Budapest

Made the 7:10am train and sat with a couple from Seattle who had rented a sailboat and cruised the Croation islands. Arrived and hooved it 2 metro stops to teh Almos Hostel. Got there and there was a note with a number to call to be let in. Pain in the Ass!! I had no Hungarian money so I went in search of an Atm. Couldn't find one! Apparently I went in the wrong direction because after backtracking I found one 2 blocks away from the hostel. Now all I have to do is break a 10,000huf note($50.00). Tried to buy a coke, but they wouldn't do it so I bought some authentic Hungarian food, Subway:) Made the phone call and the receptionist got there within five minutes. The hostel was tiny! A kitchen, a bath, and two rooms with with eight beds. Good location though. She marked down the sites to see on the map and left. I climbed into bed for a nap, but Konstatine (Clark from L.A.) checked in and we started talking. Two Aussie girls (Kathy & Jo) overheard me talking about Croatia and joined the conversation. Around 10pm we went to a bar recommended to them called Szimpla. It used to be housing, but has been converted to a locals hangout with the courtyard serving as an open air patio. Cool place and cheap. 360huf ($1.75) for a good beer. Sat and talked with an Ex-pat from L.A. and two of his local friends. They shut down at 2am. Jo & Clark were fired up for more action, but it was Sunday and there really weren't any options so we headed back to the hotel. We were barely through the front gate when some old lady yells something in Hungarian from inside her apartment. Presumably, "Shut the hell up!!!". We all turned in and within seconds Clark is sawing logs.Woke up and had a cup of Joe with Jo, Kathy and Clark and we all decided to go to the Hungarian thermal baths. We walked up thru Varosliget Park and Hero's Square. The seven main "hero's" were the leaders of seven tribes who were instrumental in forming\liberating Hungary. From there we made it to the Szechenyi Furdo Baths. Very enjoyable and relaxing. Mulitple mineral pools inside with graduating temperatures, saunas, various outdoor pools, a steam room where I couldn't see my hand in front of my face and even a whirl pool which whisks you around in circles. Lo and behold who do I see in the whirl pool circling behing me, Dave, Alex and Will from Croatia. Something weird is going on behind the cosmic scenes to cause all these paths to cross and recross. $10 for all day, but you get an automatic refund if you use less time. Well worth it! Afterward we tried some Hungarian pretzels. Huge with the salt baked inside and then stopped for some falafel pitas. On the way back we checked the times for "Taming of the Shrew" at the famous opera house, but no shows tonight.The girls left early to continue their journey and Clark and I had some more authentic Hungarian food for breakfast, McDonalds Egg Mcmuffin:) We then went exploring the city. First to Margaret's Island which is essentially a huge park. The story goes: A warring king declared that if Hungary won the war they were fighting he would sacrafice his daughter! Well they won the war, but to avoid sacrafice his daughter became a nun. She lived on the island for over 20 years and when she died they renamed the island after her. We strolled down the Danu river and took in some great views including a climb up "Castle Hill" which was a great place to check out the impressive Parliament building as well as the whole city. Passed the "Citadel" and then I dragged Clark and his blistering feet (he just started his trip and wasn't acclimated to all the walking) back across the river to search for Buddha Beach. We found the area, but I didn't spot one Buddha!!?! Along the way we found a vegetarian restaurant called "Eden" and stopped in for dinner.Clark had a Russian cous-cous kind of thing like his mom used to make and also ordered a walnut pasta dish which he wound up taking to go. I had a "Wheat Beef stew" dish with soy dumplings and a strawberry milk shake. All was great except the drinks cost us 3 times as much as we thougt they would because the menu prices were for 10cl while we got 30cl drinks. I still wound up getting a great meal for about $8.00.After dinner we went back and changed for the Ballet and brought along a newcomer, John (PA). We got a little lost and got there late, but it didn't matter. The show started at 7pm, but the ticket office closed at 6:30pm which is when we left so we would have never made it. So we picked up a couple of English girls and went for a beer. When the bill came the girls didn't have enough to pay so they went off to the Atm while we sat and wondered if they would come back. They didn't seem the type, but you never know. They were taking a long time on a chilly night so we were contemplating a plan to run. Hey, we left our share! They eventually came back though and all ended well. The next morning I planned on going to Krakow, Poland. Well that was the plan. I went and bought my ticket, but didn't specifically ask for the 11:50am train and instead got an overnight ticket. That was no good, especially since I've heard way too many stories of people getting gassed of the Poland/Czech overnight trains and waking up with everything gone. So I got back on to a superslow line and by the time I got up to the window the train had gone! Changed the ticket anyway, emailed to Krakow hostel regarding the delay and searched fpr a bed for the night. Wouldn't you know it, nothing available!!! Uh, Oh!! So I went back to the Hostel I was at hoping for a cancellation and prepared to beg for a couch for the night. Well there weren't any cancellations, but there was a big bed in the office which was offered to me. DONE! Left and went out for pics of the largest synagogue in Europe as well as a nice basilica. Then went back and changed for the opera. Luckily I had bought my tickets earlier in the day because I found myself jogging to the opera to make it on time!! It was interesting. And by interesting I mean bloody awful!!! Of course it was in Hungarian, but it did have subtitles. In Hungarian!?!? Which was ridiculous because I don't speak Hungarian and I could follow it. It was about two guys, one rich and one poor. They apparently both like to sleep in. The rich guy gets awoken very gently and lovingly. The poor guy gets beaten out of bed and cursed at. Poor guy sleeps on a park bench, Rich guy meets a whore and screws her complete with climax scene. Very Slow. Until the last scene of the first act when the whore comes out and does her Aria. No, I don't think it could be called an aria. Let's say solo. Until this it was all very classical, but now changes to Vegas Caberet number complete with 16 guys doing coreographed moves behing her. Very strange!! I enjoyed it most when I closed my eyes, tuned out the singing and just tuned into the orchestra which was very good. Tomorrow I hope to make it to Krakow......??????