2008 Dan in Philadelphia

I'd been here in the Philadelphia area many times before, and I've explored Valley Forge National Park a few times. But since I'm always well west of town, I had never ventured into the city center to see the historical areas there. This day, however, I'd been saying how much I love history and how I'd never been to Independence Mall, when I suddenly realized I had the time to go down there. Of course I didn't want to fight the traffic, and the weather (rain/sleet/snow) was rotten, but I had no other excuses. So downtown I went.

In the morning I had explored Valley Forge again by foot, running around the park for a couple hours. On previous visits I had gone to the visitor center and other historical buildings to learn and take in all the history. So it was ironic to have been there in the morning and to Independence Mall in the late afternoon. I only had a couple hours, but that was enough time to see what I wanted: the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I also spent a few minutes in a Ben Franklin museum.

I learned all about the history of Liberty Bell at the visitor center. I was vaguely aware that it predates the Revolutionary War, and that it was rung to call revolutionary meetings to order. I was also somewhat aware that it was hidden from the British as they occupied the capital (which at the time was Philly). I was surprised to learn that it also symbolized freedom and liberty for African Americans, both before the emancipation, and afterwards for civil rights.

Independence Hall gave me goosebumps. To stand where the signers of the Declaration of Independence debated, and to see their arrangement of tables and chairs was fantastic. Our other important document, the Constitution, was also ratified/signed here as well. Our guide, a National Park Service ranger, did a great job of bringing it all to life.

Even though the weather was so awful, the whole Independence Mall area had its own historic beauty. There is enough other stuff to see to spend an entire day or two there. Maybe next time. At least I did see what I did. And the weather *was* awful coming home.

2008 Dan in UK

As so often happens, I found myself on a plane over the Atlantic just hours after running a marathon. If you guessed that it was an uncomfortable trip, you’d be quite correct. 

I’d been to Merry Olde England before. It was the beginning and end of our Family European Vacation in the 90’s, and more recently I’d been here in June doing the same sort of work I was here for again this time. The location is Theale, which is near Reading – about 40 miles west of London. Last time the taxi fares were ridiculously expensive. The client pays this, but I still wanted to save them money, while also staying a bit out of the way at a Marriott/Renaissance hotel back near Heathrow. So I rented a car, something I’ve never done in Europe. I’d driven on the left before however, in Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica. I had always had Debbie to navigate and remind me to stay left. This time I’d be on my own. What a disaster. 

Immediately after arrival I drove out to Windsor to see Windsor Castle. I had no trouble finding the main motorway, M4. I had no trouble finding the exit for Windsor. I had a great deal of trouble, however, following the directions into town, which was only a couple miles. When I did finally get there, it was seemingly almost by accident. But this little spell of being lost finding the village would prove to be nothing. Now the problem was where to park. All of the street areas and parking lots required exact change, and I had only large bills. After several tries, I finally did find a lot that had a change machine. 

I walked around the village for a while, and then headed into the castle. It’s a village in itself. You can tell right from the start that it’s a “proper” castle, with a moat, turrets, etc. Of course it has changed and grown over the centuries, but it is the largest and oldest royal castle that is still in continuous use. I think for over 800 years. These days the royal family uses the castle on weekends and for special occasions. The Queen’s colors are flying from the top of the keep when she’s in residence; otherwise it’s the union jack, as it was when I was there. Also, when the royal family is present, some of the state rooms that I toured are closed to the public, so that they may actually be used. The ones I saw were appropriately grand. There were also some famous works of art. Besides the state rooms, some other castle highlights were the chapel, which was grand, and the royal guards. 

One would think that finding my way back to the hotel afterwards would be no big deal. After all, it was very close to the airport, on one of the busy nearby roads. But nooo. I accidentally passed the exit and was forced to remain on the motorway almost all the way into central London. This was a near disaster, but I did manage to turn back and again, only by dumb luck, find my way back. 

