Since returning to the States early Sunday morning, I have been asked a couple of times which city I liked best. Tough question. Not sure that I can choose a best. I can, however, offer my observations on my experiences in each destination.
Praha is simply beautiful. It has old world charm, churches, distinct districts each with a different vibe, and the famous (although under reconstruction/repair) Charles Bridge. It also has a ton of tourists and can be difficult to navigate even with a great Streetwise map and a determined spirit.
Wien is very Western. We enjoyed awesome Spring weather and the city is easily walkable. I highly recommend the Hundertwasserhaus and the Kunst House Wien for modern art. I also recommend macaroons from Oberlaa and chocolate from Demel. And, I simply cannot forget the beauty of the Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens.
Budapest... the views of the Danube, the castle, and the bridges. I really felt more of the local flavor/culture here than anywhere else. It was great to experience the market and the baths as the locals do. At the forefront of my memories is watching the sunset behind the castle/palace each evening from the rooftop terrace at the hotel. Picture perfect!
It was a great adventure, filled with many memorable moments, and enhanced by new acquaintances from across the globe. I am blessed and grateful for the opportunity.
"Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen." - Benjamin Disraeli
28 April 2009
Pest
I must admit I was a bit apprehensive when I stepped out of the train station in Budapest. My initial impression was, "Oh my, this looks third world and I'm going to spend the next three days here!" Let me say, first impressions can be, and in this case were, wrong. From the rooftop terrace views of Buda, the nighttime Danube cruise, to the Segway tour of Pest, I truly enjoyed just scratching the surface of what this city has to offer.
I shopped the Great Market Hall on Thursday and Friday. I am please with my traditional Hungarian purchases (blouse and tablecloth). I was not, however, brave enough to try some of the traditional Hungarian dishes offered upstairs at the market. Hungarian desserts were a different story entirely. During Friday's lunch at Menza, I tried the Hungarian poppy seed dumpling for dessert... poppy seed, grated lemon zest, and vanilla sauce. It was delish!
I was glad Stacie suggested the Segway tour. For those of you who remember my infamous scooter accident in the Summer of 2003, rest assured I was determined not to meet the same fate. I am pleased to report that there is no opportunity for "over acceleration" on the Segway. I loved it! Our guide, Bea, was hospitable, as well as well-versed in Budapest history, and I liked her politics. Come to find out she had applied for a job at the Broadmoor, the famous Colorado Springs resort, and was turned down. To the folks at the Broadmoor - big mistake!
Friday evening, our last of the journey, brought the much-anticipated visit to the Szechenyi baths. I am so glad we waited until the evening to experience this treat. The weather was perfect and the water temperature just right. My offer to take a photograph of a group of young guys resulted in the evening's entertainment and new friends from Italy and France. In the words of my late father, "I never meet a stranger."
I shopped the Great Market Hall on Thursday and Friday. I am please with my traditional Hungarian purchases (blouse and tablecloth). I was not, however, brave enough to try some of the traditional Hungarian dishes offered upstairs at the market. Hungarian desserts were a different story entirely. During Friday's lunch at Menza, I tried the Hungarian poppy seed dumpling for dessert... poppy seed, grated lemon zest, and vanilla sauce. It was delish!
I was glad Stacie suggested the Segway tour. For those of you who remember my infamous scooter accident in the Summer of 2003, rest assured I was determined not to meet the same fate. I am pleased to report that there is no opportunity for "over acceleration" on the Segway. I loved it! Our guide, Bea, was hospitable, as well as well-versed in Budapest history, and I liked her politics. Come to find out she had applied for a job at the Broadmoor, the famous Colorado Springs resort, and was turned down. To the folks at the Broadmoor - big mistake!
Friday evening, our last of the journey, brought the much-anticipated visit to the Szechenyi baths. I am so glad we waited until the evening to experience this treat. The weather was perfect and the water temperature just right. My offer to take a photograph of a group of young guys resulted in the evening's entertainment and new friends from Italy and France. In the words of my late father, "I never meet a stranger."
26 April 2009
Segways and protests and baths... oh my!
Friday, 24 April, marked the last non-travel day in Budapest and we took full advantage of it. We started the day with a Segway tour of the city, led by Beata, the wonderful tour guide from City Segway Tours. We started off with a 45 minute lesson on how to use the Segway and soon we were off and running. Amy volunteered to be the guinea pig of our six person tour group, and she picked up the art of Segway really quickly. I went next, and had a little more trouble trying to find my balance on the machine, but after a few tries I got it figured out. Soon we were off and exploring the city by Segway, rolling our way through traffic and up curbs while we learned about the history of Budapest from our very knowledgeable tour guide. The tour lasted about 2 hours or so and was the best 130,000 Forints (about $60) I spent on the trip. We saw the Opera House, Parliament, St. Stephen's Basilica, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Vorosmarty Square, Roosevelt Square and the Danube promenade; however, probably the best part of the tour, in my opinion, was learning about the history of Budapest from our tour guide. She had a spectacular view of the fall of communism as a 14 year old girl in 1989 and gave us a good perspective of the life of a young Budapest woman.
At the suggestion of Beatra, we went to Menza for lunch. Neither Amy nor I were quite up for trying typical Hungarian food with its goulash and Paprikash, so Menza offered us a chance to taste more familiar foods with a contemporary Hungarian slant. Menza was crowded with locals meeting for long lunches, but we were fortunate to get a table right next to the open window leading to the patio. We enjoyed entrees followed by delicious desserts and plenty of people watching. The trendy crowd of diners, who mostly appeared to be in their late 20's to early 40's made lunch an event that seemed never ending. Most of the people we saw at Menza were there for over an hour and didn't appear to be in any hurry to get back to work. With the majority of stores and attractions only open from 10am - 6pm, I think we both wondered- when do the people here work? The streets seemed packed all day long with people window shopping, having coffee at outdoor cafes, strolling through the parks, or just enjoying the nice weather.
