p.s.

i have a lot to add to that beer and spirits list. will do.

goodbye.London.

Well, I've been a horrible blogger for about 7 months now. it's been 7 months of UK, london work, and some pretty awesome trips to scandinavia, portugal and basel, and ireland... all the pics up on the photos link!

probably won't be adding too much to the blog... or to the picasa photos page in the next while. But I'll definately throw on the highlights of the trip once I make it safe and sound (ideally anyway) to Roma.

In a few hours I'll be off on a train, starting the biggest, baddest trip i've dreamt of on my way to Roma for the fall term. So after one last winning softball match in regents park, and a good night out with friends and work peeps (including my boss who would never miss a good one), it's one hungover goodbye.

bye for now, it's been a good craic.

Paris.and.London.in.24h.

After a 5 hour train ride through some awesome French countryside and some nice little villages, I made it to Paris. It was definately refreshing to be able to understand the signs and what people were saying around me. Lucky for me, Paris Est train station was under construction. So it wasn't until a walk through the station, across the street, past the taxis, around the corner, that I finally made it au metro parisien.

I got to my friend Geoffroy's (met him in Budapest) appartment and our Japanese friend Takuro was staying too. The three of us walked around for a bit, I picked up a good baguette sandwhich and we walked to le tour Eiffel. Conveniently Geoffroy lives really close. Took the steps up the tower which was pretty cool, and pretty funny watching Geo do it like a zombie 'cause he's so afraid of heights. After we checked out the new Jean Nouvelle building nearby- musee du quai branly. A really cool building that has a living green wall and a couryard space that really frames a view of the eiffel tower. We were there in the evening so we got to see the tackiest attraction of Paris- the eiffel tower with sparkling lights on the hour.

Then we picked up some french dessert for snack-moelleux for me, and headed out to student party with cheap kronenbourg and to a small pub later. Had a good crepe off the street with cheese mushroom ham and egg on the way home for a late supper, and crashed for the night. (or rather for a few hours before my early train.)

I was up to catch the first metro at 6am and went to the train station to get my Eurostar train into London. It was really strange- like being at an airport. They take your ticket, then put you through french customs (where i finally had the passport checked), UK customs (visa ok'd) and then security. And you wait in a big waiting room with shops and stuff waiting for the gate for your train to open. strange but cool. It was a direct train. Left Paris in the dark so didn't get to see much, then a lot of the ride through the chunnel, then into london it was all covered with fog- so not really a scenic 2.5 hr journey, but a good chance to catch some sleep.

My old boss Andrew (a Londoner) met me at Waterloo station, which was just starting to be a zoo because of all the cancelled flights. He took me on a tour for a few hours of South Bankside which is a really cool area- millenium bridge, the Tate modern, across the river to St. Peter's, a cool market and some ugly foster buildings then a few nice theatres. We had a good chat over a Pint of ale then I was off to the station again for 1300.

Made it there, and took a suburban trainline to meet my cousin Nina in Derby (they say it like Darby). Had a good bite to eat at her place and a little catch up, then Shane got home, we packed the car, and headed north to the Highlands of Scotland.

So I'm here now in Tain for Christmas, enjoying some quiet time and no travelling till after christmas. Not sure about new years yet.

Cheers.

Like.the.Germans.Do

No more Budapest, no more:
-signs I can't read
-good hungarian sausage
-cheap groceries
-0.5L beers for less than a dollar
-riots and tear gas
-did i say no more cheap beer!?
-school for 8 months
-GYROS! had enough for a lifetime anyway
-cheap rent for big appartments
-Palinka, Unicum bad wine
-great times with students from 50 countries at the same time


But since then...
Got to enjoy a fast Austrian/Swiss train with some luxury seating and damn nice stations compared to eastern europe. (i guess this is where the wealth factor comes in...these trains ain't cheap!). Surprisingly there's really no border control from austria onward. All i have is a stamp saying I left Hungary, and nothing through till the UK. Finally got to practice my french for real on the train in Switzerland, and met a couple of swiss guys that were also looking to snowboard- but of course there's still no snow anywhere around here. I got in to Basel at 730 on Sunday morning, and got picked up by some family I met only once when I was 3 and drove into the small town of Minzen. I guess I was the guy with the biggest backpack so pretty easy to spot.