The being lost stuff would actually get worse over the next couple days of work. One would think that once I figured out one way to get to the hotel, that I could just continue to repeat that. But nooo. Not when I only find it by dumb luck. My next bout with being lost was the worst – I got off the motorway one exit too early and found myself on another one going the wrong direction. And then, after many miles I was finally able to get off to try to turn around, but I found myself unable to do so – because I was on yet another motorway! This was truly motorway hell. I should say one good thing about driving in Britain. Only one. The drivers are extremely courteous. No cutting people off; no road rage. I almost never heard the toot of the angry horn. And there were plenty of time where people had reason to be angry enough at me for a toot. 

Another experience to report: lunch with at a proper pub. Interestingly, my client had to leave his credit card with the proprietor to cover any tap fee. When I asked, huh?, he told me it was to prevent us from having a beer and running off without paying for it. We weren’t even having beer; we were there for the fine cuisine. And the pub grub really was pretty good. 

“Remember, remember the fifth of November.” I haven’t forgotten this extremely profound little poem I learned from the movie, “V for Vendetta”. It turns out that, as noted in the movie, the people of Britain actually do commemorate the day that some anarchist nearly succeeded in firebombing parliament in the 17th century. They celebrate with fireworks and bonfires. The most fun, I take it, is the making of a straw man and throwing him into a bonfire, as was done with the anarchist. I’m really not sure whether this is out of respect or contempt for the guy; maybe a bit of both. I did witness plenty of random fireworks on my way back to the hotel that night. I also smelled the smoke of bonfires as I got out of the car. Don’t know if any anarchists were burning. 

Earlier on that fateful 5th or November, I awoke at 4am to watch John McCain and Barak Obama’s speeches as the election concluded. I was surprised at the amount of interest on this side of the pond, and it’s almost all positive. The TV networks and newspapers are full of it. So were the folks I was working with. One guy stayed up all night watching the returns, although he was up with his young baby anyway. But he made his 8-month old son watch Obama’s speech so that the boy would witness the historical moment.

2008 Dan in Lisbon and Bucharest (and Prague)

It’s not like these two places are close together; they’re on opposite sides of Europe, two time zones apart. But this is the way the work worked out: one week in Lisbon, Portugal followed by a weekend stop in Prague, Czech Republic, followed by two weeks in Bucharest, Romania. I’d been to these places before, so I tried to concentrate on seeing and doing new stuff.

Lisbon
Part of the fun was getting here. Part of that was running the Green Jewel 100K race *just before stepping onto the plane. But that’s another story.

There was too much work and no time to explore. That’s too bad, because Lisbon is lovely. I did do a bit of running in the areas I’d run before – the university grounds (nice soft dirt trails) and Monsanto Park (huge hills and some trails, interesting prison at the top). Each day I took the three metro trains to and from the office. It’s kind of fun to get around this way.

I was finally able to get away from work for a couple hours on Friday afternoon. I took the metro to the city center and walked up, up, up to the Castle of St. Jorge. It’s a huge edifice at the top of the hill overlooking all of Lisbon. The views of Lisbon and environs – all 360 degrees of them – are great up there. The castle itself, built in the 12th century, is mostly in ruins. But even so, the sheer size and complexity of it are something to behold. I should have checked this out the other times I’d been here.

Prague
I stopped here on the way from Lisbon to Bucharest in order to run the Prague International Marathon (PIM). The travel arrangements were highly complex, but everything worked out. At the expo, I met up with Mike George, his mother-in-law, Dolly, wife Judy, and daughter Angie. We had a nice dinner together; they would be cheering me on.

I made it through the marathon. It wasn’t my fastest, but at least I ran a steady pace. Afterwards, as usual, I had to catch a plane, this time on to Bucharest.

Bucharest
It’s been said that Bucharest is the Paris of Eastern Europe. But what has not been said is that Paris is the Bucharest of Western Europe.

As with Lisbon, in Bucharest the hotel and the office are in opposite corners of the city. I was tired of being ripped off by taxi drivers, including the huge rip off I received coming from the airport. And traffic is always very bad. So I figured out to use the metro here as well. I would only need to take one line, but it’s a long walk between the hotel and the station (about a mile and a half) and then I also have to take a bus between the Pipera station and the office. Even with all this hassle, it’s still better than the taxi.

