Hi All,
I arrived in Budapest on Wednesday. Took another night train from Krakow. The
jury is still out on night trains. You don't get the sleep you expect' so you
spend time making up for sleep on the day you plan to travel. If you are seeing
some strange letters in this posting, its the Hungarian keyboard. The Z and Y
keys are exchanged on the keyboard, wow it is tough for this old brain'
I had to also kill one day doing what I call "Maintenance" activities, no
touring. This means doing a wash, finding groceries, calling to make Itinerary
changes, buying transportation for the next leg. Should take another day here
just to catch up.
Budapest is a city alive!! Went to hero's square, near where I am stazing (
see there is that darn Z vs Y kez again!!!)
It's like our gas lamp in San Diego, the chic, in place to eat, relax and drink.
Restaurant row, outdoor cafe tables 3 deep on both sides of the sidewalk.
Techno/Salsa music blaring. Ok, fashion trend, look out California. Mid calf
pants are IN for the guys!! I'll try to get pictures. The young women wear
midcalfs too, but they have a roll up cuff, about 4 inches. Cute.
But you wouldn't detect a post-communist economy here!! Restaurants are
buzzing, upscale shops on Vaci utca street (the Rodeo drive of downtown
Budapest), its alive here!!
I toured the castle district up on the hill above the Danube river today. The
picture you see here is a shot of the "Chain Bridge" looking across the Danube
at the St. Stephens Cathedral. Have had 3 days of sun here, beautiful weather.
I'm staying in the theatre district, its a great location. Close to market,
internet cafe, MAV (transit store) place to buy train tickets, and the Metro.
The Budapest metro is another, although old, but very efficient and effective
system. I bought a 3-day transit card, unlimited travel on all mass transit for
3 days for $10.
The city is about 3 times the size of Prague, and is more of a real city. Most
streets in my area are tree lined, tall green trees on both sides, a moderate
amount of traffic, and people moving about quite late. Dinner time here looks
like about 9PM.
Well I'm off tomorrow for Zagreb, Croatia. A new country and new currency!! That
has been a fun challenge on this trip, with 5 countries. Five languages and five
different currencies. I have had a little Russian, so the Czech and Polish
language had Slavic similarities, but Hungarian is totally different.
Interesting.
Take care, will catch you in Croatia
Yours in travel,
Bill
