Budapest fall 2008

Our first Untours experience was in Budapest where we stayed in an apartment that was conveniently located near public transportation, grocery and convenience stores, and restaurants. Two weeks allowed us time to visit main tourist attractions as well as explore places off the beaten track. The Hungarian language was difficult and the currency made us feel like millionaires since one dollar purchased about 180 Hungarian forints. The weather was ideal for walking, sightseeing, and enjoying outdoor cafes.

October 1
After arriving in Budapest we went through the passport check quickly and easily. A shuttle driver was waiting for us with an Untours sign. He did not speak English but lead us to the van and took us directly to the apartment. He drove fast, weaving in and out of traffic, and called the apartment manager to let him know that we were on the way. After the 20-minute ride, we arrived at the apartment building and the manager showed us our third floor apartment, gave us a map, and told us to be at Anno Café for orientation at 6:00 p.m. He said that it would take 15 minutes to reach the café on foot. Untours staff had stocked our refrigerator with bread, eggs, cheese, salami, milk, orange juice, margarine, and jam.

We unpacked, rested, and started out two hours later at 5:35 p.m. for the orientation. After getting money at the nearest bankomat (ATM), we began our walk to the Anno Café –but in the wrong direction. We asked several persons for directions but they didn’t speak English and either did not know where the café was or pointed in the wrong direction. After an hour we retraced our steps and went back to the apartment where we called the Untours host (Balázs) on the cell phone. He said that he would be at the Anno Café until 7:30 and that we should still come. We started out and got lost again, asking several people along the way for directions. At 7:30 we called Balázs. He said that we were almost there and that we should meet him at the Chain Bridge. There are four bridges over the Danube and we headed in the wrong direction and ended up at the wrong bridge. We played telephone tag with Balázs and he finally told us that we should stay where we were (in front of the Market Hall) until he arrived. Much to our relief, he arrived at 8:30 p.m. and gave us a map and public transportation tickets.

By this time we were thirsty and hungry so we stopped for supper at the Burger King across the street from the Market Hall. The clerk spoke English and we were able to order after looking at pictures. We walked back to the apartment in about 15 minutes, exhausted from our frustration during the past three hours. I slept very well and did not wake up all night.

October 2
After getting up at 7:30 a.m., I organized and read my travel literature as I watched girls running in gym class in the courtyard of the school across the street. Morris didn’t’ get up until 11:00 a.m. because he didn’t sleep much on the plane. For breakfast we had orange juice with our cheese and salami sandwiches.

We finally left the apartment and headed for the nearby Great Market Hall. Built in 1896, the huge building features three levels. The ground floor has numerous stalls selling vegetables, fruits, baked goods, meat, spicy Kohlbász, salami, paprika, and goose liver; upstairs are souvenirs, hand-embroidered linen tablecloths, textiles, and lunch stands; and the basement has jars of pickles, tanks of still-swimming fish, and a grocery store. We stopped at the cafeteria at the top of the stairs for lunch. The server spoke English and explained the entrees. I had a delicious Hungarian pork chop in gravy with rice; Morris had wiener schnitzel with potatoes. The portions were large and we could easily have shared one. We also had a small bottle of dessert wine (Tokaj). We sat at a table outside the cafeteria but could still hear the violinist performing inside. Later we passed inexpensive, stand-up fast-food joints where locals outnumbered tourists. I bought fruit at several stands and cornflakes and tea at the grocery store.

Next we walked up Váci utca (pronounced VAH-tsee OOT-zah), the main pedestrian street with touristy restaurants, shops, and souvenir stands, and stopped at an internet café. The first McDonald’s behind the Iron Curtain is on this street. We then detoured for a walk along the Danube promenade with cafes, parks, flowerbeds, benches, river-cruise ships, and big, fancy hotels such as the Hyatt, Intercontinental, and Four Seasons. At Vörösmarty tér we stopped at Gerbeaud’s, the most famous coffeehouse in Budapest, for afternoon tea and dessert. I had Esterhazy torte (layered spice cake with frosting) and Morris had a Gerbeaud pastry. Later we found both the Anno Café where orientation was held last night and the Duna Palato where we would attend a folk ensemble performance next week.

On the way back to our apartment we walked along the Danube. There was construction everywhere, much of it due to building a fourth metro line. We stopped at the apartment briefly and then caught tram #2 and rode it along the Danube to the end of the line. The city lights were beautiful, especially those at the Gellért Hotel, Buda Castle, Parliament (a monstrous Gothic structure), and the Chain Bridge. On our walk back to the apartment we stopped at a small restaurant where we had an excellent vegetarian pizza.

