Boldog születésnapot!

So! To take our minds off school, we went to Budapest last weekend to celebrate my birthday. All I wanted for my birthday was some delicious raw fish, obviously, so we had (very good!) sushi for dinner on Friday night at Takebayashi on the Danube. Then we went to an abandoned building with a courtyard to meet up with other CETP people for some drinks. This whole abandoned-building-turned-sweet-off-the-beaten-path-style bar is huge in Budapest: relaxed atmosphere, usually some crazy lights or art or installation type rooms on the upper levels, no roof over the seating.

On Saturday, my actual birthday, we woke up and got Costa Coffee, a British chain that I was particularly fond of in London, and went to a bookstore with a wide selection of English books. Then we walked down to the Terror House, an incredible museum about the Nazi and Soviet occupation of Budapest from 1944 to 1989, housed at 60 Andrássy utca, he

adquarters for both parties during their respective rule until the late 1960s. The museum is a must-see for any visitors to Budapest, very avant-garde, lots of moving displays and mixed media describing the terrible reign of fascism and socialism in Hungary. Strange birthday event for some, but as I’m a huge nerd that loves history, it was perfect.

We had a bite to eat and started off the wine portion of the afternoon at a great café with lots of outside seating. Then it was time to make our way across the Chain Bridge to Buda for the main event: the wine festival! Yeah, the city was nice enough to put on an enormous, all day festival at Buda castle celebrating wines from all over the world. 2300 HUF bought you a wine glass, a carrying case for said wine glass, and a wristband for the day. There were hundreds of people there of all ages, the food was fantastic, there was folk dancing and singing, and to top it off, fireworks (!!!) to set off the marathon that began at 9:00pm in the city. I couldn’t have dreamt up a better birthday in a more perfect location, complete with our CETP friends, glorious weather, and scrumptious food and drink. Honestly, it was totally magical, the icing on the cake that has been Hungary so far.