Bucharest has an architecture style all to its own. I think the experts call it neo-classical or something like that. Most buildings are whitish, and sort of grand-looking. They’re usually symmetrical when you look at them in relation with those adjacent or across the street. The boulevards are wide and tree-lined. And then there’s the Palatul Parlamentului, the second largest, after the Pentagon, building in the world. As with my last trip here, my hotel room overlooks the monstrosity.

Everywhere I go in Bucharest I see loose dogs. Not good if you’re a runner. They’re everywhere. The Marriott has its own little pack hanging around, as do the office buildings where I’ve been working. I often see them lying right on the sidewalk leading up to the building; people have to walk around them. And speaking of the office in the Pipera area, what a mess that is. Everything is new: the office buildings, the big homes, the metro station (I think). Too bad there are almost no roads or, for the new homes, no water or sewerage. It’s called infrastructure, and Piper ain’t got it.

I know that there’s much more to Romania than just Bucharest, and I was determined to see some of it. There’s the small matter of Transylvania, which has mountains and castles, one of which belonged to Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula. It really isn’t all that far from flat Bucharest – maybe 90 miles or so. After a bunch of planning and research, I took the metro to the main train station and then got on a train to Sinaia, a mountain village in Transylvania. I wouldn’t be able to visit Castle Bran of Vlad the Impaler fame, because it is perhaps 15 miles from Sinaia by road. But Sinaia has its own castle and plenty more.

My first thought when I got off the train is that Sinaia looked like it belonged in Appalachia. Some of the mountains here are even higher than those of Appalachia though. I walked up to the Monastery and checked it out. Then I walked up to Peles Castle. It’s in a very picturesque setting on the side of the mountain range. I took the English tour and was impressed with the wood floors, walls and ceilings. 90% of the castle was wood of different trees and shades. Dark, but very nice.

There is another smaller castle called Pelisor further up from Peles. I walked around it, but didn’t go in. Then my real walk began. I walked up the road until the town ended, and kept going. There were occasional houses, and occasional glimpses of the great mountain scenery. The road I was walking on was dirty and dusty and full of ruts; they were working on it. I thought I might be near the top, because I heard the gondola announcements. It wasn’t till later that I figured that I was nowhere near the top of the 2,500 meter mountain peak. Oh well; I had to turn back sometime. Back in town I walked around a small village green type park and explored the village some more before getting on the train back to Bucharest.

I had only seen a few parts of Bucharest, but not really very much as a tourist. So I set out one warm Sunday morning to see the essential Bucharest.

I decided to skip a tour of the Big Palace, at least for now; I wanted to see other stuff. I’d been to the central historical area, also known as the Lipscani area, one other time, and it was not impressive. I went there again thinking that it might’ve changed for the better. It didn’t. Yes, it’s old, but I thought there was almost nothing worth seeing, and evidently everyone else thinks so too; there are very few people around. There had been a lot of construction and excavation of historical artifacts last time, and it appears that this has even increased.

Walking on, still looking for something to see, I stumbled onto and into Gradina Cismigio, a botanical garden and park. I wasn’t expecting much, but what a wonderful place it turned out to be! There are beautiful flowers and gardens, sculptured lakes, a large playground and a gazebo/bandstand. I saw families with kids of all shapes and sizes heading to and from the playground. Older folks sitting on park benches. And a polka band. The music had some folks dancing and everyone else tapping their feet. It was getting hot out, but the shade in the park felt just fine. I could’ve stayed all day.

But I thought I really ought to see more, so onward I walked. I saw more wide boulevards and huge squares, including Piata Victoriei. And then I stumbled into another park: Parcul Kiselef. I was going to just walk along side it to get to another square, but something drew me in: gypsy music. It turned out to be another wonderful park. There weren’t so many gardens, but the people were here once again: families with little ones, older folks, etc. This gazebo had a “traditional” band. It sounded like gypsy music at first with a woman singing along with a band, but then they played traditional Romanian music. It still sounded gypsy-ish, with several violin/fiddles, but I know it was Romanian because I recognized a much extended version of George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody. No one was dancing, but as with the polka band, everyone was tapping their feet.