October 3
I slept well and awoke at 7:15. However, Morris—unaware that I had brought melatonin along—slept poorly and didn’t get up until 9:30.

We took the metro to Vörösmarty tér and had lunch with locals at McDonald’s. At a nearby park we relaxed on a bench before starting a self-guided walking tour along Andrássy út, Budapest’s main boulevard. It was lined with shops, museums, cafes, and theaters. This tour followed the route of the historic Millennium metro line where the Austrian emperor and Hungarian king Franz Josef boarded the first subway in continental Europe in 1896.

Our first stop was the Postal Museum, originally a private home, with beautiful stained glass windows and frescoes created by Károly Lotz, intricately carved wood moldings, and big Murano crystal chandeliers. The museum contained old mailboxes, telephones, telegraph equipment, uniforms, and a motorized bicycle for delivering mail. The woman at the ticket desk did not speak English but a young man told us in German about the history of the house. There were explanation pages in English throughout the small museum.

After buying tickets at the Opera House, we had tea/coffee and French chocolate cake at the impressive Callas Café next door. The Art Nouveau café had ceilings that reminded us of a Gothic church. In the park at Liszt Ferenc Tér we saw a statue of Franz Liszt on our way to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music where we purchased concert tickets. We walked along Andrássy út to a section that is a World Heritage site. Along this stretch different countries have taken over former private homes for their embassies.

At the end of Andrássy út was Heroes Square, an impressive square with an arcade of statues of important figures in Hungary’s history. Like much of Budapest, this square was built to celebrate Hungary’s 1,000th birthday in 1896. Today the square was popular with teens riding skateboards. Just beyond Heroes’ Square was the City Park that we decided to visit on another day. We returned on the metro and had sandwiches and apples in our apartment for supper.

October 4
It was a cool, rainy day (high of 54 degrees). First we went to an internet café where we checked e-mail and the weather forecast. Next we headed to the Great Market Hall where I bought fruit. Since it was Saturday, it was too busy to have lunch at one of the stands so we decided to go elsewhere. After we took a seat at a nearby restaurant, we noticed that a table of 14 Americans had just been seated. It was already 1:30 p.m. so we decided to go down the street to the restaurant where we had eaten pizza previously. For lunch we had goulash soup and bread.

We dropped off our groceries at the apartment and headed down Ráday utca until we came upon a festival with music and food/craft vendors. This pedestrian street was less touristy than Váci utca and had numerous cafes and restaurants to check out on another day. Then we took the tram to the Centrál Kávéház, an historic coffeehouse that is popular with both tourists and locals. The coffeehouse had lavish ceilings and brass hanging lamps with glass shades. I had coffee and marzipan tort while Morris had tea and carrot cake. On the way back we discovered a shortcut from Váci utca to our apartment.

October 5
We took the metro to City Park where we bought huge pretzels from a vendor and peeked out the window of the Széchenyi Baths entrance into the outdoor bath area. The big event in the park was an international marathon. As we walked around the park, we listened to rock bands and saw runners of all shapes, sizes, and ages. Some runners wore costumes, including those of Superman and Rubik’s cube. At the end of the race we watched cheerleaders welcoming runners as they crossed the finish line. Some kids ran with their dads over the finish line.

Much to our surprise, there were a statue of George Washington and a bust of Ronald Reagan in the park. We rested on lawn chairs in the sun by the lake surrounding the castle and then had tea and apple-filled crepes at the restaurant in the castle. Yum! The castle, designed for the Millennium celebration, is a mixture of Renaissance, Gothic, Baroque, and Romanesque styles and represents 20 famous Hungarian buildings. We explored the park further and saw ducks on the pond, horses, families enjoying the beautiful weather, couples sitting on park benches, kids jumping on a trampoline, and food and craft vendors. Morris decided to try an ear of sweet corn but it was not as good as what we are used to. Next to the zoo was the famous Gundel restaurant, probably the most expensive restaurant in the city. We peeked at the posted menu and looked in the courtyard.

