Budapest - Part 2

Budapest is yet another European city in a long string of European cities that has plenty to offer. Food, people, sights - tasty, engaging, and beautiful (keep the order straight). There's quite a bit to see from architecture, bridges, parks, shopping streets, and a dinner river cruise is a great way to see both banks of the city from a unique perspective! It's hard to say what my favorite part of the visit was, unless I'm including the beautiful sunshine and hot temperatures (especially while Amsterdam was having a miserable July, weather-wise). Radhika and I spent our days walking around and exploring different parts of the city. We met our friend from Amsterdam, who was in her former city of residence briefly, for a nice dinner one evening. It was quite hot, but we were loving it because Amsterdam has been quite cool and very wet this summer. As a matter-of-fact it was the wettest summer on record since something like 1908!!! Where they get normal rainfall numbers of somewhere in the mid 100 centimeter region, I believe, this year they received something like 700 centimeters!! It was a crazy wet summer, which severely cut down on the outdoor basketball. Anyway, we checked out Szechenyi Baths, but didn't go in, visited Buda Castle and Castle Hill, Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church, Heroes' Square, walked across Chain Bridge several times, took a nice dinner cruise on the Danube, walked through the Jewish Quarter, enjoyed a traditional Hungarian dance performance, and went to the Terror Museum (only to find it was closed but the outside was great to photograph!). We had a great time in Budapest, coming back bronzed and happy, exposed to plenty of vitamin D carried on rays of sunshine fresh from their 8 minute trip straight to our waiting skin. A place we would definitely return to, and recommend to others. Now I have much to catch up on and pictures to post. Next up, Istanbul.

