Pocket Coffee?

No this isn't some special pocket where you keep your coffee cleverly concealed.  Nor is this what a friend of ours calls the dessert pocket:  a pocket that magically appears after eating a large meal that allows you to eat that delicious piece of chocolate cake.

Pocket Coffee is a chocolate praline that is filled with real Italian espresso.  The maker of this confectionery invented the hugely popular Nutella.  In my opinion, where they succeed with Nutella they failed with Pocket Coffee.  The idea is brillant:  chocolate + espresso.  The taste however is too much like Chemical Coffee.

Firefighters

Steve had another big event today. It was Hungary's Children's Day. United Way puts on an event with free activities for the kids. There is tons of entertainment from puppet shows to school bands. There are booths where the kids can have their face painted, play music and sing along with friends and tour the inside of a fire truck. The weather tried to participate but gave bits of rain throughout the day. I visited Steve and said hello and took a bunch of photos. Here is my favorite.

Panka asked if these guyes would take the photo with me. She explained that both my grandfathers and father were all firefighters. (I have a gut feeling that all firefighters have a little jokster in them. The guy on the right looks like he would participate in some of the jokes I have heard about....)

A visit to Esceri Market

Our friends Sasha and Laura visited us last week from Seattle. We had a great time showing them Budapest. It was really nice having them visit. We took them to all our favorite places and introduced them to a few of our new freinds. One of the places we visited was Esceri Market. You can find anything at this huge Hungarian flea market -- antique furntiure, Herend Pottery, portfolios of artists (made me sad), old paintings, clothing, and toys. Not to mention a few war relics and tons of textiles. Here are a few photos I took at the market.

This made me so sad. All I can say is
that they look ashamed. I wanted to buy
them all and give them a home.

Buy me! Buy me!

Aren't I cute!

Kinda Creepy.

We have internet...finally!!!!

Visual representation of the internet (above). 

We once lived in darkness. :-)

At least there are roses

I got a call yesterday from T-home and they said...

"Sorry but you can not get internet from us. We cannot tell you why but we can tell you that it won't work. Also, we recommend you don't cancel your account and you have to keep paying until Sept 29, even though we can not give you service. You do have two options: sell your contract to someone who needs internet or pay 35,000HUF ($165) to cancel."

We are obviously going to fill an official complaint. We have gone to a new company and started this process over. We paid 5000HUF ($25) to have the internet set up quicker. We should have internet by Friday. Keep your fingers crossed.

On a good note, we love our new flat. The roses are blooming and I have bought some potted herbs along with some hanging plants. We are eating many dinners outside and will relax tonight with a glass of wine on the patio:) Here is a photo I took earlier today. If you click on the photo it should enlarge and you can see all the roses in bloom.

We miss you and hope to see you on Skype soon.
-diane

A weekend getaway to Kunhegyes

Steve and I headed to the country side last weekend (May 1-3). We needed to escape the city, the pollution, the noise, the busyness...and our laptops. So, we headed to Kunhegyes. A small town east of the city. We took a 3 hour train and arrived at a beautiful town where making lace, home-made palinka and marmalade are still appreciated! We were treated to a lace demo by the owner of the home. I was mesmerized by her handwork. Such patience and perfection. I tried to get an estimate of how long she has worked on this one piece. The answer was “a long time”. If she worked on it 8 hours a day everyday, it would take a few weeks!

We stayed three days and came back well rested. We road bikes, took naps and read books. A perfect weekend.

Photos of where we stayed. Below is a picture
of the door to the house we stayed in.

Our view.

On our front porch were tons of old boots.
We took a bike ride around town. Here is what we saw...

Friends we made at the farm

The amazing lace!

click below to watch the movie

Hot Jazz Band

Our friends, Panka and Evi introduced us to an awesome band called Hot Jazz Band. Evi, Panka, Attila, Steven and I have gone to see them play twice now. They perform at a place called “Alcatraz”. (The bar does a great job of looking like a jail.) Last week we headed to one of their shows. Not only is the band awesome but the dancers that show up give a great performance!

Hot Jazz Band

Panka and Evi

Diane and Attila

Click to watch the movie