Tonight we had dinner at Vörös Postakocsi Étterem, a traditional Hungarian restaurant on Ráday utca. Morris had potatoes and chunks of beef in gravy but was disappointed because the meat was fatty. I had two small stuffed yellow peppers with tomato sauce and potatoes, artistically garnished with green onion tops. We also had a glass of wine with our meal. There was live music: violin, clarinet, and dulcimer. The violin player wandered throughout the dining room and stopped at our table to play. Morris gave him a tip which is the expected practice. After dinner we wandered down Ráday utca and listened to a Dixieland band at the festival.

October 6
We took the tram to Roosevelt Tér, walked over the Chain Bridge to the Buda side, and took the funicular up to the Royal Palace. At the top we saw the Turul, the mythical bird of Hungarian folktales that, with its 49-foot wingspan, is supposed to be the largest bird statue in the world. We took a self-guided walking tour of The Castle District, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where we passed the equestrian statue of Prince Eugene Savoy, cowboy statue, Matthias’s Fountain, building housing the Office of the President of the Republic of Hungary, Holy Trinity Square with the Plague Column, Matthias Church, Fishermen’s Bastion, Hilton Hotel, Vienna Gate, and Hungarian National Archives Building with a beautiful mosaic roof.

From Fishermen’s Bastion we had a great view over the Danube to Pest. Our guidebook’s author recommended the Rétesbár for the best strudel in Budapest so we headed there next. We each got a piece of apple strudel and cup of tea and sat on a bench in the narrow alley outside the small pastry shop. The strudel was delicious! While we were there a couple from New Jersey came by and told us that they were coming for the second day in a row and recommended both apple strudel and cabbage strudel. After we finished our tea, we joined them around the corner for a chat. We concluded our walk along a quiet promenade called Tóth Arpád sétany and walked down a series of steep steps back to the river.

Balázs called to remind us of this evening’s folk ensemble performance. Perhaps he thought that we would get lost again! We had sandwiches at our apartment before walking to the Donato Palace. While we were sitting on a bench outside the Palace, Balázs came by with his Irish girlfriend and talked to us briefly. During the concert six couples performed folk dances that featured loud stomping, slapping, and clapping; a small group of musicians (two violins, a flute, clarinet, bass, and keyboard) accompanied them. When we left, my ears were ringing!

October 7
We picked up sandwiches and soda at a grocery store, took the tram to Roosevelt Tér, and ate lunch on a bench along the Danube. When we arrived at Parliament, we found out that tickets for today’s guided tours were sold out. We decided to take a self-guided walking tour in the area instead. On Kossuth Lajos Tér behind Parliament we observed that the Hungarian flag had a hole in its center. We learned that this was to commemorate the 1956 Uprising when protesters removed the socialist-style seal that the Soviets had added to the Hungarian flag. Many protests have been held on this square, including demonstrations in October 2006, when tapes were leaked that the prime minister had lied to the public about the state of the economy. Nearby we saw a sculpture of Imre Nagy (a former prime minister and hero of the 1956 Uprising) standing on a footbridge.

At Freedom Square we saw the barricaded Soviet Army Memorial, built in 1945 to honor the Soviet-led liberation of Budapest. The nearby American Embassy did not encourage visitors with it gates, barriers, and guards. The building is famous because it was here during WW II that the Swiss diplomat, Carl Lutz, saved 62,000 Jews by issuing diplomatic letters of protection and setting up safe houses around Budapest and declaring them annexes of the Swiss legation. Around the corner was the wonderfully restored former Post Office Savings Bank which fused Hungarian folk elements with the Art Nouveau style. The building had a colorful tiled roof and a façade with bees crawling up to a beehive as a metaphor for saving money.

It was tea time when we came to the Inner City Market Hall so we purchased sour cherry strudel at one stand and tea at another stand and sat at a nearby table. Next we came to St. Stephen’s Basilica, the largest church in Budapest and the second largest in Hungary. We continued walking to the Hotel Four Seasons Gresham Palace which had been painstakingly restored and was awesome on the outside. I peeked inside to see the huge chandelier and glass dome in the lobby. At the Herend China shop we admired expensive “polka dot” animals in the window. We concluded our walk at the river where we saw the Holocaust Memorial: a collection of 60 pairs of dark bronzed shoes—a solemn remembrance of Jews who were lined up and shot at the river’s edge by the Arrow Cross, the Nazis’ puppet government, during the last days of the Holocaust.