Departing Thoughts - Part 1

As we moved closer to wrapping up our 4-year adventure living in Amsterdam, many thoughts and emotions flashed across my mind. Funny, profound, serious, surprising - living outside the United States has provided a form of education you can't receive by any other method. Your familiarity and understanding of the places you read about in your life or visited while on a short holiday, change as your exposure lengthens and deeper aspects of the countries and people are revealed. Similarly, the view you have of the United States can be altered, as well. I have been asked repeatedly if I was happy to be going back to America. I spent some time thinking about and then crafting the shortest answer possible, because early on I heard myself babbling on and on in a clumsy attempt to convey my feelings, realizing I hadn't truly "nut shelled" it for myself let alone anyone who was unfortunate enough to ask me. It required more than a yes or no response. The go-to standard answer became yes, and no. No matter where we have traveled, we have encountered good and bad aspects about each location. I have discovered that "home" can be many places. I don't require what some people call "roots" to feel stable. Don't require that strong attachment to a place from my past that settles me down in times of uncertainty. As a matter-of-fact, when I return to the town of my youth, I feel little connection to it. It's not that it has changed so dramatically over the past few decades since I left. I believe the changes within me have more of a bearing on the feelings of disconnect. Each of us deals with change every day of our lives, but most of us are not comfortable with significant change. Many people dropped their jaw upon learning that we were moving to Amsterdam. Disbelief. How could you? Aren't you frightened? It was as if going outside the coccoon of the United States was madness, with misery and catastrophe sure to find us. People have told us there's no way they would ever leave the United States. Not to live. Not to visit. It’s an attitude that’s totally foreign to me. I equate that to a diet of mother's milk or baby formula for your entire life, or meeting someone at the moment your hormones kick in and marrying them. They say the U.S. has everything they need and there's no need to go anywhere else. I believe that to be a smoke screen, and fear is the motivator behind their philosophy. They are the same who say America is the best country in the world. It's funny, because they have zero reference points. Their statement is empty, void of any meaning or significance. Some interesting aspects of Dutch life follow. They’re random, good, bad, benign. Hopefully they’re entertaining…and educational for those unfamiliar. "Niet mogelijk". Heard that at the Parking Authority. Settle Service, the company hired by GE to help us get set up in our new country told us that on a regular basis. Numerous agencies, associates, staff in stores, restaurants - - we heard this everywhere, directed toward us from the Dutch people we were interacting with. "Not possible". A simple "No" does not suffice, but a response that implies physics will not allow what you ask for! The Dutch LOVE "Niet Mogelijk" as much as they love dairy products, holidaying in the same place year after year, and keeping their wallets as tight as one of their famous dykes. Can't relay here how many times I responded to them: "Walking on the sun is neit mogelijk. What I am requesting is not." I got so angry and irritated once after visiting the same office four different times because of their mistakes, I verbally went off on the staff. I was trying to get something done for Radhika, but finally turned it over to her because they said she had to handle it herself. The man at the counter told her when she was leaving, "Good luck with your angry husband." She corrected him, saying normally I'm an easy going guy until I come up against repeated incompetence. Yea, Radhika! Paying for phone calls to government agencies and private businesses! This was a real thorn in my side. When your internet service, power, or any utility fails, you have to call a toll number where you pay anywhere from €.10 and higher per minute to tell them their service delivery has stopped. The longer you're on hold listening to a Dutch recording or A Flock Of Seagulls (they do love '80's American music), the more abuse you're unleashing on the poor slob who answers the call. All the mail that you get you'll find at the bottom: "Problem? Call us at 900-775-8990 - We're here to help. *Call costs €.25/minute" Yeah. I'm already paying a bill AND you want to make a profit off my call when I'm not getting what I am paying for? Pathe. That is the French movie chain that has four movie houses in Amsterdam. A great deal for about 3 years when we first moved there. For €18 per month you can get a Pathe Card that allowed you to see any movie in any Pathe theater as many times as you care to. On top of that they ran specials for holders of the card, where after 6pm you got 20% discount on popcorn, soda, beer, candy, etc at the concession. It was great. Then they got these machines that looked like an ATM. The idea is to scan your card, pick your movie, pick the time, and your ticket is dispensed. Things went down just slightly then, because sometimes these machines were useless. They didn't scan your card so you wasted time in line and then had to go to the counter for the old-fashioned human being approach to acquiring your ticket. Then Pathe went to assigned seating, so the ushers didn't have to go into full theaters and ask the people to fill seats by generally moving to the middle. This I would find irritating because we would get there early to get a position in the middle and back from the screen the right distance, only to be moved by the jokers in their Pathe shirts. Wasn't their fault, I know. So I sent an email to Pathe corporate, who in turn referred me to the local theater in question. A-holes! So, going to the movies in groups became problematic. You could now reserve tickets online, so if you were meeting others there and wanted to sit together, you might be able to swing it by telling everyone where you reserved your seats. Then they would quickly try to get seats next to you online. What a pain in the ass! And, when you reserve you have to pick up your tickets at least 30 minutes before the show starts and no earlier than an hour, or you lose the tickets and they go back into the system. The price went up to €19 a month, which was no big deal, but going to the movies was having some of it's fun sucked out of it when you had to stress about getting there on time if you reserved, or arrange to sit with friends, or tell the numbskulls around you to shut their phones off before you took and broke them into tiny pieces. I need to hit a movie or two in the US to see if things have gotten worse over here. The audiences in Amsterdam occasionally thought they were in their living rooms watching the show, because they would be yakking away or tearing through a crinkly bag of chips. I was far from the only one asking them to be considerate. One guy was given 2 choices when I went to talk to him quietly, but he stole out of the theater with his buddies before I returned with theater staff. Another time they stopped the movie because there was too much ruckus and someone complained (not me). Kids on a school trip, and the teachers/chaperones were lame. Two guys were tossed out, one for shining a laser pointer on the screen. Well. Let me wrap this one up or I'll let another couple of months go by before it sees the light of day. Already got the next one started, so it shouldn't be long in getting posted. I have work to do. The Florida sunshine is beaming outside, so off I go. Just found out I'm going to need a new pool pump, so there's research to be done. Until next time...

Budapest - Part 1

One of the cities remaining on our list of places to get to before this period of European living comes to a close was Budapest. Time is evaporating quickly, so squeezing in our remaining destinations will be tricky, especially with people coming to visit. For Budapest as with several places we have visited, I spent a few extra days there making photographs before she arrived. My traveling habits are quite different than what they used to be, and don't match up with Radhika's (or most non-photographer's, I'm sure). For example, the sunrise was at 5am in Budapest, and I would get out early to make use of the morning light. Radhika would rather do any other distasteful thing imaginable than get up that early. I recall getting up even earlier than that on our visit to Bryce Canyon years ago, and putting in several hours before returning to the room where I would find her still snoozing. Being in the right location an hour or so before sunset is also critical for me. Of course that is usually when normal people want to be eating dinner. But we manage and enjoy ourselves on our travels.

I landed in Budapest on Wednesday right after noon, and the temperature was in the mid-90's (mid-30's Celsius). Not the best shooting conditions, so I scouted around a little making notes (sun positioning, its travel path, composition locations, city layout, etc), stocked the fridge in the room from the grocery store next to the hotel, and made general observations. One of the first things I noticed (starting at the airport) was the proliferation of visible bra straps! Not because I'm a guy (but I'll allow that probably has a little to do with it), but because it was just odd. I would react similarly if people were all wearing similar sunglasses! Seriously, it's the most bra straps I've seen outside a Victoria's Secret. I'm not offended, in support of it, have no real stance on the matter. Just found it highly unusual. Like the time 15 or probably more years ago, when a visiting friend and I went to Daytona Beach, and I hadn't been in a few years. It was spring break, and I immediately felt something was "wrong" and realized the guys on the pool deck had no body hair except what was on the top of their heads and even that was scant. Almost every dude had his chest, legs, underarms, everything, shaved clean as a whistle! We were both thinking WTF?!! And when did this start?! They have entirely too much time on their hands! Anyway...bra straps everywhere. When I saw my friend Thursday night, I mentioned it to her...wondering local or tourist. But before I finished my thought she said it was the local style. And the current heat wave brought out the least amount of material that could be legally worn.

