Djoing what Djohnny Said

We put off until the last day the trip to Johnny & Terry's chi-chi restaurant, Cafe Pierrot, located in the Castle District and the home of the famous goose liver trilogy. How we got there is another story.

Both Nicole and I have traveled to Castle Hill all by ourselves independently and neither of us remembered any problems. Today, we decided to either walk Chain Bridge or take a trolley, whichever came first. Nicole still had a 3 day pass but I needed to buy a ticket. We decided to walk the bridge, then took the funicular up the mountain. Somehow, we turned left instead of right, walked down a hill, talking merrily, and ended up back at the funicular. The funicular cost 1000 forints; no problem--I thought I had a 10,000 bill.  But no, I had a 1000 so we counted all our change and rode it back up the hill.  Then we were out of money, with no transportation pass, no water, no food. We finally found an ATM and made our way to the restaurant (courtyard above). The place is delightful. The trilogy consists of grilled goose liver which was excellent, a pate which was magnificent, and a souffle that looked like creme brulee which was one of the most unusual and delicious dishes I ever had.

After that, we made our way to Ruszwum for their world famous cream pastry, also a Johnny recommendation, They were out of that but promised me the cream puff used the same cream.  It was great. Nicole got sour cherry strudel which was also great and was real strudel instead ground poppyseed cake.

Then we packed; got a quick dinner on Liszt Square and are preparing for a 7 a.m. taxi and a 14 hour trip (Nicole) and a 19 hour trip (me).

So bye to Budapest--still one of my favorite cities despite the fact it's overrun with Americans. Really. Tonight at dinner, it seemed everyone was speaking American; didn't hear any British.

Until next time...end o'blog.

No pictures, not much to report

Well, there is this liver and chicken necks.

The wifi never worked on my computer so I had to connect through the main connection. I switched it to wifi
for all Nicole's friends who came over last night to my party and by party I mean, they all came over and read their email on their fancy-dancy phones.

At any rate, two days ago, we went to Szechenyi thermal baths all day and got caught in the rain. The next day was shopping day at the Central Market. I soon tired of that but it seems Nicole needed to buy a lifetime supply of new purses. Today, we walked around Gellert Hill--some people actually walked up the hill but I wasn't feeling it and have done that before--I'll just look at the pictures when I get home.

In other news, bad luck for this group in the thievery department. First, my pick-purse incident; now, a train incident. Two of the people rented a couchette for a 17 hour ride to Milan. At a stop, someone broke into it and stole the guy's backpack from underneath his feet. He lost a lot of journals and other personal things but I don't believe passports and money were in there. There are 6 theater people left here--most are leaving tomorrow. And Nicole and I are winding down too. Leaving on the 2nd. This apartment and location has been great and remains the best place I ever rented (at least so far).

I was here before in 2005; in 8 years time, what seems to have changed is that the young people seem to have taken all the jobs, speak English, and are determined to make Budapest a major tourist destination. In 2005, I was refused service on more than one occasion because I didn't speak the language. Some of the older (as in my age) workers were downright rude. I didn't see any of that this time--everyone is nice; everyone speaks a little English, it's a different atmosphere. Same feeling as in Romania but I didn't expect to find it here. I've always liked Eastern Europe and it's nice to see the modernization but at least in Budapest, I feel they're doing a good job of maintaining some old world charm.

Hello, Lady

Apparently, all male servers have been taught it's polite to say things to old American ladies like "Hello, Lady," "Here you are, Lady. Enjoy your meal," "Have a nice night, lady." The female servers do not say that.

Now I feel really bad about those nasty things I said about the Hop On, Hop Off people. They are my new best friends. Since there's 2 people working every corner with most people ignoring them, they are bored and will answer any question you ask. I've come to rely on them for directions. Today, the actors had a tour of the National Theater but I didn't want to try to meet up with them (especially since they were walking and it's very far)  so I didn't go with them but I did go to the real Contemporary Art Museum right by that theater. I had to take Tram 2 which everyone on tripadvisor advises people to take because it runs along the Danube offering a beautiful view.  But since I didn't know where to catch it, I asked a Hoppy person who told me  Tram 2 is not as exciting as those tripadvisor people say.  Most people riding it are going to work, not gazing at the Danube.

At any rate, I got to Millenium park which is beautiful--has a great view of the Buda Hills, the theater (see picture) and the Contemporary Art Museum. I thought I was looking at the museum but to make sure, I asked a young man who was wearing a "I heart USA" t-shirt with an American flag on it.  Turns out, he didn't speak much English. But, he answered me because I kept saying "art, art" and pointed to the building.

The museum has decent reviews online--their small collection has the usual Warhol, Ono, Picasso--but it was the exhibits that made the trip worth the effort. One floor was devoted to an exhibit called The Naked Man (who wouldn't pay extra for that?). It was an examination of the role of men in art, cultural stereotypes of maleness, etc. Very tasteful and representing different time periods and artists.

