The Blue Danube

It's the second longest river in Europe and even though I decided a while back (while paddling into the wind in New Zealand) that I don't enjoy kayaking, I was looking forward to the trip down the Danube. We were a small group of four, Keelan and Hannah an Irish couple, me, and our guide, Manda, who met up with us at the train station. We boarded a train for the village of Zebegeny where Manda's father runs a canoe and kayak rental company. We had a nice breakfast of Hungarian delicacies on the bank and then got on the river. It was a cloudy day and it actually rained a bit toward the end, but we had a great day of paddling around the river bend to to town of Kismaros before taking the train back to Budapest.

Keeland and Hannah opted for single kayaks but I was in a double with Manda. Manda is studying architecture in Budapest and we had lots of time to chat about Frank Gehry and Frank Lloyd Wright. I impressed her by showing off my photo of the FLW house Falling Water, and she whipped out her phone and and showed me her photo of FG's Guiggenheim in Bilbao. 

Hungary, but the Food's not that Great

I went on a food tour yesterday with a wonderful, friendly, knowledgeable guide, and met some lovely fellow travelers, but holy cow, there's a reason no one has ever mentioned Hungarian food as one of the world's great cuisines. The tour started strong with a savory pastry called a langos, which is fried dough covered in sour cream, garlic, and cheese, and it was as delicious as it sounds, but other than some tasty sausages, everything else was plain and frankly, not very appealing or tasty. I still very much enjoyed the tour though - the point wasn't to eat delicious food (although that's always great), the point was to get out and about with a group, hang with a local, and chat with some other explorers, all of which I did.

Flodni: cake layered with poppy seed and walnut paste, and plum and apricot jam; meh. 

strudel shop

making strudel

K

the red sausage was actually really good; the brown one was really weird.
The long, skinny, orange thing is a pickled pepper and it was crunchy, spicy, tangy, and delicious.   

Zsimpla - the oldest ruin bar in Budapest - a repurposed factory turned very cool club/bar space.
It's empty because it's afternoon and therefor closed. There are several ruin bars in Budapest and they're packed at night until 4am. 

more sausage and pork cracklins. The cracklins weren't that crackly, kind of soft and mushy. 

pork stew and spaetzle, although the spaetzle was called something else. It was ok. 

Again, I really enjoyed the tour and to be fair, I've had some of the best gelato ever right in my neighborhood, and the chicken gyro at the stand around the corner from my apartment is fantastic. But I don't think any place in Budapest is going to earning a Michelin star any time soon.

New York Cafe

In the late 1800s, the New York Life Insurance Company constructed a building in Budapest to serve as their local offices. That building is now a hotel and the cafe therein has been described as "the most beautiful cafe in the world." I don't know who said that, but whoever it was was clearly a fan of the Liberace style of design. For all its baroque-over-the-topness, I had a lovely brunch there.

 After brunch, I walked through the neighborhood to Bomo Art, a lovely little shop carrying paper, cards, notebooks, etc., all designed by local artists and manufactured in Hungary.

Jet Lag

Even though I managed to stay awake last night until about 11pm, jet lag got the best of me and I was awake at 1, stayed awake until around 3, fell asleep again until about 8, got up around 9, puttered around the apartment a bit until 11, watched some iPad-TV/Youtube until noonish, and didn't get out of the apartment until 2. I didn't have anything on the agenda today but I went out into the neighborhood, bought a couple of small things, got some ice cream, walked by the river a bit, and came back. It was very uneventful but one of the nice things about staying so long in one place (I'm here for ten-and-a-half days) is that there's no pressure to see something new every minute of every day. One cool thing I did see was this interesting piece of street art:

Budapest

Yesterday when I was up on the hill by the Matthias Church on the bike tour, I noticed a nice little neighborhood with shops and restaurants. We didn't have time to explore yesterday so I took a tram and then a bus back up the hill today to look around and buy a few things.

It was hot today - 90 degrees, so after walking around and finding a few nice souvenirs, I had to get someplace cooler so I took the bus back down the hill, skipped the tram, and walked a very long way in the heat to the mall. It had to be done. It was air conditioned. Wandered around there for a bit then hopped a tram back to the apartment for a shower and a nap. The grand plan post-nap was to go out just before dark and get some shots of the Chain Bridge and the Parliament building after the sun set. This involved a long walk along the Danube, crossing the Chain Bridge to get the best view of the Parliament building (which I'm just a few blocks from on the same side), and taking a tram and bus to get back - there are a lot of transpo options here and I'm using all of them. I just got back, rinsed off again in the shower and put on my pjs.

Shoes on the Danube Bank. Memorializing those killed by the Nazis during the occupation of Hungary. Prisoners were ordered to take off their shoes while standing along the river bank and shot in the back. 

Buda and Pest

I still don't quite have a handle on how it works, but Budapest comprises two areas bisected by the Danube; Buda to the West, Pest to the East but both places are Budapest... or are in Budapest. And I am in Budapest, on the Pest side. Kind of a random choice but here I am and it's great. Long and awful trip (middle seat, basic economy, the worst) but I landed yesterday, took a bus then the subway from the airport to the apartment I'm staying in, and promptly took a two-and-a-half-hour nap, which is all I ever do after an overnight flight. After I got up, I took a walk by the river, bought some groceries, got a chicken gyro for dinner from the Turkish restaurant on the corner by my apartment, and went back to sleep.

Today however, was much more interesting. I went on a bike tour (on an electric bike, those things are fantastic - rode to the top of Gellert Hill, below, without breaking a sweat) and saw all the sights.

Gellert Hill 

View from Gellert Hill

Chain Bridge - first permanent bridge across the Danube in Hungary - 1849

Fisherman's Bastion

Matthias Church

Hungarian Presidential Palace, I think they're using the word "palace" loosely.

Parliament Building

fountains on Margaret Island

St. Stephen's Basilica - St. Stephen's mummified hand is supposedly inside; I did not go in to confirm. 

I came back to the apartment after the ride, took a shower, took a nap, then went for a walk so I could get a shot of the Parliament building just after the sun went behind the hills.

A Walk in the Woods

Walking among the California Redwood trees on a Friday afternoon beats working any day. Last Friday, I met up with Brenda, and we along with a merry band of travelers, took a guided walk through the trees in Mill Valley, California.

public library in the woods

someone's awesome house

someone even more awesome house

Mt. Tamalpais in the mist