Budapest
By noon we had parked our car in downtown Vienna and were buying postage stamps for postcards. The post office was right around the corner from the train station where we bought our tickets, boarded the train and left for Hungary.
At the Hungarian border military police came through checking passports, and a dozen scenes from old WWII movies flashed through my mind, but it wasn't terribly exciting of a train ride. The countryside was grey and drab (perhaps because of the weather) so Eva and I mostly occupied ourselves with reading books. This high point of the trip for me was the Turkish coffee I ordered in the dining car. Powerful stuff.
Arriving in Budapest, our first order of business was changing U.S. dollar$ for Hungarian currency (Forints). We chose to deal with a, um, "private operator" rather than the official currency exchange since we got a better rate that way, and his Forints seemed genuine. The next order of business was finding our lodging. This was also a bit of a 'black market' deal which Eva had set up. We were renting a room in a private apartment from a man whom Eva had dealt with before. Years ago when the communist government had a stronger hold on Hungary there was a thriving underground market for private bed-and-breakfasts type of deals. Eva had first met this man pitching his deal at the train station back then, and his place was so nice that she has been staying there ever since.
We took the subway (by the way, Budapest has the oldest subway in continental Europe) over to the apartment and were soon in his kitchen sharing coffee and bartering over the price. We were paying in U.S. Dollars hoping to get a better deal but apparently the U.S. currency was not so desirable at that point in time ("Clinton sex problem" he explained). Still we were basically paying $50/night for a marvellously furnished apartment in the heart of Budapest.
Soon we were on a walking tour of the city. It was still raining off and on but the weather was nicer than it had been the day before in Vienna. We walked past the zoo and through the park where buildings were still standing from a world fair in the 1800's (The same one for which the subway was built). Everything in this city is ancient and charming. This was by far my favorite city of the trip so far! It was wonderful even in marginal weather, I'm sure the summers there are superb.
We got around mostly on foot, but we also took the subway and taxi. We would always look for the Fö taxis as this is the company which Eva remembered as having the best rates. Also, they were the only taxi company that only used the old boxy eastern european cars rather than the newer models from Japan or the west.
We had dinner at a hidden away restaurant (Arabic I think) where Eva made the mistake of biting into a strange pepper. She finished her drink and my drink in seconds and was soon finsihing another drink which the waitress hurried over for her. The other patrons were having a bit of a chuckle, and she couldn't talk for about an hour. Ah yes, I have wonderful memories of Budapest.
After dinner we crossed the Danube and explored the old fortresses. The city looked wonderful spread out below us and across the river! I have to say it was more than just a little romantic. We had a flaming dessert at a restaurant built into the arched fortress wall where a gypsy voilin band was playing. Very nice!
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 Heroes Square |
 In front of the Castle Replica in the park. This was part of an architecture competition for the World's Fair in the 1890's. |
 In front of a turkish bathhouse |
 Heroes Square again |
 A coffehouse |
 The entrance to the zoo |
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 The restaurant where we had dessert is in this wall (where the arches are)
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