. I can fly to Rome in 1.5 hours and in a month, I'll be doing just that. I can drive to Vienna in 2.5 hours. It's amazing, especially after being in Texas, where you can drive for 10 hours and STILL be in Texas. I know, cause I've done it--an experience I'd like never to repeat. This goes for commuting time. In Houston, Adam's commute was something like 45 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on time and traffic. Adam now commutes for about 20 minutes regardless of the time.
3. Traffic lights. I know it's a weird thing to love, but it's awesome. In America, the traffic lights will turn from green to yellow and then red to indicate "stop" and then after a time, the light will go green again. Here the lights go green, yellow, red but when it's time to go again, the lights go red, then yellow and then green. This indicating yellow light allows traffic to gear up. It may not sound like a big deal, but I love it!
4. Croissants. I love how accessible good quality pastries are here. It's a blessing and a curse really, but there it is.
5. Having four seasons. We have loved having snow! So fun for the kids and there's something special about watching big flat flakes fall peacefully to the earth. Today the sun is shining and in the garden, green shoots are emerging. I love Spring!!! It's so refreshing.
5 Things I miss about living in Houston:
1. Wide roads. 'Nuf said.
2. Target. Really and truly, it is quite devastating.
3. Tex-Mex. BBQ. Seafood. (We're going with just a single item on this one, but we all know it could easily be #3, #4 & #5)
4. I miss my friends. I've never lived closed to family, so I'm used to missing them, but this business of living in a time zone 7 hours ahead of my friends is messing with my chi.
5. I miss "Easy". I've heard other expats call it "auto-pilot", but it really comes down to being able to relax. It's that intangible feeling of knowing you don't have to engage all your faculties to accomplish things like buying groceries, driving to your kids' school or ordering food at a restaurant. Until you've lived without "Easy" for a while, you don't realize how much you take it for granted. I'm trying to find my version of "Easy" here but it is an elusive little guy.
Sightseeing with kids is always interesting. One never knows quite how the experience will be received. For the most part, I've been pretty pleased with the kids' attitudes. They usually try to find something to be interested in.
Here's the perfect example. Lincoln asked me to take this shot. If you've seen the Pirates of the Caribbean movie where all the characters yell "FIRE!" then you'll know Lincoln's inspiration. Of course, in the movie the pirates were firing cannons at the enemy ship, whereas Lincoln is an 11-year old not firing a catapult while his brother looks on with a mixture of disbelief and amusement...but let's not quibble about the details.
We took this picture in front of the weapons display at ruins of Visegrad Royal Castle. We went there for a quick day trip and found an interesting history just waiting to be discovered. After touring the windswept castle ruins and pretending to fire catapults we were all ready for another adventure. Just down the road was a alpine bobsled track. The kids and I had the place to ourselves and rode 6 times in a row until we were all frozen and smiling!
The next week, we attempted another jaunt into the wilds of Budapest. It was a bit of a bust, but we made the best of it. We decided late in the day to go to Elizabeth Tower, the highest point in Budapest. Upon arrival, we discovered that the chair lift to the tower closed at 3 pm. It was 3:04 pm. A tad deflated, we reversed course to a playground that we spotted on the way. Here's the three boys doing their best to remedy our failure, aka..their own rendition of the Lord of the Rings "At dawn we ride!"
The Lord of the Rings was the original inspiration, but this was a close second:
There was a church just across the street and I hoped to tour it, but alas, it too was closed. Beautiful church, though.
Do not count us out yet. After having our fill of the playground, we drove down to the Danube, or the Duna as the locals call it. We took a couple great shots of the Parliament and the Reformed Church of Budapest.
I love the tile work on the roof and the sharp pitch and angle of the towers. As per the theme of the day, we couldn't tour the church, as it was closed, but the facade provided a wonderful view regardless.
By the end of the day, we went home happy and content despite the seemingly disappointing failures. It's all in the attitude, as they say.
Y'all been requesting pictures of the house so here's a photo tour of our home here in Budapest. We're mostly settle now, although there's still things I'm hunting for. We feel lucky to have found a home that is so new and with so many "American" touches. Here's the front elevation and gate.
Most homes here have gates with buzzers. The buzzer rings a phone inside the home and theoretically the homeowner can buzz the visitor in with a press of the button. That's assuming the homeowner is smart enough to figure out the system, which yours truly is not. When I have visitors, I make a mad dash to open the gate, much to the horror of our landlord. Every time he comes and I run out in the cold to open the gate in my bare feet, he about has a litter of kittens. He's a sweet old man and can't stand that I would expose my feet to such cold, but as you can see, it's not that far from the front door and the gate.
