*Busy* weekend: Sunday

Hey guys,

[note: This is the second of two posts, the first being . . . you know . . . "Saturday", so you can scroll down and read that one first!]

Ok, so after that busy Saturday, strangely enough I couldn't sleep so I didn't get started quite as early on Sunday.  Still managed to pack a lot into my day, that's for sure.  Here we go:

• Woke up at around 10am and worked out again.  Like I mentioned in my Saturday post, I was definitely feeling it from my lack of frisbee muscles (mostly deltoids and hip-flexors) . . . we threw for like 2 hours, which once upon a time wouldn't have been a problem but I was feeling a bit sore in muscles I'd forgotten that I had ;)
• Met Alessandro to go back to the Sketchy Chinese Market (or "SCM".  Yes, it has a real name.  But I prefer this one).  He was actually a bit late, but it was a gorgeous day so I just wandered around Blaha ter for a bit, checking out shops and enjoying the sunshine til he showed up

[roughly 12noon]

• Originally the plan had been for me to just go by myself to make sure that it's open on Sundays (thus giving me flexibility in planning for my last weekend, coming up soon) but Ale wanted to come along--fortunately the place is open on Sundays (my face would have been red if it weren't), and was packed!  Ale absolutely loved the place, for obvious reasons.  I actually ended up purchasing more than I'd planned--in addition to a nice button-up shirt (I may write up a separate post about that, Ale is still laughing about "the best haggling experience ever") I finally found a really nice butterfly knife to replace the one I left as a present for one of my frosh friends at Caltech.  But yeah, really nice--smooth joints, well-balanced, just the right tension on the catch . . . for only 1500ft!  (like $8 . . . the only place I know of to get good butterflies in Seattle charges like $25)  I probably could have gotten even lower, but honestly, I was so surprised when he first quoted me 1800 that I forgot my haggling skills XD
• After shopping we went and had lunch at that pho place again.  It was a little warm but I still went for the pho . . . let's be perfectly honest, it's basically just a vessel for their fantastic hot sauce, and that's easiest to do with a noodle soup.  In addition, cuz it was hot they had mung bean drink again!  I don't know if you guys know what I'm talking about, basically a bunch of crushed ice with mung beans and lotus pods in syrup poured on top . . . have to drink it half with a straw and half with a spoon . . . anyways, pretty much the best thing ever on a hot summer day.  Heh Ale wasn't quite so adventurous, he stuck with mango juice ;)

[roughly 3pm]

• After SCM, we went up to City Park (near Heroes Square, from my previous post) to play frisbee.  Like I said, Ale's really into it!  We didn't play for quite so long cuz he was a bit sore as well (and the sun was pretty hot today--I think we figured out the trick on Saturday by going in the early evening when the sun was a bit lower).  We also just wandered around the park, which was very pleasant.  Too bad it's not more centrally located or I imagine I'd be there more often
• We went from the park back to Ale's flat in Kalvin ter.  It's a really nice place!  Not a huge space, obviously, but plenty large for one person (decent kitchen, bathroom/laundry room, living room, and big loft for a full bed and a desk).  Also he's right off of this really nice pedestrian area, with a decent grocery store and a couple of nice little restaurants/cafes/bars . . . while I do like the peace and quiet out in the hills I'm a little jealous
• While at Ale's I borrowed his computer to check my email.  Cuz, you know.  I get twitchy if I haven't been online for more than 4 hours.  Also, we'd had plans to meet up with friends for dinner . . . turns out, instead of wanting to go out, Judit and Stefano just invited us over to their place!  You know me, I loves me a home-cooked meal, so that was an awesome prospect.  However, it did mean that I wanted to head home so I could shower, put on nicer clothes, and pick up a hostess gift

[roughly 6pm]

• On the way home, I connected through Deak ter:  The route is Kalvin -> Deak (M2); Deak -> Moszkva ter (M3); Moszkva -> home (155).  However, I realized that instead of taking M3 from Deak to Moszkva, I could take the 16 bus . . . which goes over Castle Hill . . . which, though touristy, happens to contain my favorite retes (strudel) shop in town . . .
• So yeah, took a detour to visit Retesvar on top of Castle Hill.  It's actually just around the corner from St. Matthias Church, the gorgeous fairy-tale-esque white church I've posted up here before; I wish I'd found it sooner.  Although Castle Hill is touristy and thus pricey, this place is down an alley and tricky to find, so I think they lower their prices to compensate.  Retes is only 250ft, and an espresso is 240 . . . so I can get a delicious pastry and an espresso for like $2.50.  Bargain, ne?  So yeah, picked up a makos-meggyes (poppyseed and sour cherry . . . just trust me, it's delicious) retes and an espresso and sat in a nice shady alley to munch on it.  The 16 bus runs every 5 minutes that time of day, so I hopped right back on and headed home
• Stopped at home to shower and change (in fact, wore the shirt I'd just bought that day!).  As alluded to earlier, I needed a hostess gift since there wasn't a time to cook a dish of my own to bring.  Fortunately, if you recall, I had just purchased a highly recommended bottle of wine!  Problem solved.  This means that I won't have a bottle of wine to welcome Tamas into town . . . oh well, he'll manage
• Made it out to Judit's apartment, although there was some general confusion as no one meeting at the station knew where she lived and there was all manner of complicated maneuvering involved . . . after hanging out for like a half an hour, Stef came out and got us . . . why he didn't do that earlier is still a mystery, but whatever XD

[roughly 9pm]

• Dinnertime!  Judit is Hungarian and Stef is Portuguese, so we had a mix of the two for dinner.  Needless to say, awesome.  Judit made a fantastic pot of gulyas (goulash), and I got to learn how to make those noodles/dumplings I love so much (apparently it's just flour and egg with a touch of salt, and I played with the dough enough I think I can recreate that texture).  In addition, Stef prepared this really great Portuguese dish . . . basically a multi-layered sandwich filled with salami and chicken and melted cheese, over which he poured a spicy tomato-based sauce . . . I should really write him for that recipe, cuz it looked simple enough but was super tasty
• After dinner (and wine and palinka and suchlike) we hung out talking, listening to music, taking pictures, etc. etc. . . . also, Judit has this fantastic 7th floor apartment with a balcony, and the night was cool without being cold with a nice breeze . . . anyways, long story short, I lost track of time and almost didn't make last bus home!  Caught it just in time though, rolled in at midnight and crashed

Hell of a day, hell of a weekend.  If all goes according to plan, next weekend should be just as busy.  Only 7 days left in this country, gotta make 'em count

Noah out