More news from Budapest, Hungary

Another week gone by. I can't believe that it has already been 3 weeks since I have been here in Budapest. My time here seems to be flying by. I have a sneaking suspicion that August 21st will be here before I even know it. All the more reason to make the most of my time here.

Last weekend I met with the Moore gang.. Matt, Zack, Justin, Demetri and Nish along with some other colleagues from GM (Susanna, Donna, Melinda, Alex) and folks from Bristol Myers (colleagues of Nish, who is an internal auditor with Bristol Myers and was here in Budapest for an audit). It was a fun evening .. started off with dinner at Mandragoria Garden, which has the best food I have eaten in Budapest so far, then to Buena Vista, a restaurant and bar at the most happening address in town List Ferenc Ter (I must say though that Buena Vista was not that good besides it closes at midnight, beats me how a bar could close that early especially at that location. So after Buena Vista we went to Cha Cha Cha, a outdoor bar/club that had just reopened for the summer. The place was not that great (I don't care for Techno music music much) however the company was nice, and the weather great so it made for a fun and pleasant night.

On Sunday, I went sightseeing for my second time. The first time was in the Parliament area which was on the first weekend that I was here. This time I went to the Castle District. The best part of that place was the fantastic views of the city from across the river.. You could see the Chain Bridge, the Parliament the river cruise boats cruising along the Danube.. it was wonderful. (Photo 1: The Danube, the chain bridge and the Parliament in the background). The royal palace now houses a museum (Hungarian National Gallery). I did not go in as yet though I would like to. I will probably go with Spencer, my first visitor here in Budapest. Spencer is an awesome artist (actually you can see his work at his website http://www.spencerkimmel.com/) and it would be interesting to see the art work from a professional artist's perspective :) So Spencer, like it or not, I have already planned one day for you :)

The week as usual just flew by. This week, I attended two conference call meetings. One with GMEurope HQ to discuss the Umbrella brand campaign being planned for later this year. There were proposals from 4 competing agencies and HQ wanted feedback as to what we thought of these campaigns. The other meeting was more specific to the project I am working on - the Launch of the Astra Notchback in October. There is a big Dealer launch in October and this project involves the event management as well as working with the creatives department regarding print and media communications. Anna, is in charge of the ATL (above the line) communications and I have been helping her with her work for the last two weeks. She will be on a two week vacation and I am supposed to be taking over her role while she is away. Besides she is moving to Zurich in June and they still need to hire a replacement for her.. in the interim I fill those shoes. She has been a real awesome support person to me. Introducing me to Hungarian food (my local interpretor for lunch times as I have no idea whats on the menu and what is vegetarian). Also she introduced me to a gym where GM employees can workout and take fitness classes for free. Next week I plan to go visit a Bath with her and some of her friends. That should be fun. She also introduced me to someone at the office who likes Salsa dancing so now i know of places I can go to for Salsa and people who would like to go along as well. Nice! Ildiko is another person who I am working closely with. Both Ildiko and I are in charge of coordinating this 6 day event in October. It really sucks that I will be working on this project but I wont be around to actually see the fruits of this work as I will be back in the US by then. Ildiko did say that she will ask the big bosses if i could be flown in from the US for the event (It is in Turkey) but I know that would be a remote possibility.

On Wednesday night I met some of the "Internationals" from GM out for a drink. We met at the Buena Vista - yes again. Mile from Serbia, Anna from Serbia/Hungary, Luka from Italy, Zack from Croatia/Serbia, Matt from US and I from India/US.

This weekend was very laid back. No parties – just stayed at home. On Friday, I went to a yoga class at 8pm and got home by 9:30. Watched a movie and went to bed by 11:30pm. On Saturday morning I went for a run at Heroes square close to my apartment and then in the afternoon walked by the Danube and went to a Café and the later for Dinner. Evening, again watched another movie, a bollywood one (Dhoom 2) which was quite a lame movie.

Today, I was at home till 4pm.. then I met Mile for coffee. Though instead of Coffee, Mile suggested this place which served Sangria’s so of course I was happy with that. This was a restaurant called Pata Negro – I don’t know the name of the area it is at – but I think I know how to get there. It looked like a really nice area with tons of really awesome looking cafes and restaurants. Definitely an area I would like to go back to again. The Sangria was fantastic – and I am picky about my Sangria so I really mean it that this place was good. After Sangria’s we went to List Ferenc Ter to a place called Karma and met with other people and shared a Chocolate Fondue and wine. Really – if you like good food, great people, and nightlife, Budapest is the place to be. I am glad to spending my summer here.