In the evening we attended a modern version of Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Hungarian State Opera House. The Opera House was beautiful but not as high tech as the one in Vienna where people have access to text in German or English at each seat. We had a great view from row 14 on the ground level. Our tickets cost $47 each but seats that close to the stage in Vienna would have cost $217! The opera was sung in German with Hungarian subtitles. Two young men next to us wore jeans but audience members also included women in long dresses and men in suits. During the 45-minute intermission one could purchase drinks, desserts, and appetizers in a beautiful room on the next level. We had orange juice with ice and went on the terrace to cool off. At the end of the opera, performers came out numerous times and bowed.

October 8
We arrived at Parliament at 10:15 a.m. and stood in line to purchase tickets for a guided tour later in the day. A guard allowed one person in a party to walk across the square to the ticket office. Luckily I was able to purchase tickets for the 2:00 p.m. tour. To pass time until the tour, we had carrot cake and tea at a café that we had seen on our walking tour yesterday, checked e-mail at a nearby internet café, and bought gelato cones. The gelato at the stand on St. Stephen’s Square was not only delicious but was artistically scooped to resemble a rose. We picked up sandwiches at a grocery store and ate them on a bench by Parliament.

To enter Parliament, I had to put my backpack through a scanner. An English speaking guide led the 45-minute tour. We walked up 96 steps of the main staircase to the rotunda. The 16-sided dome is supported by 16 pillars, each bearing the statue and coat of arms of a significant Hungarian ruler. Here we saw “changing of the guard” when two guards entered and accompanied the guard on duty out. In the center of the floor under the magnificent dome is a glass case with the legendary royal crown and scepter of King St. Stephen. We toured the beautiful Senate Chamber (not in use because the legislative body is now unicameral) and a lounge. Smoking is no longer allowed in the building but the guide pointed to a cigar holder outside the chamber where senators placed smoking cigars in numbered slots while going in to vote.

After our tour we stopped at Coffee Heaven at Ferenc Tér and had tea and desserts at an outside table. When leaving, we discovered a pastry shop next door that had a greater variety of treats and appeared to be popular with locals. This looked like a promising destination for another day! On our way home we bought tickets for an evening cruise on the Danube.

When we boarded the boat later for our cruise, two young women welcomed passengers in many languages. They served us a glass of champagne, followed by a glass of wine. We watched a video and listened to an explanation in English about various places along the river. Budapest is beautiful at night, especially the Castle District, Gellért Hill, Parliament, and the Chain Bridge.

October 9
At the tram stop we waited a few minutes until a man told us in English that the tram wasn’t operating today because of a special NATO event at Parliament. Instead we took the metro to Batthyány Tér where the HEV (a suburban railway network) begins, and purchased tickets to Szentendre, a charming village and artist colony north of Budapest along the Danube. Trains depart for Szentendre frequently and we only had to wait one-half hour for the next one.

After a 45-minute ride, we arrived. It was tea time so we stopped at a bakery and had tea with apple and cherry strudel (we liked the apple strudel better). Since the woman at the bakery did not speak English, we pointed to the strudel and ordered “tea”. We next visited the Margit Kovács Museum featuring the work of Hungary’s best-known ceramic artist, Margit Kovács, who died in 1977. She is famous for her whimsical pottery sculptures based on Hungarian folktales and biblical themes. The quality, variety, and details of her work were impressive and we read titles in both English and German. Nearby was the Marzipan Museum which displayed marzipan models of the Hungarian Parliament, Turul bird, Muppets, and much more. After looking at these models, I had no desire to eat marzipan!

Morris doesn’t like shopping but went with me into the Blue Land Folklor shop described in Frommer’s book. The store carries decorated eggs from 38 different regions of Hungary and the lady who owns the store provided information about native crafts. Morris encouraged me to purchase something so I got a blue and white bread towel and a blue and white decorated egg while Morris bought a pair of slippers with hand embroidery. We passed numerous other shops, museums, and art galleries. According to our guidebook, the best lángos vendor in Hungary is Álom Lángos in Szentendre. We walked up an extremely narrow pedestrian alley where we found the small stand, ordered lángos with ham and mixed vegetables, and sat at a picnic table to eat them. Although lángos is considered a snack, it was large enough to be a complete meal. The lángos was tasty and filling but a bit greasy.

We walked on the path along the Danube and sat on a bench to enjoy the peaceful scene, a great contrast to the hustle and bustle in Budapest. Young couples, old couples, and mothers with strollers walked past. We walked up a hill to a churchyard, the highest part of town, where we had a good view of the red tiled roofs and the river. Later we had tea and dessert at an outdoor café near the river.

