Eastern Europe, Hungary, Lithuania, Türkiye

2025 was an interesting travel year…

Featured photo is of Bill and me at our Advent market in Breckenheim… we sure did have a great year of travel in 2025!

Bill and I thought about going to the annual Wiesbaden Sternemarkt (Christmas market) over the weekend. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty grim– cold, wet, and when it wasn’t raining, a bit damp. I just didn’t feel like putting on clothes and venturing out into the chilly weather to walk around the crowds and see the same stuff they put out every year. Maybe we’ll go next weekend, or at some point during the week.

It’s been a pretty busy fall, though, so I think we both just wanted to relax. Bill has had a bunch of business trips lately. The last one, which was to the United States, ended last weekend. He decided to spend Saturday making a kimchi recipe from a book on fermenting foods that I bought him for Christmas last year. I spent my Saturday making a new Christmas themed parody song for my YouTube channel. And yesterday, we just kind of rested, watched videos, and watched our new neighbor moving into the newly vacated row house catty cornered to us. Hopefully, he won’t turn out to be a jerk. He’s already annoyed Bill by blocking our car.

Since we didn’t do anything special over the weekend, I decided today I’d write about our year in travel. 2025 turned out to be our year to visit Switzerland a bunch of times, but we also went to a few exotic places I’d been wanting to visit or re-visit. So here goes… our travel year, 2025. I didn’t include any day trips on this– it would have made the post too long!

*The bill at our first three star Michelin restaurant experience! It was worth every Swiss cent!*

Basel, Switzerland— January 2025

We decided to visit Basel, Switzerland as Trump was coming back to the White House. We chose Basel because it had been a city we’d wanted to visit for some time, and it’s convenient from the Frankfurt train station. I liked the idea of being in Switzerland, close to France and Germany. I also had a burning desire to visit Les Trois Rois, a fabulous old hotel on the Rhein (Rhine) River.

Switzerland seemed like a nice, calm, neutral, safe, and sane place to go, as Joe Biden left Washington, DC, and the orange pervert came back to terrorize us. I wanted to hope things wouldn’t get as bad as I imagined they’d be… Unfortunately, that hope was not to come to fruition, although so far, Bill and I are still doing okay.

Our trip to Basel was highlighted with a trip to our very first three star Michelin restaurant, Cheval Blanc, which was at the wonderful Les Trois Rois. I also remember getting scolded for taking off my coat in a museum, and eating a dinner decided by rolling dice and looking at tarot cards. It was a fun trip! I’d definitely go back.
Abruzzo, Italy, by way of Vico Morcote, Switzerland— March 2025

We decided to take a longer trip to Italy by way of Switzerland. Bill has a co-worker who bought property in Abruzzo, Italy, and he wanted to go down there to check out the area. Since Abruzzo is a ways from Wiesbaden, we stopped in Vico Morcote (near Lugano, Switzerland) on the way down.

On the way back, we spent a couple of nights in picturesque Vipiteno, Italy, which is right by the Austrian border. I had been to Vipiteno once before, on a day trip back in 2009 via a bus tour operated by the Edelweiss resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. I liked Vipiteno more on my own!

Will we buy property in Italy? Maybe… but other stuff happened this year that may affect that decision. I keep socking away money, just in case. Below is a photo from the vineyards owned by the hotel where we stayed. The Lugano area of Switzerland is very Italian, but much posher!

*A view of Lake Lugano from Vico Morcote, Switzerland*

3. Vilnius, Lithuania— June 2025

We decided to visit the former Soviet Republic of Lithuania, and the capital city of Vilnius, in particular, for my 53rd birthday. I believe it was a “champagne bucket” drawing winner. I had wanted to go to Lithuania because it was the one Baltic country Bill and I hadn’t yet visited, and because it was a former Soviet country. It turned out to be a really interesting place to visit! I especially enjoyed visiting the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights, which eerily reminded me of what’s happening in the United States right now.

The city of Vilnius has a great beer culture, but they also have really excellent food! And there’s a lot to do, as well as good shopping. I also appreciated that it was cool in June, rather than sweltering hot like it was in Germany. I’d love to visit again and see some more of the country. I hope we’ll get the opportunity!

*This pink soup with a beet base turned out to be surprisingly delicious and refreshing! You can find this all over Vilnius!*

4. Zürich, Switzerland— June/July 2025

We spent a little over a week in the Seefeld area of Zürich because Bill wanted to take the summer session at the C.G. Jung Institute in nearby Küsnacht. There isn’t a lot of lodging in Küsnacht, which is more of a residential area, so we booked an Apart-Hotel in the city. It turned out to be a good place to stay, as it was very close to the lake, as well as lots of restaurants, museums, and the botanical gardens.

I spent several days mesmerized by the sight of the pristine blue lake, watching people swim, boat, do yoga, and hydrofoil. This wasn’t much of a pleasure trip, since Bill was in class all day. I did enjoy myself, though, as Switzerland is a very beautiful country, even if it is very expensive. Bill’s experiences during the summer session cemented his decision to apply to study at the Institute.

*A common scene on Lake Zürich in late June and early July. The lake is alive with activity! People liked my “Trump Sucks” t-shirt, too.*

5. Budapest, Hungary— September 2025

I went to Budapest with Bill in September. He was there on business, but I got to tag along with him and spend six nights walking around Hungary’s capital city once again. Our first visit there was in September 2009– it had been our last trip before we had to move back to the United States thanks to Bill’s narcissistic Army boss. That trip had been wonderful, although we stayed in a different part of the city in a much nicer hotel. This time, we were in the thick of the tourist area, but in a less excellent hotel.

I’m glad I had a chance to visit Budapest again, because I got a totally different view of it during our second visit. I also got a taste of the wonderful musicians in Hungary. I think I knew Hungary had a great music culture, but I heard it firsthand on this trip… and I even got to join in with one band!

*Budapest has lots to see and hear, even if you’re dining at a tourist trap!*

6. Küsnacht, Switzerland— October 2025

Bill decided to apply to study at the C.G. Jung Institute in Küsnacht, and part of the process of seeking admission involved being interviewed by three Jungian analysts. Two of the analysts Bill was assigned to speak to had offices in Zürich. In fact, they were located in Seefeld, the area where Bill and I stayed during the summer session! However, this time, we decided to stay in Küsnacht at the Sonne Hotel, which had been fully booked when we visited during the summer.

I booked us into one of the hotel’s best rooms, and I got a beautiful view of Lake Zürich. We also ate at several nice restaurants and took another lake cruise, which was just as idyllic in the fall as it was in the summer. This time, we were on a steamboat, which was a different experience.

Bill’s bid to study at the Jung Institute was successful, so I suspect we’ll get to visit this area lots of times. Or, at least we will as long as we’re living in Europe. If we have to go back to the States, I might not get to go so often. I’m glad we visited the quiet suburb of Küsnacht, though. It has a different vibe than the big city of Zürich has, even though it’s right next to it.

6. Istanbul (Maslak), Türkiye— November 2025

The day after our 23rd wedding anniversary, Bill had to go to Istanbul for another business trip. He invited me to go with him, which I was happy to do. This was my second visit to Istanbul. The first was in the summer of 1996, and was a lot less fancy than this trip was– although in the 90s, my friend and I stayed much closer to the tourist areas. Maslak is a business district, so it’s not so convenient for tourist purposes.

