February 7th, 2015

Two quick things before we dive in deep.  I have become addicted to Trivia Crack.  The first step in overcoming an addiction is admitting you have one.  Have always shown contempt to the Candy Crush types and the only game I've ever played on my phone has been the solitaire that came with it, but a couple of our nieces were in town  last week and they were playing it.  They kept asking me the sports questions and once they saw I could answer all of them, started asking me the other categories.  As a trivia nut and life long Jeopardy watcher, they were incredulous as to how many I could answer and reluctantly said how smart I was.  Being vain, had to look into it myself and now can't wait for my rival to miss a question, putting it back into my hands.  I was so pissed when I got beat yesterday after winning 23 games in a row as winning 25 gets you the genius coin.  I hadn't heard about this game before, but apparently, it is huge.  Paul called me a 14 year-old girl for playing it as all the girls at school run around asking each other questions to pool their knowledge and answer correctly.  Am crushing many an opponent but suspect that they are 14 year old girls that don't know anything that dates before they received their cell phones.  I guess what I'm saying is, if you play this, let's become friends and play each other.

The second thing is a follow-up on our coffee maker.  Have detailed a couple of times what a piece of shit it is, specifically, the design of the poring mechanism and how it is impossible not to drip some on the (Tea Party White) counter,  and to occasionally have the whole damn lid come off and stain everything.  This had been going on for two years, but never thought about buying a new one as it makes a decent cup and I'm "thrifty".  Am happy to report that I solved this problem in a low tech way.

A plain, coffee colored placemat right in front.  My sister in law went to grab a cup and experienced the horror that is the Kitchen Aid, having the lid pop off and coffee spill everywhere.  Luckily, the ol' placemat was there to take the brunt of the abuse.  As I was patting myself on the back, had the realization that it took two years to realize the obvious.

OK...last time I made the statement that Budapest might possibly be my favorite city and now is the time to convince you to put it high on your places to go list.  We took the 3 hour train from Vienna to Prague and this is where I made the biggest gaffe in our travel plans.  First, had purchased all our train tix well in advance, and as I was organizing them a week or so before we left, realized that I had input the wrong destination (Praha instead...to be fair, I didn't know that Prague is written as Praha in Czech and thought Praha was the Budapest train station).  I must have accidentally scrolled on something on the damn website and they have a "policy" that once tickets are purchased, there is zero refund.  I was otherwise happy with OBB, but repeated attempts to convince them to exchange or refund us were resisted, so had to eat that money.  Was able to buy tickets for the correct journey two weeks before departure fortunately, but purchased unreserved seats for whatever reason.  After having ample room on our previous Salzburg/Vienna trips, didn't have any worries about this trip, but as we got on, the train was jammed with nary a seat open or slot for our luggage to be stored.  We all had to stand over people in the aisles for the 3 hour ride and lean on any space available.  The girls fought their way into the middle of the car while Paul and I hung at the doorway.  I wouldn't even make eye contact with the women as I knew they were pissed and I was disappointed in myself for botching this.  Note to future self, always pay the extra for the reserved seat as you never know.

Fortunately, our crowd wasn't too upset at the situation and wisely considered it an experience for the most part.  Think it's good for the kids to "rough" it a bit so they don't think the world is all cushioned seats and chocolate covered pretzel doughnuts.  Before we cross the border, think it is important to mention B.O.  Everyone is capable of getting it, but find that different cultures have their own particular scent.  Indians are famous for smelling like curry and laughed/understood when we asked one of them what English people smelled like and they replied with dairy.  Hadn't really thought about Germans for a while, but it hit me (both mentally and aromatically) that Germans have some of the most unique and pungent of the B.O.  Was transported back in time to my younger travels, when the budget was much lower and the transportation and accommodations were less deluxe.  As Germans are avid travelers, I remember meeting up with many of them and catching a whiff of them and their backpacks after a few days on the road and without proper bathing facilities.  Had smelled BO at times around Austria, but on this train ride, which originated in Frankfurt, that same German BO smell permeated the air and sent me back to those backpacker days.  If I was to describe it like a wine connoisseur...tangy and earthy, with hints of vinegar and mayonnaise.