After lunch we headed back to the Grand Market Hall for more shopping and I was able to try my hand at bartering. We scoured the market looking for deals and had one more chocolate crepe before leaving with our arms full and our wallets a little lighter. As we waited to cross the street outside the market we heard chanting that sounded like some sort of protest. As the chanting grew nearer we could see that the protestors all wore matching green shirts and appeared to be teens of high school age. We both stood quietly while wondering just what these kids were protesting. Soon we noticed that as the majority of the teens were yelling and chanting, three of the boys were peeing on the front of the building next to the Grand Market Hall, apparently in a contest to see who could finish last??? I'm not sure what the building housed inside and I still don't know what they were protesting, but we couldn't help but laugh! Several guards came out of the building and chased the students off and we stood in wonder as the kids crossed the street in front of us and walked toward the Danube promenade, still chanting loudly and waving their hands in the air- many of them holding cans of beer.
We questioned whether the kids were just starting the weekend early or were they trying to make some sort of political statement, just as the protestors did during the fall of communism in 1989, as we walked though the Vaci shopping district. We happened upon an artsy jewelry store that was like an artists co-op and were drawn inside by the cool designs in the window. We both managed to unload some more of our forints ($$) here, both aware that of the impending deadline to spend the money we had withdrawn before our Saturday morning flights back to the states.
After making it back to the hotel fully loaded down with shopping bags, we went to the 9th floor Executive Lounge (our home away from home!) and loaded up on free appetizers while enjoying our last opportunity to watch the sun set behind the Royal Palace hill across the Danube on the Buda side of Budapest. We decided that since we had to leave for the airport by 5am in order to catch our 7am flights, it would probably make since for us to just stay up all night and take advantage of our last night in Budapest by going to the Széchenyi Baths.
We "suited up" and took the metro (subway) to Városliget Park and bought our ticket to enter the baths. There was some confusion as I went through the turnstyle and was stuck in between a rather burly woman yelling in Hungarian and a rather burly man yelling in Hungarian. I was on one side of the turnstyle and Amy was on the other when I determined that I had gone into the men's changing area instead of the women's. As I attempted to crawl back under the turnstyle, the man started speaking in broken English and motioned for Amy to come through and join me. So, apparently we weren't in the men's area. Still not sure on that one. But, he put Amy and I into our little changing rooms which we had rented for 400 forints ($2) each. After we changed clothes, we stepped outside to enjoy our evening in the thermal baths.
It had been a warm, sunny day and had faded into a clear, perfect evening. There were a lot of young people in the baths talking, laughing, and holding onto one another. A few couples had some moments of PDA, but for the most part everyone seemed to be there to relax and enjoy the warm waters on this beautiful night. As we soaked in the thermals, we spotted a group of young men in their early 20's who were visiting Budapest for the weekend while taking a road trip from Prague. The men, who were from France, Italy, and Germany are roommates studying in Prague for the semester. Their common language was English, so we had no trouble understanding one another. We talked, laughed and shared Facebook profiles while watching the guys try to build a human pyramid without drowning each other until the music came over the loudspeaker announcing "la la la, you have to go" and signaling the end of our night at the baths.
We got dressed and took the metro back to our hotel for the last time. We walked the Danube promenade towards our hotel and stared at the history surrounding us. As we stopped for ice cream, I tried to capture a mental image of the beauty surrounding me and prayed for the memory to never fade away. Once we reached our hotel room, we were faced with the task of trying to pack up 10 days of adventure into 2 carry on bags. We were up until 2am packing, talking, and trying to piece together all of the things we had seen during our travels. It seemed that just moments after I fell asleep our 4:30am wake up call jolted me into the reality of the return trip home.
It was an eventful, adventurous and enlightening tour of 3 cities which are mentioned in every world history class I've ever taken. I returned home with currency from 3 countries, thousands of calories in chocolate bars, some cool original fused glass jewelry, a super awesome tea drinking contraption, post cards, tour books, a pashmina, several hundred digital photographs and a lifetime of memories. It was 10 days that I hope to never forget.
24 April 2009
23 April 2009
Buda
We started the day by strolling the Vaci ut from the hotel to the Great Market Hall. (Think shopping Hungarian style). I thoroughly enjoyed this experience including bartering with the shopkeepers. I bought a traditional, handmade embroidered blouse and a couple of gifts for family. From the Market we saw the National Museum, Synagogue, and Parliament. We had a decent lunch at a cafe, then strolled across the chain bridge into Buda. Let me stop here and say that Budapest is a beautiful city and the views from Buda (west of the Danube) are phenomenal! We took the tram (bus) up to Castle Hill, because the funicular is being repaired (seems to be a theme here as everywhere you look things are being repaired or restored). We walked all over hilly Buda and saw the Hungarian National Gallery, the castle, the overlook, and several other museums. The photos from this afternoon may be some of the best of this trip. We were estimating how many miles we thought we had walked in the past week... Stacie suggested it might be equivalent to an entire Avon 3-day Breast Cancer walk ;) We plan to enjoy some much-needed R&R at the thermal baths tomorrow afternoon. But not before, seeing Pest on a Segway... Cheers!
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