Had a good German breakfast complete with a coffee of course, eggs, tomato,meat and cheese. Even some LAUGEN BUNS (I was supposed to mention that one for you Auntie Trish). The same morning took a ride in the car into France, the german-french province Alsace. We went to a small town called Colmar- really really old, and they had a good christmas market going on. Enjoyed some biere de noel and a typical alsacian pastry/pizza kind of thing... flau.something. Later on, met up with my 'schwip schwap' cousins as they like to call them (family of family kind of thing) and tasted a few different bottles of a few different german brew. Then got taken out to this awesome authentic german restaurant and had Geschnetzel mit Spatzle. mmmmmmm. Officially one of my new favourite meals.

Then hung out at my cousin's pad and had fun with some german expressions over some more Pils. Apparently the germans can down the beer, but once the Irish Whiskey was out... they were soon ready for bed. Shame.

The next day my cousin Jason took me in to see Basel. Took a... hmmm... romantic? 2 minute boat ride across the Rein and walked around a while. You can really see the wealth in switzerland. Didn't even buy a coffee 'cause they were so expensive. Got back into germany and had my first Currywarst (yeah that's a curry sausage- strange but good- and they love them!).Then had a quiet one with some good pizza and sampled a few bavarian brew chillin in with the fam.

Tuesday was my last day there, and my Aunt Angie took me in to see Reinfeldon. We walked across from Germany to Switzerland, which was kinda of wierd. I took a pit stop in the middle of two, where there's a really small park/island that sits on the rein. I can officially say I've relieved myself in the middle of Germany and Switzerland! yay. Had some awesome home cooking for supper and then one last night out at the pub.

Made my way to the station at 7 in the morning and transferred trains in Basel. I was off to Paris.

Goodbye.Budapest.Hello.World.

So it's been a while since the last one.

Was pretty busy the last few weeks in budapest wrapping things up. School finals, last time hanging with friends and crossing off things on the 'to see and do' list. Not to mention getting stuff together to hopefully get a job in London, UK. (yup currently unemployed)

Leaving Budapest was a hard one. You really get to know a city after a while, and even though my first impressions were kinda dissapointing, I ended up really loving it. I met a ton of new people and made some friends from all over the world, some I've become really close with, and definately plan on visiting over the next year.

We had a big goodbye party at our flat on the 14th. From 3pm. That was awesome to hang with everyone one last time. Not to mention that it went until 3am- definately a good time complete with Forralt Bor, bad hungarian wine, cheap beer, and of course of champagne.

Friday night les filles francaises cooked up a good meal of keicsche, chicken and mushrooms and some good bread and pastes for a whole group of 25. An awesome little Esramus christmas.

Then it was time for all the tough goodbye's and see-you-soon's.

Ended up taking me a lot longer to pack than before- Making 3 bags into 2. and most of it into my backpack. Ended up being one heavy bag!

My Bus left from Budapest in the afternoon, and one last long goodbye later it was so long Budapest, Hello World, and off to Vienna to catch a train into Germany. Of course one of Alan's trips wouldn't be complete without the bus breaking down on the way. So we waited a half hour for another bus to show and finally made it. Then it was a nice 4hr wait at the station for the train, and mad dash in Zurich to change trains. Got on the train and it left as I stepped on- close call!

The Germany/France/UK story to come.

These.Days.in.Budapest.

My days in Budapest are winding down, with just 3 weeks to go. It really is GO-time with school work, and no more travels for me until the end of term.

Still having some fun though here in the meantime when I can. Climbed to the top of Gellert Hill the other night with a bottle of wine and enjoyed an incredible view and some good conversation with a lovely German girl. Just yesterday after a home cooked meal by yours truly (which admittingly hasn't happened a lot lately) with some good company, had a few glasses of wine at a cool little pub and then continued a good talk (long ago interrupted by an angry croatian kid) with my finnish buddy Parre . We found out that the market is open at 6am and will serve you a big cup of some bad wine for just a dollar. Included free is a nice headache later that afternoon.

