Tuesday, June 27, 2006
OK, yesterdays post is mislabelled. I dont know what day it is, other than Tuesday although the computer now tells me that it is the 27th. I am also on a Hungarian keyboard today, and the y and z are swapped and I cannot find the apostrophe, so you will just have to figure it out.
Last night we went to a great dinner at a place called Red Diner or something like that. It had Red in the name. It was just down from the italian place that we went the first night. Unfortunately, they moved an entire street when we were not looking. I think they do that just to confuse tourists. Anyhow, after stopping twice for directions we found that we were at the WRONG end of the street from the prior evening, but eventually we found a place for dinner. Eddie had a turkey breast wrapped around some veggies with bacon wrapped around that, and I had turkey breast in a mushroom gravy (undoubtedly with paprika) and what amounted to Potato hush puppies. It was excellent, in any case. The only problem came when Eddie handed the guy the check and money for dinner and for a 6980 dinner, he thought we meant to keep the change from a 10000 HUF note. I believe in tipping, but not quite that well. To put things in perspective, 10000 HUF is about 48.00US.
After dinner we started a leisurely walk back home. And we walked. And we walked. And we walked. And nothing looked familiar. Seems we missed a turn or took a wrong turn or something. Anyhow, we ended up in the warehouse district, 3 bridges down from where we wanted to be. At the start of our dinner trek, the pedometer read about 9.2 miles. At the end, it read 12.3. It made for good sleeping, at least.
Or it did as long as there was electricity. About 1 a.m. I woke up to the feeling that it was too quiet. Tried to go to the bathroom and could not find the switch. Well, I found the switch, but it would not work. Then I realized there was no sound at all, and that the emergency lights were on in the hotel. Not a good feeling in a country where you do not speak the language.
I can not find the exclaimation point on this keyboard, and it is really cuts down on my creativity.
Back to the story, though, not sure what happened, but we got electricity about an hour later.
Today was the first day that the group appeared. We have 11, including the tour guide, from NYC, Florida, Michigan, Philadelphia, and, of course, North Carolina. Seem pretty compatible -- no 20-somethings, so we all go at a 40 to 50 something pace, which is an added advantage in this heat. It's still oppressive.
The treck started when we met our Budapest guide, Gino, who is a retired Hungarian Airline Pilot that speaks 4 languages. He did a great job of giving us an overview. Most of it was a walking tour, but in a concession to the heat we took the subway and bus system sometimes. Otherwise, it would have been a substantial walk to some parts.
It was a day of religion. Part of the tour, of course, took us to the top of Castle Hill and the Matthias Church again. We opted out of the tour this time and sat in the shade with a bottle of water instead. (Pink lids mean "still", blue lids mean "carbonated").
Incidentally, some nice lady just showed me how to swap the keyboard and make it English again, so I have exclaimation points and contractions back!
We then toured St. Stephen's Cathederal, which is the largest in Hungary. St. Stephen is the first King of Hungary. He apparently did pretty well by them, too, and was supported by the Pope (this was 870 something). Anyhow, his right hand (which was positioned pointing to God when he was buried) is now mummified and on display in the church. 4 of his sons became saints, too, which I guess means that they went into the family business. Perhaps some of them should have chosen other career lines, though, since martyrdom seemed to be a prerequisite for sainthood in some of the cases.
At the end of the tour (noonish) we split up and went different ways. Eddie and I, continuing the day of religion, went to the 2nd largest Jewish Synagogue in Europe, which happens to be here. There's a musem associated with it, and we got a great tour from the guide. They group you by language and are extremely accomodating -- you're welcome to take pictures in the temple, as long as you make a donation.
Part of the museum is devoted to the holocaust. I hadn't realized before that Hungary started the war as a part of the Axis powers and then tried to switch in the late 40's when Germany double crossed them.
One of the most appalling things there was a bar of soap, which was made from the fat rendered from human bodies of the individuals exterminated. I'd heard about the lampshades from human skin, but that was a new one.
She told us that of the 6 million Jews that died in the holocaust, 600,000 of them were Hungarian. That was of a Jewish population of 700,000 at the time. It is appalling that man can act that inhumanely toward any other being, and even more appalling that other good people did nothing to try and stop it or help it.
It started with laws being enacted to oppress one group by the majority that was in power -- the first law controlled marriage and family relations. Think about that one.
Enough of the political stumping, though.
The synagogue itself was much like Christian churches of the time. Alter up front (no crucifix, though -- the scriptures are where that would be in our churches, in a special cabinet and then with a woven cover in front of it to protect it. 2 lecterns, one on each side, with stairs up to them from which a cantor would work. I'm not sure of the actual names of some of the things, so if I offend anyone, you'll have to just get over it and write it off to my ignorance.
There were hard wooden pews, stained glass windows, an enormous pipe organ, big hanging lights -- like I said, everything that you'd expect in a church.
After that, it was late afternoon and we hadn't had any lunch, so we opted to stop at Gerbeaud, one of the oldest and best pastry locations in Hungary. Established in 1859, they're known worldwide for their goodies. We had 2 different kinds of chocolate cake / tortes, and coffee, and sat there and watched people for a while. We had to, in part because they don't rush to bring your check in Hungarian restaurants!
Then it was back to the hotel for a nap (the record heatwave is incredible -- 32 celcius here, which is about 90 degrees farenheit, but imagine it with inadequate air conditioning and you've got a pretty good concept of things -- NO AC at all on public transportation and many public buildings!).
Now it's just after 6 and we're meeting the rest of the group at 7:30 for dinner. More to report tomorrow, our last day in Budapest.