It was dark when we returned to Budapest. We had dinner at the Old Amsterdam restaurant near our apartment. Morris had goulash and I had stuffed cabbage; for dessert we shared a piece of strawberry strudel with cinnamon ice cream.

October 10
Today we visited Statue Park, a memorial to the fall of Communism. In most Eastern European countries, Soviet-inspired monuments of the red dictatorship were demolished after 1990. However, in Budapest 40 such statues were collected in the City’s Statue Park. We took a special bus from Deák Tér. The park entry was an imposing red-brick façade featuring statues of Lenin, Marx, and Engels. Throughout the park were various statues, including those of well-known Communist leaders. I remember most the huge statue of the Liberation Soldier and the pair of Worker’s Hands that held a sphere representing the hard-won ideals of Communism . We met a young college student from Connecticut studying for one semester in Budapest who told us about her studies and travels. It brought back memories of my Junior Year in Freiburg, Germany. The Trabant car (a unique product of East Germany) made of pressed plastic units was also on display. At the conclusion of our visit, we watched a film in the exhibition hall on The Life of an Agent, a documentary explaining Communist secret service operations, methods for collecting information, and the network of informants. The film was very thought-provoking.

In the afternoon we took a self-guided walking tour of the Jewish District where we walked past the Dohány Synagogue, Holocaust Memorial, Carl Lutz memorial, Rumbach Synagogue, and Kazinczy Snyagogue. At the District Market Hall I bought fruit from one of the few vendors there. We stopped at a small pastry shop called Café Noé for tea and flódni, a layered pastry with apples, poppy seeds, walnuts, and plum jam (served on pretty china). Yum! According to our guidebook, Café Noé was the only place one could find this Eastern European traditional pastry. The owner spoke English well and we had a nice talk with him. On the wall was a newspaper article with a picture of his wife making flódni. We used the internet upstairs but became frustrated because it was so slow (that is why the charge was less than at other internet cafes).

In the evening we attended a concert at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music by the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, featuring a piano concerto by Vitaly Pisarenko, winner of the 8th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition of Utrecht. There were a few things that we were not accustomed to. For example, the conductor did not conduct but played first violin in the orchestra; the pianist sat with his back toward the audience; and during intermission one could purchase beverages (wine, soda, or juice), appetizers, and fine desserts. At the end of the concert, the audience gave a slow clapping, resulting in the orchestra playing an encore. After the concert we stopped at the Művész Kávéház for tea and dessert. Morris had a pie-shaped piece of carrot cake and I had chocolate cake. This is one of Budapest’s finer traditional coffeehouses, dating back to 1898. Our guidebook mentioned the lush interior but we chose to sit at an outside table since it was a warm evening and it was noisy inside.

October 11
Our destination this morning was Gellért Hill. Although special buses go to the top, we walked on the trails, of which there were many. Our first stop was a huge monument for the Italian bishop Gellért which can easily been seen from across the river. Eventually we reached the top where the Citadella is located, a fortress that was built by the Hapsburgs after they crushed the Hungarian uprising in 1848. Although it was hazy, we had a spectacular view of Budapest from here. In front of the Citadella were various vendors, including a woman who sold doilies and hats made out of mushrooms. I purchased two doilies for a friend who visited this spot several years ago and told me that she wished she would have purchased more.

Farther up was the Liberation Monument featuring a woman holding a palm branch. It was built in 1947 to commemorate the Red Army’s liberation of Budapest from Nazi occupation. One can see this 45-foot statue in both daytime and nighttime hours from almost everywhere along the river. The gigantic statue of the Soviet soldier that used to be here is now in Statue Park.We descended the hill and came to the Gellért Hotel where we had tea and dobos torta (a layered cake topped with a shiny hard caramel crust) at an outside table of the café. I checked out the Gellért baths, should I decide to use them on another day. Across the street from the Gellért Hotel we viewed the inside of the Cave Church, built right into the hill.

Next we headed to Buda Castle for the Palinka and Kielbasa Festival. We walked through the Tabán neighborhood between Gellért Hill and Castle Hill, passed steps several times (that we found out later were shortcuts), and took a long, winding path up to the castle. Near the castle we saw a statue by Imre Varga of Zoltán Kodály, an early 20th century Hungarian composer, conductor, and teacher. We finally found the entrance to the festival. Admission was 1700 Huf ($9.45) which included a tasting glass and a 500 Huf tasting coupon. We were hungry since we had skipped lunch so Morris used the coupons to buy two large plates of Kohlbász with bread and we sat at a picnic table to eat it. Later we saw more interesting foods, but we were full.