I still have some of the city of Budapest to explore- like statue park, and going to see a cheap opera or hungarian rock-opera. (that's the one the cool kids see). The riots and demonstrations here have really quieted down. Until a couple weeks ago there was still a stage set up outside parliment and tents along the grounds with peaceful protests and speeches every night. But now the entire block and square at the parliment buildings has been gated off with rendorseg (magyar police) patrolling 0-24. The people are still pissed off, and if nothing happens by the new year there will surely be more street riots.

Still managing to keep up with major news back in Canada thanks to cbc.ca - I don't know what I would've down without my trusty source especially when I was in the USA. Good to know Sadaam was convicted and Quebec issue is up in the air again.

Agesegadre.

wow.in.Krakow...heavy.in.Auschwitz.

nov.17-20

so it was definately nice to have a weekend in budapest without travelling. And I was due for one last trip in eastern europe before the end of term. So I joined up with the french connection, an isreali, a german, and a yankee and off we were to Poland... on the worst train i've ever been on. lucky enough we got our group discount.

Saturday was a big and heavy day in Aushwitz.

And then the long train ride home... it was alreadz 11hrs, but somehow we managed to make it 14 by almost going all the way to Bukarest! could've been nice doing two trips in one.

Slovenia.is.cool.too.

Well after just a little over 24hrs back home in Budapest, I was off again to Slovenia. First to Piran, on the Adriatic coast, very close to Italy. This was an organized trip with the ESRAMUS group, so I was with 75 others- a few people I already knew from my technical university here, but also a bunch that I'd never met before from other universities in Budapest. All exchange students, and all english-speaking. We got to the bus in Budapest at 6:15am after only a short sleep. And of course there had to be 2 people who were late... really late. We didn't
end up leaving until 7:20. ouch. We had a long bus ride through the west of hungary and straight into slovenia, then all the way from one end of slovenia to the other until we reached Piran on the East coast of the Adriatic sea. After 10 hours on the bus and 4 pit stops, it was a relief to finally get there. The last part of the ride was up and down mountains with some great views of the Adriatic sea.

Walked around the small city (must only be a few hundred people) and stopped in at one of the local pubs that were still open. There we savoured some Italian Grappa. A lot like moonshine, and definately gives you a good kick. And enjoyed a couple good Slovenian Beers. Then back to the bus to bring our gear to the hostel- where we we'd been waiting all day for our included supper. Sausage,bread, meat,cheese,some wierd salad, some bad cheap beer, and we were good and full. Ready to go out in Piran. We walked around for half an hour before finding the ONLY BAR OPEN in Piran on a Thursday night for a few good brew.

Friday morning we were up early at 9 and walked around the city exploring old roman walls at the top of the hill and inside a couple nice churches. Those romans must have been some short lads, because pretty much everyone hit their head at least once on a doorway. A lof ot old italian-style buildings and nice narrow pedestrian-only streets everywhere. Not a lot of people here- it's pretty quiet and calming. We finished our time in Piran with an awesome meal on the water. A big plate fresh Mussels for just 5euros. Best seafood since Vancouver!

Our bus took us into Liubljana which took about 3-4 hrs and we walked into town and up the castle hill. The castle from the outside is pretty nice but the inside has been renovated about 5 times, and is pretty modern with a few cafes and a nice gallery. still dissapointing for the 25minute hike up the steep hill to get there. the rewarding part was the nice view of the entire city, and still a view of some mountains. A good place to catch the sunset. We spent the rest of the night getting a good bite to eat at a nice resto and had some piescavitsa (sp?) same as in Serbia -like a nice big burger. But these ones were HUGE. hard to finish. The waitor liked us so much he even gave us a slovene drink on the house! a mix of moonshine and blueberry schnopps with real blueberries floating around. nice. Then off for a nice bar hop from pub to pub. Again tried a local drink... can't remember what this one was called though.

