Happy New Year from Hungary - Boldog Új Évet

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New Years Resolutions:

1: Be a better blogger - yeah that means actually writing, not just planning to.
2: No drink for January - more on this later but todays hangover put this on the list.
3: Travel into 5 new countries in 2005.

I've never honestly kept my new years resolutions before (usually the drink one is kept for about a week) - so I hope by placing them in a public place such as this, where lots of people I know will read, the pressure will give me the extra will needed to actually hold to them!

1: - being a better blogger. Specifically a travel blogger - avoid being introspective and self obsessed - talk about the sights, cultures and customs of the places I find myself in.

So to practice: Hungarian New Years Celebrations

During New Years Eve kids wander the streets with paper and plastic trumpets and bangers - lucky that this is a new years eve tradition as it would be really unpleasant sleeping off the collective hangover on the first with that racket going on.

The rest of Hungarian new years celebrations are a lot like the British (and just about anywhere else I've ever been) versions - fireworks at midnight and too much drink, the local firewater is pálinka, a form of schnapps, induces a wicked hangover and is forced upon the unwary from all angles. Avoid pálinka - stick to the wine and the incredibly cheap local champagne.

My New Years Eve

Went to the dormitory of the medical students of Pécs for the warm up party - drank too much, had a good time, 11pm something, taxi to the town to watch the fireworks, 12:30 - home too drunk to party anymore. During the night - ill - following morning hangover and new years resolution number 2 is decided on.

My New Years Day

Hangover beaten into submission with the liberal use of Nuerofen - a good investment from the quick christmas trip to England. Traditional Hungarian New Years day food of lentil broth - Lencse Fõzelék - brings good luck, and is surprisingly tasty. Friends visit to share the food and watch videos until bedtime. Yep - quite normal - nothing inspiring, just glad to be feeling well again, not going to do that next year.


Other stuff

I'll be catching up on some of the entries that I should have put in over the summer and autumn, and soon I'll be going to Austria - a new country for me - and getting started on new years resolution 3.

Hope that everyone reading had a good new years :)

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