Initially we thought that this festival featured pancakes and sausage but we soon found out that palinka was schnapps, not pancakes! I purchased two more coupons and we shared samples of raspberry and wild strawberry palinka. It was potent and gave us a warm feeling as it went down! While sipping the palinka, we enjoyed listening to music provided by a vocalist and four instrumentalists playing violin, clarinet, bass, and guitar. On the way home we stopped for cokes with ice at Burger King because we were thirsty after eating the spicy Kohlbász.

October 12
We went on an outing into the Buda Hills on this beautiful fall day. After taking the metro to Moscow Square, we rode a tram a short distance to a cogwheel train which was packed with city dwellers escaping to the hills. We, along with many others, had to stand for the entire 20-minute ride. At the top we had a short walk to our next conveyance—the Children’s Railroad. Built in the 1940’s, this narrow-gauge railroad is a throwback to the Communist times when the Young Pioneers, the youth movement of the Communist Party, ran the operation. Today, specially trained teenagers under adult supervision, assist with ticketing and boarding. The youth were dressed in miniature versions of the official uniform of the Hungarian State Railways. In English I asked for one-way tickets but the young fellow at the ticket booth did not understand and called another fellow to help me.

We just missed the train so had to wait an hour. In the meantime, we walked around, bought a huge pretzel from a vendor, and shared an apple while resting on one of the few benches. When the train came, it quickly filled and then slowly wound through the Buda Hills. As the train left each station, the young uniformed boys saluted. Although passengers could get off at any station and hike on trails, we got off at János-Hegy and joined families and couples walking on a path uphill to a refreshment stand, playground, and chairlift. We continued up a steep path for 15 minutes to Erzsébet Lookout Tower, four-stories high and on the highest point of Budapest (1736 feet). Of course, we climbed to the top for a grand view.

When we returned to the refreshment stand area, the line for the chairlift was long so we decided to walk down instead. We walked on a trail and eventually came to a residential area with nice homes and the Norma Grill where we stopped for a late lunch at 4:30. Morris ordered spaghetti with mushrooms and I ordered tuna salad (greens, tuna, hard-cooked egg, pepper strips, and olives). Morris also ordered a glass of beer and shared it with me since it was so large. We got on the cogwheel railway at the nearest stop and returned home.

Note: We could have done the Buda-Triangle (Cogwheel Railway, Children’s Railway, and Chairlift) on a weekday and avoided the crowds. However, we mixed with the locals by going on a Sunday.

October 13
We returned to the Jewish District to visit the Dohány Synagogue, a striking Byzantine building. Unlike the Spanish Synagogue in Prague, this place was commercial and touristy and we had to go through a security check similar to one at an airport. Morris described it as “Disneyland meets religion.” After WW II, the synagogue was refurbished with financial support from Tony Curtis, an American actor of Hungarian-Jewish origin. The synagogue’s interior is a mix of Orthodox and Reformed Judaism and looks like a church with its nave, pulpit, and pipe organ. The thing I remember most was sunlight streaming through a yellow and blue stained glass window, creating a beautiful lighting effect at the high altar. The Holocaust Memorial in the courtyard in the form of a weeping willow tree and an inverted menorah was impressive with nearly 600,000 thin metal leaves inscribed with names of Hungarian Jews killed in the Holocaust.

Next we stopped for tea and treats at Fröhlich Kóser Ckrászda. All of the pastries looked delicious but Morris finally chose apple pie (almas pite) and I chose chocolate cake with rum. The tea was served differently: the tea leaves were in a cylinder inside a small vaselike vessel; then you poured the tea from the vase into your cup.

We took the metro to the Fűvészkert Botanical Garden of Eőtvős Loránd University. According to our guidebook, there were over 7,000 species of flora, a palm house, and a Japanese garden. However, we were disappointed since the garden was not well maintained, few flowers were in bloom, areas were under construction, and some buildings were closed. The most interesting plants were in one greenhouse—pretty tropical flowers and huge water lilies that would support a child. The retail store had fall flowers such mums and pansies (apparently the national flower based on the hundreds that we had seen throu ghout the city). Then we returned to St. Stephen’s Square for cinnamon gelato packed into the cone to resemble a rose.

