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.

October 4, 2015

 

Bratislava Walk

The laundry is done so we sleep until 8:00 and take our time getting our acts together.  The Gophers lost to Northwestern and the Twins were eliminated from the playoffs on the second-to-last day of the season.  Our hopes are with the Vikings today.  There is an NFL game in London today which is getting some local coverage but we won’t get a chance to watch games this afternoon.  We have our fruit, yogurt and coffee and fire up for our last full day in Bratislava.

It’s close to 11 when we hit the streets.  Our first stop is the church of St. Elizabeth, known as the little blue church.  This is a Hungarian designed church and is very unique.  Mass is going on during our visit and the place is packed.  Tourists or parishioners?  It is church to church as we go west to St. Martin’s Cathedral.  St. Martin’s was built in 13^th century and has gone through several renovations since then.  19 Hungarian Emperors were crowned here from the 16^th through 19^th century including Maria Theresia.  It is a vast collection of works of art and kingly amenities fit for the powers of this part of this world for over 500 years.  It adds a little weight to Bratislava’s place in history.

We circle into the center of the old town near St. Michael’s Gate for lunch.  There is hemming and hawing as we debate our overdosing on pork and kraut.  We locate a place on the street with outdoor seating, a chicken Caesar for Mary and a burger with fries for John.  It must be said that the burger had bacon, kraut and horseradish so it wasn’t cold turkey.

This afternoon is our escape from the old town and on to the newer parts of the city.  The Presidential Palace (White House) is located just north of the old town and is part of a larger city park.  This area is especially ornate with lovely grounds, fountains and vistas.  As we move farther north into the public park the scenery deteriorates pretty fast.  There are old commie buildings covered with graffiti and the park has seen better days.  This is certainly evidence of a city in transition.

From here it is straight up hill to the Slavin.  Here is a cemetery and memorial for almost 7000 Russian soldiers who were killed here while “liberating” Bratislava from the Germans in WWII.  Today it is more well known as a tip-top site for panoramic views of the city.  The Russian memorials are still in place but there are no flags or other national presence of the Soviets.  What we know is that it is 1000 steps straight up hill to get here and we’re whipped.  We find a nice bench in the shade for a bit of a break.

The walk downhill is much easier.  On the way we appropriately pass the Russian embassy on a side street on the hillside.  In all of the big cities we have visited so far, virtually all of the housing has been apartments.  The only free standing homes we have seen were in our first few days with Patrick and Nina.  In our walk up the “mountain” we finally get a look at some free standing homes and they are beauties with great city views.  This is obviously where the city big shots spend their evenings.  After a couple direction questions we opt to go back through old town to get back to our apartment.  Time for Mary to catch up on CNN and for John to visit his personal hypnotist.

We awaken (one of us) for our traditional cocktail hour.  Tonight we are going to the #1 Slovak Pub, the sister restaurant of the place from last night.  It is a little longer walk but not painful.  There are only a few people on the streets tonight—welcome to Sunday night without the tourists.  The Pub is pretty uninviting from the street.  You go down a dark hallway and upstairs to a landing with closed doors.  We open the most likely one and, sure enough, there is a bustling little restaurant.  The tables are all full or reserved but one of the servers has us wait while she checks out another guest and clears the table for us.  The menu is pretty much the same as last night but even less expensive.  They have a student section in the menu where nothing is more than E2.50 and you can get a free soup and pop if you ace a test (test day only).  We try to move along from our usual cuisine but it isn’t easy.  Mary has a sausage with peppers, mustard and horseradish along with a hubcap size potato pancake.  John has a Slovak chicken schnitzel with green beans, ham and cheese with fries.  We skip the wine tonight and opt for beers.  Nothing is really good but we have plenty of calories so we will live for another day.  Beers and plenty of food total E17.  Not student pricing but pretty darn close.

We’re done with today and probably done with Bratislava.  We do the arm-in-arm stroll home like the old Europeans that we now are, and look forward to our next adventure tomorrow.  Thank you Bratislava for a nice visit.

