Halloween~Ghosts of Communist Dictatorship

Molly and I bought candy at the neighborhood store and Samatha sketched a Halloween Pumpkin and we shared our gifts with the hostel staff and guests. Other than that, there was little celebration of the holiday, unlike at home. The only ghosts I saw were at the Monument Park.

I headed off on this venture on my own. Molly wanted to run again, regardless of the blisters on her feet and the late night before.....no worries. I headed off on the adventure of finding this park, where many of the statues from Communist rule had been relocated. I believe in a symbolic gesture, when the new democracy was formed in 1989, all these icons from the past were removed from the central area of Budapest. Together, they were placed on the outskirts of town. Replicas of the boots remaining from the torn down Lenin statue highlight the park, although my personal favorite was the hands holding the world in their palms. A statue of Lenin holding out his hand was also there. The story was that his outstretched hand often held bread with lard, placed there by disgruntled factory workers.

A subway ride, a tram ride, a bus ride and one hour later, I took the half hour speed walk thru the park as the air turned colder and colder. I took pictures of the monuments and read about the history and took a bus ride, a tram ride and a subway ride back to the hostel. I was glad I went, but actually liked the ride thru the suburbs more than the park itself.

We moved to a different hostel in a different area of town today. We are staying in the "Japan" room in the Adventura Boutique Hostel. The gal here is a sweetie and so helpful and cute. The eight guys from Greece aren't too bad either and then there is a Turk, a Columbian, an Australian, two gals from Malaysia and April, from San Francisco. Once again, I am the oldest one in the ranks......and my next trip might be with an AARP group, just for a change of pace. Sometimes I really like an elevator over stairs.

Dinner at "M"

"M" for Molly, Mom, Montmarte, Mont Blanc, Matterhorn, Mirco, Margitsziget, Money, Montpellier, MMMMMMMMM.

Night number two of dining at a researched restaurant. Why haven't I been doing this all along? This recommended restaurant, reviewed in a local magazine, is simply called "M". It simply seats 40 people. It simply has brown paper on the walls with sketched in lamps, tables, mirrors and pictures. It has a simply coffee maker from the 1960's that grinds the beans before making the coffee. It was simply fun. We had a group of 4, no 5, oh, 6 now.

The people:

1. Molly (well known travel partner and nonreplaceable daughter)
2. Me (Mom to all and yours truly)
3. Andrew (came into the hostel in the early morning from Prague...native of Ontario, Canada, currently serving in the Canadian army in Dubai, on holiday after tour of duty in Dubai, has travelled in about 15 countries in the last 3 weeks and moves on at the speed of light. He can light alchohal on fire in his mouth, has blisters on his feet from walking and owns a new pair of shoes that he charged on Visa for $300......has more blisters...drives a big truck and loves his steak dinner and Kentucky Fried chicken, many tattoos)
4. Ben (not his real name, but we couldn't pronounce his real name, so he said to just call him Ben...showed up today, leaves tomorrow, he is originally from Quebec, Canada living outside of Paris, he is a iron man competitor and a mechanical engineer, wears a stylish wool coat and red scarf, did not like short jokes, no dinner for him, just red wine but paid more than his share, great conversationalist)
5. Andrew #2 (really Landras, but goes by Andrew, our hostel host whom we all love, born and raised in Budapest, age of 22, has seen many changes in the country and is smart, intelligent and very friendly...good English, bordering on great.....many stories of history and sharing of local tradition and custom....student and worker, living at home with parents, should have a girlfriend, but I don't think he does)
6. Samantha (same as night before minus the boyfriend from Dublin who went home, she is originally from Turkey, but has lived all over the world and learned perfect english in San Fransisco and Rhode Island....currently living again in Istanbul, Turkey....artist teacher, amazing sketch drawings, shoe designer, sports tattoos, blog writer, loves neighborhood waffle man, great stories and adventures, loves to walk and take pictures... will travel and live abroad for the rest of her life)

We got in in the early morning.........full of new perspectives, different ideas and travel dreams.

Eyes Wide Open

Today, Molly wanted to run. We headed to a park on the island named Margitsziget (after a Hungarian King's Saint daughter). The Danube river flows by each side of the island and bridges connect the nature lovers to the nature lovers park. It was a long walk to get there. I thought Molly would be too tired to run, but I was wrong.

A nice trail went around the outside of the island, so Molly took off. I found a bike rental place and headed off on the trail on a bike. I circled the island, twice, as did Molly. I was so taken by the beautiful fall colors and the leaves making a carpet of gold across the grass. At the moment, I thought I had never seen anything as spectacular. And then I wondered. When we are traveling, do we see things differently? Are we more open to beauty and wonder? Has our pace slowed to a point of having the ability to absorb what is around us instead of letting it simply brush our senses? Why is this more spectacular today, than what I see at home? Are my eyes just more wide open?