 We rolled into Budapest station around 6pm, and after the 'eat off the floor' cleanliness of the Austrian train stations, stepping into the cold and dark one in Hungary bumped us a bit, and first impressions were that we were stepping back in time.  We successfully navigated some currency exchange and two subways to arrive at our hotel, K+K Hotel Opera.  Really nice and modern, with perhaps the best hotel breakfast buffet I've ever had, and exquisitely located steps from the Opera House, a subway stop, and 15 minute walk from anything.  We were kinda gassed and asked the hotel for a restaurant recommendation that was casual.  5 minutes walk from the hotel was the Chagall Café.  This was the first of many meals we had in Budapest that was not only excellent, but transcendent.  The young girls had nice pastas while Betty, Paul and I shared the Bacon-wrapped duck fillet, served with pear puree with chilli & ginger and potato doughnuts, Chicken breast fillet with grilled goose liver and star anise-honey sauce, wine-braised pear and mashed potatoes, and the

Hungarian platter: sausage, salami, Liptauer, cold duck liver, cheese with fresh bread and vegetables.  So good.  And the fact we saw vegetables...fresh and beautiful green and red ones, was such a welcome change from the potato and mayo that Austria offered.  We shared a bottle of wine (they are one of the oldest wine producers in the world, whose industry collapsed under the Soviets, but is making a comeback and they offer unique varieties that I found 'bold') and the dude assumed Paul was of age and served him a healthy pour.  Casual atmosphere, attentive and friendly servers and a lively crowd that filled the place.  After sharing a couple of lovely desserts (Chocolate souffle with vanilla sauce and Ginger carrot cake with orange mascarpone), we were full and buzzed and feeling fine. 

And this exact same scenario was repeated with every meal.  Everything was familiar, but were all spiced uniquely and tasted delicious.  I can't remember one thing that we had that I would consider the best in my life (like the Stone House in Istanbul or Taco Lita in Arcadia), but the consistency of excellence and friendly ambiance was remarkable.  I think you would be really unlucky or on a mission to find a bad meal in that town.  And the street food all looked enticing too...we all particularly liked these funnel cakes that were grilling all over the place...you could pick from vanilla, chocolate and (our fave) cinnamon.

I mentioned the meats and veggies...all so good.  I learned a ton about Hungary and one of the things I didn't know was that it is a breadbasket of Central Europe.  With ample plains of volcanic soil, they grow a wide variety of things.  On our last morning there, we got up early for a trip to The Grand Market Hall to see what we could see.  In reading about it, sounded similar to Pike Place Market, but it blew that dump out of the water.

 Beautiful building and immaculately clean.  And it smelled so good, with pastries being baked on-site.

Look at those huge, colorful, and shiny peppers.  The first floor is all food while the second offers arts and crafts and has some cafes to grab a bite.  We had something that tasted like a beingnet and a huge sausage with a side of chili (unusual but still fabulous) on the side.  If I lived there, I would go every day.

I don't take a lot of food pictures but did take this of my club sandwich at Cafe Gerbeaud

Deluxe...just the bread alone (that it wasn't on some limp white bread) made it special. We had just finished a long four hour morning walking tour on a very cold day and dove in here for some lunch and coffee.  The reason we picked this place was total kismet.  A buddy of mine from college, one that I don't speak to much unfortunately, but am friends with on Facebook, happened to post something that morning.  He doesn't post a lot, but shared a link about his mother.  Her name was Clara Ambrus, and as a medical student in 1944 Hungary, managed to save the lives of many Jews.  Click on that link and read about her...a true hero.  Amazingly small world that he would post this on the first day we were in Budapest.  I asked my buddy if I could honor her in some way while we were there and he said that her favorite thing to do in town was to enjoy an espresso and Dobos torte at the Café Gerbeaud...his memory of her was that he could still see the smile on her face when she was there.  How could I not honor that memory. 

Damn good piece of cake.  Being able to share the story of my friend's mom was a great opportunity for us to talk about Hungarian history with the kids.  Am fascinated by history and knew the big picture about Hungary, but being there allowed for a deeper dive.  Very briefly...since before Christ, it was inhabited/ruled by Romans, Huns, Ostrogoths, Lombards...pretty much a who's who of nomadic conquerors.  The Hungarian people trace their roots to Slavs that came from east of the Ural mountains and settled in the fertile plains.  In 895, these tribes unified and the country was born.  100 years later, King Stephen converted the country to Christianity and became a Saint 100 years after that.  They did well for a few hundred years until internal instability and religious division weakened them  to the point where after 150 years of war, much of Hungary, including Budapest, fell to the Ottomans in 1541.  Occupied for by the Turks for a 100 plus years more, Budapest was "liberated" by the Hapsburg led Holy league in  1686.