I still managed to have a pretty good time revisiting this fascinating city and seeing Taksim again, the area where my friend Elaine and I stayed in 1996. I’d like to go back to Istanbul with Bill and really do it right– see the tourist spots and pick up some cool souvenirs. But it was great to go back to Istanbul, even if it was just for a few days in the financial district. As usual, I learned new things.

*A dramatic shot of a seagull I got while watching hundreds of them descend on a mosque in search of food. It was very surreal!*

I don’t think we’re going anywhere else in 2025, but I’m already planning a trip to Stuttgart at the end of January 2026. Bill and I are overdue for dental cleanings. But– I have already found a new hotel with an exciting restaurant to try out in the suburb of Waiblingen, so there will something new in the blog then… and potentially even before then. We’ll see what happens!

Below is a gallery that sums up our year of travel in 2025… (or at least the travel I was part of– Bill went on a few work trips alone). Not bad, eh?

Eastern Europe, Hungary

Ten things I learned in Budapest, Hungary…

Here it is, the much anticipated “ten things I learned”, post… /sarcasm. Seriously, though, when I take trips, I like to take a few minutes to reflect on the new things I learned thanks to travel. And I did learn some new things in Hungary, this time. So here’s my latest list of ten things I learned, Budapest, Hungary edition!

10. The word “tilos” means “silence” in Lithuanian. In Hungarian, it means “forbidden”.

Interesting, huh? I noticed that word on signs in churches in Lithuania, when we went there in June, so I looked it up. Then I saw it in Hungary, but I didn’t go into any churches while we were there. So that word is used in two different countries and languages to direct people in how to behave.

9. Old Forints are worthless in Hungary.

When Bill and I took a taxi into Budapest, a cab driver gave Bill change for the ride. In the change, he included an old 1000 Forints note, which Bill gave to me. Later, I tried to spend it, and learned that Hungary changed its currency and the old notes are now worthless. We probably could have taken it to a post office, but we’re going to send it to Bill’s grandson, instead. The bigger note below is now worth nothing.

8. English is EVERYWHERE in Budapest.

I know I shouldn’t have been, but I was surprised by how very widespread English is in Hungary. Lots of signs were in English, and all menus were translated. A lot of people didn’t even speak with a heavy accent. In a way, I was kind of disheartened by how much English is used there. But it did make things easier for us tourists…

7. Speaking of tourists, they were also everywhere in Budapest!

On Friday night, I was especially aware of how many tourists were in Budapest. It felt like waves of visitors. I wonder what it’s like for the natives, having to deal with so many throngs of tourists congesting the city. Yes, they spend money, but they also make it hard to even just walk around downtown. One day, I counted FIVE Viking River Cruise ships. There were other cruise companies there, too.

6. You can see a lot of things in Budapest, just by walking around the city.

I only made it to one museum, and yet I saw plenty of stuff for free, just taking daily walks around the main drags. And there was a whole lot of stuff I didn’t see. I could go back there, spend a week, and still not see everything. I’d like to go back and spend more time on Margaret Island.

5. Someone built a Michael Jackson shrine in Budapest, and it’s “unmolested”…

4. If you love music, Budapest is a great city for you!

I was so impressed by the excellent music we heard in restaurants. Even tourist traps have really excellent live musicians who play with passion and love.

3. The Retro Museum will take you back to a time when Budapest was not so easy for westerners to visit.

And if you take your time in there, you will learn new things about how things used to be in Hungary. I was particularly interested in the exhibit about school. It was there that I learned about “Little Drummers”, which was the first stage of the communist youth movement for Hungarian children, back in the day.

2. There are 60 pairs of metal shoes by the Danube.

They were placed there to memorialize Hungarian Jews who were murdered by Nazis from 1944-45. An estimated 2600 to 3600 people were lined up by the Danube River and shot. Before they were shot, they were forced to remove their valuable shoes, so they would not be lost to the river when the dead bodies fell into it.

1. There are statues all over Budapest, commemorating famous Hungarians and other people.

Some of them sit on park benches. Some stand on bridges. Some are lurking in parks or on bridges, or even sitting by the Danube River. I should have paid closer attention to them during my week in Budapest, but maybe I’ll get a chance to go back.

Budapest is a fascinating city. Both times I’ve visited, I’ve had a great time. I hope we can go back again at a different time of year, perhaps during the “low” season… if they actually have one, that is. It’s definitely a vibrant place, full of fit, beautiful, warm-hearted people who are welcoming and kind. I’m so glad I had the chance to see it again, after sixteen years!

So ends my series on Budapest. Today, Bill and I have a lunch date at one of our favorite local restaurants, Villa im Tal. I’ll be writing that up later.

Eastern Europe, Hungary

Back to Budapest– The last day and the trip home… part seven

On his last conference day, Bill told me he’d be done with work early. We decided to spend the afternoon picking up some souvenirs for his grandchildren. In retrospect, maybe we should have gone and done something interesting together, like visiting St. Stephen’s Basilica. I do regret not going there during the week, now that I’ve seen some photos. But, to be honest, we were both a bit ready to go home and see our dogs. I was also pretty tired of the D8 Hotel and ready to sleep in my own bed.

So, on Friday morning, I decided to head out to the Danube and take some more photos, using my “fancy” Nikon digital camera. Of course, I forgot about all of the tourists… I’m not sure why I forgot, since there was a constant reminder of them. Cruise ships in Budapest are no joke! But I was thinking about how, on Sunday evening, I’d noticed park benches along the river, and I figured I could sit there for awhile and gaze at the water. Below are some photos I took with my phone.

*I was trying hard to figure out what the silvery dome was on the Buda side. I never did…*

As I sat on benches, looking at the river, I kept getting disturbed by groups of people milling around. Some of them traveled in tour groups. Some were just big families or groups of friends. Most weren’t watching where they were going, exercising any situational awareness, or being very considerate.

But at least I got a few more river shots. Below are some from the Nikon… It has an “artsy” setting. Maybe it’s time I bought a new Nikon. I’m sure they’ve upgraded this feature since 2017, when I bought my last PowerShot camera.

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that I also saw a lot of people riding e-scooters, renting them from an outfit called E-Magine. I didn’t try one myself, because one time, Bill and I rented Segways when we visited Antigua in 2011. I fell off of mine, and that experience, along with having my feet fall asleep, put me off of renting motorized vehicles that aren’t cars. Below is a very short video I took.

People seem to love these in Budapest.

Once Bill got back from work at about 1:00 PM, we went shopping on Váci Street. First, we stopped at the Retro Cube II Rubik’s Cube store and picked up a genuine Rubik’s Cube for Bill’s eldest grandchild. They had all kinds of stuff in there– puzzles I well remember from when I was about 8 or 9 years old myself!

