So Kevin and I ventured to go visit Nusi Saturday evening. We got on the bus with no problems, and I even had some other foreigner ask me a question if that was the stop he needed when we reached the end. He was German, but I thought it was funny that of all people he asked for help, he picked another foreigner! Maybe I looked like I knew what I was doing...
At Etele ter, we met Nusi. But before we met up with her, some women came up to me and started talking to me in Hungarian. I assume she was asking for money, and it looked like she had leprosy or something of that sort. I tried telling her in my poorly spoken and broken Hungarian that I didn't speak Hungarian, that I didn't understand. She kept talking even more, and I kept telling her the same thing over and over again. She finally walked away and went to talk to some others. I relayed the story to Nusi later that evening, and I discovered that I used the wrong ending on the verbs. Instead of saying I didn't understand/speak Hungarian, I kept telling her that SHE didn't understand/speak Hungarian! Oops!!! No wonder she looked upset when I kept saying that!
We had a blast seeing and hanging out with Nusi again. She hasn't changed a bit, and she told us the exact same thing. She really helped us with buying tickets for public transportation, etc. I love listening to her talk in Hungarian, which sounds like a million words a minute. I understood only two words of what she said, which I was proud my ears and mind could even pick out both of those! She was giving an earful to the ticket sellers who were trying to rip us off. It's so funny to listen to because I could only understand that she was really ticked and was letting them know. Needless to say, we didn't buy any tickets from them.
So we went into Budapest, which is under major construction right now. The bridge I would usually take over the Danube is no longer in use, although there is a path that people can still use to walk across, so that's good. The market I loved to shop at is just on the other side of the Danube in Pest off of that bridge. So many roads are shut down, and some buses have had to take over tram routes since they can no longer cross the river. From what I understand, it sounds like they are building another subway line or something, hence the construction. It was rather confusing, but I was grateful to have a Hungarian with me who can speak the language.
People informed me that in Hungary, pregnant women and old women are supposed to be given seats on public. Nusi made sure that I got a seat on one bus we went on, since I am pregnant and all, but on the second and over-crowded bus, no one was getting up for me. I didn't mind at all, but she was about to let someone know when I told her that I was fine standing. She told me that it was wrong and that they should get up for me. It cracks me up!
We walked around Budapest for most of the night. It was fun to see some old and familiar sites. We went to eat on Raday ut, which has a ton of outdoor cafe sort of things. The food was delicious! It was rather expensive, but a small price to pay for catching up with an old friend. :)
We walked over the Danube back to the Buda side, and we were at Gellert hill, which has a huge and expensive hotel at the bottom. Kevin proposed to me on Gellert hill. We didn't go up it or anything last night, but I'm sure we will sometime soon. But the hotel is quite famous in Hungary. They have lots of English words written all over the place because that is where many guests stay, although it's only the sort of clientele that can afford it. They have swimming pools, baths, and spas there. I have a picture I want to post that I took outside of the hotel because I just thought it was hilarious. Right now the computer won't let me download the picture, so be on the lookout for when I can post it. I hope it makes you chuckle, too!
At Etele ter, we met Nusi. But before we met up with her, some women came up to me and started talking to me in Hungarian. I assume she was asking for money, and it looked like she had leprosy or something of that sort. I tried telling her in my poorly spoken and broken Hungarian that I didn't speak Hungarian, that I didn't understand. She kept talking even more, and I kept telling her the same thing over and over again. She finally walked away and went to talk to some others. I relayed the story to Nusi later that evening, and I discovered that I used the wrong ending on the verbs. Instead of saying I didn't understand/speak Hungarian, I kept telling her that SHE didn't understand/speak Hungarian! Oops!!! No wonder she looked upset when I kept saying that!
We had a blast seeing and hanging out with Nusi again. She hasn't changed a bit, and she told us the exact same thing. She really helped us with buying tickets for public transportation, etc. I love listening to her talk in Hungarian, which sounds like a million words a minute. I understood only two words of what she said, which I was proud my ears and mind could even pick out both of those! She was giving an earful to the ticket sellers who were trying to rip us off. It's so funny to listen to because I could only understand that she was really ticked and was letting them know. Needless to say, we didn't buy any tickets from them.
So we went into Budapest, which is under major construction right now. The bridge I would usually take over the Danube is no longer in use, although there is a path that people can still use to walk across, so that's good. The market I loved to shop at is just on the other side of the Danube in Pest off of that bridge. So many roads are shut down, and some buses have had to take over tram routes since they can no longer cross the river. From what I understand, it sounds like they are building another subway line or something, hence the construction. It was rather confusing, but I was grateful to have a Hungarian with me who can speak the language.
People informed me that in Hungary, pregnant women and old women are supposed to be given seats on public. Nusi made sure that I got a seat on one bus we went on, since I am pregnant and all, but on the second and over-crowded bus, no one was getting up for me. I didn't mind at all, but she was about to let someone know when I told her that I was fine standing. She told me that it was wrong and that they should get up for me. It cracks me up!
We walked around Budapest for most of the night. It was fun to see some old and familiar sites. We went to eat on Raday ut, which has a ton of outdoor cafe sort of things. The food was delicious! It was rather expensive, but a small price to pay for catching up with an old friend. :)
We walked over the Danube back to the Buda side, and we were at Gellert hill, which has a huge and expensive hotel at the bottom. Kevin proposed to me on Gellert hill. We didn't go up it or anything last night, but I'm sure we will sometime soon. But the hotel is quite famous in Hungary. They have lots of English words written all over the place because that is where many guests stay, although it's only the sort of clientele that can afford it. They have swimming pools, baths, and spas there. I have a picture I want to post that I took outside of the hotel because I just thought it was hilarious. Right now the computer won't let me download the picture, so be on the lookout for when I can post it. I hope it makes you chuckle, too!
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