Budapest, Week 1

I think I've had more comments on the mugs than anything else!  Yes, I do collect these, but I knew I wouldn't be able to carry them around with me, so now I just collect the pictures.

Our first week in Budapest was a big change of pace in a few different ways.  Ideally we would have found an apartment for our three weeks here, but since it's high season not much was available.  Instead we're settled into two hotel rooms and I'm happy that I can say "settled" for three weeks.

 Also, after quite a few days of cool temperatures and rain, we endured a week of temperatures near 100, looking for any activity in Budapest that would keep us cool.

We spent one hot day at Palatinus Strand on an island in the Danube.  This was a huge complex with 4 water slides, 2 thermal pools, and about 10 other pools.

The girls spent their time doing this...

...while I spent my day doing this.  A win-win!

We stayed from noon until the sun went down and the park closed.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  Our hotel does not have air conditioning so we took a day trip to IKEA.

I can see now that the yellow letters spell I-K-E-A, but after an hour of hot travel to get here, the skies opened up and I just saw the letters A-C!!

Plus nothing can top their cheap Swedish meatballs

Zoli (one of the Innotec guys) and his wife, Annett, invited us to kayak with them on a dammed up part of the Danube.  My nephew, Bobby, and his friend, Josiah, are also here interning for Innotec so we spent a fun couple of hours on the river.

A big vacation spot in Hungary is Lake Balaton, about an hour away from Budapest.  Quite different from the Lake Michigan beaches we're used to, but it was a cute little area and we so appreciated the opportunity to cool off in fresh water.

On Friday, Innotec Magyar (Hungary) had a special celebration lunch.  A huge pot of Hungarian stew and pasta was made for everyone.  Amazing food and we had a fun time touring the plant and meeting many of the team members.

Apparently this is the Hungarian version of freecycle (Mike gave it a much more colorful name that I shall not repeat on the blog).  At the end of each month, people can put stuff they don't want on the street (this may also go for evictions?).  We saw these big piles everywhere with people digging through them.  The girls saw lots of room furnishing possibilities and were so disappointed that we aren't able to transport it home.