My Life after CELTA

It is a tad difficult to jot down my thoughts. Not only because my wee mind tends to flood my head with a giant swirl of a cacophonic mixture of thoughts, memories, and experiences, but also for the fact, that it is always challenging to write a comparison of two countries unbiasedly. I love Hungary. Its history, however grim it might sometimes be, covers 1100 years with battles, intricacies, and terrible deeds. Although I'm not a linguist, I love the Hungarian language, its unique rules, weird grammatical structures, and vocabulary. Not to mention the Hungarian writers who wield the words masterfully. The culinary delights one can revel in can genuinely make anyone drooling. And despite the poverty and the fact that people tend to accept their fate, even if the conditions are subpar, without feeling motivated or inclined to change their plight because they had given up hope or had never had any opportunity to break out from poverty, I love Hungary. I'm not arguing with those w...

Neither of us had a good night's sleep. We went to bed early yesterday, but despite feeling exhausted after giving Ági a foot massage, my wee mind felt like being on a roller-coaster when she gave me a foot massage. I first felt this strong pull that something wanted to pull me down to the realm of dreams, but after twenty minutes, something happened. I felt increasingly awake, and it soon became evident that I was on the perfect wake-up wave. By the time Ági finished the massage, my eyes were wide open. I was rolling in bed for another thirty minutes but fell asleep eventually. We both woke up several times during the night, and the early morning alarm was the icing on the cake. With puffed eyes and disoriented steps, we went to the restaurant for breakfast, which was superb. Once we finished our last culinary revels, we returned to our room, packed our things, hauled the bags down to the car, and we hit the road. However, despite the caffeine, our thoughts lingered around our Aus...

We woke up at 5:45 a.m. after a relatively good night's sleep. Hauling ourselves to the restaurant for breakfast seemed like a two-week-long journey. But we made it eventually and had a delicious meal. The food quality and the selection on offer are out of this world. When we finished our early morning culinary revels, we jumped in the car and drove to Parndorf. Our early morning ride was because we wanted to avoid the Saturday craziness there. It seemed a wise decision. Although the place was brimming with locals and tourists, we bought some staple food and other necessary items. Nevertheless, by the end of the round, we were exhausted by many people. Anyway, with the goods in our trunk, we drove back to the hotel to unpack. After unloading the goods, we drove to where we'd eaten yesterday. We ordered the same food and were over the moon after the dishes. We then returned to the hotel, and after a short break, we drove to the Laxemburger Schlosspark, where we spent one and a h...

After waking up, we went downstairs to have another perfect breakfast; and it was perfect. The selection and quality of food on offer is baffling, and the staff is top-notch superb. We got to know a Hungarian guy who is a real professional. He walked up and down the venue, checking the details and clearing the tables once a guest finished eating. He asked us whether we had any extra requests besides what they offered for breakfast. We then asked him what was worth visiting, and he was willing to help us make a perfect plan for the day. He recommended visiting Baden, a small spa town 26 kilometres from Vienna, and checking a local restaurant - here it is called Heuriger - if we wanted to have a traditional Wiener Schnitzer made of calf. We jumped at the suggestions, so after breakfast, we jumped in the car and drove to "SCS" to buy some goods. We headed for the car with goods in our bags, but instead of continuing our trip to Baden, my bowels decided otherwise, so we left the...

Our revels have continued today. We went to buy some goods in the shopping mall after devouring breakfast, which was phenomenal. We spent two hours there and even visited IKEA, but eventually came out empty-handed. After returning to the hotel unpacking the goods, and shaving my derelict face, we jumped in the car and drove to the "Hundertwasser Haus" and the "Freud Museum" in Vienna. The Hundertwasser Haus was different from what I'd expected. Naturally, it was interesting and unusual, but I didn't feel any cathartic sensation seeing the building. I enjoyed the little shops and the "Flea Market", though. Continuing our visit to the city, we went to the Freud Museum, which was an exciting experience. Being there reminded us of certain parts of Budapest, particularly the fifth and sixth districts, which have similar style edifices. The museum wasn't too busy, but the visitors often seemed to have forgotten their best manners at home. Their demea...

We drove to Oslip today to buy some wine. We spent a long weekend at the winery three years ago and enjoyed the guest house and the wine there. Returning to the hotel with the twelve bottles of wine in the boot, we opted for the scenic route instead of the highway, and it was a wise choice. We crossed a small hill, then small villages, and finally, we arrived at the hotel using roads the locals wouldn't use. After spending five minutes in the room, we drove to Vienna. We had coffee at Aida: Ági had an iced coffee, and I grabbed a ristretto and a Mozart cake. Then we strolled in the city and visited a public garden and a museum. The exhibition couldn't excite us. It was about sci-fi and indigenous things, but we both found it painfully dull. We then crossed another park to get back to the car and returned to the hotel eventually. The weather is warm. The highest temperature was +32°C, and the next days will be equally hot, which is good news since it is much better to have a sum...

We are in Austria. After waking up and devouring breakfast, Ági took Abby to the dog daycare, and I packed my things for the journey. We set out at eleven o'clock, washed the car, and hit the road to get here. The highway was busy, so it took us three hours to reach Parndorf, where we had lunch at Nordsee and drank coffee at Tommy Hilfiger. We did some shopping, only bought the necessary goods and left for the hotel. We arrived at the hotel at 4 p.m., checked in, and drove off to another shopping centre to buy other goods we couldn't find in Parndorf. The hotel is quite nice from the inside. However, the facade and the overall look from the outside seem rather outdated; we felt like being in one of Budapest's hotels. Anyway, the staff is alright, the room is clean, and the view is breathtaking. Since tomorrow is a national holiday here, we'll visit a winemaker in Oslip to buy quality wine - Passatutti. We planned to have "Wiener Schnitzel" there and spend the ...

Österreich, wir kommen!  One more night, and we travel to Austria. Despite waiting for this holiday to celebrate many things - our 25th wedding anniversary, Ági's habilitation, my CELTA certificate, etc. - we have mixed feelings about the whole journey. We do not have mixed feelings about whether we should travel or not. It's more about the fact that we have to take the dog to daycare for six days. I know it might sound silly or overprotective, but the truth is, we love this little rascal dearly and will miss her terribly. The rearranging project came to an end on my part. Ági was somewhat active today. She selected the must-go items from the kitchen and carried them down to the pile of garbage we wanted to get rid of. Now my office looks like a rubbish collector's living room. I can hardly wait for the day they hauling them to the landfill. As for my English studies: I asked BING to create five random sentences at the C1 level that I had to rephrase at the C2 level. Althou...