Down the hatch!

Our third night was a trip...

Katie (a friend visiting from the US), Elana, and I decided to eat at an Italian Trattoria called Toscano which was recommended by our hotel clerk.  We sat outside on the terrace, alongside the fast-paced Danube River, and were relishing in the gorgeous, simply gorgeous weather to dine in!  :)  The meals were awesome and the conversation even better!  

We were pretty much done with our meal, including but not limited to an appetizer consisting of salmon carpaccio mixed within ruccola salad, an entree of smoked duck breast layered on top of a eclectic mixed salad, and a dessert consisting of chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream topped with a mint leaf.  All the while I sipped on a glass of the house white wine.  We were finished with our meals and had already received the check.  The waiter then asked if we wanted to try the Limoncello?  We turned it down thinking that we would have to pay for it, but the man sitting across from us said, “It's a free shot, and it’s simply delicious! Why the heck wouldn't you accept it?”  With this comment, we flagged down the waiter and told him that we changed our minds, and we'd give it a try.  

Again, here we have three girls who are not your typical shot takers....  The man was sitting with his girlfriend and they were so amused by our reactions to the Limoncello that he started inquiring where we were from and what we were doing here.  After speaking with him a bit he started telling us about Unicom, a special Hungarian shot that would elicit a far worse reaction than the Limoncello... with its 40% alcohol concentration!  Little did we know, he secretly (in Hungarian) ordered us a round of Unicom! Oy vey!

Surprisingly it had a unique blend of unexpected flavors... first it was spicy going down and then a blast of crazy flavors erupted over my tongue, leaving a final hint of anise which concluded the rush of colorful parfums that took over my mouth.  I'm not going to lie, this stuff made the Limoncello seem light and easy going down!  

We spoke amongst ourselves and with him and his girlfriend on and off for about another 20 minutes, and we were soon ready to leave when a second round of Unicom came to the table!  Can you believe this guy?!  We couldn't.  Well...Bottoms up, team!  

Now believe me, this whole “shot-taking” thing is not my usual night out.  I am the person who goes out to a nightclub to dance and never drinks, but I used the excuse that how many times am I going to be in Hungary, and able to participate in such a cultural tradition such as this?!  Needless to say, following dinner, we were a bit more giggly than normal (If you can believe that?)

Anyway, we got this man's business card, which was the coolest card ever... Stephen _______  “Traveller of the World and Elsewhere.”  (I figure I shouldn’t put the poor guy’s last name on my blog.  If you’re curious let me know!)

On Our Way to the Pretty lil' Park

In one of the remaining five days in Budapest, we visited Audi Hungary.  This was an awesome contrast to Audi Brussels whom we toured just the week prior.  Audi Hungary is the largest engine production factory in the world, and it was obvious that the company mirrored its output, clearly operating like a well-oiled machine!  

Fortunately, we visited several Hungarian companies, and one of the most interesting aspects of our visits was that they all had a similar and high-perched opinion of the Hungarian labor force.  Each company including Lear, Morgan Stanley, Audi, and even the Ministry of Foreign Direct Investment emphasized the flexibility that Hungarians exhibit in their work.  This flexibility has been one reason for the increasing manufacturing-focused foreign direct investment in Hungary.  

Here’s a great example of their adaptability, during the economic downturn in 2008-’09, Audi's sales were decreasing (like most luxury goods), and instead of having a mass layoff in Audi Hungary, leadership asked employees to be flexible with their jobs.  This means that Assembly workers and Engineers were helping to clean and paint, basically maintenance tasks that would've normally been down by contractors.  To avoid being laid off, employees were flexible and took on these responsibilities without having a 'chip on their shoulder.'  Since Audi Hungary was able to keep its employees, they were also able to bounce back much quicker because they were one of the few factories to have access to skilled employees who could handle the rebound of 2010 through 2012.  This theme of adaptability was consistent throughout each visit.  

I think this is an important lesson to learn... Audi management was very transparent with their employees and explained the situation and consequences.  I'm sure this communication helped to encourage employees to be amiable about the situation as well.

Alright, alright, NOW ON TO THE FUN STUFF!

During the remainder of the trip, I was much smarter in regards to where I ventured off to.  One of the best adventures was down Andrassy Street... with a few detours.  Elana and I aimed to go to a park just behind Heroes Square, but on our way we ran into some interesting places.  

First, we found a little fair with stands in the middle of a square, here we found a traditional Hungarian shot (Yep, an alcoholic shot.. now hold your gasp of shock until I tell you I actually drank it.) This shot was called Paalinka.  Now neither of us ever really drink shots, but with all of the neat flavors, I must admit, we were like curious youngsters peeking into a candy jar!)  After some discussion with bartender, Elana decided on Plum with Honey and I decided on Raspberry on a Fruit Bed... can you believe these were the actual flavors of shots?  See why we were curious!  After a quick “1...2...3!” countdown... down the hatch they went (GASP) … and boy were they NASTY!  We asked the bartender to take pictures of us (See Photo)  the cringe of disgust on our faces says it all.  

As we continued on our venture, I (of course) had to stop to use a restroom.... so we found a hospital (that looked like an office building with stores inside and one random stretcher in the lobby.)  A kind man, current Visual Arts Designer and former Master Chef, pointed us in the direction of the restroom.  Elana waited out in the lobby while I went in.  

Now would you believe there was not even a toilet paper dispenser inside the stall?!  So I called to Elana (who was in the lobby)... how embarrassing, right? … to bring me some toilet paper and she had to seek the help of the former Master Chef.  After a successful toilet paper retrieval, we discovered the TP dispenser was OUTSIDE of the stalls, so apparently you have to get the toilet paper before entering the stall.  So odd...

As we continued we climbed the statues of the Hero Square and took pictures with random Flemish visitors with cherry t-shirts and Burger King crowns, then we finally landed in the pretty lil' park.  While walking along the path we saw a woman with a giant, scrumptious looking pizza-esque treat.  Elana went wild over it, and we consulted the woman for her yummy treasure’s origin.  The name, I daresay, is called Langos (pronounced longosh) (say that in a proud British captain accent for more entertainment)!  It was as delicious as it looked!  It was actually a soft, yet crispy type of fried dough (kind of like an elephant ear for all of you South Western Pennsylvanians out there.) but it had sour cream and a ton of Hungarian cheese on top.  Cheese... yum....  We sat by the river and enjoyed this while checking out the adorable couples cuddling on the benches.

You know, we've seen a lot of PDA (Public Display of Affection) on this trip.  Amsterdam, eh, not so much, but Brussels had a couple of high school kids devouring each other's faces in front of a famous monument; Paris … well Paris was Paris, with the kissing and openly affectionate tendencies, now Budapest seemed like the city of cuddling.  We saw several elderly couples caressing each other's faces and chatting together while keeping their undivided attention on the other person.  Just trust me... they were adorable.  I actually wanted to just sit and watch them, but decided I may ruin their moment. (Darn it.)  This whole cuddly image of Budapest was later tainted by some guy treating his girlfriend like they were getting frisky in their bedroom while sitting on a bench... and became by far the worst display of PDA I'd seen yet... oh well, it was nice while it lasted.