The home is build like a split level. At the entry way, you can go up a 1/2 flight of stairs to the right and enter the guest quarters (Kyle's bedroom) or you can turn left and go to the living room and kitchen. Plus, there is a set of stairs that take you down to the storage room and then eventually down into the laundry, sauna and garage.
Here is the living room and kitchen that you access through the double doors from the entry.
For those that will appreciate the rarity of this site: here's my American-sized fridge, complete with built-in ice maker!
The owner of this house designed and built it along with his wife and they did a great job designing ingenous space-saving built-ins. I wasn't expecting to have so much space and storage. We feel really blessed to have found a home with such good design, storage and openness, especially because it is so rare here.
The kitchen has french doors that lead out to the wrap-around patio and down into the back yard with a pool. Currently, the pool is covered and not in use, but everyone is pretty excited for the weather to be nice enough to roll back the screen and test it out. In the meantime, we are hoping for a good storm to give us enough snow to build our very own snowman. The yard goes back quite a ways and the kids like running round down there.
Moving on...if you return to the entry way and go up the 1/2 flight of stairs you enter into the 2nd kitchen and guest room, which has been designed to be used as a seperate living space.
We are currently using the 2nd kitchen as a TV/Game room for the kids. This room leads directly into the Kyle's bedroom, which will also serve as a guest room, if/when we have guests. There is a ensuite bath and walk-in closet here as well.
Going back out on to the stairs, if you go up another flight of stairs, you enter into the kids floor. Lincoln and David's rooms are here along with a bathroom. The hallway overlooks the 1st floor. One of my favorite things about this space is all the book shelves serving as a half wall.
Our room is up another 1/2 flight of stairs on the top floor. I didn't bother taking any pictures because we don't actually have much up there right now. We left our king-sized bed in storage for fear that it wouldn't fit. It would have, by the way. Oh well. So now we are awaiting the arrival of our bed that we ordered 4 weeks ago. They say it will be another 2 weeks. Yeah, 6 weeks for a bed. *shrug* I don't get it either.
So, that's the tour. We enjoy living here. The location is great. Five minutes from school and 10-15 mins from work. We shared a backyard fence with another Exxon expat family with kids the boys' age. If necessary, Adam can take public transport, which picks up at the top of the street (about 50 yards). We live up in the hills but not so high up that we worry about getting down when there's snow. There's a 2-car garage and space on the street for visitors, when necessary. It's so much better than I'd ever hoped. So good, in fact, that even our side neighbor's half-finished yard of projects didn't discourage us from renting this place the minute we saw it.
Our next big adventure took us to the Castle District.
Buda Castle and Royal Palace complex, as well as all the immediate area sits upon a hill.
This provides spectacular views of the Danube, Pest and specifically, the Chain bridge.
We rode the funicular...
...and made it just in time to see the changing of the guard.
The castle and palace itself could provide a full day of touring, but the kids were worn out of the 'museum stuff' after the first floor (although they were enthralled by a display in the antiquities section that featured a desk which was riddled with hidden compartments).
Here's what they were interested in:
Pretending to hold up the statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy...
...pushing each other into the (thankfully empty) fountain of King Matthias...
...and mimicking the roaring lion.
As you can see, we had a good time.
During this same visit, we also visited the Labyrinth, Matthias' Church and the Fisherman's Bastion, but I've bored you all with enough vacation slides for one day.
Yesterday I opened my mail box to find my very first Hungarian piece of mail. A few brave souls have mailed me Christmas cards (thanks Julie, Lilian & Amoreena) but I haven't gotten anything that was actually sent within Hungary.
As you'd expect, the letter was in Hungarian. It was sent from UPS in a UPS letterhead envelop but inside, on UniCredit Bank stationary, was what looked like a bill of some sort.
I immediately went to Google Translate for a little help. Here is what I got when I inputed the text:
Proof of payment of customs duties and other kozteher
AFA in central VPOP imp Acct: 11,302 huf
Kozteher Total: 11,302 huf
The bank is charged to this account today, strain, and transferred to an irrevocable kozteher kotelezettsget itself. This document kozteher in respect of the payment is conducted as a proof. The bill made a pendanyban.
Cash flow of services (SZJ: 65.12.10 adomentes material): 350 huf
Payable mindosszesen: 11,652 huf
*tizenenegyezerharomszazketto*
Not a clue.
Welcome to Hungary!
postscript...did anyone happen to notice that last word, that Google translate didn't bother to translate. Well, I did. It's 29 letters long. Try using that the next time you play Scrabble.
The Parliament was our first adventure as a family. We'd read about it and of course, we'd seen on the shores of the Danube during the day and it lit up by night. The Parliament is a sprawling structure, with soaring spires and a huge brick-red dome.
