Ambassadors Reception

Lisa and I were invited to a reception at the US Ambassadors residence. The event was an "Evening Salon Discussion and Book Reading." We knew what a "Book Reading" was but no clue as to what a "Evening Salon" was. I'm sure some of you cultured folks out there do, but even a check on Google provided no clues but we went anyway. I bought a tie at a thrift store to complete my "Business Attire." The evening celebrated the publishing in Hungarian of Julie Orringer's book "The Invisible Bridge" or in Hungarian "Lathatatlan Hid." We had read the book as or before we came to Budapest and really enjoyed it so it was an honor to meet and "Salon" with Julie and the Ambassador, Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis. The house is very cool, filled with Andy Warhol originals that I was asked not to photograph, of course I complied, see pics. The reading was in English, everyone received a copy of the book, in Hungarian and Julie signed one for us.

I had plotted a course via public transportation that would have put us 1 block from the mansion but we opted to take the Metro to Szell Kalman Ter, formerly Moscova Ter, and take a taxi from there. We arrived in style in a Suzuki Swift taxi, the guards at the gate were impressed.

It was a very nice evening, we met a bunch of "book types" and "media types." Eleni, as we now call her, was very gracious and thanked Lisa for the Crystal Temple Brick she had left for her last week. She was so gracious she called it a paper weight.

We met Julie's sister Amy and her aunt Judy. Amy lives in London and came for the event. Aunt Judy was born in Budapest in 1945. She was delivered by a Nazi doctor. Her Jewish mother was of course concerned but the doctor assured her he was a "Doctor first." She went to America in 1956 and had never returned, until Monday. An amazing story. She was even staying in the same flat she lived in as a child that is still owned by cousins. She now lives in Israel.

Enjoy the pictures. Do not look at the Andy Warhols. The Warhols, that are not in the pictures, are on loan from the Ron Feldman Gallery in NYC where Pepon Osorio, Lisa's colleague had his recent installation. Small World.

Hungarian Language Lesson... Feminists Take Note

While we were walking around Pecs (rhymes with fetch) I noticed a street sign with a small hand written addendum. You must look closely or enlarge the picture to see it clearly. It is important to know that these street signs are very common in Hungary. They are mounted on the sides of buildings, probably cast iron, and don't just give you the name of the street but also give you the house or building numbers within the particular block, in this case 2 to 4. The McDonald's located on the first floor of city hall is #2 Kiraly Utca. They are consistently mounted about 10 feet above the street on all corners and sides of every intersection. It is also of some note to mention that almost every street, park and playground in Hungary is named Kirali, the Hungarian word for King. So to look up and see this particular street sign "Kirali Utca" was no big deal but to see the small "no" written so carefully beside it caused question.

When asked, Andrea became excited, photographed the sign and explained.

Adding the "no," pronounced "nuu," to the end of Kirali creates the word queen, in essence, not the King. There is no word in the Hungarian language for queen. I'm not sure what Freddie Mercury thought of this, it had to be confusing, it may have contributed to his suicide. So the addition of the "no" was a form of protest of some sort, not sure what.

One of our favorite old television shows from the 1990's was "Dinosaurs." A Jim Henson production about an everyday family of dinosaurs that I have always thought that "Family Guy" was a clone of. The baby called the father dinosaur "not the Mama." One of the writers had to be a Hungarian woman.

So here is today's language lesson, compliments of Andrea, she also gets the photo credit.

Vist to Pecs (rhymes with fetch)

Andrea Karpati asked us to spend the day with her in Pecs (rhymes with fetch.) It is a smaller city, maybe 100,000 or so and is home to two universities. It is about 240 km from Budapest. We met her at the train station on the Buda side and had a nice drive thru the country, me behind the wheel and Andrea translating the GPS instructions. Pecs (rhymes with fetch) is also the home of the Zsolnay Pottery Co. They are a world famous maker of architectural pottery that is so prevalent throughout Europe, especially Budapest. You may remember from a previous post where I found a cache of Zsolnay pottery pieces hidden in the attic of the Museum of Applied Arts building, it turned out they were extra pieces left over from the construction of the building in the 1890's. I think some award is coming my way for discovering these rare and valuable pieces. Anyway. We toured the museum, looked around the town, found a synagogue with a clock, checked out the roasted chestnut vendors and generally had a relaxing and peaceful day. Pecs (rhymes with fetch) was very quiet, it was cool and cloudy and a Saturday, we basically had the run of the town. Andrea took the opportunity to visit the daughter of an old friend for lunch and Lisa and I ate lunch on our own and watched the townsfolk.