But I thought I should see more stuff, so once again, onward I walked. I saw more wide boulevards and huge squares, including Piata Charles de Gaulle and Piata Arcul de Triumf. Their triumphal arch (covered with scaffolding) is almost as big as Paris’, but I’m trying to find a European city that doesn’t have one. Now it was getting extremely hot – near 90 – and I decided to return via the metro. On my way to the station, I stumbled through, guess what? Another park: Parcul Hebestrau. And this park was every bit as wonderful as the other two. Cool shade, playgrounds, gardens, gobs of people strolling. I could’ve stayed all day.

So that’s the essential Bucharest. Yes, there is interesting architecture, the wide boulevards and the great squares. But those wonderful parks were not at all what I expected. They, in and of themselves, make this place a great city.

2008 Central Europe

There are reasons why people go to Europe in the summertime; reasons like nice foliage, flowers and beautiful sunny weather. But we had our reasons for going in early spring, and they seemed like good ones at the time. These included fewer people, lower costs and maybe half-way decent weather.


We got the fewer people part right – the crowds were very much on the low side. Lower costs? The package price for the tour, lodging and a few meals wasn’t bad at all. But the near-worthless dollar for everything else put the cabash on any thoughts of saving money. And this brings us to the weather. I had to keep telling myself that it is spring, and the day before Easter, as we endured leaving Cleveland in the snowstorm. At least it would be sunny and warmer in Europe, right?


Frankfurt
Frankfurt was cold. It turned out that this would become a recurring theme. We took a long cold walk around the town, especially in the river area. Then we ate at a very nice small traditional German restaurant. The local specialty was "green sauce"; it wasn't bad. In the evening we met our tour director, "Wentz" Wenceslas.

Berlin
The drive from Frankfurt to Berlin was longer than expected. With the stop in Weimar, it took most of the day. Weimar is the intellectual and artistic home of such Germans as Schiller, Goeth and Bach. It was lunch and a nice cold walk around town for us. We also stopped at the old border between East and West Germany. It was interesting to see the guard towers that were left standing for the sake of history.

Berlin is huge. The contrast between east and west is striking, as the east is dominated by old Communist era starkly ugly architecture. The west is park-like. At our first dinner in Berlin we ate at "Fat Paula's" and learned how she became so.

The bus arrived, with all of us in it, at 8:29, exactly one minute before our scheduled time to meet Ben, who was to take us on our local tour of Berlin. Ben wasn't there. But then, just as the clock turned to 8:30, Ben suddenly showed up from nowhere. Wentz observed, "Such is German punctuality… that Ben would be nowhere to be seen at 8:29, and then appear at 8:30."

We continued to learn about the fascinating history of this incredible city. World War II left the city almost entirely destroyed; only rubble remained. East and West separated after the war, but the West had to be supported by the airlift until a roadway to the rest of West Germany was built. Reunification came in 1989, and the changes thereafter are most profound. The new architecture is stunningly modern. The entire city is alive and vibrant. We saw Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, the parks and the interesting architecture.

Potsdam was rather interesting, especially with the history of the peace conference there. It's a small village 15 miles outside of Berlin; we arrived by train. Most of our time was spent in the famous Sans Souci gardens and palace. The palace itself was a bit on the small side as far as palaces go. Of course the gardens were only beginning to come alive; the calendar still said March, and our bodies told us it was January. The off and on snow didn't help.

Everywhere we went in Germany we saw wind turbines. There are 50,000 of them, and you absolutely can’t miss them. I’m not sure what percentage of Germany’s power comes from wind, but I keep asking myself, wind power is such a no-brainer - why can’t we do this?

Warsaw
The trip from Berlin to Warsaw was broken up with a stop for lunch in the medieval Polish village of Poznan. This town exceeded expectations, since we didn't have any. The town square and church were quite nice. The trip also saw some crazy driving, as drivers coming the other way would be passing others and not seem to worry at all about being in the oncoming lane with a busload of tourists hurtling towards them. Of course we'd move aside, but Wentz needed to reassure us: "Don't worry; this is Poland. It's the way things are here."

It was snowing as we arrived in Warsaw. This wasn't just a few flurries, as we'd been experiencing. This was big-time snow; almost white-out conditions. It was fun to watch it from our hotel dining area, once we had finally arrived safe and sound. Some of the Australians were fascinated with the storm, and one, Skye, went out to make a snow-angel.