Here is picture of the Parliament taken from the Buda side, with the Reformed Church of Buda in the foreground.
Duly impressed, we bundled up on a early Saturday morning at 9:30 and took the bus over to the Parliament to take the 10 am English tour. After about 20 minutes of queuing we discover that the tour was full and that in order to assure tickets for the 10 am tour, we should have been there at 8 am to buy them. No advance purchases were allowed. Shivering, we trekked back to the bus stop and eventually back to the hotel.
Take two: The following Saturday, Adam got up early, took the 8:05 bus to the Parliament, walked right up to the counter, purchased the tickets, then returned to find his family sleeping blissfully and somewhat traitorously. An hour and a half later, we were all back at the Parliament for the 10 am tour.
The tour was about 45 minutes and took us through one wing of the building. The two flanking wings are identical in structure and design, with only minor decorative distinctions, so the tour only goes through the main stairs, the cupola and then through the hall and chambers of the North wing.
I wished we could have seen more, but maybe that would have been wasted on us. With so much to take in, there was a little bit of sensory-overload. It is very opulent with historical significance and symbolism built in.
For example. This is a picture of the main stairs leading from the front doors. There are 96 stairs. The dome is 96 meters high. Why is that? Well, it represents the year in which the Kingdom of Hungary began, being 896. Just prior to the millenium year of the founding of Hungary, three cities (Buda, Pest and Obuda) were united to form Budapest, the capital of Hungary. The government resolved to constuct a new Parliament building to express the sovereignty of the nation, as well as to celebrate the upcoming millenial anniversary of Hungary. An international competition was held, with construction from the winning plan starting in 1885 and the building was inaugurated on the 1000th anniversary of the country in 1896 (but not fully completed until 1904, with the architect of the building going blind before its completion). So...the 96 steps represent the year 896 and 1896.
About one thousand people were involved in construction, during which 40 million bricks, half a million precious stones and about 88 lbs of gold were used. The Holy Crown of Hungary is on display in the central cupola.
This is the crown of the Kings of Hungary, beginning with St. Stephen and continuing with more than 50 others. No king of Hungary was regarded as having been truly legitimate sans this baby. It is seen here with St. Stephen's sword and coronation scepter.
An interesting fact: The Crown’s shape is elliptic and is larger than a healthy human’s head. During coronation, the would-be king had to wear a so-called 'kapa' made of leather, which was sewn for the size of the king, to hold the crown.
You may also notice that the cross is crooked. The story is that it was knocked thus in the 17th century, during a impending seige, when the top of the iron chest that housed the crown was hastily closed without the crown being properly placed. I guess no one bothered to fix it because the cross has been left in this slanted position for all to see. I wonder if someone lost their job over that little mishap?
Bizarre as it may sound, the item below may have been the most impressive thing we saw, while at the Parliament. It is a perfect scale replica of the Parliament made by a Hungarian family who wanted to make a gift for his city. The guide said how long it took and how many matchsticks were used, and be assured it was a years and many matchsticks, but I have forgotten the exact numbers because I was too stunned by the fact that it was made by an average Hungarian man and his family.
Along those same lines, we found this in the local pastry shop:
Whether out of matchsticks, marzapan or brick and mortar, the Parliament is an amazing site and we were glad to have seen it together as a family.
There wasn't a lot of time for me to go site-seeing, what with looking for a house and getting the kids settled in school, but I did manage to take one afternoon to go see the Christmas market outside St. Stephen's basilica just before the kids got out of school for the Winter break.
This church is named after St. Stephen, the first king of Hungary, who lived about 1,050 years ago. His right hand is housed in the reliquary and you can pay extra to see it, but I passed. Seemed kinda morbid to me and I wasn't sure even how to ask about it, considering my Hungarian is so poor. The structure is the same height as the Parliament building, at 96 meters (315 feet) high. It took about 54 years to build, mostly due to a collapse of dome during construction which required demolition and major redesign and rebuild. Organ concerts are regularly given and I hope to take the kids to one in the spring, maybe around Easter.
My favorite part is the artwork on the cupola:
But the altar and side alters are equally magnificent:
One thing that was kinda strange: the internet and the guide books say that the tour through the chapel is free, but a small donation is appreciated. I would have to disagree with the assessment that it is 'appreciated' and go right to required. When I got to the entrance, there was a priest standing next to the "donation" box. The box had a sign that clearly read "200 ft". The priest's poster and demenor made it pretty obvious that his sole purpose was to check to make sure everyone "donated". I actually don't mind that they charge to view the building, especially such a nominal fee (200 ft = $1), afterall, the basilica requires maintenance just like anything else, but I wished they would just come straight out and charge the price, rather than asking for a donation that isn't really optional. It was weird but shouldn't discourage visits. It's really just strange they don't come clean with the whole deal.