Saturday morning we were up early again and headed off for Bled. Just an hour and a bit away from the capital. A real tourist joint. Pretty much in the middle of nowhere with a nice village around it, with a nice lake and incredible views of the mountainside from the castle on a cliff. We hiked up the cliff to the castle. It's an old one... that goes back till before the middle ages and was burnt, destroyed, rebuilt, and renovated a few times. The view was worth it, and there's a pretty good museum of the history of the place.

Saturday evening back in Ljubljana walked around for a bit, since I hadn't really explored the city too much yet. And picked up some Burek with meat for supper mmmmmm. Chilled out at the hostel for a few hours with some others from Germany and had some cheap beer while practicing our newly found Slovene phrases. But by the end of it we figured there's only so much we could actually remember. So focused on the important ones:

Jaz sem Alan. / My name is alan.
Samski sem. / I am single.

(You see Uncle Pete and Auntie Trish, I'm putting that phrasebook to good use!)

Then out we were for one last night in Slovenia to a local club. Global. Really cool- you take a glass elevator from the street up 6 storeys to a roof, then the club's inside. A good time and a late night.

Sunday, got up and took a look at the random junk that people had out for antique market day and made it to the bus. for another long trip home. got in to Budapest at 11pm. and went straight to bed.

Bratislava.Vienna.Prague.

OK, this was a big trip. I went to Bratislava and Vienna with Miklos and his sister Anita, Carmen, and a few Finnish guys. Then did Prague just with Miklos and his sister.
Miklos and I were all prepped for the trip with our 'Prague Look' good and dirty new mustache styles for a weekend.

Bratislava. Oct. 26-27
We landed an awesome deal on bus tickets to Bratislava with a company called Student Agency. For 1700HUF (about $9 CDN) we got a return ticket to/from Bratislava on some super nice buses. Leather seats, english speaking staff, and a good laugh watching the movie Malibou's most Wanted, and free cappucinos or hot chocolate the whole way. sweet.
Got to Bratislava with the Eurotrip 70cents-buys-you-a-kingdom mentality and were sadly dissapointed. Although the hostel was only 11 euro, and we had our own room, food and drink were cheap, but not THAT cheap. Found a good place to eat and had some Slovakian beer. Thenfound a cool lounge/bar and a boat party for the night. There's this one really cool bridge there, that just looks awesome at night. Otherwise not much. Sunday we walked around and up to Bratislava's castle. Group pic! nice views again, not much inside though. and Bratislava's so smallwe bored after a few hours. so took a bus to Vienna.

Vienna. Oct.27-29
We got into Vienna in the afternoon and enjoyed (really really enjoyed) a nice but too short siesta on the way. After finally figuring out the ticket machine- where you can buy anything from metro tickets to bus tickets to train tickets to any city, we hopped on the metro to our hostel. WombatHostel is definately the best hostel I've ever been in. Recommend it. Right near a major metro stop, so clean, huge rooms, nice views, a cool barin the basement, and a 3euro breakfeast, clean towels. To top it off, our 6 person room had it's own bathroom and shower. What a deal for 17 euros.
That night we walked around town and picked up some cheap standing tickets for 3 Euros to an opera Elixir D'amore (yes Millie, in October, whichmeans with your very favourite soprano!). And just 3 rows back from the sitting 157 euro tickets... suckers! (mind you the feet were killing by the endof it. done like a true student. It was good. After we treated ourselves to some cheap street sausage and good Austrian Brew. Later we went out in anarea called the Bermuda Triangle- a bunch of windy streets full of pubs and clubs and sure to get lost on your way out at the end of the night.
Saturday we crawled out of bed and headed off to see a nice big Cathedral in the downtown. One of the biggest I've seen yet! really impressive. Thenwe headed off to check out MOMUK museum of modern art. There was a really cool exhibit by Edwin Wurm, criticizing some modern frame of mind. And my other favourite (and new favourite painter) Franz Gertsch.
http://www.mumok.at/index.php?version=2&cid=277

