A Taste of Home

Nine days out. Time always seems somehow to pass both faster and slower on vacation. This trip especially so because we are moving at a snail's pace compared to our typical itineraries. Days in each place. Plenty of time. Sitting and sipping Hungarian wine. Strolling with no particular place to go. Almost reminds me of the days when we vacationed on tropical islands like Anguilla and all we did was lay on the beach all day, sleep and eat. That seems like a lifetime ago.

I remember traveling way back when you couldn't find a diet Coke to save your soul. (That is when I started drinking beer, in fact.) Now there is a Starbucks on every major corner in Budapest. GoPro camera stores. Office Depots. And Subway sandwich shops. It's called globalization, I think.

Sometimes, though, the things that take you back home are even more geographically specific. From:





To the offer of either Hot Cinnamon Apple Juice with Schnapps OR a Rum Punch.

Or even a faux beach to relax on:

(Yes, that is really sand on the floor of the bar.)

Between these little things and constant internet connectivity (so thank heavens we don't miss a bit of the U.S. political circus :-( ), it hardly seems that we are five thousand miles from home.


 

The Parliament

As the third largest parliament building in all the world, (Romania and Argentina apparently take top honors), it is also one of the must-do tourist attractions in Budapest. We went there on Sunday because the google said it was open but the guards and ropes and black limousines all around it made us think differently.

We returned on Monday. No ropes and limousines but it still didn't look like it was open. Not a single sign led us around the building to the far side to the stairs that went underground to the tour entrance. Luckily we kept looking, but even so, we had to buy our tickets for later and then return at 4:15P for our brief tour. The place is quite roomy (100+ stairs up to start the tour, thank you) and very ornate. From the gilded ceilings:

 

To the original stained glass windows that were taken down and stored underground before the bombings in WWII.

 

 

Unfortunately, I can't show you the crown jewels. (No photography in that room.) But they too were saved during the war when they were somehow given to the American Army and kept in safe keeping in Fort Knox until Jimmy Carter returned them.

However, by far the prettiest sight, again, was the building at night outside. I have to say that I don't think I was so unprepared for the temperatures as I was for the nearly constant cloudy, drear and drizzle. In Michael's photos of the outside of the Parliament last night, the flash captured the falling mist:

Pretty!

To Market to Market

Monday, we started off with a morning stroll with a Starbucks coffee down to the Market. A wonderful place full of gorgeous and yet ridiculously inexpensive produce (that's just under 300 florints to the dollar and pricing per kg)

 and meats

along with baked goods and so many paprikas we couldn't pick without coming back to the room to translate the different kinds. (sweet, pungent, spicy, etc)

We even navigated through the upper floor's tourist trinkets stands and had the requisite langos with sour cream and cheese. (Sort of a sweet pizza shaped donut with toppings.)

In the basement, were the fish mongers and the pickle sellers. And they pickle EVERYTHING here. Not just cucumbers and peppers and sauerkraut. But look at this:

Kittens! Oh no!
 

The Lights, Master, The Lights

Sorry for the poetic license. But the lights of Budapest are simply amazing. Last night we took the trolley out to the Bridge stop at Magrit Island just north of here looking back. Never saw the moon but the sky glows just the same. I cannot even imagine their electric bills to light up the world like this.

Two quick images as we break now between the Market and the Parliament tour this afternoon.



And zoomed in

Buda and Pest

Well, lest anyone worry that the night train from Krakow to Budapest turned out to be a bad idea....all is well. We arrived safe and sound with no problems at all. The compartment was a smidge smaller than I remember the sleeper compartment being on the night trains in Egypt. But then again, they are probably just the same.

No matter. We settled into our new airbnb and set out to explore this city which is certainly a more robust place than Krakow was. It is a balancing act between trying to always be looking up in order to appreciate the architecture and yet looking down to navigate the cobblestones when appropriate. Being the savvy travelers that we are, we quickly located the Danube and the Chain Bridge with Buda Castle Hill on the opposite side. Pretty during the day but obviously at its most stunning at night with illumination.

Here's one of the Lions from the end of the bridge with the hill behind:

 

 

And the classic picture, postcard shot of the bridge with the palace behind:

We enjoyed an amazing dinner of goulash and paprika chicken and Hungarian wines. So all in all a good day in spite of being tired from our travels.

This morning we headed off to the hill to explore and to look back at the Pest side. Not nearly as stunning and still covered in low clouds. But the temperature got up to about 60 degrees so there was NO complaining today. 

St. Matthias Church was pretty enough even in the overcast:


And the Parliament was still impressive:

And then the skies actually turned blue. No, really blue. So here's closer picture of the parliament to prove that miracles do happen:

 

Tonight we are heading back out with hope in our hearts that maybe the full moon will make an appearance and that we can catch a glimpse of it above some landmark. Fingers crossed.

 

I'm Just Waiting On a Train

Our last couple of hours here in Krakow hanging in the train station waiting for our overnight train to Budapest. Our biggest challenge right now (besides staying awake) is using up our remaining Polish money. I went into the grocery store and bought fruit and cookies and two big bottles of water and two fancy chocolate bars and blew through a cool $5US.  Michael is off now seeing if he can make a bigger dent.

Meanwhile to recap the day. We slept late. Had a leisurely breakfast and then brought our bags here to the station to store them. (Convenient even if surprising that one can still do that in this day and age) Then we caught a tram to the old Jewish quarter to tour the museum at Oskar Schindler's old factory. We had passed on going to auschwitz so felt like we should at least visit this museum covering the years of the German occupation.  Always sobering.

Then since we were finally blessed with some blue skies and sunshine we headed back to the square for a late lunch.

And here we are.  Pleasant dreams. More tomorrow from Pest.

Baby Its Cold Outside

Day two: Krakow.
Really still a lovely place. Even in the cold.
Before we left, as I was bitching about the heat in Anguilla, I asked Michael to remind me not to bitch about the chill in Europe. Granted, I wasn't really expecting quite this degree (pardon the pun) of chill, but nevertheless, I am trying to do my best to buck up under multiple layers of clothing. So here I am at Wawel Castle NOT bitching about the cold:
\

 

 

And here is the castle itself...(try to imagine a sunny sky...we really tried)

 

 

 

And here are the pretty horses on the square:

 

 

 

And here is the secret to staying warm:

 

 

A nice flight of flavored wodka.