Then we decided to have lunch. I was thinking maybe we’d go to a restaurant in an old, cool looking building, but we ended up at the place next door. They had a sign up that read “Local Food.” When I noticed that it looked like a lot of locals were there, we decided that might be a better bet than the more touristy old building next to it. The restaurant we had lunch at is called Simaliba, and it turned out to be a real gem! The food was fresh, creatively presented, and tasted good. It was also inexpensive! I noticed a large bass violin in the dining room, which suggests that they also have live music. If we go back to Budapest, we’ll have to visit Simaliba again.

I was really impressed by how good the pork was. It was very tender and flavorful. Yes, this was a heavy dish, and maybe not the most obvious choice on a warm September day, but I was unable to ignore temptation. Bill liked his fried perch, too. I had been eyeing that dish, myself!

After we ate lunch, we spent about an hour trying to locate the art store I found earlier in the week that had coloring books. We walked up and down Váci Street twice, and I was wondering if maybe I’d imagined seeing the place. But then we went a block further and finally found the shop. We bought a couple of prints, some magnets, and a Hungarian coloring book for the kids. I hadn’t noticed until we were paying that the guy running the shop was wearing a t-shirt that horrified me. It was shit colored brown and had pictures of toadstools all over it! Yikes!

After we bought our souvenirs, we headed back up Váci Street, and visited the World of Souvenir [sic] (I didn’t even recognize that the sign was missing an “s”), where we picked up a few more things for the younger kids and Bill’s daughter while Avril Lavigne blared over the speakers. By that time, it was late afternoon, so after we paid for our souvenirs, we decided to go back to the room to pack up our stuff. As we were heading back to the hotel, I noticed how extremely crowded the main shopping plaza was. Budapest was teeming with people. I felt a sudden urge to hole up in the hotel room, away from the crowds!

We decided that we didn’t want to go back out into the streets of Budapest. Bill picked up a bottle of wine at the hotel’s bar, and we stayed in and watched videos on YouTube, in preparation for our 11:35 flight back to Frankfurt the next morning.

***

We had breakfast on Saturday morning and grabbed our bags. Both of us were ready to leave Hungary’s capital, even though we had a good time on the trip. Bill was very happy I came with him on this work trip, because Budapest is a great city, and with me there after work, he was able to really enjoy the restaurants and the wonderful music and sights. I didn’t come away from Budapest quite as bowled over as I did in 2009, but I did make new discoveries, and realized that it’s an enchanting city, even though it’s very touristy now. Going to Budapest made me want to see more of Hungary, where not everyone speaks perfect English!

The cab driver picked us up and drove us to the airport. He was very friendly, and pointed out areas of interest, even letting us know that Budapest’s airport is not actually in Budapest, but is in a neighboring area called Vecses. He even pointed out the sign. However, if I look up the airport’s address, it says it’s in Budapest. Anyway, he pointed out a Holocaust museum, as well as Aeropark Budapest, an airplane museum at the airport that I noticed on the way in. I saw a couple of old Malev planes. I would come back to visit both museums, but only if Bill could come with me.

Once again, we waited at the gate for our flight. We were early enough that we got to see the last stragglers getting on the earlier Frankfurt flight! I sent Bill to go buy some Unicum— a Hungarian digestive liqueur that tastes like death– just so we could have it. I like the bottle. If I’m honest, though, I prefer the Czech herbal digestive, Becherovka. It has more of a cinnamon taste.

When we got on the plane, I was sitting in business class. The flight was mostly completely booked, but I had been moved from my original 4F seat to 3F. I figured maybe they needed the extra row for economy passengers. As I waited to see who would be sitting next to me, I noticed a bumbling guy in the front row. He and his wife had three carry on bags between them, and were holding everyone up. And then, when he went to get something out of one of the bags he had stowed over the second row, a metal water bottle fell out and almost hit the lady sitting by the aisle. He was going to put it back in the overhead compartment, but the flight attendant wisely told him to keep it at his seat so it wouldn’t leak, or roll out again.

As more people filed onto the plane, one of Bill’s co-workers walked by me and laughed. She said Bill sure knew how to treat me right. I commented that he’s the “anti-incel”. And then, the boarding was completed, and neither I, nor the Lufthansa crew member on the opposite side of the aisle, had people sitting next to us. Lucky us!

Needless to say, it was a dreamy flight. Even the food was pretty decent. I enjoyed some white wine with it… and took some photos of the sky. I even got a couple of pictures of Budapest as we flew over it. And, of course, I also got pictures of Frankfurt’s famous skyline.

When we landed, I really needed to pee! And since we were twenty minutes early, the plane’s parking spot was occupied. So I held on… and then, once I got off the plane, I went to the first restroom I saw. There was a long line. I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and a kind airport worker invited me to use the handicapped toilet! Phew! What a relief! But then, I couldn’t get the toilet to flush, no matter what I tried. It was one of those motion detector ones. I sheepishly slunk out of the bathroom, while another woman quickly took my place. I hope she wasn’t offended… but then, she probably also discovered that the toilet wouldn’t flush.

I went down to the baggage claim. Bill showed up a few minutes later. We got our bags, and I noticed one of the baggage carousels looked like a roulette wheel…

And soon, we were in a taxi, heading back home to Breckenheim. Bill brought the dogs home a few hours later, and I am now left here with my memories of a great week in Budapest.

We definitely had fun in Hungary. I’d love to go back. If we do, though, I think I’d choose a different hotel than D8. It wasn’t a terrible place to spend a night or two, but for six nights, it was a bit too cramped. Also, the doors were heavy, and not spring loaded, so when people would leave their rooms, and let go of the doors, they would SLAM!!!! That got old really quick!

D8 Hotel does get good reviews, and I can see why some people really like that hotel. It’s probably the cheapest in the area, and it’s in an excellent location. But, even that is a bit of a drawback, because it gets pretty loud in that part of Budapest. And unfortunately, we didn’t figure out the air conditioning until the final night… then we had it on too high, and spent the night chilled. I know… we should have adjusted it, but I think we were just over trying to discover things and wanted to get through the night and back to our normal life.

So ends my blow by blow of our trip to Budapest. Stay tuned for my usual “ten things I learned” post. This time, I’ve got some interesting stuff to report.

Eastern Europe, Hungary

Back to Budapest– A brief journey back to the Iron Curtain days… part six

On Thursday morning after breakfast, I decided that instead of walking all over the place, I’d go visit that cool looking Retro Museum. So, after doing some writing on my main blog, I headed back out toward St. Stephen’s Basilica, where I had noticed signs for the museum. Instead of turning right on the street named Oktober 6, I turned left. Seconds later, I spotted the museum. It was impossible to miss it, as the facade was in bright red. I might have thought of it as a tourist trap, but actually, I thought it was a fun museum, creatively put together for those of us who remember life before the Iron Curtain fell.

Below are a couple of photos from Thursday morning, before I walked into the museum. I didn’t get a chance to try the chimney cake, but they were being offered all over Budapest. I think I even saw a class offered for making them.

After taking a moment to listen to the many noisy children playing at a nearby playground, I walked into the museum. A man in a red vest immediately said hello and directed me to the ticket counter, where I paid 5500 forints (about $17 or 14 euros) to take a trip back in time, before most people could so easily visit Hungary.