We saw the elaborate Parliament building, close to the Communist block housing. We saw a boat in the Danube that looked like a bus. We saw the Opera House a street away from the former Headquarters of the Hungarian SS division. Budapest is a city that has stirred my thoughts and messes with my brain.

Bathing in a Cathedral...............

In the city of Budapest, a uniquely local experience, is bathing in one of the many thermal spring spas. Some date back to Turkish rule. Which one would we choose? Hmmmmmm. Let's go with the "Happy Hour" pricing at Gellert Spa, on the Buda side. A walk across bridge and down below Gellert Hill.

I had my map. I had pictures of the inside. I couldn't find it. Molly gets a bit embarassed when I have my map out and the guidebook too. Even with all that, I couldn't find it. She found it. Inside a hotel (thanks Lonely Planet), it was found on instict and not direction......kind of like my adversion to GPS systems......lesson learned.

Anyways, we walked into a small piece of heaven on a grey day. It felt like going to church to swim. I was looking forward to soaking in the hot, mineral waters, as my legs were still sore from the hike down the Matterhorn a few days earlier. I had my suit, rented a towel and headed off to the pool and hot tub. Co-ed. Cold water in the pool. Too many kids in the hot tub.....I thought "this is what happens at Happy Hour". Still felt good, but Molly and I were actually chilled and had had enough.........then we discovered the THERMAL, HOT SPRINGS, ALL WOMENS, POOL. Yes! That was more like it. We turned to prunes in the hot water, showered, walked back to the hostel relaxed and refreshed. Vowing to try another pool another day.

I met a couple at the hostel that were very friendly and interesting. I had actually researched a restaurant to try that night and invited them to join us, which they did. Samantha (currently living in Istanbul, Turkey, but lived prior in San Franscisco) and Mirco (currently living in Dublin, Ireland, but raised in Italy)........I knew exactly where the restaurant was, I mapped it all out before hand. I was confident. Took us about an hour to find it. Back and forth up the same street. Finally, stumbled into it on a side street, based on a picture. The restaurant, Csiga, didn't even have it's name posted......what are they thinking?

Regardless, the food was wonderful. It was a local hangout with a great menu. Maybe because we walked so much to find it, maybe the company was enlightening, maybe we were super hungry, but the dinner was the best yet. We left full and happy and found our way home, without further circles and maps.

Buda and Pest~Hungary and History

I didn't know, but I do now.......Budapest started as Pest-Buda. It is a city divided by the Danube river. We are staying on the Pest side, where most of the business, tourism and action is. The Buda side is more residential, peaceful and green.

The city itself, and the country, have been through so much in the last 70 years, I can not even imagine or compare the rich history here to anything like it in the United States. The history began here long before the destruction of World War II, but for most of us, that is as long ago as we know. You have to know the history of Budapest, to know and appreciate the people living here and the city in which they live.

The Hungarians had partnered with Germany and Italy in war efforts, but until late in 1944, the Hungarian jewish population had been protected. That all changed 10 months prior to the end of the war when Hungary began talks to switch alliances. At that point, Hitler began the immediate deportation and extermination of the Hungarian Jews. We walked by a memorial on the Danube river of bronzed shoes. This was where local Jews where brought, shot and left in the river.

After the devastation of WWII, Budapest came under Communism rule. For about 45 years, the people lived the purest form of socialism, ruled by fear and violence. In 1989, between the year Zach was born and Molly, so much resistence to the leadership lead to the surrender of the rulers and a democratic republic was born. Not an easy transition either. Much unemployment, much hunger, difficult life for many.

As I walk around this city, I think of this history. I see old people on the streets, hunched over, walking with canes, carrying their grocery bags. I wonder what they have seen in there life time. I see a Jewish man, wearing a yamika (sp?). I wonder how he feels living here. I see kids my childrens age and think how much more the world can offer to them then what was offered to their parents. Some of the people look sad, grey, unhappy and I can understand why. But inside the somber body, the people we have met, seem genuinely kind and helpful and maybe this is a result of hope and new opportunity.

Hello, Budapest

We flew from Geneve to Budapest on easyjet.com. Famous cheap international flights.....a little problematic on the times, but worth the savings.

First stop at the airport was to change our left over Suisse francs into Hungarian Forent. Crazy. The cashier handed me what appeared to be thousands of dollars. Paper bills worth 1,000 to 100,000 forent and coins that ranged from 5 to 500 forent. Problem is after conversion, the large bills turn into 1/226 of the face value, so 1,000 forent is like $5. Very confusing......after three days, I am starting to get comfortable with the money, but I did have to pull out the left over Suisse francs and Euros and put them in a different place......such a small continent to have so many different monies.

