Hairgrove's Are Here

Dear Readers,

Like all good things this blog must end because the Hairgrove's are no longer in Hungary. However, before you start crying and waving your fist in the air and screaming, "Noooooo," we have set up a new blog. This blog takes place in the Dallas, Texas. It will hopefully take place around other parts of the USA and the world once we save a little money again.

So no pressure, but if you wish to continue your journey with the Hairgrove's click on the link below.


Hairgrove's Are Here

We'd really, really, really would like you to visit. It's much easier than getting on a plane.

Thank you for sharing our adventures in Hungary,

Dana and Ben Hairgrove


P.S.

Our dog was very excited to see us. Like no time had passed at all. In fact, our dog may even blog once in awhile too.

The Journey Home

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." --George Moore 

We woke up early the next day to catch our flight. Our flight was on Air Canada through Continental, which added to the confusion of what terminal we should go to. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time and tried to check in at what we thought was the right area, but it turned out it wasn’t. So we hauled our bags to a new terminal and were finally granted access. When they weighed our bags they said one was over weight, but since the others were underweight they would let it go. Thank you Air Canada, Canadians really are nice!

We hung out until it was time to board our flight. I had my passport in my hat and the the guy checking passports for the plane asked me if I was looking for donations. I told him it couldn’t hurt (especially since we were going back home with no jobs lined up yet).

The next part you get the privilege of fast forwarding through because you are the reader. If only you could fast forward through an 8 hour flight for real. So in your mind real quick you can play a montage of us taking off from London, flying through the air, eating, sleeping, watching movies, reading, and then landing in Toronto, Canada. Wow, wasn’t that easy?

Oh, I forgot to mention the best part of the flight, Ben sat next to a Scottish man who was so quintessentially Scottish (minus the kilt) that I wanted to take his picture. He swore like a sailor, drank like a fish and said that half of England was complete crap. The flight attendants had to cut him off after a while from drinking, saying, “Sir we don’t have enough Beer left on the plane.” Then they slipped him some sort of mini bottle of alcohol and he was happy.

We landed in Canada and had to go to baggage claim to check out our bags, only to recheck them back in for our next flight. It wasn’t too complicated since it was all in the same building. No transferring terminals for us this time.

We checked through customs in Canada with no problem. The customs were for the U.S. So we got stamped by the U.S. even though we were in Canada, weird. The customs gaurd was strangely relaxed. He noticed all our bags and asked where we had been. We told him we lived in the U.S. and that we had been teaching in Hungary for the last year. “Oh, at least you weren’t in China, they’re trying to take over the whole world,” the customs guard said as he stamped our passports.

We then waited for our next flight from Toronto to Houston. As we waited a Dad came in a sat near us with his two young sons. The Dad pulled out an iPad for the first son and then pulled out a second iPad for the other son, and then pulled out an iPad for himself. Wow, I thought we are definitely not in Hungary anymore.

Soon it was time to board our plane, which was a little small I thought for a three hour ride. Smaller planes make me more nervous sometimes than the bigger ones do. Maybe because I feel like I am closer to the elements. The plane ride was thankfully uneventful and once again, you as the reader get to fast forward through 3 hours (I’m jealous).

As we made our way towards landing in Houston I felt strange to be there. Wasn’t I just in London 12 hours ago? Hungary 24 hours ago? and Italy 100 some hours ago? Where did the time go? How am I already home? Am I just here for a visit? Nope this is for real, this is our stop.

We got off the plane in Houston and there were no customs to go through. So we went straight to baggage claim and wait for it....all our bags made it! The banes of our existence for the last few days were there. We no longer had to travel across the world lugging them. A true weight of relief swept through me, we were done.

We found Ben’s family which included his mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. Logan and Anna (our nephew and niece) had drawn a huge welcome home sign. Everyone gave us hugs and told us how glad that we had made it and how much they had missed us.

We went to the car and they asked us what we wanted for dinner. Hmmm, it’s our first night in Texas and what do we want for dinner? Mexican food please! After a year of no Mexican food we were dying for an authentic fajita and margarita.

And that’s what we did, we ate and talked and ate some more. I should have taken pictures of us arriving, of us eating, and of the family that day. I should of, but the photographs were not taken by my camera that day because sometimes you just need to be in the moment--completely.

The journey was long, but like the quote at the beginning of this blog entry says, the thing we realized we needed the most after being gone was our family and friends. Those are things that you can’t pack in your luggage. Trust me, we would have, but then we would have definitely been over the weight limit.

Leaving on a bus, train, and airplane.

No journey about leaving Hungary is complete until an old woman starts chasing you. When we left the high school that morning one of the house-keeper's chased after us. She conveyed to us that we needed to give her the keys to the school back. We had already left them in the school for our contact to pick up. However, explaining this was not so easy. She stubbornly tried to convince us to give her back the keys through a series of hand jesters. And we stubbornly tried to convince her that we had left the keys at the school like we were told to do. After a few minutes she threw up her hands and left waddling back to the school, shaking her head in dismay. I hope she found our keys and laughed.