The Retro Museum covers three floors and offers an interactive experience that allows patrons to get a sense of what Budapest was like back in the day. It took me a minute to realize that they had designed exhibits by putting them in what appeared to be mock ups of block style housing. Each “building” had little doors on them that could be opened, revealing an artifact from the communist days of yore. There were quite a few of these “building” exhibits… maybe more than were really necessary. But they did have some interesting stuff in them– schoolbooks, records, toys, books, medals, and even displays of packaged foods from that era. I also noticed they had a display about Hungary’s now defunct national airline, Malev. Bill and I flew on Malev the first time we visited Budapest, but it went out of business in February 2012.

I particularly enjoyed the exhibit about what school was like back in the day. If I had been born in Hungary, that was how MY schooling would have been. I’d also be a Russian speaker, because Russian was required learning for schoolkids until the late 1980s.

There were also some interactive quizzes visitors could take to test their knowledge. Unfortunately, most of them were only offered in Hungarian. I tried a couple of them, anyway, just to see how much I could understand. Not surprisingly, I did poorly. Below are photos from the “building exhibits” in museum…

Some of the stuff they had on display were things I remembered from my American upbringing. For instance, they had a Commodore 64 computer in there, complete with cassette player for computer games. That was a real blast from the past!

Once I got past the faux Soviet era buildings, I encountered a “TV studio”, inviting patrons to pretend they are newscasters. One lady had brought her two children and one of the kids was doing a good job pretending. I heard two older ladies singing in Russian (or maybe Hungarian) along with the music that was playing. Obviously, these were songs most kids learned back in those days, as the school curriculum was uniform across the country.

Next, there was a mock up of a Hungarian kitchen from back in the days before the Iron Curtain fell. I got a kick out of that. It reminded me of the kitchens I encountered in Armenia, right down to the old fashioned refrigerator. Actually, the kitchen was nicer than what I had in Armenia, where I lived in one of those “block style” buildings.

The kitchen led to a living room, where the two singing older ladies had made themselves comfortable, sitting on one of the old couches, watching old TV… They even had an exhibit in which you could stand in front of a green screen and try on Hungarian fashions. I wasn’t wanting to do that, because I don’t like looking at myself in the mirror.

From the living room, there was an elevator, leading down to the first floor, where the space program was displayed using cool interactive exhibits. They also had an exhibit showing other technology. There was one exhibit that I couldn’t quite figure out. The lady with the two kids kind of pushed me out, anyway, before I could determine how the exhibit worked.

And then finally, there was a room highlighting transportation. There was a car from the Iron Curtain era, as well as a “police car” that people were allowed to sit in and try to “drive”. I didn’t attempt to “drive” the police car, because the seat looked like it was made more for children! But I did watch one lady try to interact with that exhibit and heard her shriek with surprise at how difficult it was to “drive” the cop car. They also had old phone booths with recordings of jokes, songs, and newscasts, among other things.

All in all, I really enjoyed visiting the Retro Museum. I probably could have spent more time in there. I will say, though, that there was a lot of stuff in there, and it was kind of overwhelming. And some of the exhibits were a bit limited to Hungarians, and mostly understandable to people from Hungary. I noticed a lot of local people, especially of a certain age, getting the exhibits more than the younger folks. And, of course, some of it was only in Hungarian, which surprised me.

The museum has a bistro, which offers food that might be considered “retro”. I didn’t partake of anything from the bistro. It looked like most of what they were offering were variations of hot dogs and sausages, along with something called “Hungarian Fatty Bread” (yikes). They also had many kinds of non-alcoholic drinks, coffees, beers, and wines. They even offered cocktails! I do think it’s funny that “condiments” in Hungary are considered “dips”. Americans don’t consider ketchup, mustard, and mayo “dips”, and typically, we don’t charge extra for them. But, of course, I ain’t in America anymore, right?

After I visited the Retro Museum, I walked back toward Elizabeth Square. It was then that I noticed something unusual on a tree…

Yes… that is Michael Jackson. Someone in Budapest LOVES him. They made a shrine, and it has not been “molested” by anyone. I was surprised by that, so I took photos. I made the mistake of sharing one on YouTube, and got chastised by someone for “glorifying” a “child molester”. 🙄

I don’t know the truth behind Michael Jackson’s dalliances with children. I have heard the stories, and no matter what, I think that what he was doing was inappropriate. I also think that some of the blame for that lies with the parents of the children, who allowed their sons to spend nights with Michael. It would not have been a choice I would have made, myself, if I had ever had children of my own.

What I do know is that he was a huge star, and has now been dead for 16 years. And, like it or not, he was a big part of my childhood, just like Bill Cosby was. I don’t think sharing a photo of a shrine that I didn’t build is “glorifying” Michael Jackson. I just found it interesting.

I sat for awhile and was visited by pigeons who were almost completely tame. A couple of them got close enough that I could have easily touched their feathers.

Later, when Bill came back after work, we decided to go looking for dinner. We stopped first at the Ritzmajer Downtown. Hungarian Beer Bar. I was curious about the place. Although they offered food, we decided not to eat there after we had a round.

Instead, we turned down a street and wound up at a random bistro, where there was yet another excellent Hungarian gypsy music band playing. I bought another CD…

I don’t even remember the name of the restaurant (it was Rezkakas Bistro). The food was good, but I was mostly impressed by the live music. It started with an older man playing violin with a guy playing hammer dulcimer. Then, an hour later, more musicians showed up, and they moved to the other side of the restaurant. My view wasn’t as good then, but I was really impressed by the second violinist who played. He was much younger, and had real passion. When we bought the CD, the older violinist said it was his son. I was very impressed with him! I wonder if he makes love the way he plays his instrument. If you watch toward the end of the YouTube video below, you can see what I mean. His obvious passion for his music is written all over his young face.

They played everything from traditional Hungarian songs to Coldplay. At one point, they played “God Bless America”, which was very well-received, especially since it was 9/11 on the day of our visit. There were quite a few Americans in the restaurant, and they all cheered.

A sampling of the music we heard on Thursday night. I also thought the bartender was cute.

Again, the food was okay… service was a bit lackadaisical. But I really enjoyed the music. I especially enjoyed the lead violinist’s son, who really was entertaining. Unfortunately I got so emotional that I forgot to take a photo of the restaurant’s sign. But, after some sleuthing, I managed to figure out that we ate dinner at Rezkakas Bistro. According to their Web site, they are currently closed until October 1, 2025.

In any case, we enjoyed our visit to Rezkakas Bistro, especially for the music. It was a very nice evening!

Stay tuned for my post on our last full day in beautiful Budapest and the flight home to Germany!

Eastern Europe, Hungary, Memorials and monuments

Back to Budapest– Cloudy skies, Jewish memorials, quirky toilets, sexist servers, and Soviet monuments… part five

I got a kick out of the Art Toilet– especially the cat’s asshole…

After breakfast, after I did some morning writing, then picked up some vending machine tokens Bill had left over after getting water and a beer from the hotel vending machine. I figured after my walk on Wednesday, I could get something from the machine on the way up to the room.