Okay, so last picture. Here's the back of the basilica.
Here are a few pics from around town.
This is our hotel/temporary home. The Corinthia is located along a tram line and one block south of a major intersection (the Oktogon) which is very helpful for us, dislocated souls that we are.
This may seem like a weird subject matter, but I love that even the manhole covers are nice to look at.
I took this picture while stopped in traffic at about 9:30 am on a foggy morning as I crossed the Chain Bridge from Buda into Pest. This bridge is beautifully lit at night and I love driving on it, whether day or night...it's like something out of a travel book. The first time I drove over this bridge, I grinned and said aloud, "Holy Crap! I live here."
I took this picture, also while stopped in traffic (note the theme, there) on a different, but equally drizzly, foggy morning to illustrate the narrowness of the roads. This isn't a back alley or something. This is a major road, although it is one-way.
I took this picture because it's a great example of how the city harbors beautiful little jewels. This is a door I happened upon while walking about town. It isn't an embassy, business building or tourist site--just an average building with an average door, but isn't so unique and cool.
I love that most of the buildings are different and interesting in their own way. This is a typical example of the classic architecture you can see on any of the streets downtown...a curved balcony and patina on the bronze cupola...gorgeous.
I hope these shots give a sense for the average streets of downtown Budapest.
We have been in Budapest now for 3.5 weeks. As you might expect we have had a lot of firsts, but I will share three big ones.
First day of school for Lincoln and Kyle:
As you can see, the boys wear uniforms to school. Kyle's uniform is a white polo shirt, blue sweater and gray pants while, Lincoln's uniform is a white dress shirt, school tie, gray sweater and black pants. They weren't all that excited about the uniforms, honestly, but now that they've done it for a while, I don't think they actually mind all that much. The kids go to the British School of Budapest or BISB.
As I mentioned earlier, Lincoln has gotten to be friends with a boy who is also from Cypress and who has been here in Budapest about 18 months. The boy's mother also works for Exxon and his dad works for Texas A&M (abroad, obviously) and they will be our neighbors, assuming we get the house we've been trying to negotiate for. (Did I mention we picked a house. Well, we have. We like it and it's in a good location for both school and work. Hopefully everything will go smoothly with the leasing negotiations and we can take occupancy once our things arrive from the US.) Lincoln has also made friends with a couple other boys in his year whom I met briefly. I've been very pleased with how welcoming the school and kids have been thus far.
David really enjoys his school. He goes Monday, Thursday and Friday from about 8:30 am until 3:30 pm. It's a longer day than he's used to but he has lots to do while he's there. They have art, music, language, math, and then a rotational activity of either Judo, Swim or Skiing. He has 2 teachers for a class of 9 kids. One of the teachers is Hungarian but she also speaks English and the other teacher is American and she speaks a little Hungarian. About 1/2 the kids are Hungarian and the other 1/2 are from an international background. As you can see, no uniforms for David, but next fall, he will begin going to BISB and then the uniforms with start with him, too. He really wants to go with the boys to the "big school" but SuperKids is a good transition for now. I just hope the academics are challenging enough.
Finally, here's the pics from our final 1st: The first week of church.
So this is our ward building. The building is the Stake Center and on the Pest side. For now, it's taking us about 15 minutes to get to church, but once we are in our home, it will be more like 25 minutes. The building is new and up-to-date, but small in comparison to what I'm used to. There is about about 140-150 people to church every week and I'd say about 70% of them are Hungarian. We use headsets for English translation during sacrament meeting and Priesthood/Relief Society, but we split up by language for Sunday School. The ward is still in the midst of figuring out their combined status as the International/Pest Ward.
Also, I've already received a calling. I will serve as the Primary Music Leader, which will be interesting as I don't speak Hungarian or have any musical talents. Another woman, who does speak Hungarian, but not much English, has been called to serve in the same capacity. She and I will work together to do the music for Primary and I hope we can communicate enough together to get it done. I'm sure this will be one of those things people always call a "learning experience". Hmm.
Well, enjoy your week as you drive around on your wide, evenly-spaced, straight, pothole-free roads and think of me while I navigate the gauntlet. *wink*
My life right now is all about getting used to things that on my surface feels foreign, weird and somewhat scary, but in reality will probably be commonplace in a few months.
For example, the cold. Yes, I was raised in a similar climate, but I've lived that past 12 years on the surface of the sun, we call Houston, so by now my blood is so thin, 60 degrees feels cold. The temps here in Budapest are consistently 4-6 degrees Celsius (or 39 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, with a brisk breeze, especially up on the hills of Buda. I'm pretty sure I don't have enough warm clothing. The sad thing is, I really did stock up prior to our arrival. Oh well.