It feels like we're living in history. It's like we are, in some small way, a part of it. Warsaw has its own fascinating place in history. Did you know that the word, "ghetto" only meant Jewish neighborhood before World War II, and that it only received a negative connotation after the war started? The Jewish Ghetto had been walled in by the Nazis, but the Jews rebelled in 1943, fighting with everything they had. The rebellion was finally put down months later, and the Ghetto was completely destroyed. Then the non-Jewish Poles rebelled in 1944, only to have their rebellion put down and see the remainder of the city destroyed.

We saw the completely rebuilt Royal Palace, and this *was* impressive. It was huge in scale, and the rooms were ornate to an incredible degree. The gold leaf was especially impressive. We've been doing several of these sightseeing excursions with our friends from the UK, Allan and Susan. It is saving us some money to do them on our own rather than take the organized tour.

Krakow
It rained in Krakow. A very cold, hard rain. This was very unfortunate, because it is a wonderful city. You can’t appreciate it, however, when you spend all your time trying to stay dry and warm. We did manage to see the royal castle and cloth market.

Two other things about Krakow. It is home to these salt mines that must be seen to be believed. 300 kilometers of tunnels. Huge open areas. Lakes. Chapels, Statues. I could go on. Did I mention that the mines are also dry, and reasonably warm?

And then there was the “Polish Folklore” dinner, show and dancing. Audience participation, you know. Yes, some of this included your faithful blogger, himself.

Auschwitz
Nothing can prepare you for Auschwitz. It is far beyond any capability I have to describe it, but I will try anyway. We arrived first at Birchenou, just a few kilometers away. I learned later that this is "Auschwitz 2", and that there is also a "3". It is a huge complex, stretching as far as you can see in each direction. Some of the wooden and brick buildings remain. Otherwise it is a lot of chimneys from all the furnaces, railroad tracks and barbed electrical fencing. Miles and miles of it.

We had a guide for Auschwitz 1. She was extremely informative, and took us into several buildings and described their parts in the killing process. All the buildings together were made into a large museum, and our guide showed us important parts of it. The combs, shoes, suitcases taken from the Jews and other prisoners were hard to take. The quantities were also hard to take. Hardest of all for me was the incredibly large mounds of human hair. It was to be used for pillows and beds. Unbelievable. Finally we walked into one of the gas chambers. Words fail to describe it.

Our guide told us of her two uncles who had lived in the area before the Nazis completely evacuated everyone within several miles. These uncles tried to shelter some Jews from the Nazis, and did so with some success. For a while. Then one of the Jews was re-captured and, probably under torture, told the Nazis of all the locals who helped him. The Nazis placed several hundred Poles, including the two uncles, into the camp and tortured them as well. At least that was the fate of the one she could find records on; there is no word on the other. She is still trying to learn more.

There are people on this earth who doubt or even deny that the holocaust occurred. Those people need to come here.

Częstochowa
Częstochowa was also supposed to be a spiritual experience, but most of us thought it was just plain weird. We lined up along with lines from gobs of other busloads of people, and then "snuck" into church *while mass was going on*! We wound through the churchgoers and monks (it is a monastery) and in back of the altar in order to catch a glimpse of the bejeweled Black Madonna. She was pretty cool, but the whole thing just seemed so wrong for some reason.

It didn’t take long. Lawrence from London, who’s in his early 20’s was traveling alone. Jen from Michigan but who’s studying in the U.K., and who’s in her early 20’s was traveling with her Mom, Louise. By this point in the trip these two were seen holding hands. And sitting together on the bus. And resting one another’s heads on the other’s shoulder. Everyone enjoyed the concept of this budding relationship.

Budapest
Budapest was lovely, as always. It helped that the weather cleared up, and it even felt warm. Since I had been there, I became the defacto tour guide and led a group to the central city to see the sights at night. They were, as always, stunning.

Budapest was just as spectacular by day. Along with Allan and Susan, and sometimes a few others, we walked for miles and miles. We saw Heroes Square, Castle Hill, including the changing of the guard by the presidential palace, the famous Jewish Synagogue with all its associated history, and of course the Chain Bridge and OF COURSE the Danube River.