The temperature had dropped, and the skies were cloudy. It looked like it might rain, so I figured I wouldn’t be walking many miles. To be honest, I wasn’t wanting to walk for that long, anyway. Nevertheless, I set off, and the first place I went to was a square where there was a statue of Archduke Joseph of Austria. On either side of the statue, there were two smaller ones with fountains that looked like they were made of ceramic. I was more impressed with the colorful, smaller, newer statues on either side of the bigger, older one of Archduke Joseph of Austria.

I continued walking and soon found myself near St. Stephen’s Basilica, a beautiful church with a treasury and observation terrace. I didn’t go into the basilica, because you have to buy tickets, and I prefer going to places like that with Bill. But I did take some photos, and I see I got a picture of that basilica in 2009, too…

I noticed this “Stolperstein” in Budapest. I didn’t see any others during our visit, but I’m sure they exist. In Germany, these are all over the place to memorialize people who died in the Holocaust.

I noticed signs for the Retro Museum near the basilica. That was a place I was actually willing to visit without Bill, so I headed in that direction. But, I turned the wrong way and headed further into the residential part of Budapest. Soon, I found myself near Liberty Square, looking at a very moving memorial for people who died in the Holocaust. Some of the papers in this memorial offered English translations.

I kept walking and passed a rather impressive looking playground, next to a large, rather Soviet era building, that didn’t seem to be maintained very well. The map tells me the building was the Exchange Palace. Close to that was the Soviet War Memorial, which commemorates Russian military who served in World War II. Looking at the war memorial brought back eerie flashbacks of my time in 90s era Armenia. A lady with four cute little dogs was also there. I focused my attention on them.

The sky darkened a bit, so I decided to move on. I walked through an unremarkable neighborhood, but noticed an interesting looking Hungarian restaurant called Taste of Hungary. You have to reserve to eat there, but I thought Bill might like it. I also noticed a familiar looking van… Unfortunately, we never got around to visiting the bistro, but maybe if we manage to visit Budapest again, we’ll make it there.

As I walked down the street, it looked like maybe there was a major road that might take me to an undiscovered part of the city, but as I got closer, I realized I was just looking at the Danube River. Soon, I noticed the Parliament building, which had become very familiar. I sighed and turned toward the now familiar Akademie Street, which I knew would get me back to the hotel. My ankle was starting to ache from all the walking, and soon it was painful. I decided it would be best to go take a rest.

I tried to decide if I wanted to eat lunch, but then determined I’d rather just relax for a bit. I got to the hotel and went to use the tokens for the vending machine. Unfortunately, I mistyped my choice, and wound up with a bottle of still water and M&Ms.

It was still late morning when I got back to the hotel. I went to the room, but it wasn’t yet made up, so I grabbed my iPad and peed, and went back to the lobby to wait for a bit. I noticed the housekeeping cart was in the hall, across from our room. I figured they would get to us soon. I played games on my iPad, ate the M&Ms, and drank the water.

After about 45 minutes, I went back to the room. It still wasn’t done, and they were still apparently cleaning the room across from us. I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell had happened in there, because they were doing an unusually thorough job of cleaning. I went back down to the lobby and then decided to take a short walk around, again thinking maybe I should have lunch. But I didn’t want to eat alone, so I went back to the hotel to try again.

I went back to the hotel… and ordered a large lager, just in case the housekeepers needed more time. When I went to pay for it, I was told one of my 1000 Forints notes is no longer valid. It’s old currency. I made what I’m sure was a hideous face when the lady told me that. Fortunately, I had another 1000 note that is good in 2025. I gave her that to cover the 2173 Forint bill for my beer, and told her to keep the change. I drank the beer, feeling really pissy and wanting to go home. Then, I went back up to the room, expecting that the room might finally be ready.

Below are 1000 Forints notes. The one on the left is no longer valuable. We’re going to send it to Bill’s grandson. Maybe he’ll find it interesting.

Unfortunately, once I got to the room again, they still hadn’t done the room. It was, at that point, after 1:00 PM, and I was feeling kind of cranky, because my ankle was hurting. As I was opening the door, one of the housekeepers appeared and asked if I wanted her to clean the room, or just change out the towels and get more toilet paper. I asked how long it would be before she was ready, and she said ten minutes. I told her she could skip us, because I didn’t want to loiter in the lobby anymore.

With the room situation settled, I took a nice nap. When I woke up, it was raining. I decided that would be a good excuse for us to go around the corner for dinner and eat at the Mercatino Ristorante Enoteca, an inviting looking Italian place very close to our hotel. When Bill got back to the room, that’s exactly what we did.

We walked to the restaurant, but first stopped at a very unusual public toilet near our hotel called Art Toilet. The below photos from from the men’s side, and we didn’t realize it was an actual working toilet until a woman used one of the stalls on the other side, which were identical, except there were toilets instead of urinals. You pay a machine admission, walk through a turnstile, and then get assaulted by the bizarre! There was weird 16 bit computer music playing, too. There was an art store next door, and a location of Madame Tussaud’s wax musuem. I think it was affiliated with Madame Tussaud’s. Have a look…

After we visited the quirky public pay toilet, we walked to the restaurant. We soon found ourselves sitting at a communal booth in the cozy restaurant. It was the kind of place where the tables were situated pretty close to each other, to maximize the number of people who could be served at one time. I understand that is a necessity in a city with as many restaurants as Budapest has, although it can lead to people being “trapped” at their tables, as they don’t want to have to squeeze their way out from between two tables that are close together.

I liked the inside of the Mercatino Ristorante. There were lots of bricks and a beautiful bar area, although it was just for preparing drinks, rather than sitting. The restaurant was pretty small, and I think reservations are probably a good idea there because of that. I got the sense that the manager/proprietor was very money focused, as well as loyal to his locals. He was clearly saving the coveted window seat for a regular who had made reservations.

Both a male and a female server served us. When the female server took a dish that had focaccia bread from us, I commented that I liked it. She hadn’t heard me, so I repeated myself. The male server piped up and said, “She doesn’t speak English very well.” I noticed that the comment offended the female, and she flipped him the bird. She and I privately shared a good laugh, as the male server was oblivious to his colleague’s middle finger salute.

There was an American couple sitting two two tops down from us at the banquette, and when two ladies showed up and said they had reservations, they were seated at the two top between us and the other American couple. The younger lady had asked if they could sit by the window, but the proprietor answered curtly, “No.” I was a bit taken aback by that, but perhaps I shouldn’t have been, after the way the male server had openly insulted his female colleague. I sensed a touch of sexism in that place.

The two ladies were speaking French, but they also spoke English. It turned out they were from Montreal, Canada. The American couple volunteered that they were in Budapest to start a two week cruise on a Viking ship. They asked if we were also on the cruise, and I said that Bill was in Budapest working, and I was tagging along.

The American couple gave off conservative vibes. They were from Florida, and I heard the American man asking about the taxes in Budapest. They only had main courses. The ladies from Canada shared an appetizer and had main courses. Bill and I had a bottle of wine, sparkling water, main courses, and dessert, so when we were paying the bill, we rated a house shot of limoncello. The manager asked us to rate them on Google, which I did. Below are some photos…

*Bill had spicy tiger shrimp with black squid ink spaghetti.*

I liked the restaurant fine, but was a little put off by the rather curt manager and the male waiter. I also didn’t like that they held our wine hostage, and we had to ask them to top us up. Still, the food was good, and it was nice to talk to the Canadian ladies from Montreal. When the American couple left, it was kind of clear that they weren’t fans of our current POTUS… although they were polite about it. We didn’t bring up politics, by the way. The American guy at the other table did, just before he complained about Hungarian taxes.