After, took a tram ride and hung out 6ft away from everyone's good buddy Mozart. And to an enormous cemetary after (about the size of the Viennadowntown core!) where we saw the graves of Brahms, Strauss, Bethoven. Then it was back to the hostel where the canadians met up with the Finns atthe place we all know best - the hostel bar in the basement. We got ourselves a few FREE drinks of Ottakringer and made friends with the bartender.Also met a girl from South-Africa who was travelling from Holland, and she joined us for another night out in Vienna. We all went out around the cornerto no restaurant than Mozart's own (well so it was called anyway) and I had some awesome stuffed Dumplings with saurkraut and good local beer- witha little jagermeister for desert. Then off again to the Bermuda triangle. We had an.... adventurous way home let's say. And made a few friends with some funny locals. and had some good fun watching Mark (Finland) try to do somehungarian folk dancing. by the hotdog stand. Yeah. that was great.

The next morning we were all... hmmm... tired. So thankgod for coffee. and a good breakfast at the hostel. We took an easy stroll around the town, sawsome great museums and statues and hung out at a small place for lunch. Then we were off to the Bus station and Off to Prague!

Prague comming soon!

Bone.Marrow.and.Tear-Gas.

It's been a busy last week- full of tear-gas, bone marrow, outdoor baths, goulash and hungarian rock. Yes, this is the life of a Magyar.


Thursday was Hungarian Night at the university. We caught some traditional hungarian dance, a couple bowlfulls of some damn-good home made goulash. The Magyar's definately know how to get their dance on, but could take a wine-making lesson for sure. Can you say VINEGAR! Definately home-made.

I finally made it to a good hungarian bath. very cool. But the first bath you 'must' go through is great if you like to swim with floaters of all kinds and cold water about 10 times dirtier than you'd like. Then there's the medicinal bath- also a funky colour but there's so much good stuff in there it just makes you float! The warm baths outside are the best. There's even a fountain that gives you a good back massage.

EDDA. the legendary hungarian band played a concert on Sunday. These guys are like the Rolling Stones or Aerosmith or Bon Jovi to Hungarians (but they don't charge 100 dollars for a ticket... try 10!). Miklos and his sister have been dying to see them for the last 10 years- and finally made it. These guys put on a show. With an incredible guitarist that does it better than Axel Rose and a lead singer that just won't quite- they really gave it for over 2 and a half hours. They even managed to get some sweet drum, keyboard and guitar solos in there. Great music- even though I couldn't understand the lyrics. EDDA is my new favourite Hungarian rock band (and the only one I know of).

Monday we stopped for a snack along the river and ordered BONE MARROW and toast-a hungarian delicacy. officially awesome. ya ya- dangerous with madcow which is why you can't find it ANYWHERE, but I figured I better taste it once while I'm here and see what the hype's about.

Monday was also the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 that brought end to the soviet occupation. Now in '06 there's still big problems, since the people have just found out that the 'socialist' government has been lying to them for the last how many years. So appropriately- ANOTHER REVOLUTION. And of course yours truly was there to check out hte action. During the day it was quiet, and there were celebrations, and speeches by dignitaries. Even the Spanish King was here. yipee! (like the hungarians care). By night...Huge crowds of police, huge crowds of protestors. At one point the protesters at a large square rigged a display tank and drove it into the street. 3 of the main roads were eventually closed off with police/protestor stand-offs. A lot of yelling for the prime-minister to get out, a lot of bottle-throwing, and a lot of tear gas shot out of small cannons by the riot police.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/10/23/hungary-anniversary.html

Even hours after the events and in some areas today, the sting of the tear gas still hit. There were probably a few thousand cops downtown budapest last night- including recruited cops from other cities, the border guard and mounted police. Good times.

Vive la revolution!

Check the link for photos of the action!

French.in.Serbia?