It had been a long, long day, but it was not over. My work client-associate Istvan, and his friend Vera picked us up and we all went to dinner at a traditional Hungarian restaurant. We enjoyed several hours of conversation over slow, and good, Hungarian food.

In Budapest we also said goodbye to our bus driver, Franco. His son, Giovanni, who was much more on the quiet side would take over for the rest of the trip. We would miss Franco because he was so entertaining. At the rest stops, he would say things like, “You miss bus, no problem. I come back – two weeks.”

Wentz, our tour director is also a funny guy. He’s always helpful and serious when he needs to be. But some folks are funny without even trying, and he’s one of them. Complaining when we weren’t able to get out of an automated parking area in Krakow, he says, “When you have man with mustache, you pay him and no problem. When you have computers, you have big problem.”

Vienna
Vienna is probably even grander than Budapest. Whereas Budapest is in the process of restoring much of its former splendor, Vienna is much farther along. Vienna was spared much of the devastation from war that had befallen Budapest. It seems that everywhere you turn, you bump into a palace. And each one is grander than the last. It’s hard to take it all in.

The Kursalon Waltz show would be our chance to sample Viennese music at its source. The orchestra only had nine pieces, but they sure knew how to play. The music was mostly that of Johann Strauss Jr., but there was also some by other members of the Strauss family as well as Wolfie Mozart. There were some operatic pieces and some dancing to the waltz music. The lead violinist made like Andre Rieu to make sure no one took anything too very seriously. But it was all very well done, besides being fun.

Also in Vienna we spent some time gaping at the Hapsburg crown jewels. They included several diamond and gold bejeweled crowns, other outlandish clothing, and a 2000+ karat emerald.

No travel story can possibly be complete without a word about the toilets. They were mostly ok, and were invariably very clean. The one at our hotel room in Vienna was special though. The Austrians, and particularly the Viennese, take pride in being a very “civilized” society. Indeed, the food, music, architecture, etc. were all outstanding. Too bad about the plumbing. Our hotel toilet was built such that when you sit down, the drain is up near your feet, and there is a slight dry “bowl” right beneath you. Thus anything that you leave is presented right back to you, like on a platter. When you flush, the water pushes it forward into the drain – good thing that part worked ok.


Prague
Prague came with more cold and rain. But later on it cleared up. What a difference that made. Some, including me, have called this the most beautiful city on the planet. Yes, I still think so, but it sure helps to have the sun shining. We bought 24-hour metro / tram tickets, and made great use of them. We spent all the time with Allan and Susan walking and riding and exploring. The medieval town seems to just go on forever. The main districts are the Jewish Quarter, Old Town, New Town (which, being 600 years old, is a relative term), Lesser Town and the Castle District. Wenceslas Square, the Monastery, the Infant of Prague (which we only stumbled upon). We did them all.

PROST!
You have to yell it loud and deep. It helps if you spray some saliva in the process. Then you grab your mug by placing your hand through the handle and as far around as possible, and slam it hard against that of your fellow drinker(s). Good thing these are industrial strength 1 plus-liter mugs. But you’re not done yet. You must look your drinking partner(s) directly in the eye all the while, as you take your long, hearty swig.

This we learned from the 17 and 18 year-olds at our table at the famous Hofbrauhaus in Munich. The place was wild when we arrived, and only became more so as the night wore on. Oom-pa-pa band. Dancing in the isles, and anywhere else you could stand up. Waiters and waitresses carrying four or more of these 1-liter mugs full of beer in each hand, spilling it as they went. A lady mopping the floor around the men’s urinals whilst they were in full use. Spontaneous singing, even when the band wasn’t playing. A vomit-urinal. Eternal Oktoberfest. I could go on.

Oh yes, we did see other parts of Munich as well. The most interesting to some of us was a platform at the head of a square used for some of Hitler’s speeches. There are statues of lions on either side, and it was said that he hid behind the left one during an assassination attempt.