Enjoy these pictures of Pecs (rhymes with fetch.)

Peto Institute

The Peto Institute is an international research institute for individuals with motor disorders that was established after WWII by physician and educator, Andras Peto. The Institute has three areas: a conductor's college, a school, and a research center. The Peto "conductive education" system is based on the idea that regardless of central nervous system damage, the nervous system has the capacity to from new neural connections. The method emphasizes educating the whole person, parent-child interaction, and group activities. Parents come from all over Hungary and the world to the Peto. They have intensive classes with their children. Small children's groups and classes support collaborative learning. I was given a tour of several classes the before my talk. My topic Bead/Found Object Collage ( in art therapy, as an interview method, and in my own art practice) was well received. It was quite a new experience for me to speak with a translator; I think I can get used to it. I had full house for my talk and a much smaller group of about 25 for my workshop, which was nice.

Busy Day in Budapest

Waking up at 2 am Hungarian time to watch the Cardinals is throwing my whole schedule off. I wandered around the city today looking for a sports bar to discuss the first game of the World Series. It was a complete waste of time and all I received from my efforts was a nice walk. Stefan asked about the concept of the World Series and was curious which teams from Eastern Europe and Asia were represented. He admittedly was uninformed about the other teams from the Americas and Canada but was sure he would recognize a team from Romania or Hungary, even a team from the Dominican Republic, where he lived for a while, might sound familiar. I explained there there were no teams from these countries in the World Series, only teams from the United States and occasionally a team that had been exiled to Canada could ever play. Then why is it called the World Series he asked. Well...there has to be a good reason...I'll check Wikipedia...or Wikileaks or somewhere. He's from Romania and can't be expected to understand the concept of the World Series. Anyway. Cards won 3 to 2.

More news from Budapest.

Lisa had a nice visit with Leila Kamgar, the Cultural Attache from the American Embassy. I'm not sure what they discussed but it probably wasn't Albert Pujols becoming a free agent next year. She may be able to get us an invitation to the Ambassadors home to hear a lecture by Julie Orringer. You may remember her from previous posts. She is the author of The Invisible Bridge, a great historical novel with family biographical truths woven in. The book was originally recommended to us by Niece Andrea Corsun. Much of the book's World War II era plot takes place in and around Budapest. We both read it, enjoyed it, and sought out the streets and locations mentioned in the book. It's still on our recommended list and an opportunity to meet her would certainly be a highlight of the trip, at the Ambassadors residence, frosting on the cake. I would also hope that someone at the Ambassadors residence could discuss the World Series.

You can buy stills in kitchen appliance stores. Yes...a still...official Jed Clampet/Hatfield-McCoy type still. Ready to make your own home brew. Quite nice, all stainless and copper with a 2 year manufacturers warranty. 58,000 huf or $265...I wonder if it would fit in the suitcase.

Scott finds 3 Marklin Erector sets, perfect condition, Hungarian labels, very neat.

Andrea Karpati and Lisa in front of the Szabadsag Bridge.

Time for bed, I have to get up to watch game 2 at 2.

Later.

Almost forgot...Cards in the World Series

I may have been the only Cardinal fan sitting at a small computer screen at 2 am in Budapest Hungary watching a computer generated simulation of the amazing National League Championship game. It was worth it, what a finish to the season.

I have been a Cardinals fan for many years, I remember listening to the Cardinals on the car radio during the 1967 World Series. I think everyone listened to the World Series.

Lisa and I opened Great Scott in August of 1982. The Cardinals were in and won the World Series that year. Because we were a new customer, and because we were selling record amounts of their products, Anheuser Busch gave us 10 seats to every play-off and World Series game, even the ones in Milwaukee. We were quite popular.

We of course love the Cubs and White Sox and are certainly fond of the Phillies but the Cardinals...

