April 20 - Back to Sevilla

It is a four day weekend in Spain because of Easter - so there was no school on Thursday or Friday and we decided to get away from Sevilla for a few days - but to really understand our weekend plans, you need to go back 15 years.

Instead of Emily attending 4th grade and Rachel attending 3rd grade in Walla Walla, we pulled them out of school for the year and homeschooled them in Budapest, Hungary while Albert and I worked on our own research for our sabbaticals.  It was not always easy, but we made a lot of good memories that year.  It was the first time that any of us had needed a passport and we jumped right in to living a year in a country where we didn't know the language, didn't have a car, and lived in a small city apartment.

So, when we needed to plan a trip for this weekend, instead of choosing Rome or Paris or London (none of which we have visited), we chose to return to Budapest for the first time since we left 15 years ago.

We chose a hotel within a block of our old apartment and spent three days remembering....

Lots of things had changed of course, many of the squares have been cleaned up,  the Pizza Hut where we used to go (always with the same waitress) is gone - replaced by a Greek restaurant, the dead end behind our old apartment is now a maze of hipster bars and coffee shops, the red door hostel and bookstore where we used to buy all of our English language used books is now a bicycle repair shop (and there are bike share stations all over the city), the coffee shop where we used to go for internet is now a pastry shop, the courtyard where we would sometimes go for "PE" is now gated and locked, and there is lots of new art - my favorite is the "Shoes on the Danube".

But there are lots of things that have barely changed like Hosok Ter (where we sometimes went for "art"), the Renyi Institute where Albert and I worked, the castle and the cathedral, the Buda hills, the pool, fountain, and parks on Margaret Island, the bridges across the Danube, the hamster wheel toy and field where they put up the teflon skating rink in winter, the big market and on and on...

We couldn't "relive" an entire year in one long weekend, of course.  We didn't go up to Szentendre or out to Debrecen or to Lake Balaton or even take the train ride up to the school where the girls used to study violin.  But, we did get to spend some quality time with the Simon family who had four children when we lived there and now have five children, two grandchildren, one son in law and one soon to be son in law.  Just like when we lived there before, they were incredible!  They drove us to and from the airport and fed us an amazing traditional lunch.  All this while negotiating their own family Easter traditions.

I get a little teary at the Christmas coffee commercials when the son comes home and surprises his parents - so it is probably not a surprise that all of these warm memories of making our way as a young family in a strange country made me more than a little nostalgic.  I am so glad we took this as our Easter weekend trip.  Now, we would love to go back and see it all one more time (and enjoy all the fun food again -  mmmm chocolate filled pastry) - with the girls.

After a smooth trip home, we are back in Sevilla.  I took a walk after we unpacked - it was about 10pm and the last of the processions was making its way home.  "Easter" Sunday is not nearly as special here as the week leading up to it and everyone will be back to normal by Monday.  In my case, I need to tuck the few Hungarian words that came back to me away and start thinking in Spanish again for class on Monday.