Romantic Road
This is a misnomer. There is nothing at all romantic about the road. It’s the villages here in Bavaria that are romantic. They give new meaning to the word medieval. We stopped at Harburg to view the castle from the other side of the river, and then spent some time walking around Nordlington. The ‘O’ has two dots over it to indicate that it is to be pronounced like a ‘u’. So it sounds like “Nurdlington”. When we saw the inhabitants, I mentioned to Debbie that here were all the Nurds, and their little Nurdlings. The Medieval/Bavarian walled village was right out of the story books. If it wasn’t for the occasional auto, you’d swear you’d hit the 1200 year button in your time machine. The village of Rothenburg was much the same, only more so.

Frankfurt and Goodbye
Now we had returned, and it was time to say good bye. We’ll miss our new friends as well as competent and funny Wentz. And Cosmos did it again. They are a class act that continues to impress us.

The weather had been more lousy than nice, but we’d had a great time in spite of that. The places that I’d anticipated liking the most, Budapest, Vienna and Prague, did turn out to be the ones I still want to return to again and again. But the rest was memorable as well.

2008 Dan in Budapest (Third Time There)

Long Walk
Budapest was dark and dreary for my first few days there in January, 2008. The buildings are mostly colorless dark grey anyway, but if you add in the fog, the dirty snow (they may use cinders or sand to fight it) and general gloominess, it’s not very pretty. Contrast this with the spectacular beauty in the spring and summer, when the flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, the trees are green, and everything’s clear. Of course I’m making the best of it; I always do.

The first time I had a moment to myself was late Friday afternoon. I took a very long walk – this, after a 12-mile run on Margaret Island, a long walk between offices and a long walk from the office back to the hotel. Today’s latest walk, however, was to a place I hadn’t been before: Andrassy Ut. It’s the main drag through Pest and is a couple miles long. There is a lot of upscale shopping, an opera house, several squares, the house of terror and other sights. I didn’t stop much – I just observed, and moved forward until I finally reached Varosloget, home of Heroes Square and Vajdahunyard Castle, amongst other attractions. I’ll bet nobody even looks “Vajdahunyard” up to make sure I spelled it correctly.

It was just beginning to get dark, and the Square and Castle were being lit up – spectacularly so. I wish my pictures could do them justice. I also saw bunches of ice skaters at the Secession Pavilion. After all this excitement, I took the metro back to the river area.

Danube Bend
With some apprehension about possible rain and snow, I signed on for an all-day tour of the Danube Bend area – several villages north of Budapest where the Danube changes from flowing east to south. The weather turned out just fine with hazy sun, although it was still cold. There were only 15 of us tourists in the van: Aussies, Spaniards, Greeks, Brazilians, and me, the only American.

Our first stop was at a cathedral – the largest, and center of the Catholic Church in Hungary – in the village of Esztergom. From the rear side of the cathedral we had a panoramic view of the Danube. We could see how the river changes course, turning to the south. At this point Slovakia was just on the opposite side. Lunch was in a wine cellar underneath the cathedral.

The second stop was Visigrad, an eleventh century fortress 900 meters above the Danube. The fort itself was in ruins, but here the views were even more spectacular than those of Esztergom. There was much more snow and cold at this elevation, but we somehow survived.

Our final stop was the village of Szentendre, which is almost all the way back to Budapest. The village appears semi-medieval, and quite colorful in contrast with the muted colors of Budapest. I learned that it was settled by Greeks, and this explains some of the differences. We had some time there, so I explored quite a bit.

Exploring On Foot
When I’m in a new place, I usually explore a great deal by running, often returning to interesting areas later to explore more fully. I was clued into the good place to run in Budapest (Margaret Island) right from the start, and I’ve hardly run anywhere else. It’s great for running, and the other areas pale by comparison. But on low-traffic Sunday I decided to explore more, and I managed to see some areas that were new to me. The most important of these is Obudai Island. It’s north of Margaret Island, and tougher to get to. Much of it was deserted, and there was ice on the paths and even the roads. I turned back but then found a second bridge onto the island and found a small village at that part. I hadn’t heard of this island until the previous day, but I think it will be more important to Budapest in the future as it will be developed much more. 70% will be left as a park however.

Later on that Sunday I did more exploring by walking. I walked mostly to places I’d been to before; but even so it was good to see the changing of the guard at the presidential palace once again.