The driving. Driving here is intimidating. The roads, even the major ones, have very narrow lanes. Parking is ridiculously tight and there is no sense of planning in the way the roads are laid out. It's like a bowl of spaghetti got dropped on the ground and they used that as a plan for where to put the roads. The drivers are very aggressive and will take any opportunity to get ahead. The pedestrians are fearless and the motorcyclists seem to have a death wish. Nearly everyone drives compact cars, which makes sense once you think about trying to navigate the tight roads and parking. When parking, especially downtown, many drivers will turn in their side mirrors to avoid having them ripped off by a passing car. That's how tight it is. The scariest experience we've had so far was up in the hills of Buda, on what I thought was a small back alley with a steep incline and a hairpin turn at the bottom. We were heading down and just at the bottom a bus turned around the bend heading up. He was driving very fast to gain speed for the climb and I was sure we were gonna have a head-on. Our real estate agent was driving (thank goodness) and he veered as far to the right, onto the sidewalk and as close to the wall of the alley as possible and even still it was by inches that the bus passed by our left. I don't know that I'll ever get used to that!
The language. Hungarian is very difficult to master. The intonation and inflection is very specific, plus they have like 7 different possible sounds for the vowels. I've only learned a few words, like Thank you, You're Welcome, Please, Good, Milk, Shop, Flower, Yes, No, Sorry, and Where is... But the weirdest part is that even though I've said 'thank you' a whole lot and it comes pretty natural now, I still get corrected on my pronunciation. I've also been told that because Hungarian is so difficult, native speakers are only used to hearing their language spoken by other native speakers, so their ear is not attuned to picking up mispronounced words, unlike English speakers. Therefore, when a word is mispronounced, to them is sounds like gibberish, instead of the word spoken with an accent. I don't know if I will ever become conversational, but I do hope to learn more than my current 11 word vocabulary. One quick story about David and the language. He met some boys at a little play center that were Hungarian. He, nor the other boys, seemed bothered by the language barrier and played fine together. After we left, Davie asked if he would again see the boy "who spoke Spanish really fast." I told him that boy didn't speak Spanish, he spoke Hungarian. David said "no, he spoke Spanish because I couldn't understand him." I then realized that to David, Hungarians spoke English because in his world thus far, he'd met many Hungarians and they all spoke English, so every Hungarian must speak English. A rude awakening is soon to follow, I am sure.
The food. This is one that I'm still learning about. Because I've been with my kids 24/7 since we've arrived, most of our selections of where to eat and what to eat have been about meeting their needs and we haven't been seeking a 'culinary adventure'. That being said, the selection at both the restaurants and the grocery stores have been surprising. First of all, I was shocked to find that pizza joints are everywhere, as well as many sushi and chinese restaurants, which I was told I would not find. The pure Hungarian cooking involves a lot of pork and some fish and chicken, but rarely red meat. They fry a lot of their meat and do many casserole type dishes with either noodles, potatoes or rice. There are local grocery stores every few blocks or so, which are tiny by American standards, but serve the needs of those doing frequent shopping trips. Then there are the grocery stores that are very comparable to American grocery stores, but these are fewer and farther between. I was thrilled to see that these stores carry a variety of items and although it will take some getting used to, I'm feeling much more confident about shopping in general. There are definitely gaps though. No peanut butter or celery or canned pumpkin or cool whip or cake mixes or chips but from what I understand, I can get almost of those items at other specialty stores, if I'm willing to pay for it. Otherwise, it's make do or do without.
Have to run, but hope this answers some of your questions.
So where was I?
Oh yeah...we made it...sort of. We got ourselves to the airport with our ten bags, which was no mean feat by the way, and eventually boarded our flight to Germany. The company booked us business-class tickets and the kids were fairly entertained with the gadgets and buttons so the first 3 hours went quickly at which point, it was time to sleep. We awoke to find that we were in Frankfurt where we had a short layover. Then, we boarded our final flight to Budapest.
Once we arrived in Budapest, we collected our bags and prepared ourselves to go through customs, but as we followed the crowds exiting the building, there seemed to be nowhere to go to declare. A fellow passenger saw our hesitation and he smiled and motioned for us to go ahead. Maybe we should have looked harder but frankly customs is a pain, so we went through the doors and officially entered Hungary.