The bottom floor was a photography collection called This Must Be the Place by Pieter Hugo. Never heard of him but when I researched him later, I found out he's getting really famous. He's from South Africa but photographs in different African countries. He does mostly large format photography. He's terrific and very young (born 1976)..

So all of that for $10.  After I toured the museum, I ran right into Nicole & gang who had driven to the museum so I got a ride back. They got a tour of the theater including under the stage--it's a moving stage; state of the art technically. Very impressive.  I don't even remember hearing about Millenium Park the last time I was here but it's on my recommendation list now.

And...a picture of the theater where Trapdoor performed last night. Very nice space. They had good attendance, especially considering the performance was added at the last minute and not advertised. Plus, they were competing with Mama Mia upstairs and Ghost: The Opera across the street.

We went to a buffet for lunch today. Lots of young people there--it's all you can eat for $5. They have Indian food, meat they'll cook for you, lots of Hungarian food...and a two hour time limit. Must be popular with all the students here. Since it's serve yourself, no one said "hello, Lady."

Last Show

Tonight is the last show of the Trapdoor tour. Luckily, the theater is under a 10 minute walk for me and I bought a ticket. The director said I could get in free but Nicole made me buy a ticket.

So first today, I went to the modern art museum on Heroes Square. No one seems to go there and for good reason. They host only exhibits--there were 3 today, none of which were very good.

Then I decided to go to the top of St. Stephen's. For $2, you can get a whole view of the city. I thought it would be amusing if I had a picture of St. Stephen's from my apartment and then a picture of my apartment from St. Stephen's.  It is very high up there and today is especially windy. I am always terrified of those places so I don't know why I can't resist them. I walked most of the way around and never really identified my apartment--so much for the amusing idea. One American girl was hugging the wall so at least I was brave enough to pass her on the outside.

The cathedral itself is great too. I don't remember being in there before.

The last time I was here, it was the month of October and I had a month-long transportation pass with a passport picture on it. In that month, I think I was stopped twice to have my ticket checked. This time, there are guards to stop everyone at least twice a day. I guess because it's tourist season. They examine my 7 day pass and are so proud of themselves when they say "thank you."

Liszt Square is one of my favorite spots with all its restaurants. I ate lunch there today and they actually brought the heaters back out since it's so cold. I went to the Liszt Museum the last time so I don't need to see it again. There have death casts of his hands and they were huge.  What I didn't know was that he got his start in Bratislava (the most interesting fact in Bratislavan history). He played a concert at age 9 and immediately got sponsors to fund his musical education.  I do understand why he left Bratislava.

I found my Hungarian dessert of choice--sponge cake. It is pieces of chocolate and vanilla sponge cake with vanilla pudding. Covered in the ubiquitous whipped cream with chocolate sauce...just like their coffee.

Helmut Newton is Following Me

Or vice versa. Saw one of his exhibits in Paris last year and here is a different one in Budapest. In both cases, the exhibitions are huge. This one had  about 5 rooms of several different projects. No Cindy Crawford, but Liz, Angelica, Andy Warhol and an interesting David Bowie shot. There was a room of fashion photography and what was interesting about that is it featured shoots he did for American Vogue, Italian Vogue, French Vogue, etc. As you might guess, the most risque were the French--since the models were mostly nude, it was difficult to know what was being advertised.

Unfortunately, the museum made you pay for their permanent exhibit as well as the special exhibit so I felt obligated to go to the permanent exhibit which was not good. Maybe those Hungarian masters are well known to Hungarians but their brochure featured their one Breugel as one of the highlights of the museum.

I believe one should always try the local burger--this one was the opposite of the totally raw one I had in Paris. I believe they started frying it last night.  Speaking of raw, I think it's now safe for me to report I did not get food poisoning from the steak tartare with a raw egg in the middle that I had in Bratislava. I did not think I was ordering that; I thought I would get small strips of grilled steak and there was no mention of a raw egg.

My elevator didn't work when I left to go to the synagogue so I walked downstairs--it is 4 1/2 flights of stairs and I live on 2. Some people live on 6 so I knew they'd get it fixed by the time I got back; if not, I was going to take the afternoon and walk up to the apartment and never leave.

On my list of things I didn't see last time was the Dohany Street Synagogue. It is a stunning building, built in the mid-1800s. It's the largest synagogue in Europe. Again, I couldn't get far enough away to get a good picture. It has a Memorial Garden and also a Jewish history museum.

Since I eat lunch too late, I'm never hungry for the big Hungarian meal so ordering just an appetizer is working well. Tonight I had duck liver pate which wasn't as good as Johnny's and also twice as expensive, but it was tasty and served with a lettuce salad with fresh fruit.  Their salads are really good and I also like how they put tomatoes and cucumbers on sandwiches like a club sandwich or burger. There was no eating outside tonight, though--apparently, all the restaurants took their heaters in for the summer. It's cold, rainy, and windy now.

