Cakovec, Croatia

We took a day road trip, yesterday, to Cakovec, Croatia. It took us less than 2 hours to get there, we stayed on back roads which were wide open. Croatia does not have an open border with Hungary, so we had to stop at the border and show our passports. The Croatian officer was very excited when he saw our American passports. He got a big smile on his face and said, “Ok, yes, America!” He asked if we were on holiday and we said we were. We crossed into Croatia and entered the town of Crakovec within minutes.

The landscape was obviously very similar to Hungary, being right on the border, though the structures were different. Hungary is known for its baroque style architecture. Croatia, at least what we saw, did not share this characteristic.

We drove into town which had many people walking the cold streets. Though it had not snowed in a few days, piles of snow lined the streets in the below freezing temperatures. A large farmers market was active in the city centre. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch but realized that we had no Croatian money and did not know the exchange rate. We laughed at ourselves for being unprepared and decided we would get lunch when we drove back into Hungary.

We explored the town a bit before heading back into Hungary. It was a short trip…we had to get back home because AirFrance had finally found dad’s luggage! His three bags, which had been lost since one week before Christmas, had finally been shipped to the Vienna Airport. We needed to get home to receive the delivery of them!

Since our Christmas presents are on their way, we plan on having a second Christmas. What a beautiful holiday season!!

Merry Christmas

We celebrated a wonderful Christmas in Hungary. Against Hungarian tradition, which involves putting the Christmas tree up on Christmas eve, we put ours up one week early. At the farmers market, on a snowy day, we found a beautiful tree for 4500 forint (about $20). With luck we also found a stand for a couple of bucks at the market. Dusty carried the tree home and trimmed the trunk with a hatchet, to allow the tree to fit into the stand. After placing the tree in the house, we enjoyed the thick pine smell all evening. The pine needles are extremely sharp, and small pine cones are growing throughout the branches.

The next day we went to Tesco in order to purchase some ornaments. It is tradition in Hungary to decorate the tree with edible ornaments. We bought beautiful Christmas balls, made entirely of chocolate! After additionally buying a strand of lights and some tinsel, we set off back home to decorate our Hungarian Christmas tree.

I embroidered our names on some stockings and hung them on the stair railing. I also embroidered some other Christmas decorations for the house. We baked all week, before Christmas, and enjoyed some snowy days.

That same week, Dad got stuck at CDG airport in Paris for 2 days, on his way back from California. When he finally made it home, his bags didn't make it with him. Unfortunately, the airline "misplaced" all three of his suitcases! All of the Christmas presents, from the states, are in those bags. We are still waiting for the airline for find the baggage. This is the 3rd year in a row that AirFrance has lost his luggage at Christmas time!

The three of us enjoyed a small Christmas, exchanging some Hungarian gifts, listening to Christmas music and enjoying each others company. Dad made a fantastic Christmas breakfast, and Dusty and I prepared leg of lamb for dinner. For dessert, we enjoyed home-made custard pie and tapioca pudding. Christmas was made complete by the light snow that fell all day.

Merry White Christmas!!

Christmas Market in Budapest

We drove to Budapest and visited the Christmas Market in Vörösmarty tér, the main square downtown Buda. The drive to Budapest was beautiful. The hills along side the highway were covered in snow. The streets of Buda were lined with beautiful Christmas lights and large Christmas trees. The market was full of wooden pavilions selling crafts, jewelry, leather and traditional food and drinks. Children were singing traditional Hungarian Christmas songs and people filled the streets drinking warm wine. Warm wine is a Christmas tradition in this region of Europe.

On the down side, the prices of all the goodies were double those in Pápa, and the market was much smaller than we expected. Vienna hosts a very large Christmas market. so we need to head there if we want to visit a larger one!

All in all, the market had a nice, Christmas atmosphere, and we enjoyed ourselves!

Christmas Season

Christmas time in Hungary is absolutely beautiful! There is snow on the ground and people all over town. For the local Pápa Christmas market, wooden booths are set up downtown where traditional hot drinks and food are sold. Dusty and I enjoy the hot chocolate, which is actually hot chocolate pudding served in a cup.

The weather has been very cold and snow fell for a week straight. Yesterday, the snow on the ground, turned to pure ice! We slipped a few times but still made it downtown for a cup of hot chocolate!

Yesterday, Dec. 6th, is the day the Hungarian children are visited by Santa. The children leave shoes on their window sills, and Santa puts small gifts into them. Dec. 25th is the day in which the Hungarians celebrate the birth of Christ.

Dusty and I are planning to visit a couple of large Christmas markets, maybe in Slovakia, Austria, or our own capital of Budapest.