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

    Tuesday, November 12