Wednesday 15 July 1998

Slideshow Pictures

Drove down the west bank of the Danube past the parliament building which is on the east side of the Danube. A beautiful building which we didn’t have a chance to visit.

I had been to the Gellért hotel as a child almost weekly and wasn’t worried about finding it. We drove past Gellért hegy (Gellert mountain) which is more of a hill than a mountain, suddenly we were in front of the hotel but we had missed the entrance.

So we had to drive quite a way to turn around because of all the one way streets. Parked the car in front of the hotel and went to check in.

The Gellért is one of the grand hotels of Europe and you can certainly see why as soon as you enter the lobby. Dark woods, curved staircases and lots of attendants. We checked in, unloaded the car, and while I took the car to the parking lot across the street Rita and Rachel went with the bellhop to the room. Rita noticed cards on the table and desk stating "no smoking". She mentioned to the bellhop that we were hoping for a smoking room. The bellhop took off, returned with an ashtray, took the cards, and exclaimed "Now it’s smoking".

It was a beautiful large room with the largest balcony in the hotel situated right on top of the entrance. If you look closely you might be able to see Rita and Rachel on the balcony above the main entrance.

Two doors, one on either side, could be opened to the adjacent rooms. This room must have been occupied by Royalty and VIP’s in the past. But for us the doors remained locked. While Rita was freshening up Rachel and I went to explore the swimming pools which the hotel is famous for.

The swimming pools are open to the public but residents at the hotel have a private entrance via an attended elevator and have access after-hours. The indoor and outdoor pools are magnificent and there are many other amenities i.e. massage, mud baths etc.

Then we were off to explore Budapest. We crossed Szabadság hid (Freedom bridge) and went inside the Nagy Csarnok (Main market) which is just on the east side of the bridge. It is in a beautiful old building and the shops have an enormous variety of products.

Salamis of all types hang in front of the delicacy shops and the coolers are full of cheeses and different cuts of meat.

On the mezzanine are vendors selling all types of touristy items. We went crazy buying a wooden chess board, a wood puzzle of a Huszár for Squishy (Joshua), pecking chickens on a wooden board, and clay piggy banks. Rita noticed a fox fur coat which was $150, but she was told, by the vendor, that it was too large for her and he wasn’t going to sell it to her. Taking it through customs would have been difficult anyways.

Then we decided to walk to the neighborhood where I grew up (7th district of Budapest).

There are many famous people who were born and educated in the 7th district of Budapest:

Leo Szilard: conceived the nuclear chain reaction and patented the idea, resulting in the Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb.

Edward Teller: a theoretical physicist who is known as "the father of the hydrogen bomb”.

These ideas could be the greatest benefits or the greatest threats to humanity.

Ignaz Semmelweis: a physician who came up with the crazy idea that doctors should wash their hands before performing procedures on patients.

Harry Houdini: considered the greatest magician of all time.

And of course, George Soros.

And then there is ME!

This is the Jewish area of Budapest and we passed by the Dohány ut Synagogue. It used to be the biggest synagogue in the world, only surpassed by New York's synagogue, which was built later on and is a copy of it. Saw several orthodox Jews in this area. Asked a passer-by where the Kazinczi elementary school was and she replied that it had been converted to a teacher’s college a long time ago. I couldn’t recognize the building because of all the renovations that had taken place. Walked down Kazinczi út to Király útca where I used to live in #27 first floor apartment #9.

The apartment building had been allowed to deteriorate, the marble staircase was badly worn and the tiles on the walkways of the building were broken. Walked to #9 apartment but didn’t want to disturb the resident so we left.

Walked down Király útca and stopped at a pub where me and my father used to stop for a beer and an orange juice after church every Sunday. I didn’t recognize the pub so we left. Went into Terézvárosi templom where I was christened. There was a service taking place so we didn’t take any pictures, but the church had been beautifully redecorated inside and the outside was under construction. We were starting to get hungry so we decided to go to the restaurant on the corner of Király útca and Erzsébet Körút.

It used to be a beautiful Austro-Hungarian type restaurant with lots of dark wood. large windows with rich curtains, where I had played the cimbalom (a stringed instrument much like the inside of a piano) with the Gypsy band when I was about seven years old. The patrons and staff of the restaurant had given me a standing ovation and was one of the highlights of my childhood. It had been converted into a "$#$%$" Pizza Hut. I swore that I would never eat at another "$F#$%n$" Pizza Hut ever in my life.

We walked along Andrási út and in front of the Opera house. It is only 2 blocks away from where I lived. Sometimes I used to walk there, by myself, in the evening, and  had been given many free opera tickets (if the house wasn't full) by my Godmother who was a ticket vendor there.

Then we started walking along the bank of the Danube hoping to find a restaurant with Hungarian gulyás and Gypsy music. Rock and roll everywhere, no sound of gypsy music, much to the delight of Rachel.