As we were leaving, the female server and I shared another laugh and a hearty goodbye. I liked her. She clearly has spunk and personality to go with her good looks. I think she’ll go far.

Well, that about does it for Wednesday, September 10th. Stay tuned for part six!

Eastern Europe, Hungary

Back to Budapest– Power walking, round two… part four

Tuesday morning, we got up for another hearty breakfast in D8 Hotel’s lobby. We sat at the same table, gazing at the rather large courtyard patio set up with umbrellas. I recognized a couple of guests who were in the hotel on Monday, but some new faces were also there, including one belonging to an adorable little boy with his mom. He had straight black hair and dark skin, and the most enchanting smile. I guessed him to be about three years old. He was so cute!

I decided I’d walk in the opposite direction that I took on Monday. Once again, I didn’t expect to walk several miles. I really just wanted to kill enough time to allow the housekeeper to clean the room. I walked through Vörösmarty Square, and down the main shopping drag, taking some photos along the way. I was impressed by the number of shops and restaurants there, including some that were very familiar to Americans. For instance, Budapest has a Hard Rock Cafe.

I took some pictures as I headed down the noisy pedestrian zone…

*Famous statue of the poet, Mihály Vörösmart*

Those of us who were around in the early 1980s might remember the Rubik’s Cube craze. Well, that puzzle was invented in 1974 by the Hungarian civil engineer and
architect Ernő Rubik. Hungarians are rightly proud of this puzzle, which has been stumping people for decades. I never could solve mine.

Once I got to the end of the shopping district, I noticed a fancy looking building across a boulevard. It turned out to be the Central Market Hall, which reminded me a whole lot of the Stuttgarter Markthalle. I didn’t buy anything there, but I did walk around and take some pictures. I even took some with my fancy Nikon camera with the artsy settings. There are souvenirs there, but there are also lots of food and beverage booths, where one can pick up the makings for dinner.

Once I left the Central Market Hall, I turned right, and noticed the Corvinus University of Budapest. I took a couple of pictures of that…

And then, there was another bridge to cross. Against my better judgment, I decided to walk back to the Buda side of the Danube by way of the Liberty Bridge, which is also home to the King Franz Joseph mini statue. Apparently, there are many mini statues in Budapest, made by Ukrainian artist, Mihály Kolodko. Below are some photos from my walk across this photogenic bridge…

Once I got to the other side of the bridge, I realized I was near one of Budapest’s well known spas, the Szent Gellért tér, as well as the Gellért Hill Cave and Szent István Király szobra. Again, I could have stopped by any of these attractions, but I was alone, and only had so many spoons. Edited to add: my friend provided a link to this article about the “guy” sitting on the Buda side of the Danube. So I contented myself by taking pictures…

As I walked toward the Chain Bridge, I realized that I was putting my body through another intense power walk. But I kept on, even though I was wearing pants instead of shorts, and it was still warm. As I was walking, I noticed that that side of the bridge was pretty noisy, and didn’t have the best sidewalk for walking on. There also weren’t many benches. But I knew I was getting close when I saw the base of Buda Castle, where there is a funicular for people like me. Lots of tourists were congregating there. I took photos…

I crossed back over the Chain Bridge, and headed for the hotel, where I hoped the room would be made up, so I could take a shower and a nap. Fortunately, it was. I skipped the post walk lager, and took a nap.

Later, when Bill got back to the room, we decided to have dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. I was craving a cheeseburger. While we were dining at the famed American chain, we listened to Ozzy Osbourne, who recently passed away. Our waiter walked around like an exam proctor, and the host who brought us to our table asked strange questions about where we were from… but the food wasn’t bad, and I had a couple of local Dreher beers, a lager, and a Meggy (sour cherry) beer. The food was okay. Maybe I should have gone for twisted macaroni and cheese or fajitas instead, though.

After we ate, we decided to visit Budapest’s Eye, which is in Elizabeth’s Square. It’s only been recently that I’ve been able to get Bill on a ferris wheel. He doesn’t like heights. But the one in Budapest, like the one in Antwerp, is fully enclosed, which makes taking pictures harder, but puts Bill’s mind at ease. I think we got four or five turns on the wheel, which was nice. There was no line when we visited.

And then, to cap off the evening, we stopped by the bar in the hotel and had beer. It was very refreshing after my five mile stroll around the city.

It was a decent day… I’m glad I walked around and got some photos, at least. If we ever go back to Budapest, Bill and I will have to check out the cave, at least. Stay tuned for the next post!

Eastern Europe, Hungary, YouTube

Back to Budapest- Power walking, live music, and spontaneous singing… part three

Monday morning, Bill and I got up and had breakfast. The D8 Hotel has a pretty decent spread, with lots of breads, fruits, cereal, some hot items, cold cuts, juices, hot tea, coffee, and even some sweets. After we fueled up, Bill went off to work. The first day, he walked about twenty minutes to get to the conference location, but then he figured out the tram system and took that.

I went back to the room and did some writing. Then I put on shorts and a t-shirt and headed out to explore Budapest on my own. The first thing I did was cross the Chain Bridge, which is probably the most famous of Budapest’s many bridges across the Danube. I didn’t really have a clear plan in mind for where I was going. I thought I’d just walk far enough to get some good pictures of the Parliament building. It’s hard to get them on the Pest side, because the building is huge, and it’s not possible to get far enough away to get the whole thing in a photo. So here’s a batch of photos from that initial goal:

And below are a couple of photos from 2009… Check out the differences! There were a LOT more boats in the river in 2025, than the same time of year in 2009.

Once I got my photos, I looked up and saw Margaret Bridge, which was closed the first time we visited Budapest in 2009. The below photo was taken in 2009.

*This was taken in 2009. The bridge was CLOSED!*

I decided I wanted to visit Margaret Island again. Even though the bridge was closed in 2009, it was still possible to go to the island. It just involved walking around construction and climbing stairs. In 2025, the bridge was fully functioning, complete with trams. In retrospect, I should have taken the tram, but I decided to walk… and walk I did, for a few miles. I did stop for park bench rests and photo ops. It was hot. My back hurt. My thighs were chafing. I was sweating a lot. But I kept going, heading for that bridge… wondering if I was actually going to venture into Margaret Island, too…

And then I climbed up the steps to the bridge and started to cross it. I got to the middle, where trams going either direction stop and let people off to go to the island. I decided to rest on the marble bench near the crosswalk. I will not soon forget the feeling of cool marble against my thighs. It was a brief moment of exquisite heaven, as I contemplated whether or not I had enough steam to explore the island, knowing I was also going to have to walk back to the hotel.