What did we learn today?  Depressed areas recover differently.  Bratislava is not Krakow and Krakow is not Prague but all are in motion and have bright futures.

October 3, 2015

 

 

Bratislava?

Yes, Bratislava. There is really no connection for us to Slovakia nor has it always been on our list of places to visit.  But, it does sit right in between Prague and Budapest and those were on our list.  We have heard some good things so why not.

Besides it is a laundry stop and our perfectly comfortable and affordable apartment here lets us take a leisurely morning to get some chores done. It is a breakfast of fruit and yogurt that we picked up last evening at the Tesco store and it is probably a good thing that we get away from the breakfast buffet for a while.  There is a bathroom scale here and there are some tense moments as one of us steps on and then does the arithmetic to convert from kilos.  Whew, still OK in spite of the last three weeks.

It’s almost noon when we start our walk towards the Old Town Square.  There is a really fun market that we stop at along the way with lots of pickles, pastries (including poppy seed strudel that looks just like Grandmas), big crocks of sauerkraut, fall vegetables and other Slovak crafty things. We would buy some things if we didn’t have to carry them all day.

We pass through the small square into the large square and those are relative terms.  In size the Bratislava square is quite a bit smaller than Prague and a lot smaller than Krakow.  The good news, as far as we’re concerned, is that it isn’t crammed with tourists. Rick Steves has recommended Café Roland as a sort of throwback 1900 café and there is seating outside.  We’re opting for one large and one small lunch that we’ll share.  Mary has the Slovak potato salad (cold and wet in a bowl) while John has the Slovak skewer.  That would be at least three kinds of pork and onions as a kabob with potatoes, kraut and assorted other vegetables all covered with a sort of peppery sauce.  Mary has a couple bites of John’s and John has one bite of Mary’s and that ends the sharing.  One of life’s great luxuries is having a beer in the afternoon and today is no exception.

We do the full walking tour in the afternoon.  Bratislava is known for their whimsical statues depicting some event or character from their history. Our Pal Margarita was here a few months ago and gave us a heads-up about some of the sights so we’re keeping our eyes open.  We do old town gate to gate finishing on a park-like promenade that goes down to the Danube.  There are line-ups of the river cruise boats at this stop between Budapest and Vienna.

We take a leisurely Saturday afternoon walk along the river checking out the boats.  There are a lot of local tour boats as well as the long range variety.  There is a Soviet era bridge crossing the river with a large Star Trek sort of tower in the middle.  The locals call it the UFO.  The next bridge is an old iron railroad span that is being rebuilt along with all of the tracks leading into what will be a new terminal.  This will be a stop on a new high speed line from Paris to the “East.”  A very impressive undertaking.  Our river walk ends at Eurovea, and brand new futuristic shopping and office complex.  We haven’t seen all of Bratislava by any means, but this really represents a change of attitude as well as architecture.  It has to be better than the rows of identical apartment buildings left by the Russkis.

Our turn back to the old town takes us past the National Theater and National Philharmonic that share a bustling square.  Further along there are a couple weddings taking place with fancy clothes and pretty cars all over town.  There are vendors in little kiosks selling all sorts of little Slovak knick-knacks, and more tourist moving about so the whole scene is pretty upbeat.  It ain’t Prague but it’s pretty good.

We stick our noses back in the building that housed the market this morning to see if there is any poppy seed strudel left but they have all packed up and the building is being readied for a music event tonight. It’s time for our late afternoon recess.  John has been reading a book detailing the human genome which he swears is like traveling with a personal hypnotist—two pages and he is out like a light.

After a bit of a break and a short cocktail we’re off around the corner to Bratislavska Restauracia, otherwise known as “Flagship.”  Margarita told us about this and its partner Slovak Pub.  Our business tonight involves “Bryndzove Hallusky,” the national dish of Slovakia.  It is a small dumpling like a pierogi that is heated with a sheep’s cheese, bryndzove, and then served with a topping of diced bacon.  It’s sort of a gooey mess with a sharp cheese taste.  The locals tell us that it should be consumed with a glass of buttermilk but we opt for a Slovak Cabernet.  John has yet another version of goulash (pork and kraut – surprise) and Mary finally gives in and gets the garlic soup in a bread bowl.  We both blend the halusky into our main dishes and it mostly disappears.  We’re very stuffed once again and our bill comes to 32 euros including the bottle of wine.  We could have skipped the halusky and been out for under 30.

