You Never Go Hungry...in Hungary

Last weekend we had a 3 day weekend (right on time - just the day before school started)! Eason and I packed our bags and headed out to visit Candace in Budapest, Hungary. This was my first experience in "Eastern Europe" (which for record is VERY Western). Candace seems very happy there. We got to meet some of her work friends and she was an excellent tour guide! Eason became best buds with her Italian Greyhound pup, Jack. I think it's safe to say a dog is in our (pretty foreseeable) future. Gotta get a yard first.

One of the highlights for me was going to the hot thermal bath house where you can relax in the warm natural springs. The bath house looks like a castle and you feel like royalty inside. The whole experience was very relaxing and unique (minus the naked and hairy European women - could've done without that!)

Eason's highlight by far was the yummy food. It's basically meat and potatoes...all the time. We never went hungary in Hungary!

A little history: Budapest was under Communist rule until 1991, so the city still has sort of a sense of newness about it. The public transport rivals that in other major European cities - very efficient, pretty clean, and felt very safe. Budapest is actually 2 cities (Buda on one side of the river and Pest on the other). Buda is more of the low key, residential area which holds the famous Castle District. Pest is the more "happening side" with plenty of restaurants, bars, shopping and also is the home of Parliament and the city's financial district.

If you ever get the chance to go to Budapest, I say take it! It's a lovely city! Enjoy the pics:

Brighton and Kew Gardens

Eason took 2 days off this week to show me around. We started off with heading to the coast of England to a place called Brighton on Wednesday. Then Thursday we went down to Kew Gardens, the biggest botanical garden in the world. It celebrated its 250th anniversary this year! Wow!

Enjoy the pics!

Brighton:











Kew Gardens:

I'm Baaaack!

Wow, last post was April 19th? Really, Hayley?

Okay, okay...I apologize for the lack of keeping my blog updated. I have no excuse other than pure laziness. I logged into blogger and half expected for my account to be deleted! I had a very scary close call when I couldn't remember my password! But I'm back in business and will try to do better about keeping up to date. It looks like all of my other blogger friends have put me to shame - it'll take me all day to read your updates. Thank you for your inspiration!

Where to start? Since I last left you, I was the Swiss Miss - living in Lugano, Switzerland and loving the Switaly life. That chapter has closed for me, but another new and exciting chapter has begun! After a very fun (and much needed) rechargeable summer in Texas, I have finally made the move to London! So far the weather has been great, although I do think that the UK could invest in a/c for those few months where it can be "hot."

I arrived on Wednesday after a fantastic flight (the whole row to myself and on demand movies!). Eason took the day off to pick me up at the airport which was much appreciated. Lots of Hag Bags made this trip! It was so good to see my boy as it had been 7 weeks since I saw him last. But the great news is, the era of "Long Distance Relationship" has ended for us! That was a long 20 months! He had "Welcome Home" flowers for me which are still alive and beautiful even today. It feels so good to see my boyfriend every day and not worry about when the next time will be. :)

This weekend was great - it started off with the Great British Beer Fest down in Earl's Court. Talk about a lot of beer from a lot of different places. It was good to hang out with some of Eason's fun workmates! The only thing better than the beer was the fact that there were SO many men there, that for the first time in my life has their ever been a LINE for the men's room and completely open stalls in the women's room. Fantastic! Saturday we walked on down to the Garden Cafe for some yummy breakfast, then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping on Oxford Street. Talk about a place being rammed with people. Good weather sure brings everyone out around here! Then it was home to get ready for Date Night. Date night consisted of Japanese food (first time for me!) and a movie at our local movie theater call the Everyman. In this theater you sit on comfy couches and have a waiter and a full bar! We had dessert and watched "The Proposal" before walking home. It was a great night!

Mr. Beer Fest

Me and Sophie

The Very Long Que for the Men's Loo!

No Line for the Girls' Loo!

Eason and the Ladies from Work

Sunday we lounged around and watched our new flat screen t.v. We have officially hooked up the Slingbox to the big t.v. - football season, watch out! We watched (or shall I say "I watched") So You Think You Can Dance, then switched it over to ESPN for you know who. He is a happy, happy boy to have football back on t.v.! After that we went on a "little run" which turned into a big adventure. I was craving Mexican food already, so after our 2 mile run we decided to catch the nearest tube to a burrito place Eason had been to. Well, of course the first tube stop we came to (2 miles away from the place that we ended of our run) was closed, so we walked another mile to catch a train there. Of course that train would not be stopping at the burrito street stop, so we had to go past it and switch to another train. By that time we decided to abandon the first burrito spot in just go for the back-up at Angel. After no luck finding that place, we stumbled upon Chulango and BINGO! We're talking Chipotle all the way, folks! Very yummy! Only took 2 hours to find but it was worth it! And the best part is, it's near Morgan and Eric so we have now found a new Mexican eating spot to enjoy with our Texas friends!