We got on the bus to take us to the train station. After almost a year of living in Hungary we were ready for one last trip--home. We came to Hungary with 5 bags and left with 4 bags. Not bad right? This time we made sure our bags were under the weight limit. We got to the Debrecen train station early to go on the train to the airport. We did everything right up to this point, but the Hungarian Gods thought they would throw us a last few twists and turns our way.

When we got to the train station everything seemed okay, we bought our tickets with a lot of cushion time before our flight left. Hungarian trains are notoriously late, so it is no surprise that our train from Debrecen to Budapest was late. It was 30 minutes late, but we still had plenty of time as long as the journey went smoothly from here on out.

The train ride was uneventful until we stopped about half way in Szolnok for 30-40 minutes. Standing still on tracks with no idea when it might end is slightly terrifying when you are trying to catch a plane. Finally, the train started to move again and we arrived at the airport an hour and half behind schedule. Keep in mind we have 4 heavy bags because this next part is important. The elevator at the train station that helps you get to the over pass to cross over to the terminal was broken. That meant we got to drag our 4 bags up lots and lots of stairs. If you ever want to know what something is worth to you---drag it all the way to Europe and back again and you too might consider packing lighter in the future. There were many times during this journey where I wanted to light the bags on fire and say, "Oh well" and walk away.

So as we cussed our way up the stairs and made it to the terminal we now were almost two hours late. We got into the airport terminal to check in and I thought that if they tell us something is wrong with our tickets or bags I might freak out. Luckily, I did not "freak a fruit-loop" because everything checked in just fine. Had we not left when we did we would have missed our flight. In the last few minutes waiting to board the plane I bought my last Hungarian souvenirs, which included a sticker of the country and a bottle of water. The lady at the counter thought it was strange I was paying in all change, but I didn't care. You have to get rid of the change somehow, and you can't exchange it, so might as well use it up on little things.

Our flight was on Wizz Air, yes that is a real company for incase your not familiar with European travel. We landed in London around 1 p.m. where we had a quick lunch and then got on a bus that took us across London to our hotel and the airport we would be leaving from the next day. Being able to converse easily in English again was like a gift from heaven. We had not been in an English dominated speaking country in so long it almost felt strange to see signs in my native tongue.

However, despite me being an American girl I think I still had a bit of Hungarian-ness to me because while figuring out the buses a random old Hungarian woman came up to me and asked me how to get somewhere. I tried to help, but I'm not sure if I was successful. I think it's funny that the first person that came up to me in England was someone Hungarian. Even while in the airport I could hear strains of conversation that sounded Hungarian. Will I always hear Hungarian? The language may haunt me for a long time. (Ha, ha).

The next step after taking the bus to our new airport was to find our hotel for the night. Ben and I had some difficulty figuring out how to get there. We thought we would have to wait a long time for a shuttle bus to take us there, but a kind ticket lady helped set us straight. She was so nice to us I almost wanted to kiss her.

Once on the bus we had to maneuver our 4 bags so we wouldn't annoy the other passengers, however I think we were unsuccessful. We traveled only a mile before we got off the bus with our bags. Ben dragged two bags and I dragged two bags. We looked for our hotel, but it was nowhere in sight. Then it began to rain. Ben went into a random hotel to ask for further directions and then we continued onward. Dragging the bags only helped me to further appreciate all our stuff. If you sense sarcasm you may be right. Blisters formed on our hands and our feet got sore--and it was raining. We arrived at our hotel feeling like two wet, tired dogs. The excitement of London had well worn off and the thought of a warm shower and dinner became my only priority. We had a lovely dinner and watched Wimbledon on the big screen as it played live from London. Ben had always wanted to be in London while Wimbledon was happening, but unfortunately we could not stay.

Once again we had traveled two countries in one day. We said szia to Hungary, cheers to London, and got ready to say howdy to the USA/Texas.

Our favorite 4 bags. 

Debrecen train station. 

More of Debrecen train station.

Airport.

Stopping in Slovenia and Saying Hello to Hungary

The last days of our time in Europe were spent in a hectic fashion. It seemed our travels took us to two to three different countries per day. We left Italy early and drove back through Slovenia--making sure our toll tag was in its proper place. We decided to give Slovenia a few more chances and decided to stop at Postojna Cave. There we spent time touring the cave. I have not been to many caves, but I can already tell you that this cave is unlike any you have ever been to before. A mini train ride takes you to the bottom of the cave and then you explore the rest by foot. We were taken about three miles by train and walked about one mile. The train then takes you back to the top (Otherwise that would be one heck of a climb). Make sure to watch your head while riding the train because there are many low areas during the ride. Also, the temperature dropped in the cave to a brisk 45 degrees Fahrenheit or 7 degrees Celsius. Ben had a sweater that he let me borrow otherwise it would have been a very chilly ride and walk. You can also rent a jacket, but being on a travel budget that seems a bit frivolous. 

After the cave exploration we went to the capital city and largest city in Slovenia, Ljublijana. The city has a population of 250,000 which is just slightly bigger than the city of Debrecen. The capital had many classical looking buildings and a beautiful river that cuts through downtown. I suggest visiting just for an afternoon or evening. We stopped for lunch and did a little exploring by foot and we felt satisfied in our sightseeing there. Cafes seems to be the biggest source of entertainment in Ljubljana, and the city seems to have a large young adult population. We enjoyed stretching our legs in this city, but I think if we had to choose between the cave experience or going to the city we would choose the cave. I think the best thing that Slovenia has to offer is its natural beauty. 

