Avocado and Eggs on...Bagel in Konyha Budapest

The two days I spent in the capital, Budapest, were gone so fast! I had many friends to visit and this time many were with kids or was still in one piece with the baby J Since I am quite mobile and the weather was great too, I was happy to go anywhere. So firstly I went to Cinkota, which is in district 16 to visit a friend and her family, then I travelled to Pilisvorosvar too, where another great friend lives temporarily until the baby is born :)  And of course spent some time in the city too, to meet other close friends, but I needed to save time, so I could not meet everyone one by one, just together with others J however luckily my friends like each other too, so this was not a problem.

But yes, anytime I am back in Hungary I feel that there is not enough time for anything and anybody! I would need more time to see everyone! To really spend quality time with them and not only just be with them for couple of hours, but hey in this generation that’s why we have Skype and free roaming in Europe to be able to speak with anyone anytime, to have a laugh together! And no, I do not feel homesick at all, and I have plenty more friends in London too :)  but when I am back home I’d like to utilise all my time and meet as many friends as I can! J

Anyhow with one of them, I went to Konyha, a kind of chillout place for drinks or eating, hang out, working, dating or whatever you want J This is like the third time I have been here, but never knew they actually make the avocado brekkie….I can’t call it any other way…because in London the once quirky sour dough with avocado has now become mainstream, although still very yummy. But you know what, they did not use the sour dough, they had the avocado on, or rather beside of, bagels with boiled eggs. Haha, although the waiter guy was cool and funny; We could not really ask for just runny eggs, because he was adamant that their eggs spend 6 minutes in the hot water – no more and no less, precisely 6 minutes! Well can we argue then? :D but in the end they turned out to be with yummy runny golden yolks anyhow ;)

And well, hmm they did not only have the bagels with avocado…their innovation was to exchange avocado with spinach as you can see on the completely green bagels...it has a spinach cream on them with the egg.

And as you can see embracing the last days of summer, we had very good cold lemonades to flush the bagels down! Cherry with rosemary taste with of course the usual lemon and sparkling water.

What: Brunch in Budapest

Where: Konyha, Budapest Hungary

When: daily

Price: 4£-10£

Worth it? ---> Yes, great place for brunch, lunch meet friends or even work from upstairs area 

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Rowing in a cave-lake is fun in Tapolca, Hungary

Being in a boat and rowing in a lake is normal....I guess...but this lake being under the ground in a cave...gives a twist....

The day after the wedding, even though we went bed late I was up very early and by 8:30am we were downstairs for another brekkie with the home made granny style apricot jam J at our accommodation Borbaratok Lodge and Restaurant. I personally did not just want to go back immediately to my town and since I saw and episode of BBC travel about Tapolca another small town in the vicinity of this area, I could not miss this opportunity.

I told about it to other peeps from the wedding, so the 6 of us decided to go to the Farmers Market in Kaptalantoti (neighbouring village), but since it was the Wine Harvesting Party as well, the roads were closed and after a super freaky teeny weeny narrow road, where I almost got stuck with my massive Renault Espace…we gave up to go there.

So we just headed to Tapolca. Within 10-20 minutes we were there J It could have been much faster if the traffic was not on diversion.

The main attraction in Tapolca is the ‘Tavasbarlang’ cave lake. Entry fee is like 5-6£ and they accept student cards as well, making it around 4£. The tour did not include all the things listed on the Guardian, or at least we did not find all them, but it included a half an hour tour about the power of water, some geography, how dripstones and how these big cave systems were formed.

It was interesting with 3D pictures and a 3D video, however if you don’t speak Hungarian, unfortunately this time is almost wasted, because you will not understand anything, however whatever is exhibited has English and German descriptions written beside the Hungarian. So you could still pick it up, what they talk about in this tour. As we had a non-Hungarian speaker with us too, I would have preferred those podcasts in English at least for her.

Anyhow at the end we were led down to the actual cave where the temperature still does not drop. The water also is around 20C due to hotter water mixing with the colder one, reaching the 20C equilibrium. Down below, there are some short routes you can check out and then wait for the boats. Yes you can boat around this cave lake! This is the main thing! J This is what everybody wants to try!