Hungary's liberation was more of it becoming a vassal state of the Austrians.  The Hungarians rebelled in the mid-1800's, and while they did not achieve independence, they were given autonomy over their internal affairs while still paying tribute to Austria.  It was during this period between 1850 and WWI when Budapest exploded with construction, and that is mainly attributed to the benevolence of the Hapsburg Queen Elizabeth (you remember her as Sissi from the Vienna post...).  She loved Hungary.  In reading more about her recently, she was a bizarre character.  She was not born into royalty, but the Austrian Emperor Josef fell in love and married her.  She never acclimated to royal life and went kinda nuts after her son (who she was not allowed to raise) committed suicide.  Her vanity was something of legend...devotion to maintaining her slim figure, she was bulimic before that ever became a thing.  Eating chicken and salad for dinner, then eating an entire cake before purging it later.  She was a workout junkie, with gyms built in her bedrooms.    Getting her hair ready to go out took three hours and was so heavy that it's weight would give her headaches.  And she was devoted to keeping her skin milky white, using crushed strawberries or raw veal in her leather sleeping mask, showering in cold water in the morning, and taking a bath in olive oil every night.  Oh yeah, she was also a chain smoker.

But she loved Hungary (and is rumored she loved a Hungarian prince even more) and helped negotiate Hungarians relative independence and helped orchestrate the building of modern Budapest in the neoclassical style (more on that later).

As they were bound to the Austrians in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they were on the losing team in WWI.  We all know how the Treaty of Versailles ended WWI and helped lead to WWII by crippling Germany, but we learned about the Treaty of Trianon which officially ended that war between the allies and Hungary in 1920.  That treaty stripped Hungary of 72% of its land and 64% of its population, giving large chunks to it neighbors.

Between the wars, the Germans "helped" Hungary reclaim some of its territory, so they were then obligated to throw down with them in WWII (Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria are all defined as "affiliate states" of the Axis powers)..  While not major participants in the German Army, they did send some troops to assist in the invasion of the Soviet Union.  Their major contribution to the war effort was by providing food and weaponry.  Due to their friendship with the Germans, Hungary, and notably its Jewish population, was left relatively (if you count 40,000 "deported") alone.

Budapest had always had a large Jewish population.  The second largest synagogue in the world (first is in NYC) was, and is in Budapest.  They had a thriving population there for centuries and the city was lovingly referred to as Jewdapest.  Towards the end of WWII, the Hungarians could see that the Germans were going to lose, so the government began looking for ways to flip sides.  The Germans caught wind of this treachery, and knowing they could not lose this key land to their east without a fight, occupied Hungary.  With the occupation came the extermination of 400,000 Jews with most being sent to Auschwitz within a three month period in 1944.  It would have been even worse had the Soviets not advanced and began the Battle of Budapest. 

An extremely long, bloody and destructive battle, the city was laid to waste.  The Soviets, seeing the Hungarians as fighting along side the Nazi's, were in no mood for largess, and they proceeded to ransack the country and rape the population.

We all know that they in turn occupied and installed a delightful communist regime that lasted until 1989.  In the 2 1/2 decades since, the Hungarians have been democratic, with power wavering between socialist and right wing parties.  Not as left/right as the two predecessors, but enough to keep the flames of those two ideologies alive. 

The first thing you notice about the buildings in Budapest is that they all seem to be from a similar time.  Primarily built between 1850 and 1911, the neo-classical style made me feel as if I were in Paris. 

The Parliament building majestic...wherever you go, the locals always like to tout they have the biggest this or the longest that.  Our guide pointed out this Parliament building was the largest governmental one in Continental Europe.  Apparently, the British one is bigger, and technically, the one in Bulgaria is also larger, but it is not all used as a governmental building, so they can still lay claim to largest Parliament bldg. 'Fill in the blank' is the 'add descriptive word' in Continental Europe became a running gag.

Budapest is split in two by the Danube River...Buda on one side, and Pest on the other.  This creates some amazing views and we were lucky to get on top of a hill overlooking the city one evening.

Photos do not do it justice.  The most famous bridge crossing the Danube is the Chain Bridge, but they all have a charm that puts you back in time.