Well I took a weekend trip to Serbia, and lived to tell the tale. Started out with a 2hr train ride down to the Hungarian town of Szeged. A really nice small town- very clean and ya- cheap. We hung there and had a coffee in the plaza and saw this white rasta guy play Neil Young like only Neil young could.

Then a 2hr bus ride through the Serbian-Hungarian border to Szenta, where Miklos is originally from. Also cheap-80cent beers, lovely. After a solid interrogation with a gun to our heads, us Canadian sweet-talked the serbs into letting us in. nah, Surprisingly we weren't even asked a question which was nice. But we did get stopped by the cops in the middle of the streets of Szenta. We still think it's because were with our good Chinese friend Carmen. It was pretty funny, she had everyone in that little town of 200 turning heads and slowing down as they passed on car or bike, like they'd seen a ghost. She was the only one in town. We stayed with Miklos' Grandparents and his 'Sweet Mama' (what he calls her in hungarian, although his grampa proudly uses Sugar-Mama) stuffed us with food, and then so did his other grandparents and then so did his sweet-mama again for supper. I don't think I've ever eaten so much, or been stuffed 3 times in the same day. I got to try pickled watermelon- different, but really good.

Down to Belgrade.
They've got a huge fortress/citadel from 1800 that we walked around and took advantage of the great view. We found a good hostel for only 12EU a night and met a couple guys from Belgium and Austria. Although the city's really cleaned up and has incredible Crepes, the nightlife is damn poor. Definately a summer city. Supper was a serbian version of a burger- Pjeskavica, ya- i know- but trust me, it's awesome, and huge, and costs a dollar, and for breakfast good old Burak- Serbian pastry stuffed with either cottage cheese or ground meet. mmmmmmm.

Oh I forgot to mention the definate language barrier. I mean croatia was ok- a lot of ppl spoke english. But Serbians... only the waiters. Not to mention all the syrillic letters. But good thing I have french. Yeah, believe it or not there was a french cultural center, so when we couldn't find the info center or our hostel or a good map, I went in there and used french to find our way. French in Serbia? ca existe? apparently more than english.

Serbia's full of little 5-10 year old Gypsie-kid beggars who come up to your table with runny noses and hands out. And Belgrade has the worst traffic jams i've seen in a long time- all day horns honking. The most incredible site was by far the 1999 US-bombed buildings that haven't been touched since, and a couple buildings with bullet holes in the sides.

Otherwise not much new here in Budapest. The weather's cooling down- sitting here with a sweater and fleece, it's going down to -2 tonight. hmmm starting to feel like home.

I've now added a list of some of the good brews that are over here... dedicated to Great Auntie Betty who specially requested it. I'll update as I go.

Until next time- enjoy the free public washrooms not run by Gypsies asking for 100 Forints to take a piss.

cheese.tubes.!

yes. you heard it here first. Cheese tubes are the latest and greatest fantastic Hungarian way of putting cheese on... well Anything I guess. It's easy. Just find a knife and stab one end of the tube. Then, squeeze as your heart desires. good fun on sandwiches.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home. They really don't celebrate anything like it here, so we managed to find a restaurant that served Turkey. well breaded turkey stuff with ewe cheese. It wasn't thanksgiving but it was close.

Today I'm enjoying my first sip of alcohol in over a week and a half! I know I never thought I'd say it. Still, it's funny showing up to a party with a bottle of water. Food here is still good, and with gyros stands all over the map for $2.50 it's hard not to stop for a good snack.

I found out a couple weeks ago that 2 of the guys I've been hanging out with here- 1 from Germany and one from France were both in Vancouver all summer while I was living there. Even crazier is that both were living in the same neighbourhood and taking the same buses! Small small world.

Looking forward to getting my travel on again. I think this weekend I'll go down to Serbia with Miklos and check out his hometown. His Grandma's been sending back the best sausage in the world (homemade) and some good pastries. So should be good staying with them for a night- apparently the serbian treat is Pickled Watermelon... hmmm. supposed to be good. Then hopefully we'll make it down to Bukarest- where no one speaks english. should be fun.

on.the.bright.side.

well heading back tonight. catching a train with my 'peeps' in about an hour. first back to Zagreb, then a couple hour layover before the long trek to Budapest. Should be there by monday night.