Advice: there will be a long queue, we had to wait around 30-40 minutes, however if you are in the front of your group, then the waiting time could only be around 5-10 minutes. ;)

So it was our turn! I went in the boat with my friends, making it 3, but you can take one on your own too! You get a palm and then off you go! The lake is 180 meter long and you will come back to where you started from as it has a circular shape. It is super douper narrow, and even my short self had to bend over to make space for the ‘ceiling’ otherwise I could have hit my head in the wall. It is also narrow and in some tunnels we did not need to row, just push ourselves touching the walls. However a bigger, wider, taller atrium always followed these narrow routes. The water is unbelievably clear and also shallow; so don’t worry about falling in it J. The tunnels are well lit, providing opportunity for some nice pics. Don’t judge from my own photos, as my camera is not the best and we were moving, hence most of them came out as blurry.

After this adventure, we headed to Lake Malom, a small lake in the centre of Tapolca, with many restaurants around it and as we were all hungry to a certain point, we all had something to eat or drink J and with a filled up tummy we were ready to go back home! Some to the capital or to another country or to my hometown.

Tóparti bicskás pecsenye steakburgonyával / Roast pork cutlet with garlic served with sautéed onion rings and potatoes 7£

Tóparti sláger / Home made „Bratwurst” in baguette with Salad and french fries 5£

 What: CaveLake/Tavasbarlang Tapolca

Where: Tapolca, Hungary

When: open most days of the year

Price: 4£-6£

Worth it? ---> Yes! The rowing is really great although takes only like 10 minutes  

Lunch at: Hotel Gabriella Lodge and Restaurant

Stockist

My white frilled cotton top H&M ~ £9.99 
Blue Jeans H&M Shape range ~ 39.99

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The Badacsony Wedding in the Szeremley Borhaz Vineyards

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After all the sightseeing we did, we jumped in the shower to get ready! I braided my hair again, which is now my signature wedding-look and once Rena saw my hair, she also asked me if I could do something with her hair too J and she liked the result a lot!

The taxi arrived at 2:35pm to pick us up and drove us down to the small church down the road. We arrived just in the right moment, as we were let in the church soon after and once we were all seated, the bridegroom walked down the aisle, in his gorgeous blue Hugo Boss suit, then my friend Melinda followed him in a classy mermaid style dress. It was first sight for everyone including the groom.

She looked lovely and it was really emotional for everyone! Since the wedding was a Hungaro-Portuguese mix, we had an interpreter too, who along the merry priest, was also cheerful and added an extra level of fun and happiness to the already heightened atmosphere. It was a very nice ceremony, which was followed by throwing millet at them once they stepped out of the church.

The New Wife and Husband! :) Congratulations!

Our pre-organized taxis brought us back to the Szeremley-Wine-House, where the civil ceremony, dinner and party took place.

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Hmmm yummy Aperol Spritzers were waiting for us as a welcome drink and some small presents from this region and also from Azores, where Andre is from. 

As Melinda is one of my best friends, I already knew the décor, drink and food menu and the place, but it was even better being there and seeing it with my own eyes. The white flowers and green shades were really nice and very trendy with the little succulents – my absolute favourites. Above us the vineyards with grapes hanging. And the view is mesmerising! Of course Lake Balaton!

The food was very Hungarian too including gooseliver terrine, beef soup, beef stew, chicken, pasta with cottage cheese and bacon and fresh-water bass fillet.

First I was to sit with the guys I met the day before, who were so nice and friendly, but there was another couple there too, and the girl doesn’t like me and so I don’t like her. Hence I preferred to sit with people that I actually like and knew from the medical uni, so we could also catch up, since we have not met for ages. It was funny to be with the couple with the baby! Everybody including them thought they would have to leave the wedding early if the baby was to cry or just to be fretful, but on the contrary :) the baby was sleeping like a baby J and we were the last ones to leave the wedding after lots of stories shared from the past years J

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 JUST MARRIED!!! :) 

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Picures denoted with an 'X' are property of Marti