Budapest - Hungary is alive!

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

Krakow-Hey I'm in Poland

Sunday night I took a night train to Krakow Poland. Arrived early, went straight to Hotel. Decided to get a hotel here, cost comparable and could get close to the town center.
Went exploring early. Krakow has a small old city, surrounded by a narrow park, which was a city moat that was filled in and old city wall destroyed. Up high above the city is the Wawel castle. The city has one main entrance gate. Amazing place. In the center of the city is the largest medieval town square in Europe (200m x 200m).
Krakow is alive with tourism, a huge difference from the years prior to 1989. Also the city square is the gathering place for locals to chat, teens to meet, and many school field trips. I think the kids get out here more.

I took a tour of the salt mines outside of town. A huge working salt mine 60m below the surface, over 700 years old where since the 1800's the miners have carved statues, meeting halls, and a mini lake, all below ground. The horses that were used as beasts of burden, never saw the light of day in their lives. Met a couple from Denver and kids from Canada and Ozzieland. Great tour.

On Tuesday night, I took another night train to Budapest. Ran into a professor and students from Heritage College in El Cajon, small world.

The train ride was interesting, wake up at 2:30AM for border crossing, but got about 5 hours of light traveling over the Slovakian and Hungarian countryside. Beautiful farmland, small villages with town center cathedral. Near bigger cities, huge complexes of high rise housing, old Soviet style of living.

On to Budapest, big city, will get backon that in a few days.
Yours in travel,

Bill Wilson
billwilson@pocketmail.com (While away on travel)
email2bill@cox.net (When home)

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Prague - An Amazing City

Hi all,

I arrived in Prague Friday May 20, stayed till Sunday.

What an amazing city. I guess the principle reason it is so well preserved here, buildings dating back 100's of years is there was no bombing of this city during WWII. Thank heaven, so many beautiful sites.

I went to the usual principle sites during my stay, the main square was amazing. A large square with a cathedral, and lined with buildings all ancient architecture. Narrow streets and cobblestone where ever you turn. Its a great experience just wandering thru the old town, down the streets and finding a restaurant that suits your taste. Great food too.

The city is feed by a modern metro system, so its easy to get around. What is more fun to ride are the electric trams, similiar to our trolley system in San Diego. You really see the city this way.

On Sunday, found out that the international Prague Marathon is being held. This really bogged down the tram system, and closed a lot of streets. But it was fun to watch.
While eating lunch in a sidewalk cafe, watchin the marathon runners come in the final stretch, saw a female runner in a full playboy bunny suit running the race... boy she must have lost a big bet to somebody. Was hilarious, she got a lot of cheers.

Up above the old city is the Prague castle, with a commanding view of the city and a dominant cathedral in the center of it, it makes an amazing view. I will try to upload some pictures here when I get the right connections. Most internet cafes are not yet geared for this yet.

I went on a tour of the Jewish Quarter as well. The jewish quarter became a sort of ghetto for the Jewish people during the war years. In the Jewish cemetary since they were limited to one grave yard, literally thousands of people were buried in layers, the gravestones were on top of each other and leaning all directions. In a building near, 77,000 names were listed, those who had found their deaths in concentration camps in Prague at the hands of the Nazi regime. Very profound to see and contemplate.

Well I'm in Krakow Poland now. Got here on a night train from Prague Sunday night. This is an incredible city, its Prague without all the tourists. Finding it to be wonderful, will give you a report on it next time.

Yours in travel,
Bill