On the way home we passed the bakery around the corner from our apartment. Since we had not yet been there, we stopped and bought two pieces of apple pie. Then Morris noticed the Hanami Teaháza next door. While we were looking at the poster in the window, a young man came out and asked if he had used appropriate English signage. When Morris found out that there was a tearoom in the lower level, we went in and had yellow tea recommended by the server. The server showed us the ritual: We poured water from a pot hanging over a candle into a cooling pot, letting the water cool for a minute; then we poured the cooled water into another pot, letting it steep for two minutes; finally we poured the tea into our cups. The server spoke English well and told us that he planned to put English on his website by December. The tearoom recently opened and had no sweets so we ate the apple pie from the bakery.

For dinner we sat at an outside table at the Pink Cadillac Pizzéria, an Italian restaurant on Ráday utca. Along with a glass of chianti, Morris ordered lasagna and I ordered penne pasta al gamberini pomodoro (shrimp fried in garlic oil with tomato sauce), both of which were excellent.

October 14
This was our last day in Budapest so we considered various options on how to spend the time. Relaxing in the city’s thermal baths was one possibility but this popular activity wasn’t our thing. We finally decided to visit Óbuda, the oldest of the three cities that combined to form Budapest, where we would see the Imre Varga Collection. I became fascinated with Varga, Hungary’s best-known contemporary sculptor, when I saw his Holocaust Memorial at Dohány Synagogue.

We took the HÉV suburban train to Óbuda. From the station we walked a short distance to an art installation by Varga in the middle of the street—a group of whimsical statues of women with umbrellas. We continued to the nearby Varga Museum, staffed by three older women, none of whom spoke English. The artwork was wonderful inside as well as outside in the garden. Some pieces were full-size sculptures while others were miniature models or photos of his works.

It was tea time when we left the museum and we were lucky to find the Hídfő Pub nearby. The waitress spoke little English but motioned to us to have a seat at an outdoor table. I asked about desserts but she said that there were none. Several minutes after she brought our tea, the waitress returned and pointed to crepes on the menu. I had missed them because they were listed under pasta. Morris ordered crepes, and in a few minutes she brought a colorful plate with two crepes (one filled with jam and nuts and one filled with chocolate), orange slices, and nectarine slices. Morris was hungry and not inclined to share so I flagged the waitress and told her that I would like crepes also. This was a wonderful little break that we both truly enjoyed.

We walked to nearby Margaret Island, a large park with lots of green space. We walked from one end to the other—ate gelato, walked through the Japanese garden, climbed to the top of the UNESCO-protected water tower for a view, admired flower beds, rested on benches, watched sprays of water shooting upward as a musical fountain played Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz, saw the Centennial Monument (commemorating the union of Buda, Pest, and Óbuda in 1873), and spotted statues by Imre Varga. Locals were also enjoying the park— mothers with children, people with dogs, senior citizens, young couples, and couples riding rented tandem bikes. We saw two elderly women on a bench sharing a bottle of beer (each had her own glass). Since we were hungry, we stopped for Kohlbász and bread at a stand. We finally left the island—a romantic, relaxing place to spend a beautiful fall afternoon as leaves gently floated to the ground.

A requirement for dinner was a restaurant that had fish soup and somlói galuska (national dessert), specialties we had not yet tried. After checking menus at several places, we took an outside table at nearby Magyar Étterem És Söröző. The red house wine was excellent. Morris ordered asparagus soup and I ordered fish soup. The fish soup was a spicy broth with chunks of carp and was delivered in a pot hanging over a candle flame; I ladled the soup into my bowl. The soup was very tasty but bones were still in the fish. Somlói galuska was served in a bowl—cubes of spongy cake sprinkled with a rum flavoring and topped with vanilla sauce, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream; thin slices of apple were artistically inserted on top. What a way to end our stay!

October 15
Our shuttle to the airport was supposed to pick us up at 7:00 a.m. so we set two alarms last night—a travel alarm and an alarm on the cell phone. However, I awoke at 5:00 a.m. The shuttle driver arrived timely and on the way to the airport told us that taxes in Hungary were high, food was expensive, wages were much lower than in Austria, and that it was cheaper to buy a TV in Austria. He asked about our upcoming Presidential election and whom we thought would win. He was both surprised and pleased that we had spent two weeks in Budapest since he said that the average visitor spends three nights each in Budapest, Prague, and Vienna.