That's all for now. More soon as we have a big week of meeting up with old friends, holiday trips this week, and a birthday surprise for Eason this weekend!

Until then!

Hayley

Rome and Amalfi

The much awaited spring break (much later than I'm used to!) finally arrived, and boy was I ready for it! I had been planning this 2 week trek all across Italy for months and I couldn't wait to start it off on Saturday with a trip to Rome with Eason. This was the first long vacation we have ever taken together (besides going back to the US). It was really fun to get to experience Rome together. It's one of my most favorite places in the whole world, and I was excited about showing Eas around. Despite the earthquake (kind of scary) and us getting immediately ripped off by an unlicensed cab driver (crazy how they can speak perfect English until they are trying to scam you, then it's ALLLLL Italian), the trip was tons of fun! We ate lots of pizza and gelato and walked all over the city. Some highlights were the Borghese Park in Rome (on our way to Borghese Gallery), spending some time on the Spanish Steps at night (how romantic!) and going to the Vatican before the Easter crowd came the next week. We also got to go to the Colosseum and Roman Forum - my favorite! The weather was great and we both got some much needed (and hard to find in Europe) sun!



Roman Forum



Me and Eas in front of the Roman Forum


In front of the Pantheon


Making a Wish at the Trevi Fountain

In front of the Vatican


Me in front of the Pantheon

My favorite cross in Rome - at Colosseum

Me and Eason on a sunny day in the Colosseum

The Colosseum!


On Tuesday we trained down to Salerno (Amalfi Coast). Our plan was to drive down the windy roads of the coast all the way to the city of Sorrento. Eason was very excited about driving 007 style (too bad the roads are way too windy and crowded for all of that)! But that didn't stop him from singing the James Bond theme the entire way. It was a beautiful, sunny day and an absolutely breathtaking ride. I tried (unsuccessfully) to take pictures, but most of the time I only got the car window...and the windy roads were making me a bit sick! Check out the picture of the big tour buses sharing the road with us measly little cars. They actually had to honk when coming around sharp corners so that the cars around the corner (and out of sight) would stop and let them come through first. I held my breath a lot on this drive!

The drive on the Amalfi Coast

A tight squeeze!

007 Driver

Beautiful Sunset in Sorrento

Sunset in Sorrento

Me and Hil doing some Rock Climbing

Hanging out in Sorrento

I'm so Happy my Sister Came!

Me and Eas looking down on Sorrento

Sorrento


Friday came around and it was time to head to Amalfi. The 4 musketeers loaded up in the small European rent car (it wasn't a sports car, though Eason will tell the story as if it is)...we had bags everywhere! I cranked up the Itunes on my computer (better than Italian pop music) and down the coast we went! We stayed the night in Amalfi, but didn't see much of the town. After we checked in we were taken to our rooms. Sounds easy enough, only the elevator was only big enough for one person and 2 bags, and our rooms were in the apartment "only a few feet away." Yeah. Right. Only a few feet, 8 flights of stairs, through a door, on to a rooftop, through another door, up more stairs and into a completely different building. Mad props to the boys for carrying most of the (heavy) luggage. Us Haglund girls aren't great packers. :)

As soon as that feat was accomplished, it was time to find some relaxation. We walked about 20 feet from our hotel where we found a little outdoor bar. Perfect - we'll have a beer then explore the town. "Have a Large beer?" asked the waiter. Sure, why the heck not...that drive down the coast was stressful! Well one large beer turned into 2 (that and the fact that we me some fellow Texans at the table next to us). At first we were slapping ourselves on the wrist for not going out and exploring the city more, but then we got to experience something really special. Turns out Amalfi was holding their annual Good Friday processional that night and we ended up with front row seats! The businesses turned off all of their lights and lit candles. The streets got very quiet and all of the sudden we heard the sound of singers. There must have been 200 people involved in this awesome processional. I felt like we were witnessing a very private and special town tradition. I love how much religion is still a part of their lives. What an awesome experience!

The Group in Amalfi

Me and Sis Drinking a Texas Sized Beer

Me and Eas in Amalfi

Good Friday Processional in Amalfi


Good Friday Processional in Amalfi

Then back to Rome we went, where Dad and Lisa were meeting us. After an amazing Easter weekend in Rome, Eas headed back to London and the rest of us headed north to Florence. Following Florence, Dad, Lisa and I went to Milan to check out The Last Supper before heading to Lugano. More on these adventures in the next post!

Ciao ciao!