This past week, we have been visited by our dear friend and ex-neighbour, S. It was so nice to see her after such a long time, we enjoyed showing her around our new home and city. We did a lot of walking, eating, sightseeing, and talking, and we even spent a couple of evenings discussing Hungarian poetry (in English, of course), which is the reason why this post is a little bit different...
Our boat dwelling maiden, set sail last week,
To visit her friends in a far away land.
"An adventure," she thought, "is just what I seek,
An adventure ever so grand"
With baited breath, her hosts awaited
On the banks of the blue Duna river
Her happy arrival, although somewhat belated,
Reunion, at last, was delivered
Her welcome committee, plus two hairy beasts,
Was jumping for joy, a cheer and a leap
A lovingly prepared and home cooked feast
Before finally heading to sleep
On the first morning, a trip to the market
Food to make anyone drool
A handful of goodies they put in their basket,
Tonight we eat Gooseberry fool!
On the first night, a walk in moonlight,
To the Grand Hotel Budapest
In fact it's called Gellért, but it's still quite a sight
And the drinks are simply the best
The following day, local art was in favour
A trip to our friend's gallery
Marzipan potato next was the flavour,
Sadly, more than one calorie...
A restaurant later, and it sure didn't help
As the plates were as big as our head
And when they set fire to dessert, we did yelp
"What an incredible spread!"
The third day arose, and full it would be
The thermal springs, they were a-calling
So warm and relaxing, and scenic to see
To leave is honestly galling
Heroes Square after, like an old-fashioned sightseer,
Take it all in, bit by bit
Then onto the finest coffee shop here
For cake and a warm caffeine hit
Now onto the fourth, and we thought we'd be gentle
And go see the Statue Liberté
But we walked up the hill, oh God are we mental?
It was worth it for such a display
B's parents invited us for the evening meal,
And of course, it was simply breath-taking
Every course, in fact, had it's own unique feel
By the end, my belt buckle was breaking
By the fifth day, there wasn't enough food
The farmer's market was beckoning
There were honeys and jams,and everything good
At least by our reckoning
By sundown, we thought "it's time to relax"
So we headed to an old cinema
Recently polished, just to cover the cracks
But retained it's old charisma
The penultimate day meant a visit to see
The castle on top of the hill
Overlooking the river, and all of the city
Thank God the way back is downhill!
The last night together, so we opened the mead,
Prosecco's a better definition
To toast to our friendship, and I think we're agreed
We should vow to make this tradition
The final day came, sad for the team
Still time for some things though, we cheer
Sausage for breakfast, and one last ice cream
And buying an awkward souvenir
We say our goodbyes, we will miss you our friend
We struggle to contain a frown
But we know before long, we will surely attend
Your houseboat in Old London Town
Thank you so much for coming to visit
It was truly our pleasure to see you
Budapest now has some of your spirit
And we hope, you have some of hers too
