Budapest Again

 I was looking forward to returning to Bratislava and Budapest. When we were here in 1992 they were both a little worse for wear, Bratislava more so but Budapest had some warts as well.

Well, first impressions seem to indicate that they have done a good job of cleaning things up. Not as much grime on the buildings or in the streets. Things seem to be running as you would expect. There are still some buildings that need much TLC but the majority are in good condition and they have a lot of restoration and refurbishment projects on the go (if the cranes are any indication).





This city is sort of a cross between Vienna and Prague, lots of old to wander in but pretty busy with lots of traffic and transit moving around. 

We rented some bikes but that is Jane’s story. We did ride trams and busses as well as the metro. Old farts like me ride for FREE!

All in all Budapest is beautiful and worth the trip. So much different than before but the same also. I would return here any time I came this far east. Some say the people are flat but we have found them personable enough, at least those that speak english. And those Thea don’t still respond to please (Kermit) and thank you (kozsonom).





There is also a quirky side, there are some pieces that you might walk by if you are not attentive.


Not much else to say except it’s a really interesting and beautiful city, come here if you can!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 There is a lot to see at the southern most tip of North America. Christmas is big here, lots of decorations using pine bow garland but I haven’t seen any pine trees so it must just be tradition. Lots of churches too, quite a few have been repurposed though, like the one above. We did make a little faux pas at the Southernmost Point. We walked up, waited till the people there took their picture then we took our sand left. It was only then that we noticed the line up down the street waiting to take pictures. OOPS! Happened to watch a funeral as well. All the streets blocked off to the church and police everywhere. It was the wife of some newly elected politician so lots of pomp and security. It was reminiscent of a New Orleans funeral only fewer bands.  Last day in the Keys then onto the boat tomorrow!
Read more
Image
 We did another road trip on the 23rd. ( We are a little behind on our posts, busy few days). We decided to try to go to Punta Chame. We were told that the road was terrible but thought we could try it and turn around if it was too bad. It was slow, the road did have some large potholes(but what road here doesn’t) and some construction but otherwise a pretty easy drive. I could say ‘I could have driven a school bus through there’. Pretty little town, fairly isolated, lots of fishing boats. What else would you do here. A number of resorts with one very large one, Playa Caricol Residences and Beach Club. Really big and very new. Us, being plebeians hung at the Surf Shack for a bit. It’s right beside the resort and much more regular. Cold beer is cold beer! If you look hard you can see some kite surfers in the second pic. Instead of just heading home I decided to see where the road went. Not too long a track but it ended right at the tip of the point. It was completely deserted. You c...
Read more

A Bit About Irish Golf Courses

Image
 We have all heard about how wonderful the golf courses are in Ireland and Scotland. At this time I can only comment on Ireland but hope to be able to add Scotland soon. The first premise of this golf trip was to play smaller more local courses that cost €50 or less per person. Since our experience and research shows that rental clubs per round, if the have them and they are usable, tend to be as costly as the round itself. We have rented clubs long term in Portugal and found a service in Ireland that met our needs. We rented our clubs for the entire time in Ireland from a company called Clubstohire. The website is www.clubstohire.com   The clubs were delivered to us at the car rental station at Dublin airport by Billy, amiable young man with good information. The clubs were high quality and suited us well. I should have ordered a club between fairway 3 wood and 5 hybrid but that was my failure not theirs and I managed.  The first course was Roundwood Golf Club in county ...
Read more