Stadion Budapest

I just arrived at the capital of Hungary, Budapest, on the train. It was a pretty good trip-although I am getting spoiled to trains. People complain about a measly 6 hour, they should be ashamed; try a 30 hour bus trip in S.A. Oh well. Will write later when I have been here longer.

... the way we talk. After being annoyed by that we went out walking for a bit and saw the Basilica of St. Stephen, where one can the 1000 year old mummified right hand of St. Stephen himself. We then went off and saw the Danube and the impressive parliament building. After lunch we had a nap then went off to the opera. The opera house itself was beautiful with its neo-Renaissance architecture, but our seats weren't the greatest in the world. We ...

... playing cards.  Kara and I fell asleep, and Monty and Vanessa stayed up awhile longer.  At around 2 am, Monty left, and we officially began sleeping in shifts.  Kara took first shift so V and I could sleep.  I think I got a couple hours, but the seats were really uncomfortable and the train was loud, so I was pretty restless.  I got up around 3:30 to start my shift.  Kara woke up at 5 again, and then we decided it was safe enough for us all to sleep.  The ...

... a star or something) in the center of it. During a protest, a student took down the flag and cut out the symbol. We also went to Fisherman's Bastion, which looks old but isn't. It was just built by some rulers to look impressive and old. There's a supposedly really cool church at the top as well. Unfortunately it was covered in scaffolding ...

... There was one fellow singing opera, and another girl who had hauled a full upright piano out into the square and was banging out some heavy classics with gusto. We celebrated the solstice, which is also the mid-point of this extended travel binge, at a pretty swanky vegetarian restaurant, and then a concert. There are no less than 4 standing orchestras which do nothing but play Mozart and Strauss, on a fixed program, while dressed in period costumes, all summer ...

... entered the swimming area. I say swimming area because there were three huge swimming pools in roughly a line filled with people. The intensity was similar to a preschool.2 The first had a circular section in the center of the larger pool with powerful jets that would push you around in this inner circle. Similar to a roller rink but you didn't have to skate or put any effort out at all. I don't know who liked it more, Collette, Christy or me because our giggle ...

AMIE: Spent a few days in Budapest after leaving Croatia. The weather has improved tremdously and we are loving wearing shorts again. The first day in Budapest we walked to the top of Gellert hill and toured around an old fortress. Then we walked to Castle hill and had a great view of the city: both the Buda and the Pest sides (separated by the Danube river). The Castle area and the Fisherman´s Bastion were beautiful old areas where people still try to maintain their homes and their ...

... happy result that I was charged for only one night's stay. Fair compensation, I dare say. One day was plenty of time to relax, and I was on the 10:08 train to Budapest on Thursday morning. 6 hours, much Harry Potter, and a brief attempt at conversation with a Hungarian Boy Scout.. and I was in Pest, dodging stalls of stale pastry in an attempt to navigate the Metro system. Settled in at the hostel and took a primary ...