After lunch we drove another 3 or 4 hours to get to Lake Balaton in Hungary. We stayed near the lake that night and had our last traditional Hungarian meal. We stayed at a bed and breakfast that night where we were the only people there. Our host was a little old woman who knew no English and we know...well you know...no Hungarian. So it was interesting, but after a year of hand jesters, fascial expressions and nodding of the head, we made it through okay. She had the cutest little dog that reminded me so much of our own back home that it almost made me cry. I was tempted to steal it and take it with me, but Ben insisted that the dog would put us over the weight limit for our suitcases. We only stayed at Lake Balaton that night and the next day we hit the road again making our way back to Debrecen. 

We arrived in Debrecen around noon and unloaded our stuff at Ben's school. Ben's school was nice enough to let us stay the night--our old apartment could no longer be used because they were doing renovations to it. That last day in Debrecen we tied up loose ends like going to the bank, drop off our rental car and packing up for home. The last night in Debrecen was bitter sweet. We felt we were leaving our home, but also knew that we were going home. We visited our favorite coffee shop one last time and raised our glasses to Debrecen. You were a beautiful, messy, confusing, inspiring, fun little city. We will always be grateful for being placed in Debrecen. The friendships we made, the co-workers we met and the students we taught were all unforgettable. It is never easy leaving, but it's not really good-bye forever...just for a little while.     

So as they say in Hungary for good-bye...Hello!

Things not to do in the cave. 

Watch your head!

Water mill near the cave. 

Entrance into the cave. 

Ben about to get on the train. 

In the cave, while on the train. 

Ben is in shadows of the cave. 

Many species live at the bottom of caves, like this little guy. 

Ljubljana the Capital of Slovenia. 

Downtown. 

Many cafes line the streets. 

Eating lunch. 

Ben's lunch. 

Lake Balaton in Hungary.

Verona, Lake Garda and Sirmione

You can never wake up in a bad mood when traveling in Italy. Even though the previous day had tired us out and Ben's foot was still hurting from the cut he had gotten in the Adriatic, we decided to take full advantage of the day. We started the day off with a great plan for sightseeing some of the Northern Italian countryside.

Our first stop was about 40 minutes away in a little city called Verona. Sound familiar?

"Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene," 

--From Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet 

Luckily we did not find any families fighting in the streets, I think it was too hot for that nonsense. I think the best part about Verona is that it wasn't packed with tourists. It was crowded, but not on the scale Venice had been the day before. If you are looking for the quintessential Italian city, I think Verona may fit the bill. It has Roman ruins, a Roman Arena, bell towers, rolling hills with cyprus trees dotting the landscape, churches, cafes, women driving vespas and plenty of romantic balconies. The list is endless. Everyone should visit the big cities in Italy, but if I were to choose where I would actually want to live in Italy it would be Verona. 

Entering into the main town center of Verona.

The Roman Arena.

Romeo, Romeo. 

Oh no, I'm in trouble!

View from the Bell Tower. 

Stairs in the Bell Tower. 

People dressed up in costume. 

Lunch is served. Look Ben is eating a salad. 

Museum. 

Leaving Verona. 

We spent our morning and lunch time in Verona and then left for Lake Garda and Sirmione. 

If I were a billionaire with a lot of time and money to burn, this next area would be one of my top places to visit while on a holiday. Lake Garda is so beautiful it makes you forget that you are even in Italy. Have I transported back to Croatia? Have I transported to the French Rivera? Nope you are at Lake Garda, Italy's most popular and biggest lake in the country. The many towns surround the lake, its as if each town were personally trying to get the most picturesque award.  

We traveled to the town of Sirmione, which is a town favored by artists and poets, plus it has its own medieval castle. It almost feels ridiculous how beautiful these towns are sometimes.  The Sirmione peninsula has ruins of the family villa of Catulla, a writer or senator of the Roman empire. This site is surrounded by olive and lemon trees. The ruins make a wonderful contrast with the deep blue lake. Its no wonder poets and artists have been inspired by Sirmione. If I had more time there, I too would have been tempted to paint the landscape. Hopefully, my photos do this little town and ruins justice. Now just sit back and squint your eyes (while looking at the photos) and put a heat lamp on top of your head and then you will almost feel like you are there! 

Sirminoe and Lake Garda.

A beach like feel makes the city feel very relaxed. 

Medieval castle. 

The Le Grotte di Catullo ruins. 

This is my favorite picture from the day. The rock looks like
it is in a shape of a heart. 

Flowers in the ruins. 

Information sign about what it once looked like. 

The original 'olive garden'. 

Beach time.

Under this  stone was a sign that read,
"I Don't Like A Rolling Stone." 

Another romantic balcony. 

The water was refreshing. 

Police on a jet ski=awesome. 

A random classic old car. 

A dose of reality. Not all things in Italy are
beautiful. This was the bathroom.