Our next challenge was getting to our hostel in this land of Hungarian and very different words and street names, but we did manage. I knew right away the country was friendly when a young girl and her mother helped Molly and I buy our train tickets in a funky coin operated machine. Upon arrival to our hostel, a yound man carried my luggage up 3 floors, as the elevator was out of service. He did it happily too.

Our hostel was in a 5 or 6 story building under renovation. It had various levels of security. Buzzer at front door. Code at main door. Code at next door. Key to hostel. Key to room. I felt very safe:) We went out and got some lunch (goulash) and took a long nap. Molly met some group from Australia she went out with that night and I enjoyed watching CNN in english and researching the city of Budapest.

Good-bye $witzerland

Our last day in lovely $witzerland, we awoke in Zermatt, under down comforters to see the Matterhorn out our hostel window. I guess you get what you pay for. It was pretty spectacular.

We headed down to a breakfast and good coffee.....I was walking down the stairs sideways and slowly, after the 5 mile trek down the mountain the day before......there was no way we were going hiking again for awhile......but we had most of the day in this town, so we could (1) go up by train to Gornergrat or (2) go shopping. Hard choice. We decided it would be better to enjoy an experience instead of buy a new sweatshirt, so off we went to the mountain train.

A fun train ride up the steep mountainside. Beautiful views from the observation point. Warm sun against the patio rocks. Slippery trails and a cup of tea. We took many pictures and then headed back down to the valley in Zermott to take our train back to Vevey.

Mikael's dad picked us up at the train station in Vevey and took us back to his home. We did laundry, took showers, had pizza for dinner and packed to leave at 4:30 the next morning. Good-bye to the most gorgeous country, great fondues, expensive watches and good people. We enjoyed our hiatus from the road and the hospitality of both of Mikael's parents in their homes, but we were ready to get back on the road.......

The Matterhorn....not Disneyland...the Real Thing

Monday, Molly and I get up early to catch a 7:30 train to Zermatt. This is the home of the most famous mountain in Switzerland and the namesake for the popular theme park ride at Disneyland….the Matterhorn. Zermatt is also a city with no cars.

We trained to the town of Visp, at which point we transferred into an old-fashioned, red and white, noisy, needs grease, train that pulls you one hour up the mountains closer to the Matterhorn. “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” The views were amazing. The colorful fall trees, the mountain rivers, the yaks and sheep on the hillsides and the geologically astounding rocks. I kept taking pictures of the houses and buildings on the way~they all have slate roofs. Slate, not shake, not composition, not tile…….beautiful, huge pieces of slate. I know now that slate is cheaper in the area than wood.

We arrived in Zermatt, checked into our hostel (prices just keep amazing me….this hostel was $65 per night PER PERSON. I am changing the spelling of the country to $witerland) and headed off to take a gondola and go on a hike. We had both been wanting to hike and I think today, we got our fill.

In summary, we hiked about 18 km (12 miles?), almost 6 hours and an elevation gain of over 1,000 km (I don’t know, but it felt like a lot!). We hiked along glacier streams, past a dam, thru snow, mud and ice, thru alpine flora and a larch forest and little "hamlets" all to see the spectacular view of the north face of the Matterhorn. The "'Hamlets" are little tiny shacks that hearders use in the summertime as they move the cows and sheep around....... In all its glory and magnificence, the Matterhorn was all ours. Just ours alone, for one day, it was just ours.

We took a different route down, trying to catch the last gondola into Zermatt by 4:30. Needless to say, we missed it and had to walk an additional hour down to get back. The steep climb down smashed my toes, jammed my knees and made my legs shake, but, I made it along with Molly. Although exhausted and sore, it was a once in a lifetime adventure, that I think both of us will remember for a lifetime.

We were going to go hiking again the next day, but I think both of us had second thoughts…..a spa day would be lovely.

Lausanne Marathon

When I told Molly about the Marathon in Lausanne, she wanted to do it~or atleast the ¼ marathon. Mikael wanted to do it to……so did I, but I knew I would collapse. I elected to be official bag holder and photographer.

Events like that are so fun, so exhilarating and just exciting to participate in or watch. They both did great, finished with a ribbon and got a t-shirt…….this was after a night partying and getting 4 hours of sleep and drinking Red Bull. Imagine if they would have prepared…..they probably could have done the ½.

Jose stayed home and cooked all day. Actually two days. He cooked a beef ragout of sorts. He was greatly disappointed in the results, but we thought it was great, especially after piling gruyere cheese on top. With all the cheese, bread and pastries we have been having, I am actually surprised to be needing a belt. I guess not washing your jeans probably just results in very stretched out ones.

