Budapest: Day 3

Most of the holiday was spent inside cafes, drinking hot chocolate and mulled wine. Generally in grand, opulant 18th century cafes, where I failed to look intellectual. Saved the best for the last day - the Gerband, where the hot chocolate was served in dainty china teacups (me a sucker for things like that), and it was proper plain dark chocolate, none of that reconsituted cocoa powder crap.

After another day arse faffing (which included me dragging Cat around an exhibition on the development of the Hungarian state, i'm such a fun person to go on holiday with), went back to hotel to find that it was flooded, so we were evacuated to another hotel. No biggie: we were upgraded to the Grand Hungarain. Natch.

Hungarian wine. Generally not bad. Avoid Portagiouse (think that's the spelling) grape, it's very fruity, and go for a Villary one, it's a good solid meduim dry.

Budapest: Day two.

Spent the second day arse faffing around Buda. For those not in the know, Budapest is two cities. Buda and Pest. The above picture (2) was taken on the Pest riverside looking over to Buda castle.

Actually, the day went like this. We got on the Metro, got off at Parliament (that was my idea of course, not Cat's!), where we kinda joined in on a protest, but had no idea what it was about, then I spied an Ethographic museum and dragged Cat around, waxing lyrical about emancipation of the serfs, then made her walk about two miles in the freezing cold around the old Buda Town.

Fantastic views, but twas so cold and foggy that the pics (1) aren't too great.

Went to a ballet for the evening. Snow White - not something that i had heard of as a ballet, but it was done fantastically well and was brilliant. Interesting note: for once, I was seriously underdressed wearing sparkly jeans and nice top. Most Hungarians go to the ballet properly dressed up - men and little boys in bow ties and waistcoats, girls in their best party dresses and the women get all their furs out.

Hungarian food. I loved it as I like sour cream and paprika. Unless you like that, you'll be buggered.

Budapest: Day one.

Thermal baths. Spent an entire day doing nothing but faffing around the lovely heated spa baths, hard work. Start off with a cold spa of 20 degrees C, then make your way up to spa baths of 40 degrees C. Watch the retired population of Budapest meet all their friends and lovers from days gone. Finish off with a spell in the sauna and a massage.

Very hard work, so had to recover with a lovely hot chocolate and cake afterwards.

Errrrr

Resolution update:

So far, i'm doing ok. I've only got two magazines this year: runners world - which i subcribe to anyway so i've already paid for that and Glamour, which my lovely friend Laura write for so I get all excited when I see stuff she's done.

Training for Reading is underway. I have managed to bully one of my course friends into doing it with me. I told Ally that it would be fun. hahahahaha. And I always seem to get very nice and muddy training sessions. I'm so diiiiiiirrrrrrty.

Other things i've been doing. Work. meh. Lots of coffee breaks. yay. Re-reading all my kiddie books now they are finally unpacked and WITH ME. Today was the Secret Garden and Grinny. Yay. Mooching. Yay.

Brand Sparkling Glittery New Year.

Happy New Year!

As i've wittered about on before, I think it's important to have acheivable and positive aims in life, things that are a bit difficult to do but not so difficult that it's impossible.

Last year I wanted to.... (insert quote)

"I've decided to see 2005 as my year of opportunities. This means lots of things.

• I will not worry about what i'm doing when I graduate (too soon now for my liking) but rather look forwards to the opportunities that will be open to me then.
• I will seize the chances that i want to take and not let self doubt hold me back, because heck I'm too young to have any regrets.
• I will instead of worrying about what my degree result will be, see my degree as one of many opportunities in life. Loads of people don't get the chance to go to university, I have, and put in this context, not getting a first is not the end of the world.
• and of course, the opportunities that I'll have in the next year to meet new people, make new friends and try new things.

And hell, I really think that I did well! A matter of weeks after I wrote that i decided what I really really wanted to do when i graduated (a PhD) and I thought - despite missing most of the deadlines that i woudl at least take the opportunities that various places gave me to try for funding. And I got funding. So that was rather yay. I did stop worrying so much what my degree result was going to be, and really, really REALLY loved my fianl semester because I was quite happy really pottering along with my work and managed to totally relax when out in the evenings. And then I got a first anyway. And yeah, I've made so many new friends this year, met so many interesting (and some boring) people and been to so many new places and tried lots of new things - like running.

But I think I want to be a bit more specific this year. I can carry on with the mindset I forced myself to develop this year.

So, this year, my positivie, acheivable aims are to

(1) Run the Reading Half marathon (April 9th, i would like suggestions of another charity to cajole people to support me. I've decided on the national society of deaf children as one, have no idea what the other is going to be).

(2) Write a totally aces and skill MA dissertation.

(3) To stop buying so many magazines. No more than three a month. So far I have got none this month, yay me. I am going to READ newspapers I buy instead of getting them and leaving them on the kitchen table for weeks before putting them in the recycling.