Our taxi driver was waiting for us. He and a fellow taxi driver took us and our bags to our hotel downtown. My first impression of Budapest was gray. Its winter and the trees are bare and the sky is cloud-filled. The buildings are gray and the roads are gray. Kinda depressing, huh. But to be fair, the drive from the airport to downtown is through the industrial part of town, so that doesn't represent the majority of Budapest. Downtown is quite European feeling, with buildings built at the end of the 1800's adjacent to new classically-styled buildings. The only thing I don't enjoy is how the beautiful architecture is marred at the street-level by garish placards, billboards and advertisements. Many of the buildings are built with limestone, the native stone of this area. Limestone is highly susceptible to exhaust build-up, therefore I often see many lovely buildings either in the process of being cleaned or wearing a thin layer of black coating. The locals joke (but it's actually true) that the Parliament Building has been in the process of being cleaned for 70 years. They just keep circling around because by the time they get to where they started, it's time to begin again.
Quick geography lesson: Budapest is actually 2 cities divided by the Danube River: that of Buda and Pest. Pest is to the east and is fairly flat, topographically-speaking. The Parliament sits on its bank (District 5), surrounded by many of the museums. The majority of downtown, the businesses, tourist sites, Adam's work (District 13), as well as apartments that let out flats are on the Pest side. Further out on the Pest side is the industrial part of the city and the airport (District 16, I think).
Buda, on the west side, is made up of "rolling hills", some of which are really steep with narrow roads climbing right up that very scary incline. Buda is the home for many of Budapest's international families, all of the international schools, 2 of the 3 major malls, 2 of the international medical centers, as well as Buda Castle (another trademark building, this one in District 1).
We have decided to locate in Buda, specifically District 2 or 3. We arrived in Budapest on Sunday, the 20th and began looking at homes to rent on Monday. So far, I think we've seen about 25 homes and have narrowed the field down to about 5. We are to visit the last home today, which has just come on the market. It is supposedly, very suited to our needs and so we have held off a decision until we can see it.
By locating in Buda, we hope to split the commuting distance between Adam's work, which is across the river in Pest, and the distance to the kids' school (the British International School of Budapest or BISB) which is located in Buda on the boarder between Districts 2 and 3.
In addition to looking at homes, we have also selected a preschool for David, which is SuperKids. We like the director and the teachers very much, but the real tipping of the scale was that the school seemed more academically focused than other preschools, which seemed more like play centers. Because most Hungarian children don't start school until they are either 6 or 7, it is not an uncommon view that a 4-5 year preschool class be working only on shapes and colors. SuperKids seems more connected with academics as we expect them in the States. David will start at SuperKids tomorrow. In addition to class/instructional time, snack time, lunch, outside play, David will also participate in swim, judo and skiing lessons. He is very excited and I'm hopeful that it will be a good fit until next fall when he will join Lincoln and Kyle at BISB.
Speaking of, Lincoln and Kyle began school on Monday, November 28th. Lincoln was pretty bummed that the first thing he had to do was entrance exams, but he managed to do just fine. He is in Key Stage 3, which is similar to Middle School in the States. His classes are combined, based on level or year, with kids in Year 7,8 and 9 (grades, 6, 7, and 8 in the states). The classes are small, about 12-14 kids in each class. He is taking Math, Science, Geography, English, French, PE and Drama. Crazy coincidence: Lincoln met a boy, Nicholas, that he knew from Sampson Elementary (his school in Cypress) when they were in switch classes back in 4th grade. Nicholas has been here in Hungary for about 18 months. He and Lincoln are now in nearly every class together. Also, when we arrived for the first day, 3 boys were there to greet Lincoln and show him around. He shares schedules with them as well.
Kyle is in Key Stage 2 (Elementary), year 5 (grade 4). There are 2 classes of year 5's and his teacher seems very nice. Kyle has a boy named Casper who is from Belgium but lived in Houston, Texas for 3 years and they were paired initially to help Kyle get to know his way around. Kyle loves that he has 2 recesses and is jumping right into playing soccer with all the other kids his age. Recess for Kyle is the whole Key Stage (grades 1-5).
Well, I've got to go. I'm heading down to the local Christmas market. Wish me luck. More details to come.
Well folks. We made it. We have arrived in Budapest, Hungary.
After weeks of planning and stress, all our assets were liquidated and the few remaining household items were boxed, labelled and packed into various containers with the desperate hope that they arrive in the appropriate and various locations. But I get ahead of myself. I should really begin where I left off in my last entry. Despite the title of said entry, I managed to escape the gauntlet of preparing for our expat assignment without actually losing my mind.
Our first big break came with the blessing of an offer on the house within the first week of listing. It was a huge relief to get things ready for the pack without the worry and headache of keeping the home in 'show' condition.
The other big help came just after Halloween (yes, I'm aware I still haven't posted our Halloween pics. They'll come as soon as I figure out which box holds the elusive camera cord), when Adam's dad and step-mom came by for a final visit. Their presence gave me a reason to slow down and catch my breath, plus when it was time to get something done, they were great about keeping the kids occupied and happy. Thanks Bill and Gale!
