October 5, 2015

 

 

Nashiedanou Bratislava, Jo Napot ivanok Budapest

And you thought this was easy.  Actually we continue to be amazed at the acceptance of English as the world’s second language.  Almost everyone we encounter knows a few words of English that fit into their job description.  Rules of grammar are harder to come by but we can always communicate.

It’s departure day for us and we’re ready to roll shortly after 9:00.  Josef is going to come by at 10:50 to make sure we have the means to get to the airport and to make sure we haven’t stolen the silverware. That gives us a solid hour and a half to kill which means another morning walk around the city.  Monday morning has a different feel than the weekend and the hard-working locals are scurrying off to work.  There are one or two tour groups milling around, probably from one of the river cruises.

It’s overcast and cool this morning so a good travel day.  Josef is right on time and after he pats us down he calls a taxi for us.  There has been an Uber car floating around earlier but has now disappeared.  The taxi driver gets us to the main train station for half the price of the guy we booked on arrival.  Learning the ropes can be costly.

We have an 11:53 train to Budapest and the good news is that it is on track 1 and platform 1 which are both right in front of us when we walk into the station.  We have our car number and seat numbers so when the train rumbles past we spy our ride and hustle to the right spot.  We throw our bags onto the train and we’re moving before we get to our seats so there is no messing around here.  It was scheduled for a three minute stop and they didn’t miss it by much considering the large number of people who had to board.  This car configuration is different than the last we were on.  There are no compartments, only airline style seats in a 1-2 configuration but plenty roomy.  We find a setup with two seats in each direction and a table in the middle that will do just fine.  Mary reaches for the sausage and cheese that we brought with us but we didn’t.  It’s still in the apartment refrigerator where Josef can enjoy our lunch.

It’s a 2-1/2 hour ride to Budapest arriving at 2:35.  We spend a lot of time along the Danube passing through little Slovac and Hungarian towns.  The Hungary-side seems a little bit more cared for but the sample size is too small to reach any conclusions.  We have been a little nervous about arriving in Budapest Keleti Terminal because of the recent problems with the influx of Syrian refugees.  We arrive 5 minutes early and there is a fellow there with a “Zesbaugh” sign who whisks us to his waiting taxi with zero problems.  In fact there are no crowds and seemingly no current issues.

We’re back to oohing and aahing as we take the 15 minute drive through Budapest.  The city is about the same size as Berlin and it is gorgeous.  It seems very clean, very well restored and/or cared for.  Our driver is sort of an old hippie whose white hair makes him seem a little older than he really is.  There are little toys hanging all over the taxi with some extra speakers wired in for better rock sounds from his sound system.

Roland meets us at the taxi when we arrive at Butterfly House B&B and gets us situated in our room a couple walking flights up.  We have separate sleeping and sitting areas which is always nice but the configuration is a little weird, or should we say unique.  After we unpack we meet again with Roland who pulls out the map and marks up sights and restaurants giving us some ideas for the next few days.

We opt to start with the massive market a few blocks away.  It is acres of produce, meats and pastries with souvenirs upstairs and a full blown Aldi store in the basement.  It is the Philadelphia, Barcelona and Melbourne markets on steroids.  The corn and tomatoes are still going strong while there is a good supply of apples, pears and squash.  It’s warmer here and as we move south we are moving through the Minnesota latitudes.  Bergen was our farthest point north at 60+ degrees and Budapest is at 47-degrees north which is a little north of the Twin Cities.  Our host has told us to sample a local snack called a langos (Langoosh) a sort of fried bread pizza with sweet or savory toppings sold at a market stand but the lines are too long and we’re not that hungry.  We do a further neighborhood stroll down to the river and the Szabadsag hid (our local bridge) while poking our noses into little shops along the way.  John hits the ATM for 25,000 HUF, sometimes known as $90.  We grab a poppy seed strudel to make up for our missing lunch (maybe we are that hungry) and do a little shopping before finding our way back to the B&B.

Our strudel doesn’t make up for crackers for lunch so we ask our desk guy (Roland) for a quick easy recommendation for dinner.  Our plan is the Italian next door and he says definitely not.  The spot he suggests, Sonka, a few blocks up the street is mostly empty when we arrive which gets us a window table overlooking the active street scene.  We’re breaking out of pork and kraut.  Mary has a nice ham and vegetable pasta, while John goes with the chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms and a ratatouille sauce over mashed potatoes.  Both very good and a great Hungarian Cabernet all for about $35.  The place is full when we leave so it is worthy of a front desk recommendation.

We take the long way back to our place exploring a couple new streets.  We hope we have this down by the end of the week because it looks like it will be worth it.

What did we learn today?  Easy. Budapest is way beyond our expectations.