Only pictures

Photos of Kalvin Ter

The lake in the park being transformed into a skating rink

Mini for sale at the flea market

October flea market is still busy

Worn out broom (art picture)

Peters new work on display in Budapest, the value of his artwork continues to increase rapidly.

The Airbus A-380

We're Back

It seems fitting that I write, or attempt to write, another series of blogs.

We returned to Budapest on Oct. 12 and have settled into our new flat on Kalvin Ter. This flat is a bit more urban, smaller than the Rakoczi Ter flat but more modern and shinier on the inside, just as ugly on the outside. We are on the 5th floor but you push the "4" on the 100 year old elevator or climb the winding marble stairs. Remember the ground floor here is always "0" on the elevators. It was nice to fly into a country and know your way around, to know how much the cab ride should be, to have a cell phone to alert friends of your arrival and to know where to get a cheap bottle of wine.

Budapest is different in October, the weather has been cool and partly sunny. The high on Sunday was 55 and the windows in the flat are closed. The Sun casts a different light on the buildings and we have been noticing stone work and carved facades we had not seen before. The streets are not as bright but the plazas are bustling. The markets are still filled with wonderful fruits and vegetables.

The exchange rate is much better for us. Today 1 Hungarian Forint is .004692 USD or $100 USD gets you 21,312 Forints. In August you only got 18,405. We haven't noticed that the prices have increased. You can still get a good breakfast, ham and 3 eggs with a basket of fresh bread and coffee for 680 forints, $3.20. Such a deal.

The past four days have been busy. We have already attended a gallery opening, a fashion show, a museum event and we spent the afternoon on Sunday with Stefan, Andrea and Eva at there home. Stefan and Eva prepared a traditional Romanian dessert that was wonderful both in preparation and result. Basically it was a plum dumpling with toasted bread crumbs and sugar on the outside. They were enjoyed by all, especially Eva.

The fashion show was obviously not my idea but I attended with the promise of free shots of Wild Turkey. The shots of Wild Turkey were served in different looking shot glasses, they actually had stems, sort of like a champagne flute and I had never had bourbon with bubbles, must be a Hungarian thing. I tried to blend into the fashion show crowd and thought the cover of a rakish American fashion photographer would be easiest for me considering my boots and jeans. I would have completely pulled it off except for the camera, my Canon PowerShot A580 didn't fool anyone and I was soon pushed to the back of the photographer section and forced to take photos of the backs of the photographers heads. The Wild Turkey flowed freely and saved the evening.

In the Jewish quarter we found a nice little club to visit at a later date. See pic. Outside only.

Monday morning and Lisa is already off to meet with Aniko at ELTE. I headed off for coffee and found a beautiful little park, still bright with summer flowers. I visited the camera and antik shop near the Great Synagogue and bought 3 very cool Marklin Mecano erector sets from the 1930's. This is the same shop where I found my Willie Lohman suitcase the first day we were in Budapest.

This week will be a busy one, we are attending a book thing tomorrow evening at the House of Terror. It is sponsored by the US Embassy and promises to be at least interesting. The featured author is Nicholas Gage. He has a written several books including Elini, the book featured on Tuesday evening. I've been reading it.

Anyway...we're back and I will continue writing my blog as long as someone is reading it.

More later, enjoy the pictures.

Boats around Budapest and the Danube bend

Everyone likes boats. We have been on 5 different boats while we have been here. The InSEA dinner cruise was aboard the Europa, easily the nicest boat we were on, it was a gem and I didn't bother to look for the life jacket storage compartment. The other boats were a little edgy and I did look for the life jacket storage compartment, made sure one would fit me and then hid it in a bathroom stall. I also made sure I knew how to man the life boats and take over the helm, just in case. I saw several other wary passengers doing the same so I felt fairly comfortable. Most of the crews seem to be German so that in the event of a problem you know they would be the first ones in the life boat, capacity 10.