After Bill and Gale left, things kicked into high gear. I had only 6.5 days to get ready for the big pack day, which was Monday the 14th and it loomed on my calendar like my own personal death-date. Little by little things came together. We had our fair share of mishaps (read: hair-raising catastrophes) but we managed to work around them (read: Cry. Throw my hands in the air. Swear that I'm giving up. Cry again. And then eventually put on my big-girl pants and take care of business.).
On Sunday the washer and dryer disappeared into the hands of a new owner. On Monday, my household good disappeared into boxes, as well as my fridge into the truck of its new owner. On Tuesday, the van was presented to its new owner and everything else went off to its respective place (hopefully): STORAGE. SEA SHIPMENT. AIR SHIPMENT. And we...well, we, took ourselves off to the La Quinta. (Living high now, huh?)
Weirdly, getting to the hotel was such a relief. So much of the pressure was off. And without the pressure of a forever-long to-do list, I was finally able to process what was happening. (Read: Hyperventilate a little bit)
The reality of what I was about to do began to crash over me. At times it was somewhat pleasant, like butterfly tickles in your stomach at the peak of a roller-coaster. At other times, I'd get that feeling of falling you get when you miss a stair and for a second you're pretty sure you're gonna die.
I couldn't freak out completely though. At least not yet. My kids still had to say good-bye to everything they've ever known. They needed me to have my head on straight. Plus, I had my own good-byes to say and I couldn't lose it or I just might decide to hide in my friend's guest room for the next 3 years. No. My panic was shouldered and shoved into the special box in my head, labelled: "TOO PAINFUL: PLEASE IGNORE FOR THE TIME BEING."
I think I need to check the seal on that box though, because when the time came for my last goodbyes, I seemed to have far too many irritating leaks. Hence, my hazy recollection of how we actually managed to get ourselves and our 10 bags onto a plane bound for Frankfurt, Germany and eventually onto Budapest.
To be continued...
1. Decide to move your family to a foreign land where you don’t speak the language and allow yourself only 10 weeks to do it.
2. Help your kids study for a science test, whilst wondering privately if any of it really matters considering they will be leaving school in a week.
3. Create a menu of of something edible, maybe even delectable, from a dwindling pantry only to hear complaints from three little mouths.
4. Worry incessantly about things over which you have no control.
5. Choose to temporarily abandon your blog and then be needled with guilt for the radio silence every time you pass a computer, especially with Halloween pictures just begging to be posted.
6. Wake from a nightmare in which no one understands a thing you say and then realize your dreams are about to be reality.
7. Writing good-bye cards to your dearest friends.
8. Inventory your home, from the furniture to the silverware, assign a value and determine if said item must be stored, shipped or sold, without knowing what the new home will be like AND entirely unsure how many of the items you ship will come to you broken and damaged.
9. Get a wake up call from the dear ole hubby saying that you’ve given the wrong routing number to the relocation company and then spend several long hours wondering who might be the lucky guy with all the money from the sale of your home.
10. While doing items 1-9, keep track of things like bills, appointments, school assignments, scout meetings and other frivilous items like whether or not you showered today.
All that being said, I still have a tenuous hold on reality, mostly due to the help from my friends and family. More to come, but know that we appreciate the support and help you have given our family in this new adventure.
Based on the number of calls I've been getting from friends and family about my move status, it seems it's time for an update. The Readers Digest version: Things are progressing but not without a few grey hairs on my part.
For those interested in a bit more detail, keep reading:
THE DMV: When a person applies for a visa in Hungary, the government confiscates his/her drivers license to be returned when said person leaves for good. This wouldn't be a problem unless you planned to return for occasional visits and wanted to, say, drive or rent a car. Solution: apply for a duplicate license. Normally, this would have required a few clicks at a DMV website but of course it wasn't that easy. Ha! Because of the nearing expiration date of my current licence I had to actually go in to a Texas DMV. The Monday after my birthday, I dropped Dave off at the sitters (thanks Linda!) and hauled myself down to the DMV in Waller, TX. It's a rural DMV and supposedly has shorter lines. Only problem: the whole office could have fit in my bedroom. Seriously. It was the size of a shoebox and had only one attendant. Due to its minuscule size, the que had to wait outside. In the sun. In Texas. In early September. Two very long, sweaty hours later, I was admitted into the inner levels of Hades and 45 minutes later, escaped with only the slightest of scorch marks. After ten days of recuperation, I received my medal of honor: my brand-spanking new licence. A hard fought win to be sure.
