Budapest:
Monday, November 11
Sleeper car to Budapest - clean enough cabin shared with a teacher
of engineering, 50 years old, wild hair, two kids of his own named
Kate and Michael - standing in the hallway until midnight - "Now
economics in Poland not so good. Many up here and many down there."
Wade sleeps with rare interruption, Marisa is awake nearly all
night in the top compartment braving a 90-degree blast from the
train's heater - Wade buys candy from the conductor, a character hired
from "Central Casting" to play the rotund, red-sweater-vested,
railroad man
Budapest by 8:42am - straight to Info sign - get a room - student
is dispatched in VW van to take us over the Duna (Danube) to a pretty
house on a hill in Buda - sunny room, new tile bath, $33/night,
sleeeeep for two hours
Walk down to and beside the Danube - reflecting the sky and
looking blue
Across the Chain Bridge designed and completed by a Scotsman -
literally a series of chains
Into Pest, looking for a meal - stop at the first place in the
guidebook - beautiful setting outside and it's November - not good,
very expensive
Walk toward St. Stephen's Church - drab 18th century - shopping
district lovely - chess sets bought in Krakow for $9 available here
for $33
Walk to baths at Hotel Gellert -
suitably Roman for this ancient routine - two big pools of tile, one
for men and one for women (this is a great place to study the transfer
of bacteria) - then a massage, perfunctory, hard-hitting, fifteen
minutes - dark ride two blocks and walk uphill one mile home
Grocery stores, only two of them - empty compared to Krakow and
Prague - to bed without supper - don't want to go out
This is a hard city so far