We say our good-byes to Mikael, as he is back to school in the morning. He has been a wonderful host, showing us around his great country and taking us in like family. Hugs, three kisses on the cheeks (the Suisse way) and he is gone. We don’t know when we will see him again.

Oktoberfest.....they have it all

Another lazy morning, but the sun is shining…..so no matter what we do, it will be nice……

I want to take a boat out on Lake Geneva and there are many ferry options. The one we take leaves Vevey and heads towards the France side of the lake. We stop at a castle and get off and tour. Once again, Mikael hits his head on the low beams…….might be our last castle for awhile…..they are looking more and more similar, although……this one was the first to show signs of a bathroom. It had a room called “the latrine” with two holes in a bench. The holes emptied straight into the lake. Maybe an upscale castle, maybe just the great Suisse mind, one step ahead of other countries castles.

From the castle, I could see parachutes coming from a nearby mountain top. There was a sailboat race on the lake. The Alps were in the distance. Where else can you get one picture, taken from a castle, with lake, sailboats, parachutists, vineyards, snowy mountains in the background and at the same time you are eating Suisse chocolate? I did it……Switzerland is magical that way.

I asked Mikael to drive us over to the parachute landing area, so we put the top down on the convertible and drove off to find it. Not far from where we were really and it was fun to watch them come down and land. I counted 14 in the sky at once. Every couple minutes someone would land and someone new would run off the top of the mountain and catch wind.

Mikael, Molly and Pamela headed out that afternoon for a soccer game and Oktoberfest party. Jose made me fondue and we drank wine and visited all night. Such an interesting, worldly man, with interesting stories and thoughtful questions. I think the thought that will stay with me the most is about politics and the differences between the right and left, conservatives and liberals. For us in the U.S., that may come down to abortion rights, gay rights, social policies and tax/budget theory. In Europe, the margins are so much wider, from Communism to Adolf Hitler. From everyone is equal to one race reigns supreme…….

Between the heavy conversation and too much wine, I went to bed and awoke with a headache.

Vancouver 2010, Olympic Headquarters

On Thursday, we moved from Mikael’s moms’ to his dads’. About a 45 minute drive between, we stopped to say good-bye to Jutta at work and ran some errands….me getting new glasses in 1 hour, thanks to Binyon emailing me my prescription. Now I can see for the next couple months, unless I lose them, of course.

We stopped in Vevey to pick up some dinner and treated ourselves to one of those $7 tall lattes. I have given up Café Vienna, but I am not giving up Starbucks too. We drove from Vevey to the itsy, bitsy town of St. Legier. I don’t know how you call it a town.

The home of Mikael’s father, Jose: a beautiful, 3 story house, with an amazing view over Lake Geneva. Jose has a collection of sunset pictures, as you might imagine, having such an incredible view, day after day. A handsome, charming man, you are comfortable with him right away, regardless of his silly jokes and strong opinions……..he doesn’t like salad, because it is bad for your health, yet he smokes like a chimney. Molly and I both find him endearing and kind.

The kids have been sleeping and sleeping, late into mid-day. It drives me crazy……I am up early, walk down the hill to find coffee and practice my French at a small restaurant where I am the only customer. I also read the French newspaper, just to look like I fit in……I actually get information out of it, like……

· Hillary Swank is in a new movie about Amelia Earhart
· Sting likes the winter because it gives him inspiration
· There is a Marathon in Lausanne on Sunday with a ¼ mile option

It rains this morning. For one of the very few times we have seen it. I go home, get the kids up, get ready and we head to Lausanne to the Olympic Museum. Leave the house at 1:00……almost time for lunch or a nap.

Anyways, the headquarters for the Olympic Committee are in Lausanne, Switzerland. Who knew? They have a nice museum there……it was especially interesting since they had a whole floor dedicated to the Vancouver Winter Olympics to be held in early 2010. The exhibition was great and gave a lot of information regarding the organization process and the plans for February. I was most impressed by the Leed Certification of the new structures (environmental conscience building) and the gold standard they achieved in the designs and implementation of the Olympic Village and the new venues. The new event, cross skiing (I think that was the name)…..will be fun to watch, as it will include jumps, speed, moguls and all skiing events in one. Can’t wait to partake, if my brother still invites me.

The museum also summarized every Olympic since the inception and had highlights from every one. I had forgotten the event did not take place during WWII. I had forgotten about the 11 Israels killed by Palestinian terrorists in the same year Mark Spitz won all his medals. I had to remember about various Olympic Boycotts over the years and names I had forgotten, like Osan Biaul and Katrina Witt. It was a great museum.

Topped that off with crepes and coffee, the sun came out and it turned into another beautiful day.