We take our late evening promenade around the old town.  There is a rap group performing where we saw the market earlier.  That’s quite a change in culture.  Not much else going on on a Saturday night so it off to bed for us.

What did we learn today? A country’s national dish is really designed for people who grew up in that country.

October 2, 2015

 

 

Prague in the Rearview

Not much to do this morning but get packed up and ready to leave.  We manage to make sure we get enough to eat in case we are held hostage for about a week.  John has no luck looking for the plum cake he fell in love with earlier in the week.  Our buffet is a pretty good, certainly not unusual European breakfast, but sure enough there is a Japanese lady shooting a video of it.  Make them stop.

We think we should leave by 10:30 to have plenty of time to catch our 11:42 train but we are standing around looking at each other at 10:15 which means it is time to go.  The manager is in the lobby when we leave and we take a moment to compliment him on the staff.  Everyone from front desk to housekeeping to breakfast has been first-rate.  When we get checked out we try for an Uber cab and think we have one when we lose the connection.  John goes outside to try again just in time to see her pulling up.  What took you so long?  She is patient while we lug luggage down the few stairs from the lobby and then she decides to help out.  She has been an Uber person for a couple months and has been working hard during that time to learn English.  She works days and her husband works nights and she loves it.

It takes about the same amount of time to Uber to the train station that it took us to walk yesterday so our new Uber driver may not have the route down quite yet.  It is still less than $5 when we get the bill so she wasn’t being piggy about it.  She has some sort of confrontation with a cop when she pulls up at the station but she ignores him while getting our luggage out of the trunk.  She says “bye-bye” to us before starting in on him and they’re still going at it as we go into the terminal.  Wish we spoke the language.

Our platform number hasn’t been posted yet but we have scouted them out and know how to move once we see it.  We have 300CZK (about $12) left and Mary is determined to spend it.  John guards the luggage while she goes in search of a lunch for on the train.  The platform is posted as Mary returns with 2 sandwiches and 2 “original Budweisers” for our picnic later.

We have reserved first class seating on the train and while each compartment has 6 seats ours are the only ones pre-reserved in ours.  Other folks with first class tickets could still join us but we cover the compartment with our bags and legs so we look full and then slam the door. We don’t like to be unsociable but after our last cramped train trip we feel the universe owes us some space on this one.

Compared to our last train trip this is a breeze and in fact enjoyable.  It is a pretty day as we travel through some changing terrain in eastern Bohemia and into Moravia.  We go from rolling farm land into higher hills and forests and then back into flat farms.  As we pass south of Brno there are vineyards, obviously the source of our Moravian wines of the last few nights.

We’re a half hour late pulling into Bratislava for no reason that was apparent to us.  We try for an Uber but no cars are available.  We can call for a cab and pay 6 euros for the ride to our apartment but, recognizing there will be communication issues we opt to pay 10 to the cab at the station.

We have a one-bedroom apartment here and our host, Josef Zeman is waiting for us.  We’re in sort of an industrial (read communist) apartment building and down a level from the street.  There are plenty of windows on one side however so we’ll be fine.  Josef is a computer security worker who spends part of each year in San Diego.  For us that means the he speaks very good English and the Wi-fi is the best we’ve had so far.  He gives us the routine of how to work all the stuff and where to go and where to eat.

The fun things will have to wait until tomorrow.  Mary throws in a load of wash and we go out to the Tesco store for some groceries for breakfast and some crackers and cheese for our dinner tonight.  We have CNN on the TV and not much else although there are a lot of old American movie DVDs. We opt for CNN, our crackers and cheese, some bad Slovak wine and the continued use of the washing machine. Sightseeing will start tomorrow.

What did we learn today? When Uber lists their presence in cities of the world that doesn’t mean they really have a presence—maybe they have a driver or two.