will you be my Ecoli-ntine?

we ate our romantic v-day dinner at a ready-to-eat chinese diner around the corner from the new hostel. after catching up on sleep all day (consequently missing 2 meals), it was the first place we saw and could afford without first making an ATM stop. the owner was very friendly, and even knew the words cheekin, beef, and porrrk to tell us which entree was which. her warming lights worried me a bit (she had to MICROWAVE our food!), so hopefully Universal Lovers Day isn't followed by E. coli Toilet Day.

we walked around most of inner Pest (remember, the pronunciation is Pesht) yesterday, and covered most of Buda--the west side of the Danube--tonight. we are finally getting our bearings... but we might have to buy new shoes if we keep this up. seriously. i actually can tell at the end of the day that my shoes are more worn! we are regaining all the muscle mass that we lost during the month of the great chunder.

our health is better and better. i have a bit of a nagging cough, not aided by the inescapable, large volume of cigarette smoke that is EVERYWHERE in europe. so i'm sipping on a cup of warm tokaji--a sweet hungarian wine (i don't know if they really drink it warm, but i'm not coughing anymore).

we are the sole guests in our new hostel-- hopefully this isn't a horror movie-come-true. it's a small place: originally a 2-br apartment, now a 16-bed hostel. it has a funky australian theme, but the Australian fellow on duty tonight says he's a little weirded out by all the aboriginal paraphernalia. nevertheless, the place must be busier in the summer, since it was voted into the top 10 hostels worldwide this past september!

our hungarian, *ahem* MAGYAR, is progressing. as usual, i have an easier time remembering my new words than i do getting up the guts to try them out! everyone we've spoken to has responded in english, so we've avoided a lot of difficulty. it makes us a bit lazy, though. we've given up asking, "Bezelek angolul?" and have just started speaking in english straightaway.

let us know if you hear of a cheap, rat-free apartment for rent!