Off to watch some news--I can get all the English speaking news channels but if a good show like "The Big Bang Theory" is on, it's dubbed. I hate when they do that--they do that in Poland too. Speaking of my dislikes, I also don't like that you have to beg to get a check in these restaurants, everywhere I've been here in the East. There can be people waiting for tables but I'm sure you'd be allowed to sit at yours for hours if you never asked for the check. On the flip side, I've never seen such fast service, again, in every country I've been in. Some restaurants have 100 things on the menu and they still will cook your food in under 10 minutes. It makes me wonder whether they have everything ready in the back, just waiting for someone to order it. I'm sure that's true of that hamburger I had today but the gourmet dishes like grilled goose liver are always perfectly cooked.

Hop On, Hop Off Outta Da Way

The Hop On, Hop Off tour people are driving me nuts. They have a table every three feet and want to give you a brochure and talk you into buying their tour--even if they just saw you pass by another table two minutes ago. I have 43 brochures. They're young people, apparently paid on commission. If tourists would look at the map, they would notice that for 6000 forints, about 8 of the 12 stops are within 1/2 mile of each other. Yes, you get a boat tour, a beer, and some discounts, but you're not going to go to the places with the discounts. I bought a week all transportation ticket for 2000 less. I must say I hate this money. A dollar is about 237 forints. I can do the math, but when it comes to something like a tip, I don't know whether I've give $10 or 10 cents. Plus, it's hard to figure out if something is a bargain.

For nostalgia's sake, I took the subway to Heroes Square today--I did that every day when I was in school here. I changed to a bus to get home from there; wherever that was that I lived. I have no desire to look at the old apartment although the street was nice with some embassies and fancy houses. Then I walked back--Andrassy is about a 2 mile walk--something like that. I stopped at Liszt Square for lunch because I love that square. The Hooters is still there. As is the TGIFridays on Deac Ter I once ate at because I couldn't make it any further that night. I had a horrible lunch and remembered the food really isn't very good here unless you're eating goose liver. So for dinner, I had fried goose liver bits on arugula with red onions. Delicious.

It rained and cooled off considerably so I washed my jeans and then ironed the t-shirts I washed yesterday. Of course, I can't figure out the washing machine; I bought some fabric softener to make the clothes softer but it didn't seem to help too much.  I have the instruction manual in English.and can't figure out where the soap goes.

I have better pictures of Heroes Square from the last time I was here Kind of busy today. So here's also a picture of my cafelatte.

Moving On Up

When this couple advertised "view of St. Stephen's Basilica," I thought it would be a sideways glance look, but this is the view directly across from my balcony--couldn't get the whole building in the photo. This is by far the best apartment I've ever rented in Europe. Dishwasher, washing machine which I already used. It's like the one in Paris in that it locks and you can't stop it, but when it says it will wash for an hour, it means it, unlike the one in Paris that really meant 5 hours. This doesn't have a dryer but it wrings well. Here is my living room before I trashed it:

I took a train from Bratislava, first class with the other Americans and Brits. The reason I do that is because you usually get two seats to yourself so I don't have to lift my suitcase overhead. Plus, 2nd class can be packed and noisy. They didn't offer a discount for old people--I asked in those exact words but it was about $7 more and worth every penny. Plus, Americans and Brits will help a gal with her suitcase.  I always forget about train travel when I pack. Train stations always have steps that you have to go up and down to get to your track. Fortunately, today I rolled right out to track 1.  In Sibiu, though, I had to carry the suitcase down a flight of stairs and then up another. Also, their trains had the highest steps I've ever seen. I could barely lift myself onto it, let alone the suitcase. Some nice man helped--probably an American or Brit. When I got to Brasov, a little redcap, half my size and twice my age carried it for me, for a tip. He asked me if I spoke a little French and then I think he asked me for a bigger tip...in French. I acted like I didn't understand.  Vlad had told me that during Communist times in Romania, people either learned Russian or French, hence the old guy and his French.

I finally solved the strudel mystery. In Bratislava, I kept reading that tourists should try poppy desserts because the EU is trying to outlaw poppy seed cultivation. I didn't try anything so tonight in Budapest, I tried their poppy cake. It was the same base as that strudel except, instead of two cherries, they made it into a layer cake. So apparently, it's just ground up poppy seeds. I also had goulash which in Hungary is soup but is stew every where else. I sat around the restaurant for awhile to see the pizza that several people ordered. Some of you will recall that I had that once in Budapest and they brought a bottle of ketchup in case I wanted extra sauce. Sure enough, out came the ketchup and then thin pizza with little sauce. I actually saw someone put ketchup on it.  I had french fries earlier today and I must say their Heinz ketchup is really sweet--guess that's the difference between added sugar and added corn syrup.