Everything looked well maintained, which is amazing considering that all the bridges and 90% of the city was reduced to rubble in 1944, and that the intervening decades were controlled by a Soviet regime whose Socialist Realism school of architecture was aesthetically boring  That they were able to rebuild the town in its  Neo-classical style felt impressive.

With a past embedded in all of the tides of European (and Ottoman) history, there are nods to those times as you stroll about.  This monument is the newest and most controversial. 

Erected in July of 2014, it was to commemorate "all of the victims" of German occupation and shows the German Imperial Eagle descending on Hungary, represented by the Archangel Gabriel.  What the Jews and much of the population oppose is that it shows Hungary as just a victim and does not recognize that a large portion of the Hungarian population sided with the Nazi's and had active roles in the extermination of gypsies, communists and Jews and conveniently absolves the Hungarians of those atrocities.  It was criticized while still in design and the government had to erect it in the middle of the night to evade protest.  It has since become a rallying place for those that will not allow the past to be forgotten. 

At the banks of the Danube, there is this...

The Nazi's and their local affiliate, the Arrow Cross, would find Jews on the street and walk them to the banks of the river where they would execute them and let their bodies float away, and these brass shoes are there to remember that time.  Our guide told us about a woman she met who as a child was marched down there with her mother, and as they were about to be shot, the "soldiers" became distracted by another group of Jews and left to confront them.  Impactful.

In 1956, the Hungarians rose up against the Soviets during the time when Khrushchev internally censored the Stalinist purges.  They effectively threw out the Communist regime for 10 days, before Soviet tanks rolled in to restore power.  Many people died in the square outside of Parliament and that event is remembered by these iron markers showing the bullet holes the building took during those days.

In the same square as the "victims" memorial above, is the only remaining monument standing that was left by the Soviets. 

Unlike the rest of the countries behind the Iron Curtain, the Hungarians did not topple all of the Soviet statues, but moved them to a park a few miles outside of Budapest.  Really wanted to go to that, but time prevented.  This one commemorates the Soviet solders that died in the Battle of Budapest, and while most Hungarians are "not fond" of it, the government negotiated to leave it there so as to not totally anger the Russians.  They realize that to totally piss them off could have negative ramifications...as the Ukrainians are finding out first hand.

Not coincidentally, right next to this statue is this one of our old friend, Ronald Reagan, who is seen as the man who tore down that wall.

Had read in our travel book about the Terror Museum, and thought it might be something that the kids would like to see.  It's not Disneyland, but kids tend to be interested in the macabre.  It was going to be a thing to do if we ran out of things to do, but our guide said it was a must see. 

That stenciled roof projects the word terror in shadow onto the building when the sun is shining.  The House of Terror details the atrocities of both Nazi and Soviet regimes in a building that was an interrogation center, prison and execution site for both.  They pull no punches here and you get the feel for the scope of what horrors humans are capable of.   

With such a rich history of horrible things, one would think that the people would be morose, but found that the opposite was true.  They are open and frank about these things, and their historical role in them.  From recognizing that Hungarians killed Hungarians, or that they "chose poorly" when siding with the Nazi's or cooperating with the Soviets, the frank and honest assessment of themselves, instead of just blaming the forces at work was refreshing.  And while they do not forget the past, they do not seem bound to it, and felt a sense of fun everywhere.  All around town, you saw spontaneous signs of whimsy.

There was a dusting of snow overnight, and as we walked the streets the next morning, the amount of notes written on car windows was copious...and all in English for some reason.  There were quite a few love notes.

And even more of your edgier sentiments...

Walking around other city centers in Europe, I get a feeling that are not like they used to be and have become museums of the past that cater to the tourist.  Every shop is full of tacky souvenirs and restaurants catering to foreigners.  Central Budapest did not feel that way at all...there were hipster clothing stores and funky furniture places all over.  A favorite were the Ruin Pubs.  Not all of Budapest was reconstructed from the wars uniformly, and in the time since the Soviet empire collapsed, there were still many buildings that were bombed out shells.  Some entrepreneurs took over these buildings and created funky bars.  These pix are from one our guide took us to.

The kids are sitting at a table that is in the middle of the room that is in a hallowed out Trabant, which is the old East German piece of crap auto maker.  She said this is the most sought after table in the place.  This bar was so unbelievable cool...