Croatia's great. really. Incredibly clear warm water and blue skies. just a couple terrible people.
(but don't worry I got myself a pair of hospital pants)

And yes the beer is cheap even here!

Thanks for all the emails and msgs while I was in the hospital.

Cheers from Split.

Split. as in splitting headache!

Ah Split, Croatia- full of clear water, sandy beaches, incredible village, and hospitals with people that don't speak english.

Nothing like being kicked in the head during a good chat on the sidewalk after a good night out in Croatia. But hey- shit happens. Apparently so does an ambulance ride to the hospital and about 1-2hrs that I don't remember. But thanks to my good Finnish friend Parre, I did get there.

Well I made it out alive. Hospital food was great- surprisingly- at least I got to somehow get a taste of the local grub. Just a concussion the guys says. I have some hearing loss right now and a hell of a headache. The ear doc at the hospital said they don't conduct hearing tests on sunday so... will wait till tues in budapest. hopefully nothing permanent. The Jaw's sore and can't eat too well. My croation roommate was a cool guy kept offering me bananas and candy and other stuff his family brought. My exchange pals were good to me bringing me juice and water and some good pastries.

You know how hard it is to get IN to hospitals in Canada, the good old 3hr wait in the ER- well here in Croatia they're great about getting you in- it's the 6hr wait getting OUT! oh silly insurance payments, especially when the hospitals billing office is also closed on Sunday.

Dubrovnich will have to wait until next year.

Budapest.The.first.weeks.

Well it's week 4 already! Mostly settled in and got the metro and tram lines down to a science. But, I still find it wierd seeing racoons being walked on leashes and 50cent beers at the corner store. Yeah, apparently it's cool to have a racoon as a pet- and if you can't have one of those then you better get a dog with dreadlocks.

We've got our appartment pretty much sorted out- all but the internet. I guess it's a new thing in Hungary, and even more of a hastle since we're living in the oldest neighbourhood-district 5 (the heart of downtown). We can only get the net through telephone and that could take another month. In the meantime we're just stealing a faint wireless signal. The flats here are all really nice- tend to all have 12-14ft. ceilings, hardwood floors, BIG and be in old buildings with courtyards. nice 3 bedrooms easily for under 1000.

So far haven't done much travelling- but I have met a hundred people from all over europe and a couple from australia- even a cool japanese guy who thinks it's halarious to find a guy like me with a japanese last name. I get to practice my french, spanish and italian and that's always fun. Now that I've got some important hungarian down- like bor,sor, agesegedre, palinka,unicum- i've been able to learn how to say cheers in about 15 languages and savoured many different brew- yes i'm becoming 'cultured'.

School. oh right. I knew I came all this way for something. Got ahungarian film course that starts today, should be cool. A big studio project that's actually about a major problem in the city and a couple others that are pretty dry. Going alright though- mostly the big exams at the end determine the mark.

You've probably heard about the riots and burning cars and stuff. It's really not as exciting as I was hoping. There was pretty much just the one big crazy night, and then after a week of a few smaller ones and tear gas being thrown around it's all been peaceful.

Food here is good and cheap- especially since we live next to the market- a bunch of veggies, chicken, fresh produce cheese and bread for under 10 bucks. There's some strange dishes and bad wine if you eat out. Miklos and I found out just the other day that the 'rooster stew' we had ordered a couple weeks ago- was well... lets just say i guess that's what makes it rooster stew and not chicken stew. never again.

Last weekend we went to Balaton- the big hungarian lake- turns out it's a ghost town when it's not summer- kinda dissapointing. But this wekend we're off to Croatia- for even cheaper beer, and sandy beaches on the Adriatic sea- can't wait to see my second European country! and hopefully the week after it will be Brataslava/prague, then maybe some vienna or istanbul- i just wanna go everywhere!

So yeah there it is. For Pics- check out the link. I've got a ton.

till next time.

Alan.