I am back in Budapest.

One of the most challenging/exciting parts of being in a new place where I do not speak the language is the little surprises and not quite knowing what I am getting myself into.



Yesterday,at a coffee place recommended by RW, we discovered that there are no English-language menus. Instead of just asking for a cappucino, I pointed to a random item on the coffee menu and ended up with a small bowl full of cappucino with cocoa powder. Delicious.



At the Gellert Baths- N's parents generously offered to treat us - we opted, not just for the baths, but for 'mud treatment.' My shoulders, spine, hips, and knees, were covered with thick warm mud. I was wrapped in a sheet, left to lie there in the dark for 20 minutes. I felt like a celebrity.



At lunch, we selected cold fruit, inspired by JW's praise of the colf fruit soup she recently had in the Baltics. Amazing. A yougurt-based soup with a dominant sour cherry flavor, but also with spices and chunks of other fruit (apples, cantalope, currants). The meal also included camambert with sour cherries, eggplant with tomato sauce and Hungarian fish soup. The random restaurant we stumbled upon turned out to serve one of the best meals I have had in a long time.



I travel on to Bonn this afternoon. I am hoping that these pleasant surprises continue, but I have my doubts.