Last night we went to a great dinner at a place called Red Diner or something like that. It had Red in the name. It was just down from the italian place that we went the first night. Unfortunately, they moved an entire street when we were not looking. I think they do that just to confuse tourists. Anyhow, after stopping twice for directions we found that we were at the WRONG end of the street from the prior evening, but eventually we found a place for dinner. Eddie had a turkey breast wrapped around some veggies with bacon wrapped around that, and I had turkey breast in a mushroom gravy (undoubtedly with paprika) and what amounted to Potato hush puppies. It was excellent, in any case. The only problem came when Eddie handed the guy the check and money for dinner and for a 6980 dinner, he thought we meant to keep the change from a 10000 HUF note. I believe in tipping, but not quite that well. To put things in perspective, 10000 HUF is about 48.00US.
After dinner we started a leisurely walk back home. And we walked. And we walked. And we walked. And nothing looked familiar. Seems we missed a turn or took a wrong turn or something. Anyhow, we ended up in the warehouse district, 3 bridges down from where we wanted to be. At the start of our dinner trek, the pedometer read about 9.2 miles. At the end, it read 12.3. It made for good sleeping, at least.
Or it did as long as there was electricity. About 1 a.m. I woke up to the feeling that it was too quiet. Tried to go to the bathroom and could not find the switch. Well, I found the switch, but it would not work. Then I realized there was no sound at all, and that the emergency lights were on in the hotel. Not a good feeling in a country where you do not speak the language.
I can not find the exclaimation point on this keyboard, and it is really cuts down on my creativity.
Back to the story, though, not sure what happened, but we got electricity about an hour later.
Today was the first day that the group appeared. We have 11, including the tour guide, from NYC, Florida, Michigan, Philadelphia, and, of course, North Carolina. Seem pretty compatible -- no 20-somethings, so we all go at a 40 to 50 something pace, which is an added advantage in this heat. It's still oppressive.
The treck started when we met our Budapest guide, Gino, who is a retired Hungarian Airline Pilot that speaks 4 languages. He did a great job of giving us an overview. Most of it was a walking tour, but in a concession to the heat we took the subway and bus system sometimes. Otherwise, it would have been a substantial walk to some parts.
It was a day of religion. Part of the tour, of course, took us to the top of Castle Hill and the Matthias Church again. We opted out of the tour this time and sat in the shade with a bottle of water instead. (Pink lids mean "still", blue lids mean "carbonated").
Incidentally, some nice lady just showed me how to swap the keyboard and make it English again, so I have exclaimation points and contractions back!
We then toured St. Stephen's Cathederal, which is the largest in Hungary. St. Stephen is the first King of Hungary. He apparently did pretty well by them, too, and was supported by the Pope (this was 870 something). Anyhow, his right hand (which was positioned pointing to God when he was buried) is now mummified and on display in the church. 4 of his sons became saints, too, which I guess means that they went into the family business. Perhaps some of them should have chosen other career lines, though, since martyrdom seemed to be a prerequisite for sainthood in some of the cases.
At the end of the tour (noonish) we split up and went different ways. Eddie and I, continuing the day of religion, went to the 2nd largest Jewish Synagogue in Europe, which happens to be here. There's a musem associated with it, and we got a great tour from the guide. They group you by language and are extremely accomodating -- you're welcome to take pictures in the temple, as long as you make a donation.
Part of the museum is devoted to the holocaust. I hadn't realized before that Hungary started the war as a part of the Axis powers and then tried to switch in the late 40's when Germany double crossed them.
One of the most appalling things there was a bar of soap, which was made from the fat rendered from human bodies of the individuals exterminated. I'd heard about the lampshades from human skin, but that was a new one.
She told us that of the 6 million Jews that died in the holocaust, 600,000 of them were Hungarian. That was of a Jewish population of 700,000 at the time. It is appalling that man can act that inhumanely toward any other being, and even more appalling that other good people did nothing to try and stop it or help it.
It started with laws being enacted to oppress one group by the majority that was in power -- the first law controlled marriage and family relations. Think about that one.
Enough of the political stumping, though.
The synagogue itself was much like Christian churches of the time. Alter up front (no crucifix, though -- the scriptures are where that would be in our churches, in a special cabinet and then with a woven cover in front of it to protect it. 2 lecterns, one on each side, with stairs up to them from which a cantor would work. I'm not sure of the actual names of some of the things, so if I offend anyone, you'll have to just get over it and write it off to my ignorance.
There were hard wooden pews, stained glass windows, an enormous pipe organ, big hanging lights -- like I said, everything that you'd expect in a church.
After that, it was late afternoon and we hadn't had any lunch, so we opted to stop at Gerbeaud, one of the oldest and best pastry locations in Hungary. Established in 1859, they're known worldwide for their goodies. We had 2 different kinds of chocolate cake / tortes, and coffee, and sat there and watched people for a while. We had to, in part because they don't rush to bring your check in Hungarian restaurants!
Then it was back to the hotel for a nap (the record heatwave is incredible -- 32 celcius here, which is about 90 degrees farenheit, but imagine it with inadequate air conditioning and you've got a pretty good concept of things -- NO AC at all on public transportation and many public buildings!).
Now it's just after 6 and we're meeting the rest of the group at 7:30 for dinner. More to report tomorrow, our last day in Budapest.
posted by me | 8:40 AM
1 Comments:
Pictures are beyond me -- both getting them out of the camera and getting them onto this site. You'll just have to wait for them until later.
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