THE HOUSE: We plan to sell our home. The listing was a feat of monumental proportions because unlike a normal listing, I was involving our relocation company. Normally, I'd have listed about ten days earlier than I did, but due to the bureaucratic grind the listing posted on Monday, Oct. 10th. Tuesday, we had 1 showing. Wednesday, 2 showings. Thursday, 2. And then nothing Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I was pretty convinced that the 5 people who were in the market for a home had looked and decided that they'd had no interest in my house and I was outta luck. After taking a breath or two, I made it through the weekend, had a showing Monday and then Tuesday and today, we received an offer. It's contingent, but I'm hopeful. Only time will tell.
SCHOOLS: We are still sorting out schools, but it looks like we will probably be sending our kids to the Bristish School of Budapest. I have been very impressed with them so far and once we get in country we will interview them and do a final walk-thru of the facilities.
WHEN ARE YOU LEAVING?: This is the question I get asked several times a day and I'm finally staring to have an answer.
Right now the packers are scheduled for November 17 and 18. We'd probably take a flight on either the 20th or 21st. This will mean that Thanksgiving will be in Hungary. We will be in a hotel (interim living) and have decided to go to the Marriot Hotel, where they hold an annual Thanksgiving Dinner in the ballroom. I understand it to be a lively event and it will certainly be different, but since it means I'm not cooking or doing dishes for 36 hours straight, it can't be all bad.
A MOVING TARGET: As we struggle our way through this process, several things have become clear. Everything is fluid. For example, we thought we'd have a home finding trip, but that is NOT the case. Initially, I was pretty frustrated by this, but over time I began to understand the reasons. It will take 6-8 weeks (at least) for our things to arrive in country and because renting furniture is not an option, getting housing lined-out early doesn't really accomplish anything. We would still need to be in interim living. So, we'll be taking our flight over having never seen the city, it's housing or the schools. While in interim living, we will house hunt, settle the banking issues and solidify the schooling for the kids. By the time our things arrive, we will hopefully have a leased home and can move in. This creates a lot of stress once we arrive for things to move along smoothly and that plays into why we are going early than originally planned. With delays caused by the upcoming December holidays and vacation, we were informed that executing residence permits, leases and other necessary processes will be slowed or stopped all together from mid-December until early January. As a result, coming in country a few days earlier (ie: November 20th versus December 2nd) is quite advantageous. Again, things are fluid and plans change quickly, but that is how it stands for today.
OTHER THINGS I DO TO STAY BUSY: You may be wondering, what exactly is so hard about all of this? Well, I think the thing that I was surprised most about was the amount of paperwork. There is paperwork for EVERYTHING. The schools. The work permit. The passports. The house listing. The relocation package. The list just keeps going. My current 'job' is essentially paperwork. I'm to inventory my home and break everything out into: STORE, SEA SHIPMENT or AIR SHIPMENT.
As an exercise, look around the room you are in. Imagine inventorying everything in that room, assigning it a replacement value and then deciding if that item is something you need in the first 2-3 weeks after arrival or 6-8 weeks or if you can live without it for 3 whole years. And if you can live without it for 3 years...why do you want it at all? Should it be sold?
Other things I'm working on are selling the van and car, choosing a preschool for David, buying transformers/converters, cancelling credit cards and opening ones with good exchange rates, deciding what items I need to stock up on and what clothes to buy before we leave. The list of tasks that I've completed looks decidedly short compared to what remains. But I've been assured by my dear friend, Andrea, who did this whole thing last year, that it will all get done.
As a prize for completing this very lengthy discourse on moving, here is a picture of our recent family photo shoot. Thanks goes to my wonderful photographer friend, Holly, for doing us a such a big favor on short notice. You're awesome!
I'm reminded of the lyrics of Proud Mary, ala Tina Turner:
Amongst broken legs, torn achilles tendons, starting school and the upcoming holidays, we have decided to move...again. Only this time it's much further. Budapest, Hungary is our destination.
Adam has been offered a position in Budapest. We are very excited and looking forward to the adventure. Our plans are still solidifying, but currently, we expect to move in late November or early December and we'll be there for about 3 years. As you can see below, Hungary is completely land-locked in the center of Europe. It shares borders with 7 neighbors: Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Yugoslavia, Croatia and Slovenia. It's area is about the same size as the state of Indiana. Budapest is the capital and largest city in Hungary. The city is divided into two parts, Buda and Pest, by the Danube. Budapest is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and its languauge, the one of the hardest to learn.
So, more to come on all of this, I'm sure. Things have gotten incredibly busy around here and I haven't had minute to take it all in. I kinda worry that I'll wake up in 4 months and suddenly realize that I live in Europe and that I'm completely unprepared. Still, it's exciting, if incredibly scary.