Anyway...the boats were old and cool. Here are a few pictures I took of various Danube craft. The medium sized freighter was at anchor above Budapest. The large boatel, which are common up and down the river was docking at Visegrad. There are several of these moored in Budapest that do not cruise, just moor. Most of the pleasure boats are of US production, the European pleasure boat manufacturers are high line and can't touch the mass produced American brands. You see a lot of Mercury and Honda outboards. We have seen a couple of sail boats motoring thru, the 9 kph current and the Buda hills make sailing difficult. I deducted the current speed while we were on the Visegrad trip. There was a monitor that showed the speed of the boat, 15.5 kph going up, 24.5 coming back. I think that's right. Mitchell, please confirm. If a boat leaves Budapest at 9 am....you get the picture.

Enjoy the boats

Final week, Danube cruise with Barbara Bush

It's been a busy final week for us here in Budapest. We have spent two days cruising the Danube, a nice trip to Visegrad on Friday and a trip with Andrew and Aggie on Sunday. The Sunday trip included a tour of Margit Island and a boat trip to Romai part for a great dinner. Romai part is a group of river side restaurants with common outdoor seating, sort of like a Hungarian food court. We are busy getting the flat in order so we can get our deposit back, checking the inventory to see how many glasses we have broken and making sure none of the high quality IKEA forks have bent tines. I have been occupied building a custom cardboard box for my antique suitcase and other small items we will be smuggling back. We are most concerned about our paprika collection. We will store a box of things at Birs Bisztro until we return in October.

The pictures are of the Citadel above Visegrad palace, the stone works in the palace, the crocheted hat club on the boat, the Citadel gate and an art picture. I thought the leader of the hat club looked like Barbara Bush, and it may have been.

I'm running out of battery so here are a few pics until the next update.

Special Instructions...

Obviously...read these in reverse order. I was a bit fuzzy this morning at 6 am.

SBB

Part 5 of 5

Chapter 5, Slovakia and Somosko Castle

Back to the car and headed north toward Slovakia. Beautiful countryside, narrow winding roads, vague road signs, large corn and sunflower fields, occasional horse carts and small villages. We planned on crossing the border at Kral and expected a delay as they checked our papers. We had our passports and auto documents ready, we expected the inquisition like we had going into Romania. As we approached the border there were signs, flags, instructions in several languages and impressive borderesque buildings but no guards. The place was deserted, it almost felt like a scene from a disaster movie and for a bit we felt like we were the only people left on the planet. It really was strange, we drove slowly into Slovakia expecting to see a new EU style border crossing or flashing lights, armed border guards, maybe even a tank but there was nothing. So…basically we snuck into Slovakia. We drove thru a couple of towns, missed a couple of turns, asked directions from a guy who had never seen a map of Slovakia, ate a traditional Slovakian dinner in the midst of a huge party with blue and tan cakes, drank a Slovakian beer and just as quietly snuck out of Slovakia at another abandoned border crossing near Somosko.

I had read about Somosko Castle. A 13^th century castle built on top of a long dormant volcano. The dome is the highest point in the area and a natural place for a castle. You can gaze across the surrounding valleys and see other castles on the tops of many hills.The walls of the dome are steep and rocky. When they started looking for stone to build the castle they discovered that the site chosen for the castle was on top of the largest columnar basalt deposit in Eastern Europe. It’s unclear as to whether they knew what it was but it was obvious to 13^th century castle builders that these polygonal stones stack easier than round stones. The stone work is fascinating; all the foundations of the entire complex are made from stacked basalt. Even when parts of the castle were destroyed it could easily be re stacked, there is no mortar in the foundation. The upper parts of the castle are a mix of stone even some brick here and there. This is basically a ruin, only the east tower remains and it has gone thru several reconstructions in the past 1000 years. The man at the ticket shack, his name really was Zsolt, made it quite clear that you enter at your own risk, the stairs are steep and mossy, the remains of the walls are still piled around and except for a few 2 by 4’s across openings it is safety device free. You can climb down a ancient stairway and stone path into the quarry, I’m quite sure you could carry off as much of the basalt as you wanted, providing you could carry it up the stairs. It is an amazing place that we all enjoyed. We watched the sun set over the mountains and enjoyed the fading light accenting the ruins of Somosko Castle. We left the castle around 8 pm and were back in Budapest by 10:30.

I hope you enjoyed this series, most of the photos are self explanatory or covered in the text.