The past few days.

After we went to the Chamber of commerce we traveled over to the famous market in Budapest called the szentendre. They had many different shops such as cafes and clothing stores that were part of a tradition of the old market hundreds of years ago. When we drove back towards the market we passed an old Roman Colosseum that was still in tact from a couple thousands of years ago when the Romans ruled that part of the country.

Later in the day for dinner as an entire group we all went out to a modern Hungarian Restaurant in Pest that was excellent. A lot of the time when we are all ordering the food it is hard to figure out what you are realy ordering so it is always a surprise. Three different people ordered a 2.5 liter pillar of Dreher Beer that was probably three feet high. At the bottom it had a spicket where you could pour your beer into your mug and enjoy the tasty local beer brewed out of Budapest.

After we all went out to dinner we asked the waiter where a fun club was in the area but he said he wasn't much of a clubber. He was scared of clubs because he said there were too many different types of people. " Rockerman, Businessman, Partyman, Technoman. Too many types of people." We asked him to tell us where the club was anyway and he told us of an underwater club to go to only a few blocks down. Once we entered the club we knew we were at the right place. There were floods of different types of people from all over Europe there. I met women from Holland, Sweden, U.K., and of course Hungary. The band that was playing was like no band I have ever seen before and the European people had dance moves that words cannot describe. I made a mental note to add them to my arsenal of moves. I quickly learned that on a Tuesday night in the city they only have older women out on the prowl so I quickly changed my age from 23 to 25. The youngest women that I met was 26. The band had two violinist, a guitarist, a bassist, an organ pianist, drummer and a kick ass lead man. They were from France and they were dressed like mountain men. People were jamming to the music and dancing with there white people ways. After they stopped playing I was hanging out with some Hungarian women and invited my friends over to join. We left the bar with them and went to a few other places and got a taxi ride back to the hotel.

The next day on Wednesday we went to the Budapest Stock exchange which was in an extremely nice area of Budapest. They area reminded me of uptown New York with the different trees on the sidewalk and uptown shoppes. I have pictures that I posted if you want to check them out to see what I am talking about. I took a lot of notes on the stock exchange which I will blog about separately which I need to type out for my class to keep up our business journal. After the Budapest stock exchange we went to this famous building that used to be a casino then a toy shop and now a book store which is the equivalent to a Barnes an Noble that sells coffee and wine. They ceilings had lots of paintings reminiscent of the Renaissance and Gold trim all through out. It was a very class place to read a book, drink coffee and smoke a European cigarette. After we left this I was blown away to seen a McDonald and how they had a McRoyal with Cheese on the menu. Heck yeah. I know we are supposed to be experiencing different restaurants but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to try this out. Every since I saw this in Pulp Fiction I know I had to try it. It tasted the same as America but a little worse because I had to pay for my ketchup with my fries. Apparently ketchup hasn't caught on in Europe so it's extra to buy it. Coke tastes the same as well.

We went back to the hotel and I had to take a two hour nap because I still haven't adjusted to the time zone yet. I literally have to get as much sleep as I can in between our events as much as possible because we are always on the go. The next group cultural event that we went to was the famous Szechenyi Bath which is a spa for wellness. While we were here we went into many heated pools, whirl pools, ice baths, hot saunas, Eucalyptis saunas, tanning saunas, salt baths, massage baths, and they also had a carbon acid bath to exfoliate the skin. They had many guys in there one piece bathing suits and many gorgeous European women. I am pretty sure that I want to get a European girl friend one day when I travel through Europe again. They are very beautiful and exotic. When you see couples around Europe, especially in the different baths that we were in they make out in public and are always holding hands. They are really all about public displays of affection and showing off their loved one. Where every I go the people with their loved ones always look happier than the single people all alone. Europeans are very affectionate and emotional people who are proud to be in love as is evident where ever you go. You always see them laughing and kissing all the time. Crazy. Anyway after rejuvenating my body and getting accustomed to the European way of life for about three hours we went back to the hotel to take a shower and go out to eat. A group of us went on the train to go into pest and wander as we found a place to eat. We probably wandered for forty five minutes in the city lights until we found a fairly nice place to eat. Wine and beer are probably only two dollars each per serving which is really cheap for a restaurant. I had a traditional Hungarian meal that consited of potato noodles with a white sauce and bacon bits. Other people got variations of Salmon, steak and pork. After we drank some more and just relaxed at the restaurant we rushed to catch the train home which closed at 11:30pm. Once we got back to the hotel we hung out in the lobby for a while and then retired back to bed after having a long and exhausting day.

Today was also very exciting but more to come tonight. Every morning we have been eating the most delicious breakfasts that come with the stay at the hotel which are like an American breakfast with a Hungarian touch. We went to go visit the IBM service center in Budapest and got to learn about the financial side of the business. After we got back I had to pass out because for some reason I still haven't adjusted fully to the time zone. Our meeting with IBM was a 9 am which is 3 am our time. Maybe that has something to do with it. I will also write out a little bit about what we went over with IBM tomorrow after the festivities tonight. After IBM we went to the Labyrinth of the castle of Budapest which was pretty touristy to me. It was interesting to see the underground caves that they had but they artifacts they had in there were fake and they weren't even true representations of the real artifacts as the tour guide told me. The really artifacts are in France. I took lots of pictures if you want to check them out. After this we went into town and ate at the cities oldest bakery spanning from hundred of years before. This bakery was so good that during WWII when Budapest was bombed in the town all of the shops closed except this bakery which the people needed to keep open to have a little joy in their lives. This bakery definitely added joy to my life. I have the traditional chocolate cake that has been there staple item for over a hundred years. It was a delicious chocolate fudge cake with a cherry chocolate icing on the top. We took the tram back to the hotel and in about an hour we are going to an amazing dinner that my friend Kyle McDonald made reservations for. This restaurant that we are going to is elevated in the sky and has three different levels. The top level is the restaurant, the middle level is the bar and the bottom level is the club. Supposedly Germany's best DJ is playing there tonight so we are going to get out party on. They meal that we are having is five courses complete with a glass of wine for every course. I can't wait. I blog more about it tomorrow after we actually go through it tonight.