Finally, I decided to go for it…

*This is where you cross to go to the island. I was sitting on the cool bench, gathering steam.*

I immediately recognized the big sculpture, which I saw in 2009…

Then I started walking, realizing I could use a whiz… But I didn’t have any change, and all I saw was a pay toilet. I figured it was probably pretty gross, too. There are restaurants and bars on Margaret Island, but I hate going to such places alone, so I just walked around and took photos and rest breaks.

I also made a short video. If you watch this, I recommend not missing the end, as that’s where you can see the “singing fountain.” There’s also a random lady with her dog in the video. Lots of people were letting their dogs run on Margaret Island, and plenty of people were jogging, biking, or riding in rented pedal propelled carts. Margaret Island is a unique and beautiful part of Budapest. It’s absolutely worth visiting. I’m glad I forced myself to make the effort, even though it was hot; I was tired; and I am out of shape (but not as out of shape as some people might assume by looking at me).

That fountain was very inviting… But I maintained discipline and didn’t jump in.

I decided that I didn’t feel like trying to eat on Margaret Island, so I left it, thinking maybe Bill and I could visit it together later in the week. Unfortunately, we never did get back there. But below are a few photos from our 2009 visit.

I made my way back to the bridge and headed back to the hotel.

By the time I got back to the hotel, it was after 1:00 PM, and I was burning up. I’m sure I was a sight to see, after walking over 6 miles in the summer heat. I went to the bar and ordered a large lager, which tasted wonderful. Then I went back to the room and took a shower and a long nap. I was kind of proud of myself for managing to walk that much. There was a time when it was a lot easier for me than it is now.

Bill got back to the hotel a few hours later. I was a bit “hangry”, because I didn’t eat lunch. This is when we ended up having dinner at a rather mediocre touristy restaurant called Panorama Terasz, that turned out to be kind of special. I wrote the story of our evening meal and my decision to burst into song here. I don’t want to rehash it too much, since this post is already pretty long. But, suffice to say, when we got there, I was in a cranky mood. When I left, I was all smiles. And below is a video of our time at the restaurant, although there is no clip of my spontaneous songburst.

Here, you can hear the band play, along with a bunch of merry Brits who were also keen to sing along. Budapest is a wonderful city for music lovers!

An added benefit at eating at this restaurant is that we had a great view of the river, and I got some great shots of the sun going down and the lit up attractions along the river. Then, on our way back to our room, we noticed an unusual public toilet. I got a few photos of the outside, and we promised ourselves we’d check it out before leaving the city. We did, and I’ll include photos in a later post.

Well, that about does it for today’s post about Budapest. Stay tuned for the next installment, which I’ll probably write tomorrow.

Eastern Europe, Hungary

Back to Budapest- getting there is half the fun… part two

When Bill told me he wanted me to go to Budapest with him on his work trip, I was excited. But I also knew that it meant I wouldn’t be choosing our hotel. From past experiences on Bill’s work trips, I knew the place we would be staying would probably be as low frills as possible.

Bill found a hotel near the river that was going for 250 euros a night, which seems surprisingly expensive to me. He would have liked to have stayed in the InterContinental Budapest, which is a block away. It was completely booked, because Bill was asked to go to the conference at the last minute. So we were booked at the three star “superior” D8 Hotel, instead.

Bill told me to book a business class plane ticket. I know that may seem strange, but when Bill travels on business, he has to sit in the cheapest seats possible. Even if I had booked an economy class ticket, there is no guarantee we would be sitting with each other. We would have separate bookings, and his didn’t include a seat assignment. So, since I’m sensitive to a lot of things, I booked a round trip business class ticket on the same Lufthansa flight Bill booked.

On Saturday, September 6th, Bill took Noyzi and Charlie to the Hundepension. Then, on the 7th, Bill got me up at 5:00AM, and we took a taxi to the Frankfurt Airport for our 9:05 AM flight. Below are a few photos of the sunrise. We were up too early.

A bunch of Bill’s current and former coworkers were there, also going to the conference in Budapest. For some reason, my nose was unusually sensitive to perfume smells, and I seemed to keep running into clouds of strong scents, no matter where I turned. Because I had a business class ticket, I could have waited in the lounge. But I preferred to hang out with Bill and his colleagues, as we waited to board a bus that would take us on a 20 minute odyssey to our plane.

Seriously… the plane going to Budapest was way out in the hinterlands of the airport. Maybe it’s because it was a Sunday morning. The flight was fully booked, though, so I’m not sure what that was all about. Once we got to the plane, we had to wait another fifteen or twenty minutes on the crowded bus, because the maintenance crew had to check the plane to make sure it was safe to fly. A bird hit one of the propellers on the flight from Budapest to Frankfurt, and they were required to inspect it afterwards. I had a free seat next to me, because I had hoped Bill would have gotten on the bus, but he was on the one that came after mine.

A middle-aged lady sat in the aisle seat nearest mine, while her husband was in the opposing aisle seat. We had a trouble free flight, complete with business class food and some pictures of the sky… Naturally, I was sitting behind the one person in business class who felt the need to recline for the less than 90 minute flight. He was apparently asleep, and when it came time to land the flight attendant had to wake him up to get him to close his shade and sit upright. 🙄

*Cold cuts, some kind of salad, cheese, and bread. I had orange juice, too.*

We landed at about 11:55 AM or so… a little late, because our flight was delayed, thanks to the bird strike. We went to baggage claim and waited a long time for our bags in a very crowded area. Lots and lots of people were arriving in Budapest on September 7th. From what I could tell, a lot of them were taking bus tours or cruises. We finally got out of there sometime after noon, then got a taxi to the hotel. Unbeknownst to Bill, the cab driver handed him a 1000 forints bill that was old and no longer has any value. I later discovered that fact when I tried to spend it. More on that in a later post.

Bill checked in, and we were immediately assigned room 510. It was nice that we were allowed to claim it immediately, but the room itself was tiny (15 square meters). It reminded me a little of the old Microtels that were around in the late 1990s and early 00s. I discovered that Microtel is still around, but I’m not sure if it’s the same concept as it was when we stayed in one, back in 2002 or so.

The D8 hotel was built in 2010 or so, after the building that was there before it was demolished. It appears that the designers aimed to make it “comfortable” with as little space as possible. I wasn’t all that impressed, but at least it was air conditioned, which we needed in Budapest last week. It had a decent sized shower, too.

*The bed took up most of the room. A large flat screen TV was mounted on the wall and got many channels.*

One nice thing about the D8 Hotel is its very convenient location. It’s a block from the river, and right next to the Chain Bridge. Last time we were in Budapest, we were in an area that wasn’t that close to the river. The D8 Hotel also offers a pretty decent breakfast and a bar, where one can order sandwiches, goulash, and drinks. I drank several draft beers there, myself.

After we dropped off our bags, we went looking for lunch, which we found at a Lebanese restaurant at the InterContinental Hotel called Arz. Lunch was pretty good, and I especially enjoyed the Soproni (local) beer and hummus.

After lunch, we walked back to the hotel and prepared for a longer walk and lots of photos of the Danube and surroundings. We ended up walking over four miles! Below you can see some scooters that are apparently all the rage in Budapest. I saw so many of these during our visit. They seemed like an incarnation of Segways, only people sat on them instead of standing.

