Budapest

Seeing Vienna just before Budapest left Budapest with an impossible comparison.  Budapest was also our last city to see on our trip, which means we didn't have quite the energy, physical stamina, or drive we had at the beginning.  Budapest was pretty forgiving though - probably a trait of having been a city within a country that has weathered more occupations and changes of regime than most countries. 
Budapest is to me a city hidden within a city - meaning, first glance may not do a whole lot for you, or may in fact turn you off entirely, but if you push through that initial feeling or the exterior, there is a fascinating beauty filled with character, authenticity, pride, and stoicism.

It's a 2 and 1/2 hour train ride from Vienna, east to Budapest (oh, and it is pronounced Buda Pesht - and people do find it a sign of respect to enunciate this properly).  It was the sunniest of our train rides on this journey, and unlike the previous trian rides that were filled with lots of hills and mountains and towns and villages left in ruin, or in much the shape they were in 40-50 years ago, the landscape is a lot of countryside/farm/agricultural pastures with in-tact towns and villages along the way.  The sun gave a lightness to it. We arrived in the city centre and had to spend 30 minutes in line to figure out how to get to our area of town, and thus our hotel.

We hit the street and were immediately presented with the different and darker (some would say more authentic) side of eastern Europe.  The Roma of the area walked right up to you to ask for money, elders in very poor condition stumbled by mumbling to themselves, and the harder youth of the area were scoping everyone out.  As opposed to staying in a hotel, I opted for an apartment, which was the more economical choice in the city.  When we got to the "office"  we were a little sketched out, as the office was on the second floor in the middle of a slew of abandoned buildings.  Getting into our apartment was strange as well, as the many floors of apartments were through hallways that were dark. It was pretty eastern block.  The apartment itself was nice though.  The first evening we walked around our neighborhood, but called it a night early and spent the remainder of the evening watching a very bad Jodie Foster/Gerard Butler movie in Hungarian.  Hungarian is such a strange language.  It sounds like a mix of Spanish, Finnish, Japanese, and Czech.  Even the few words I learned to get by were difficult and I rarely said the same word the same way twice.  I continue to marvel at those whose mother tongue is complex and yet speak both English and other languages.  America could improve in this area....

Budapest was the only city on this trip where we took any kind of tour bus, and as we were running out of steam and had only a couple of days, we thought we could see the most of the highlights.  It turned out to be a great idea.  Budapest is a beautiful city, but it shows its age and clearly does not have the money other cities have to give it a little face-lift.  We appreciated that it was a little grittier, as it fit the history, and perhaps maintained what we perceived as its authenticity.  The aging historic buildings, more so there than in the other cities we saw on the tip were punctuated with vibrant, funky, colorful contemporary art.  From street art, including graffiti, to billboards, alleyways in clubs, and more, Budapest is a city that is both old and worn from the history that has shaped it, and it is new and a little strange.  It works that polarity of these two things pretty well.  I am grateful to have gone, and would go back...

    

Vienna....

I have a long time fear of embarrassment...  This is not to say that there are not times when I can trip, fall, wave hi at a stranger I think is a friend from a distance, or mis-speak and laugh at myself...  It's the embarassment in front of strangers that gets me.  Seriously it should not be this way, as strangers are those I should not waste my energy feeling that way about.  I'll never see them again..  Yet, this is one of my weird little things....  This is part of the set up for Vienna.

When we got on the train in Prague, I was convinced there were people in our seats and before double checking, asked them to move - I was incorrect, our seats were right across from them, and I spent the first 30 minutes of the trip embarrassed, tense, and of course made Em tense. I was ultimately able to get over it and focus on the Czech countryside.  By the time we started to approach Vienna, even though I was excited at yet another new city, another privilidge, I was tired, and didn't feel excited about having to navigate through another city, where language, directions, and gaging distance were a challenge.  I wanted a nap, a good stretch, and a bath.  These thoughts were arm wrestling with the ones that were telling me to just relax and be open to the new experiences, and the fantasticness of being able to stumble my way through a European city when our train approached a bridge, and then this beautiful city just opened up and my jaw dropped.  I had no concept of Vienna, really - other than its history, had no idea how huge it is, and I had imagined it somehow being stuffy and gray.  The closer we got to the train station, the more I relaxed.  When I stepped off the train, there was just this sense of ease that came over both Em and I.  Every experience, every place we went, and every step for the two days we were there,  were tinged with magic.  Below are some memories I hope to keep for as long as possible:

St. Stephan's Cathedral - It is one of the largest cathedrals in Europe, and it rivals Westminster Abbey in its grandeur.  We happened to go there on Easter Sunday.  It was flaking out, and cold, but there was so much light and energy, it didn't feel cold.  We could hear the singing from far outside, and we were actually able to go inside, in the middle of Easter service, and view.  It was so moving the tears flowed freely from my eyes.  We lit a candle for those we love.  

Pastries in Vienna are considered an art form, as well as a delicacy, multilayered, colorful pastries with cremes, fruit, sponge, chocolate...  I seriously considered a career change in service of becoming a pastry chef as I devoured each pastry I had the pleasure of eating.  

The Hundertwasser Mueseum - No description of this artist would really do any justice to how awesome, colorful, and playful his work is...  Look it up :)  Let's just say some version of Alice in Wonderland exists on earth - at least the colors and the vibrance.  Seriously the coolest museum I have ever been to!

 Music - Vienna  is the heart and soul of Classical music and it shows in the buildings, and in the many memorial statues along the city.  Mozart, Strauss, etc.. - it's not hard to understand where the inspiration came from in many of the composers works.  Due to the Easter Weekend, we couldn't see any live classical music at least not formally..  However, as we walked back towards our hotel near sunset, we came upon a cellist performing on the steps across from St. Stephan's Cathedral, and wept at the beauty of the sound as it echoed off the buildings surrounding us.

