Amy and the Great World

Expat Life Hungary

Eleven Months in Budapest: By the Numbers

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Eleven months! I can’t believe a year ago I accepted my job and we started scrambling, buying plane tickets and packing up all of our stuff to move to Budapest. Hard to believe that my one-year anniversary with Budapest is approaching fast and furiously.

The eleventh month has been a whirlwind, in the best kind of way–because it’s almost Christmas!

Eleven Months in Budapest: By the Numbers

ONE NIGHT in the little town of Eger, Hungary! We had to visit their little Christmas market while we were there, of course.

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FIVE (ish) glasses of wine in the cellars Eger’s Valley of Beautiful Women, aka Hungary’s wine country. The cellars are right next to each other so you just walk in-between, sampling as you go.

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FOUR visits to the local Christmas markets so far, not counting the smaller ones in parks I’ve randomly stumbled upon. And it’s just the beginning!!

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TWO (very light) dustings of snow. Can you see it?

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SEVERAL (more than I’d care to admit) hilariously awkward interactions with co-workers this month. I’m not sure what my deal is right now, but pretty much every time I’ve spoken with a Hungarian adult lately, and it’s turned weird quickly. This one made me laugh, mostly because it was in response to a long email of mine asking about fifteen questions.

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THREE HOURS celebrating Friendsgiving with some friends and a co-worker of mine. Of course I only took a picture of the flowers our friend gifted us, but it was a great night and E, the main cook of the event, did a spectacular job!

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LONG DAYS working at my job. In some ways, this is the best time of year to be a teacher: fun Christmas lessons, gifts from the kids, a decorated school, happy people. In other ways, it’s also the worst: kids are insanely hyped up with excitement and sugar, the schedule is a mess, a lot of teachers/students are sick, and there is so much going on that it begins to feel stressful.

img_4446img_4396This kid has some big wishes from Santa: including laser vision. 

MANY DAYS where the temperature is getting truly cold (cold enough, I think, for snow, so let me just ask: where is it?!??) but this also means the coziness is going off the charts.

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THREE Christmas-themed donuts from our new favorite donut shop, the Donut Library (please excuse my horrid phone picture…).

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ONE jury-rigged Christmas tree in our flat! (Aka a bunch of branches that we shoved into a bucket, that E wrapped to look festive).

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TWO HOURS at a festive trivia night, which needed holiday outfits, of course (okay, I’m not particularly festive in plaid, but it was a Scottish bar so I still earned some points).

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Ten Months in Budapest // Nine Months in Budapest // Eight Months in Budapest // Seven Months in Budapest // Six Months in Budapest // Five Months in Budapest // Four Months in Budapest // Three Months in Budapest // Two Months in Budapest // One Month in Budapest // Three Months on the Road // Twelve Months in Prague

Expat Life Hungary Writing

Maybe This Could Be Home

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I’m not sure if I discussed this much (although I didn’t try to keep it a secret) but I wasn’t really looking forward to coming back to Budapest after my summer on the road.img_1615

The first six months in Budapest were very difficult for me–unexpectedly so–and I couldn’t drum up enthusiasm to come back. Living here for six months before leaving again didn’t give us a lot of time to develop that much attachment, and add in the fact that we were moving to a new neighborhood that I was unsure of AND I would be starting yet another new job…this new beginning didn’t bring the excitement of adventure I usually feel.

It was one of the few times in my life where staying somewhere (in this case, America) was sounding more appealing than going. Seeing all of our friends and family members made it even harder to leave.

A few months after returning, though, and I’m so grateful I gave Budapest another chance. I love my job, I love our place, I love the city, I love the exploring we’ve been able to do, I love that we are making new social connections, and we’re at the tail end of one of the most glorious autumns of my life.

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One thing that really struck me recently is how much it’s starting to feel like home here, both the city and our flat. I never thought I would feel “at home” in a city where I don’t speak 95% of the language–but I do.

E and I apparently had an unspoken agreement when we moved in that we would really settle into this apartment–and that included buying things we haven’t had the inclination for in years. We never discussed any of it–usually any purchase that isn’t a strict necessity has been heavily debated in the past few years–we just did it. We bought it. Stuff like cozy blankets and actual kitchen supplies and candles.

I seriously cannot stop buying candles.

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What’s funny about all this is that just recently I realized that we are only in this place, and I’m only in this job, until June. Of course, the chances are good that we could stay another year–or even longer–but it’s only official until the end of this school year. Either we stay, we have to find a way to squeeze in my beloved kitchen scale (…who am I?), or we leave our already furnished place more well-equipped than before.

I can’t imagine staying here, or anywhere, really–settling anywhere has always been a vague “someday” sort of thing, or a fun way to dream about living in my ultimate places…but as I light one of my many candles and eat some amazing soup E made in our functioning kitchen, I also wonder if maybe this could be home.img_1572

And maybe I’m ready for a home, more than I ever thought I could be.

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Crazier things have happened.

Baking Expat Life Hungary

A Castle in the Park + Bake Along Week 6

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I’ve raved about our new flat quite a bit already, but I haven’t told you much about our new neighborhood.

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When we moved to Budapest last January, we lived in a pretty primo location right by the river and the Parliament building. In June, I quit my old job and got a new one, which meant that we had to move to a new place and a new area of the city.

I had no love for our tiny, barely functional flat, but I was disappointed to leave the ‘hood. I mean, my commute included walking by this every day!

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(Not to mention it was close to the river, great restaurants, and well-centered in the city.)

While I immediately loved our new flat, I wasn’t sure about our new neighborhood at first. However, now that I know the transit links, have explored the area more, and have gotten spoiled with my 10-minute walk to work, I’m quite happy here!

The best part about the area is that we are very close to Budapest’s City Park, or Varosliget. This park is kind of equivalent to New York’s Central Park–it has a zoo, famous baths, an ice-skating ring in winter, and…a castle!

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The first time I found it was a surprise–I had no idea it was there–but now I visit it often, because it’s fall and I need frequent park walks, and it also happens to hold almost weekly festivals. This weekend was the Kürtőskalács, or chimney cake, festival (known as trdelník in CZ!).

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After a walk with some friends to get us some cakes, I came home and made another cake for this week’s Bake Off Bake Along, hosted by Amanda and Ala!

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That’s right–this week I finally attempted the showstopper, which is always the biggest and most elaborate of the three bake choices.

While I was technically supposed to make a three-layer cake, I could only manage two…and with just two of us, I think three would have been a bit insane.

It also seemed like a good time to incorporate some fall flavors. You know where I’m going with this…pumpkin.

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I attempted to make this Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake, from Amanda herself, but used a cinnamon buttercream, loosely based off of this recipe, to pipe roses.

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While I’m not sure cinnamon-colored roses are exactly the best choice, and my piping leaves a bit to be desired, this cake is AMAZING. While I’m one of those people who think cake without frosting is kind of a waste of time, even I don’t even think this cake needs any frosting–it’s that good! Not that the cinnamon buttercream was a hardship to eat.

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I’m so happy I finally had a good bake–pastry week and batter week weren’t exactly successful so I’ve been feeling more anxious about baking than I ever thought possible. I even caught myself starting into the oven for way too long just like they do on the show…

I’m in good company.

Next week–desserts! And week 7 already!

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