Now In Budapest

Well, here I am in Budapest, Hungary. I realized several says ago that my trip is already 1/3 over. Now for the cliche: time flies when you're having fun.

Back to Bratislava. Don't think I mentioned that the best cup of coffee I've had since the start of my trip was in.... Mickie D's. Yes, that was so good I even ordered a second cup at 9:30 PM, the devil take the sleepless consequences.

On Friday AM I shared my breakfast table with Vladimir Fabrici. He's from .... New Jersey. Middle name is Richard. Both he and his wife are of Slovak decent, and he was there visiting relatives.

Friday turned out to be a rather dismal, drizzly day. I walked down to the Danube, crossed the bridge, and strolled to the next one. It's a huge suspension bridge, with a tower going up a long way. I took the elevator to the top. Decided not to try the 435 (I think) steps. It would have been a great view if it hadn't been so misty. Oh Well, next time.

Then on to Old Town where I climbed the tower over Michael's Gate. Not quite as many steps. Again a nice view, this time more up close and personal with Old Town, but diminished by the mist.

Decided it was time for a Museum experience again, so I went to the (I think) National Museum. They had a big exhibit on Indonesia. Pretty interesting, but it would have been better if there had been English translations. I couldn't figure out what the kangaroos and kiwi birds were doing there. Thought they were unique to AU and NZ. There was also a great display of National Geographic photos. These did have English subtitles. Also the usual Animals, Birds, Rocks, etc. one always finds in museums.

The real highlight was a physics exhibition I almost skipped. It was conducted by a young man who spoke very good English. It had a number of physics experiments, and he explained each of them. If memory serves (and it doesn't with alarming frequency lately) it was a celebration of an anniversary of Einstein winning the Nobel prize.

Had an American supper at Mickie D's, and another good cup of coffee. Then I went to the Opera, Don Giovanni. I think I could get to enjoy opera. Particularly if I didn't have to figure out what the story line was just from the action. Slovak translations above the stage didn't help much. Next time I go, I'll read up on the opera beforehand, although it would have been difficult getting reading material here.

What an adventure getting to the train station, and on the train. The clerk at the hotel told me to catch tram # 1 across from McD. but tram # 1 doesn't stop there. I found out where it did stop, and found a system map that seemed to say it went to the station. I boarded it, but it never turned in the direction I thought it should. I finally asked the driver where the station was. He responded with what sounded like "Next Stop".


But the next stop looked nothing like a station, nor did several more. I finally found one that looked familiar from my arrival. I asked a lady and she said yes, so I got off. At a huge fruit and vegetable market. I decided that what sounded like "Next Stop" was really Slovakian for "These Tourists!!!". I gave up and took a cab.

The adventure continues. I bought a reserved seat, and waited patiently for the train to arrive, which it did, on time, as always. Started looking for car 374 in the first class section, and couldn't find it. Decided it would be easier walking along the platform looking than hauling my suitcase thru the train. As I got off, the door closed behind me! Fortunately, I'd learned what the green button was for, and got the door open and on the train as it started up. A very nice conductor looked at my ticket, and found that the clerk had sold me a reserved seat in 2nd class, rather than 1st. But he found me a compartment, and all was well. He probably muttered "Next Stop".
I'm in a hotel/hostel in Budapest. At present I have a room with a choice of 6 beds, as all they had available was a dorm room. They said they didn't think they'd have to put anybody in with me. Let's hope not. I'm OK with hostels, but not quite ready for dorms.

Yesterday was a bit dreary, so I decided to just wander around a bit. I started across the Chain bridge, and realized that something was going on. Turned out that it was the 49th anniversary of the Hungarian student uprising, 1956. The Russian army overcame the revolt with tanks, killing around 25,000 people. All across the bridge there were what initially looked like statues of some of the actions that day. It turned out that they weren't statues, but real people, so still they looked like statues. It was a very impressive and emotional display. I took quite a few photos.

From there I went up to the castle area of Buda. For the few of you who don't know, Budapest is really the cities of Buda and Pest, across the Danube from each other. I believe they are one city now. Buda appears to be the older of the two, perched on a high hill. Once there, I found out that there was a lot more to it on the other side of the hill. Pest seems to be the business center, and is pretty much on level ground.

That's about it for today. It's sunny and reasonably warm out, so I'd best get moving.