Other than a lot more running and walking, that was pretty much it for this trip. My walks back from the office often took me through the central market, which is always interesting. I also walked into some extremely old churches - also always interesting. One other thing: the wishing tree. At least that's what I call it. Lori told me about a tree on Margaret Island where if you place your hands on it and make a wish, it'll come true. There are lots of trees on that huge island, but I did find one that sort of matched her description (it's near a convent), so I put my hands on it. We'll see if it all comes true.

2008 Florida - Marco Island

We arrived to Beth and Ed’s place late in the evening, as planned. It was about 12:30am by the time we got there and dropped Mom off. Luckily, the flights had gone well, and there’d been no snafus with the luggage or car rental. After staying the night at the fancy-looking, but not-really-so-wonderful Best Western Admiral’s Inn, we met Beth, Ed and Mom at IHOP, and then said goodbye. It was off to Marco Island.

The 3-hour drive down there wasn’t too bad. The check into our condo was extremely confusing – we received 5 keys and at least 10 pages of instructions. And that was just with the rental agency - we still had to register with “the building” for a parking permit (and another $20 fee). One more complaint, and then I’m done. It’s about a half-mile walk to the beach. Actually, that’s a lie. It’s a one-foot walk to the beach. It’s just a half-mile walk to the water. Ok – enough complaining.

I did want to get those toes in the sand right away, so we managed to make the long trek. It really ain’t that bad; it’s actually kind of fun. But.. What to do for New Year’s Eve? How ‘bout a take-home-and-bake pizza from Winn Dixie? Debbie wasn’t thrilled, but we managed. Some people had fireworks on the beach, but I couldn’t make it till midnight. Maybe that had something to do with staying up till 1am the night before. It did enable me to get a good night’s sleep and to get up and do a long run the next day.

Besides the long walk to the ocean, there’s an estuary – an inlet – that’s much closer. It turns out to be miles long, and impossible to completely circumnavigate. Dave and I did discover that you can wade across the thing. And speaking of the beach, I ran the length of it today – all 5+ miles of it. All the time I was getting battered by the extreme wind. There is a myriad of shells on the island, but of course I would up carrying some, including a large conch during part of my run. That’s not all I carried: a pair of flip-flop sandals for Debbie, a Frisbee, a boogie board, and a large, heavy coconut. I had stashed the boogie board and Frisbee, but I did carry the coconut for 2 miles. I thought Dave would consider it a challenge to crack it open, but we never managed to do so.

On another walk, Dave and I observed a fascinating sight: dolphins were on the hunt. We spotted several of them circling what must have been a school of fish. At a couple points in time, the fish went bonkers and were flying up out of the ocean. That must have been their best attempt at escape from being eaten.

Those tremendous winds had brought a big change in the weather. Whereas it had been well into the 80s when we arrived New Year’s Eve, it rained some on New Year’s Day, and turned much colder (40s and 50s) along with the wind, on the 2nd. It was even colder that night – a near record 30F.

Since it wasn’t exactly beach weather, we went to Everglades Gardens in Bonita Springs, a sort-of nature center/garden/zoo. We saw plenty of gators and American crocks, along with Florida Panthers and all kinds of birds and snakes. Did you know that the endangered Florida Panther is the largest cat that purrs? They are trying to breed them with pumas - necessary because the gene pool is too depleted with only 50 animals remaining. Only concern: the pumas are much more agressive. Debbie and Carol got to shop till they dropped at Best of Everything – a costume jewelry store.

The Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was a highlight. There was a 2.25 mile boardwalk through swampy wetlands, including a bald cypress forest. There is abundant wildlife there; we saw plenty of interesting birds.

The Edison/Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers was also interesting. There is a lot to see and experience there, and the gardens are nice, but IMHO, Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village are much better.

We hung around the beach for the last day, but it never got warm enough (after that first day) to really enjoy it. We did do a lot of walking, and enjoyed watching the birds, especially the pelicans. And did I mention the shells? More than you can imagine. More in one square foot than *all* of Shell Island (off PCB). There are areas where there are mounds of nothing but shells, a couple feet high, several feet wide, and several hundreds of yards long. Hard to believe.

Too bad Dave, and especially Debbie were under the weather for this trip. And too bad the weather wasn't warmer and sunnier. We still had a few interesting experiences.