how to live in budapest and not gain 50 lbs

50 pounds may be an exaggeration, but i don't think it's far off.

weight gain comes from 2 places

1. my metabolism is in constant conflict with the overwhelming availability of pastry
2. my west coast aclimatized body doesn't want to run outside in the cold

seriously, every morning i come into the office and the assistants have got fresh baked goodies for breakfast. it takes everything in my to not eat them all.

the portion sizes here also put american portions to shame. the girls in the caffeteria laugh at me when i say "that's enough" as they're loading up my third pasta dish of the week. pasta and cheese sauce, it's a thing here. a very tasty thing.

coming from the land of juice bars, whole foods and organic everything, grocery shopping here has been quite an adjustment. (side note: i'm going to use the word "adjustment" a lot while i'm here) there are a handful of places to get "healthy" food. a new organic shop called born 2 bio. the tea that keeps brewing different flavors had me intregued. what is this sorcery?! i'll let you know when i do.

there is also an organic market across the danube on the buda side every saturday from 6:30am - 1:30pm, which i have every intention of going to.

mostly i've been wandering around a lot. i have managed a run/walk thru city park when the weather warmed up.

city park

there was also a 14+ mile day of exploring both buda and pest while my beau was in for a visit. we walked from the opera house to parliament to the chain bridge to the castle to the citadel and back.

fisherman's bastian

this city lends itself to a lot of walking, and that's a good thing. maybe not a 14 mile adventure every weekend but, come on, you can't beat the view...

view of pest from fisherman's bastain