August 20

In case you missed my previous post: Yesterday, August 20, was Hungarian National Day. A celebration of the formation of the Hungary state, August 20 actually corresponds to the canonization of Hungary's first king, St. Stephen. Essentially, its the Hungarian 4th of July - except it is much more of a city-wide shindig than any 4th of July celebration I have gone to. The banks of the Danube were lined with tents selling food and drinks - the most important of which is the Hungarian birthday cake. A different recipe is selected every year and it is a huge deal to Hungarians to get a slice. Of course, being outsiders, we didn't care to wait in a super long line for a piece of cake.

I should probably explain whom "we" refers to at this point. During the afternoon, my roommates and I met up with a few other BSM students on the western bank of the Danube to watch a boat race and air show. After that, we walked along the river passing the food stands and eventually we met up with another group of BSM students bringing the total up to 14. After finding a nice shady park to relax in and getting to know each other a little bit, we worked our way up to the Castle. In the courtyard was the Festival of Folk Arts. More tents - this time with folk art, including baskets, blankets, clothing, etc. Also there was a whip and sword fighting demonstration going on.

After the castle, we worked our way back to the western side of the river and found a restaurant that could seat all of us. We capped of the evening by walking to the edge of the river to watch a fantastic fireworks display. It was a lot of fun. I got to see a lot of new parts of the city and meet a lot of BSM students. I plan on going back to the castle when it is not so busy and explore it more - I'll keep you updated on that. Plus, I will meet a lot of the BSM students tomorrow when the language school starts (and finally learn how to at least pronounce the signs I see all over the place and hopefully start to be able to read them). I am all for having adventures in the grocery store, but it will also be nice to know for sure what I am buying.