The next day I decided to walk up Gellert Hill which has great views of Budapest. By the way, did you know that the city is actually the combination of two, separate cities, Buda and Pest? It's true! I didn't know that until about 6 months or so ago. Anyway, I was walking up this thickly vegetated, paved path, when I came upon a group of people up ahead of me just hanging out. They finally noticed me as I came closer, moving out of my line of sight, disappearing around the bend in the path. I became a little cautious, getting a good hold on my tripod. But as I got closer and curved left around the switchback, I saw they were all in position, 5 guys and a woman, playing the shell game! I marvel that people still play and think they can actually win! I had to smile to myself as I walked past their staged impromptu game of chance, hoping I would be drawn in. The noise and hubbub died down with each step I took away from them.

Budapest is a city well known for it's Turkish sulfur baths, and I intended to go to one before leaving. I read up on several, deciding on two. One is more "touristy" and the other more "local". I decided I would do the local one and save the other for when Radhika joined me. I went to Rudas Baths, which wasn't too far from where I was staying. I have never gone to one, so it was going to be a new experience. I read up on it, to make sure I went as fully informed as possible. This one had men’s and women’s days, and weekend days for both. I went on Friday afternoon, spending about 2 hours there. Online it said you could buy a 2-hour pass, but the guy at reception said I could only get a full day pass. Not the best start, but I got the ticket and went in. Had a cold Pepsi Twist as I waited for my massage time of 1:45 to roll around. Apparently no female masseuses in this place today, so I told the guy I wanted something like a sport massage. He wasn’t clear on what I requested, so I said I want a firm massage, not a gentle massage. Seems I had 2 choices, an aroma massage and something called a soap massage. He said the soap massage is more vigorous. While I've never had that flavor of a massage, I figured it couldn't be too foreign, and said "Sure. Let's do it." I was given what I'll call an apron. Apparel every one visiting the spa must wear. It's basically a square white cloth that when tied around the waist falls to the knees and ends at either hip. Yep...your backside is bare. I went into an area right outside the baths, and laid on a cushy table. A bucket was dipped under a water flow and the contents thrown across the table. This was done several times before I got up onto it, discovering the water warmed up the table nicely. On my stomach as I was soaped up, the massage was fairly vigorous, definitely more so than any aroma-type version. I flipped over and after 15 to 20 minutes was doused in warm water and thanked the gentleman and made my way to the baths. There was a main pool in the center that was quite big, with a dome over it with small porthole sized windows with colored glass in them, causing multihued shafts of light to cast their beams onto the pool surface and then reflected back onto the ceiling. It was a cool effect. That being the main source of light in the area, it was difficult to see the other 4 smaller pools on the perimeter much less the dozen or so men distributed amongst them. Each pool was a different temperature, the hottest being 42 or 45c (over 100f) and the coolest being 28c. There were wet and dry saunas that were much hotter, maxing out at 55c (131f). I could not stay in either longer than what was probably a minute or 2 before making a break for the cooler sections which were about 48c. There was a wooden bucket with a rope attached that you would pull on, spilling the chilly water onto your body. After exposing your skin to such heated temperatures, the shock of that initial contact was extreme. But after a couple of goes, it didn't seem so bad. Going into the 82f pool after a few minutes in the sauna had the effect of entering icy water like those northern lunatics do in winter who call themselves the Polar Bear Club. Anyway, after 2 hours of wearing a soaking wet white partially see-thru apron covering my anterior while my posterior was boldly out there without shame, going from relaxing warmth to unbearable heat to shocking cold, with other men mostly in their 50's to 70's in less then athletic condition, the fun wore off. Besides, I had a wife (that would be mine) to meet at the airport. So I went to the locker room, went into my private cubicle, dried off, put on my dry shorts, then realized I left my sandals inside, after I reminded myself every time I walked by them not to forget them. I quickly went back in, and headed straight to the room where I saw online the plane was running late. I left with what I measured to be plenty of time based on my travel time from the airport to the hotel. But it seemed to take much longer on the train and then the bus to the airport, and I ended up being 20 minutes late to meet Radhika. I welcomed her to Budapest and we headed straightaway back to the city after getting her 3-day travel card.