I phoned my cousin Pista mentioning that our video-camera charger had blown-up in Strasbourg. He told me to bring the charger to his shop the next morning and he would have a look at it. Pista, who is an electrical engineer, repairs electronic equipment. Sat on the patio with a glass of wine and a cigarette overlooking the Danube and then went to bed.

Thursday 16 July 1998

I woke up early and took the streetcar to Pista’s shop which was only about ten minutes from the hotel. Pista was waiting at the entrance to the store. It had been twenty five years since we had met and I had trouble recognizing him, however Pista recognized me right away. He took a quick look at the charger, did some tests on it, and said he would have it fixed and would return the charger that night. Pista invited me for a coffee in an espresso, ice-cream parlor close to his shop. This was the only place in Europe where smoking was not allowed. The owner was making ice-cream and said the smoke altered the flavor.

When I arrived back at the hotel I phoned the customs and was told that the video-camera had arrived in Budapest but would not be released until Monday. Since we would not be in Budapest on Monday, I asked for the camera to be sent back to Canada. They said that they would fax a form to the hotel that had to be filled out before they could do that. I went to the front desk and asked for the fax. In a room off to the side of the front desk a lady was just taking the fax out of the machine. After checking identification she handed over the fax. I filled it out immediately and had it faxed back.

We went for a walk to Gellért hill and stopped at a chapel just on the other side of the street from the hotel. It was a cave that was used as a chapel and as a church during the many wars that had been fought in Budapest. After we went up to the freedom statue at the very top of the hill. Then we went to the palace, and Old Buda, and Mátyás Templom (Matyás church).

We had lunch at Halász Bástya (Fishermen Bastion).

Magnificent view of Budapest from here.

It was very windy and the umbrellas above the tables kept turning inside out, it was a very hot day and the wind felt very refreshing.

 We took the street car back to the hotel, looked at the swimming pools. Rita decided that she was going to take advantage of them the next morning.

We took a street car to Deák tér where we transferred to the subway. It was interesting, the subway station was also an underground shopping center with all kind of stores including a florist where we bought flowers for my aunt Terinéni.

We took the subway to Dob utca and walked about a block where Pista was waiting for us with his car. He drove us about two blocks to his apartment. We met his family, wife Julianna, son Frerenc. My aunt, Terinéni lives with them. Reminisced about our childhood, the summer vacations spent together at our uncles place in Szentléránt. Wonderful memories, with wonderful people. Had plenty of drinks and a great dinner.

Pista, since he also had too much to drink, couldn't drive us back to the hotel, so he called a Taxi and insisted on prepaying the driver. We had a cigarette and a glass of wine, on the patio overlooking the Danube, then went to bed.

Friday 17 July 1998

Had breakfast at the hotel and then took the streetcar from the station in front of the hotel. Went into Szent István Templom (St.Steven’s Church) where Saint Steven’s mummified hand is exhibited. The poor guy has parts of his body strewn all over Hungary.

After we went shopping on Károly körut. I bought some large format film while Rita and Rachel examined the dress shops all along the street. Rita ended up buying a dress which itches and Rachel didn’t buy anything. Then we took the streetcar back to the main market. Had an authentic Hungarian hamburger at an authentic Hungarian Burgerking which is across the street from the market. Then we walked down Váci utca.

At the end of the street we found a chocolate shop and bought some chocolates for Gizi, another cousin of mine, who we were going to visit later on that day. On the way back we stopped at a tavern for a beer and coke.

Then at Rachel’s insistence we took a streetcar across the bridge back to the hotel. We don’t remember exactly when, but I think, Rita went for a swim at this time in the indoor swimming pool at the hotel. Freshened up and were of to Rákoskert, a suburb of Budapest, where my cousin Gizi lives. We didn’t have much trouble finding it but I did have to ask directions at a pub. Gizi is not well off, she lives in a small wood heated house, but is in good health and good spirits. She had bought some pastry for us but she had burned them in the oven. We had a short visit with her and she gave Rita a Hungarian cookbook, which she really appreciated, I received a book on the Pope’s visit to Hungary, which I would have really appreciated if I had a soul to save.

Then we drove back to Budapest.

I phoned Pista’s sister and invited them for dinner, but they had made previous arrangements, so we were unable to meet her and her husband. It was my fault I hadn’t phoned earlier.

Rita wanted to visit the market again, so we crossed the bridge and went to the market. It was just closing and so we walked along Váci útca which has some exclusive shops on it. To my, delight the shops were either closing or were already closed. Walked down to the Danube and to the restaurants we had been to on Wednesday and found one with gypsy music. It had a lousy gypsy band and the food was not impressive either. Being in character (always romantic), I asked the gypsies to play "Csak Egy Kisslány Van A Világon" (There Is Only One Girl In The World). Rita being her romantic self ate it up (even though it sounded like fingernails scraped along a blackboard). Then we walked back to the market and at Rachel’s insistence took the streetcar across the bridge back to the hotel. We had a glass of wine on the patio overlooking the beautiful Danube, and went to bed.