You can also see the gorgeous sunset, as well as the sad exhibit of shoes by the Danube bank near the famous Parliament building. The shoes represent those left by Jewish people who were forced to remove their valuable footwear before they were shot by the riverside and fell into the water, to be swept away by the currents. Unfortunately, a lot of people have polluted the shoes with their trash, stuffing it into the shoes instead of putting it in a trash can.

As the sun was setting, we decided to find dinner. We stopped at a place that looked promising. It was a Hungarian restaurant called Tulipan Bistro. We decided to sit inside, which was okay, except I was in the path of the air conditioning. I liked the way the restaurant was decorated, with lots of kitschy stuff like old car radios, instruments, and Coke memorabilia. The food wasn’t that great, but there was nice local wine. Bill had beef goulash, and I had what turned out to be an overcooked schnitzel with mustard sauce and lots of “funions”… I couldn’t finish it.

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel, and got our first glimpse of Budapest when it’s all lit up at night. It really is a sight to see.

Once we got back to the hotel, it was time to retire for the night, which we promptly did. Stay tuned for the next installment, in which I describe my six mile power walk from Hell.

Eastern Europe, Hungary

Back to Budapest– an introduction… part one

Featured photo is of the famous Parliament Building in Budapest, taken from the Buda part of the city.

As promised, it’s time for me to start writing my series on Budapest, Hungary. Bill and I first visited there for Labor Day weekend in 2009, the week before we had to leave Germany for Georgia. I remember really liking Budapest then, even though it was still showing lots of signs of its then more recent Eastern Bloc past.

I chose to visit Budapest in 2009, because the other cities I was considering were western European capitals that I thought would be easier to access from the United States. I didn’t know we’d be moving back to Europe. For all I knew, in 2009, we’d never have the chance to come over here again. So I chose to go to Budapest then, and it was fascinating. I’m actually really glad we stayed in a hotel that was deeper into the city, far from the Danube River and main shopping areas of Budapest. We never ventured to those areas in 2009. I remember that just getting to the river from our hotel was a bit of a hike, although there was a tram available.

As I sit here remembering our first visit and comparing it to our second one, I’m reminded of how individual experiences shape one’s perceptions of any given thing. Because of this trip, I formed a very different perspective of Budapest than I had only a week ago. I saw more of the city because I had more time to see it. We stayed in a different area, and I spent a lot of time just walking around, taking in the sights. During our first visit, we went to the spa and were a bit hampered by events going on in the city that took away our attention. This time, Bill went to work, and I walked miles around the city taking pictures. I saw a lot more and formed a new perspective. Of course, 16 years have also passed.

This visit was different because Bill was working, so I spent a lot of time alone, fending for myself. If he’d been with me, we might have done a lot more “touristy” things… eaten in more restaurants, engaged with more people, and maybe taken more beer breaks. I’m sure we would have hit one of the public spas, too, as our comparatively no-frills hotel didn’t have its own spa.

I was delighted that Bill asked me to join him on this trip, even though it meant we’d had to fly separately. When he travels for work, he has to get the cheapest plane tickets and stay in accommodations that are below the per diem rate. Budapest’s hotel rates were very high during our visit. I’m not sure if that’s “normal”, or if there was something going on.

What I did notice while we were there was that there were MANY American tourists, and most of them seemed to be there to catch a Danube cruise. I’m sure those were going on in 2009, but I don’t think there were as many back then. I saw so many Viking ships there, as well as at least a couple from Avalon Waterways. I also noticed that practically EVERYONE spoke perfect English. That made me a little sad, because one thing that makes a place unique is its language. But English was everywhere in Budapest. It made me want to explore beyond the capital and see parts of Hungary where Americans fear to tread. Maybe someday, we’ll have that opportunity.

I don’t know how long it will take me to write about our six nights in Budapest. I’ll do my best not to be too boring. But even though I was a bit chagrined that Budapest was a lot busier and more expensive than I remembered from 2009, I did have a good time there, and I learned new things. So I hope some of you might follow along and allow me to share the wealth.

I didn’t take nearly as many photos in 2009, but I am noticing as I look at the ones I do have, there was a lot less back then than there is now… However, one thing that hasn’t changed is that the airport is pretty chaotic and in need of renovation. More on that in the next installment!

*One of many images I got from the Chain Bridge in Budapest, circa 2025…*

*And a photo I took from the same bridge in 2009…*

Eastern Europe, Hungary

A better day today… but damn, I’m hungry!

Today was a less exasperating day, here in Budapest. I decided not to walk many miles, because I didn’t want my ankle to hurt again. Instead of power walking all over Budapest, today I decided to visit the Retro Museum. I had been wanting to go to that museum, because I grew up in the 1970s and 80s, and I used to live in the former Soviet Union. So I am very interested in museums about life behind what was the Iron Curtain.

The Retro Museum was fun to visit. It’s very interactive, with lots of cool looking exhibits set in what appear to be mock ups of block style apartment buildings so prevalent in former communist countries. I lived in one of those buildings myself, among other types of housing in Armenia. Naturally, those types of buildings are in Hungary, just as they are found in every other country that was once controlled by Moscow in any way.

The people who created the museum put memorabilia in the “buildings”. You can open a door on the building and look at each treasure. When I write my Budapest series, I’ll share pictures of what I mean by this. One thing I did learn at this museum is that it seems like Hungary was more pro-Russia than Lithuania was. But of course, I could be wrong about that. I need to read more about the history.

After I visited the museum, I spent some time hanging out in the big plaza near the shopping district. I was amazed by how bold and brave the pigeons are. One got close enough to me that I could have pet it. And when I got back to the hotel, my room was already prepared, so I wrote a post for my main blog and took a short nap. Now, I’m waiting for Bill to get back here, so I can get something to eat. I skipped lunch again. 😉

I’m glad I went to the museum, even if it was kind of interrupted by a couple of women who were singing all of the folk songs. I couldn’t tell if they were in Russian or Hungarian– I would imagine Hungarian, but I’m not yet familiar enough with what it sounds like. Everybody here has been speaking perfect English! There was also a woman with a couple of kids who were hogging all of the interactive exhibits and shrieking a lot… but, I guess since they were kids, they kind of get a pass. I don’t know how much of the museum they understood, since that time is now well in the past. I remember it well, though.

One more full day in Budapest awaits, and then on Saturday, we go home. I look forward to it, although Lufthansa changed my seat. I guess it was because there was an empty seat next to me, and they wanted to allow a couple to sit together. Who knows? Too bad Bill will be in Economy again.

Featured photo is of one of the “mock ups” I wrote of. Yes, I did once live in a building that looked like that…

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Category Archives: Hungary

2025 was an interesting travel year…

Ten things I learned in Budapest, Hungary…

Back to Budapest– The last day and the trip home… part seven

Back to Budapest– A brief journey back to the Iron Curtain days… part six

Back to Budapest– Cloudy skies, Jewish memorials, quirky toilets, sexist servers, and Soviet monuments… part five

Back to Budapest– Power walking, round two… part four

Back to Budapest- Power walking, live music, and spontaneous singing… part three

Back to Budapest- getting there is half the fun… part two

Back to Budapest– an introduction… part one

A better day today… but damn, I’m hungry!