The Irish Pub - We are suckers for Irish pubs everywhere we go, so when we found one on our way back to the hotel, we went in, initially for a pint only, but ended up having dinner and a few more pints.   Our waiter was awesome, funny, interesting, and filled with stories.  Gil Scott Heron was played at many points throughout the evening.

We didn't want to leave...  I would go back in a heartbeat!

Rain, Some more rain, and Prague

I'm waterlogged!!
Shortly before our April trip to the central European cities of Berlin, Prague, Vienna and Budapest, London experienced an early spring filled with sunshine, warmth, and the glorious weather brought with it an ease and an energy that made me giddy and happy every day.  Then the clouds came.  Then the rain came.  And then mother nature ripped through this already frantic city with wind that snapped tree limbs, and made the daffodils (which had just bloomed everywhere) shudder and hide.  This has lasted for a month...  As with all nasty cold weather, it made for many days where I gave my alarm clock the finger and hit snooze until I absolutely had to get up.  The last month it has felt like nothing but work, home, more work, weekend city jaunts, and more home and work, and sleep.  I said for a couple of weeks that it was an improvement from the New Hampshire winters, which I suppose it is, but the feeling of dampness and the anger of my cheeks at the wind lashings made the sentiment fade with every falling drop of rain.  It is England....  Ok, enough about the weather.

Prague....
I went to Prague for the first time in May of 2001 for a writing journey.  It was my first journey out of the US.  I had just turned 23.  I was bright-eyed, inspired to write my ass off, and the moment I entered the spired city, I felt like I had walked into a fairy tale.  I was with an eclectic group of writers, and we all walked through the city, area by area, drinking in everything, from curves of the streets, to the bright buildings, to the strong coffee, stronger lager, and the fascinating people.  I met one of my closest friends on that trip and remember the nights where we stayed up giggling like school girls...  That was a magical trip and a magical time, and it caused me to feel a bit of trepidation at returning, as I knew the Prague I greeted 11 years later would be a different Prague.  The city was older.  I was older.  It is a post 9/11 travel world, the economies are different...  I tried to go into it with a clean gaze.  I don't know how successful I was, but I took as much in as I could, given the 24 hours we had in the city.
    We got off the train, hopped on an aging metro, and hit Wenceslas square.  It was crowded, dirty, and the energy was manic - it's what I remember Times Square being like as a child.  It was a bit dirty, and I felt like we had to trudge down the square towards our hotel, and yet I felt I had to be mindful at all times.  I don't know if I was too naive years ago, or if the city had really become a little sketchy, but I didn't truly relax once there.  There were ebbs and flows of this type of vigilance for the duration of our one day there.  Prague has retained so much of its beauty - how could it not? Yet the shop owners, restauranteurs, and the glorious historical streets and nooks seemed weary of all the people.  It's like Prague needed a nap and a bath...
I felt hints of the magic and wonder I remembered, but also felt a sense of sadness as I walked up and down the small streets of Mala Strana...  I felt sad that I don't write anymore.  I felt sad that I was tired and I didn't feel the luxury of being able to stop and just palm the walls and observe, to absorb, to find the hidden treasures of the city which would fill me up.  Every time that feeling would start to take hold, we stumbled upon a little slice of magic.  We found a restaurant deep down a spiral staircase into a basement, where we were the only patrons there.  The owner hardly spoke a word of English, but what he couldn't say he exuded with his smile, his gentility, and his attentiveness.  Even though I wasn't hungry, I ordered Gnocchi, and it was perhaps the best I've had since I lived in Boulder.  We found a pub where a big group of older men were signing along along with an accordian player - old Czech tunes.  I imagined how much mom would have liked it and I got all misty-eyed.  We smooched on the Charles Bridge, and we held hands as we crossed the bridge by the light of the city at night.  As I stepped on my probably last Czech cobblestone, I thanked the city for showing me that there is still magic, even if my aging it is a little harder to feel...

  

German Architecture, and Spring Rain

Checking back in...
What an amazing trip we had!  Berlin-Prague-Vienna-Budapest...  Only a couple of days in each place, but enough to get a taste of each city...  What a ride!
Here are a couple of pics to start...  A little more writing and interpretation to follow (hopefully within the next day or two - and not another two months, as with the last post).

February, First Snow, and The Superbowl

Time is passing so quickly....  I blinked and January was over.  I've been up to my eyeballs in work at school, and have recently begun tutoring after school, so it has made for long days.  Winter snuck up on us and we woke this past Monday to absolutely frigid temperatures - like 2-3 degrees celcius (I'm trying to remember the difference in Farenheit, but I can't).  Em the dogs and I had a couple of mellow weekends, where all we did was walk around our general neiborhood (Chiswick and Hammersmith) and find new parks to take the boys.  Charlie and Shadow have fully settled in and love all these new adventures.  We have also been catching up on movies - saw the Iron Lady (Meryl Streep was a revelation!), and Shame - incredibly dark and gray, but well filmed, well acted.  Glad I saw it for the performances, but won't likely see it again....
Yesterday we went with our two Kiwi friends to Tate Britain, and got lost in centuries of British Art.  The David McCullen photography exhibit had the biggest impact on me - so stark and fascinating.

The Superbowl is this evening, and "our" team, the Patriots are playing!  Of course, as we are 5 hours ahead, I have to make it to 11:30 just to see the beginning.  Looks like night time coffee will be needed:).

We are hoping to get out of town for a few days soon, as I have a break - not sure where we are going yet - I love that about here - we could easily go to several different places within a 2 hour flight.  Time to get started with our adventures outside the UK.  Until then, I'll leave you with a few pics...  Hope you all are weathering the winter!