One of the things I find really cute about Hungarians is the fact that their word Szia is like Ciao in Italian – you use it both for Hello and Bye. Also, the English Hello has entered their every-day speech. And they say it just like Szia - for hi and bye.

Just how adorable is this?

I got me another one of those silly-language related situations. One thing I cannot drink is sparkling water. Hate it. Guess if I bought myself a six-pack… From now on, I am resorting to Italian water – Acqua minerale naturale – nice and simple.

It is really funny – there is this lady who works in the store next-door. I am there every day, and every day she insists on speaking to me in Hungarian. Not a hi-thank you-buy conversation, she’s got more to say. And I’m staring at her, thinking Lady, I was here yesterday. And the day before. I didn’t speak Hungarian then, and despite the fact that I might look quite intelligent, I did not learn it overnight. Lovely chatting with you, though.

One of the things that always makes me laugh is when one person is talking to another and the latter does not know the language, the first person always (and I do that, too) starts speaking veeeeery slooooooowly. Yeah, that doesn’t cut it … I cannot wait to start my classes though; perhaps the supermarket lady has got something fascinating to say. Will definitely let you know if that’s the case.

And here it is, your random fact of the day. Bet you didn’t know that in numbers in English the very first time you have the letter “a” is in … one thousand. Funny, huh?

Unfortunately, it has been raining since I got here a week ago. However, I still managed to steal some time to check out my new home for the coming half a year.

Here are a few first impressions:

An abundance of pretty buildings. More to come

8 meters tall, this is the world’s largest sand clock. It rolls out in one calendar year (and also has adjustments for leap years)

The Budapest Metro Line 1 is considered to be the oldest metro in Europe (For some reason they still don’t count London in Europe, theirs is actually older).  Line 1 was declared a World Heritage Site in 2002. It is – for lack of a better description – very cute. Feels like something out of a Dickens movie.

Last, but not least: Hungarian food is DIVINE.

Stay tuned for more.

Oh, and here’s a tip: if you are in a foreign city on a low budget, one of the best ways to check it out is to ride on a bus. Maria and I used to do it all the time in Paris – and I tried it here already. You just hop on the bus from a familiar place and ride it till the last stop and back. Pretty damn cool.

Szia!