I should mention here that we had the greatest guide.  Judit Farkas (translated...Judy Wolf), she not only brought a great sense of history to our walks, but was also young and fun.  Her boyfriend is from Ohio and is a big Steelers fan.  She is now a friend on Facebook and saw her cheering on the Seahawks at a Super Bowl party  We hooked up with her through a friend here...we were planning our trip last October and randomly sat next to a lady at a charity auction.  She had just returned that morning from the exact same trip we were planning and said she met Judith at this very pub and told her she would pass along her name should the occasion arise.  Talk about small world.  Judit is on the right.

As we were communicating on our itinerary with Judit, I wanted to arrange to see some music.  Finding the Opera was sold out, I asked her if there were any other options, and she said they had concerts at St Stephen's Basilica.  Not having a way to purchase tix on line for that, she even went and got them for us...so nice.  Gorgeous church...it houses the right arm of St. Stephen himself.  Another night of classical greatest hits, the main instrument was the church organ which was variously accompanied by horns or violins, and a tenor or soprano.  Kind of torturous for me from a music standpoint, but beautifully done and quite surreal.

Great food, pretty city, interesting history, hip population...what more do you want?  Reasonably priced?  It was.  Not dirt cheap like a Vietnam, but compared to other European cities in western Europe, all the pricing seemed very fair.  As we were on the road for two weeks, being able to do laundry at some point is key for every one's well being.  The hotel's prices were pretty outrageous, but they did say there was a laundromat a few minutes walk away.  They didn't know the details, so we budgeted a few hours to do the coin-op thing.  Turned out it was a drop off place where they washed, dried, fluffed and folded your stuff.   We did two huge loads and it cost 12 bucks.  We didn't have to sit there for a couple hours watching the cycles do their thing, nor hassle with change and soap.  Dropped it off one morning, picked it up the next, and everything smelled fresh and was lovingly folded.  I was always jealous of my buddy Howie who used to do the drop off thing in NYC years ago, and having now experienced it first hand, can say it is probably one of the greatest luxuries ever.

You ready to go yet?  As you can probably tell, I freaking loved this place.  I didn't even go into a bunch of other things, like walking around the Pest Castle, and learning about the Jewish quarter (complete with a delicious bowl of matzo ball soup).  If I was an unattached twenty something, I might not have left.  Before I close this post, I have to tell you about the best thing we did...visit the Szechenyi Baths.

Our train out of town was at 6PM and we did not have any tours planned.  In the morning, we got up early and went to the Grand Market (above) for breakfast.  Went back to the hotel to pack up/check out, then took the subway 6 stops to the baths. 

Oh yeah...I forgot, the second oldest subway line (and oldest in Continental Europe) is located in Budapest and our hotel was on one of the stops.  It linked to the 4 other lines as well as a well maintained and interconnected series of buses and trams that made any part of the city reachable in minutes.  Not only was the old subway line extremely cool, but have to add great transportation as another plus in the Budapest column.

Budapest is over a thermal hot spot, so there are many sources of hot water springs.  The Turks didn't miss the opportunity and set up a series of bath houses around town that survive to this day.  Being fans of those, we were looking for one to visit, but kept reading about the Szechenyi ones as being unique, so decided on those. 

Set up in Roman style, there are three huge outdoor pools with water temps between 36 and 38 degrees Celsius (96 - 100 degrees Fahrenheit).  As the air temperature was freezing, the pools had a constant covering of steam.  And the town comes out to these as the pools were full, but didn't feel packed in any way....the layer of steam gave a kind of anonymity.  We were enjoying the outside pools and kept seeing people go into a large building opposite the entrance/locker rooms, so we investigated.  Inside were at least a dozen other smaller pools with varying temperatures...from cold to 38 C (100 F).  Many of those were labeled as mineral baths...Judit told us that you can get a prescription to go to the baths from your doctor for certain ailments.  There were also wet and dry saunas inside.  Spectacular time.  Wasn't able to take photos, but go to that link above and you will see what I'm talking about.  I did get this one of the outside in my après bath euphoric state 

After a couple/three hours, we were all relaxed and happy.  Time for one final delicious meal and away we went.  The odds of getting back there for me are probably pretty slim, but I really hope to one day.  The least I can do is to sing its praises in hopes of convincing just one of you to add it to your itinerary some day.