Budapest Itinerary
Wednesday, Nov. 26 -- Flew to Budapest via Amsterdam in amazingly comfortable KLM jets.
Thursday, Nov. 27 -- Arrived in Budapest Thanksgiving morning. A quick run through the city and overlook of the two cities, Buda and Pest, with The Danube River between them. Spent the afternoon walking the city on my own, exploring the parks and graffiti. Toured the city by foot that evening to see the Fisherman's Bastian, the castle district, and St. Matthias Church. That evening we had goulash for dinner and listened to an awesome gypsy band playing traditional and classical music. I was threatened and kissed by them!
Friday, Nov. 28 -- Visited the Royal Palace and Parliament. Traveled that afternoon to the town of Szentendre, now a community of artists. Beautiful hills and valleys through here. Kovacs Martin museum is filled with ceramic sculpture and tile of surreal beauty and powerful emotion. I wish I could have brought some home, but reproductions weren't available. Friday night I went shopping with a teacher from New Jersey and attended a Bach recital at St. Matthias. The acoustics were flawless and the performance evocative. After a late dinner at a nearby cafe with a jazz duo performing, we walked through the quiet city. My favorite evening of the trip.
Saturday, Nov. 29 -- After a brief convention meeting comparing notes on international travel, the group went to the town of Gödölló and toured the rococo mansion of Grassalkovich, a palatial estate and summer retreat for formal royalty. We had a magnificent dinner with fine music that evening. Afterwards, a group of us explored the night life of Budapest (including the ironically-named Cactus Juice), wandered streets meeting would-be muggers and friendly French, and then set off through the castle district one last time in search of cake. All we found was a nearly-empty bar with a live combo playing American standards from the 1980s. Why sleep? I got back to my room at 3:00 with a 4:30 wake-up call.
Sunday, Nov. 30 -- A long and sleepy (also uncomfortable!) flight back to the US via Frankfurt (the labyrinthian and poorly-labeled airport from hell). Fortunately I sat next to a gentleman from Japan on the long flight and we shared Lorna Doone cookies while I brushed up on my Japanese skills. Despite all the warning, Detroit Metro wasn't crowded on Wednesday or Sunday. Smooth trip!