	Europe 2010 June Part 1 Tadworth, Tattenham Corner, Epsom, Smitham, Chipstead, Kingswood, Leatherhead, Stonehenge, Avebury, London: England Budapest: Hungary Paris: France June Tuesday June 1 Tadworth weather forecast: CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 95%. Does that mean that we have a 5% chance of having a beautiful warm sunny day? Not bloody likely! Not being a meteorologist, I would say, just by looking out the window, that the chance of precipitation is 110%. But then what do I know. The weather in Tadworth when we arrived on March 28^th was a high of 13°C and sunny. Guess what the high is today, June 1^st. Yup. The high is 13°C and pouring. The only consolation is that we can't go anywhere anyways. Hopefully Eija is having better weather in Bath Spa. Started putting a fire under Raija and Ritva our Fin-Swede traveling companions and commanders. So far the planning for the Scandinavian part of our campaign: Arrive in Helsinki June 25 13:00 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Leave Copenhagen July 14 15:00. Our Commanders better start filling in the blanks or the lower ranks will desert before the debacle. Wednesday June 2 Eija came home in the afternoon from Bath Spa. I copied and published her pictures. The last two pictures tell me that two nights was a little too much for Bath Spa. I think Eija has been watching TV and babysitting way too much. Or is she in her second childhood? Eija and Rita walked to Tadworth, bought me some Goose Fat, and bandages for Rita. Rita tried to walk into a clinic in Tadworth, to have her bandages changed. She was rejected, and was told to go to the emergency at the hospital. Around 17:00 took Rita to Epsom Hospital Emergency. She insisted on having the same bandage she originally had, remember, the one I thought she was allergic to. Came home and half an hour later she started having new blisters under the new bandage. Had to change her bandage again. If she keeps having her bandage changed daily, she will never heal. Thursday June 3 Finally a beautiful day. We decided to town hop again, without breaking a wrist this time. Took the 13:24 to Woodmansterne. Walked to the end of town, decided we would go a few blocks further, ended up in Smitham. Got on the train and went to Chipstead. Then on to Kingswood. Decided not to have a beer there. but head to Tattenham Corner. Walked around the town and went to "The Beefeater". We have used the washroom, but never had a beer there. So decided to give them the business. As you can see Rita is back in the groove. Because she was on medication, Rita had a non alcoholic beer. Eija and I had a pint of London Pride. As I was ordering, a little old lady standing beside me at the bar, emphatically said, while grimacing; "I don't like that beer". I gave her one of my polite "Yea,Yea,Sure,Sure" smiles and thought to myself; "What the hell does a little old lady know about beer!". Rita's beer tasted like it might already have been processed, ours definitely had been. London should take more pride in its beer, and I should not be so flippant and learn to listen more to little old ladies, at least when it comes to beer. The Beefeater is in Tattenham Corner overlooking Epsom Downs Racecourse. The Epsom Derby is on the 5^thof June. We will walk down to the racecourse, a 20 minute walk, and find standing room somewhere. We were considering renting a box for £36,000.00 but decided not to be show offs. Besides, Rita would have to find a ridiculous hat on short notice. I am not saying that she isn't good at buying ridiculous things, but she needs time to shop around for the most ridiculous things. We decided not to take the train back, but to walk. Noticed this button at a road crossing. Rita was wearing her Shapeup running shoes, and my worst fear just about came through. She stumbled and banged her thumb on a railing. No major damage this time. Could somebody who can exercise some influence on her, talk to her about safe and comfortable walking shoes? I'm her husband and therefore ignored. Friday June 4 Walked outside to have my morning coffee and a smoke, a big clump of moss from the roof just missed my head. I had noticed ever since we arrived that there were big clumps of moss on the patio everyday. I thought that the gutters were somehow self cleaning or were so full that the moss just flowed over the edge. Looked up and a black bird, half the size of a crow, with a bright orange beak was looking down at me from the gutter. It had its beak open and bobbing its head up and down. Looked as if it was laughing at me. Went inside to get my camera, but of course by the time I got back out, it was gone. We sure could use a bird like that in Langley. Just received the bill for our trip, or should I say Rita's trip: £3233.90. Told you she was an expensive keeper. But, she is a keeper (I thought I should put that in to avoid pain, suffering and further medical expenses). Her next appointment is June 15^th. We will have to change that since we are scheduled to be in Budapest then. Going to St. Helier again this afternoon, to pay and straighten everything out. Well we have paid the bill. I had great difficulties in putting the card in the machine. Worried about them diagnosing me for Alzheimer's and admitting me, with my hand shaking like it was. But managed to get through it, and now we're done, hopefully that is the end of it. Rita managed to change her appointment to the 22^nd which is the day after we come back from Budapest and Paris. She will have to have her stitches removed before then. Offered to do it myself. I'm sure there is a book out there, "Surgery for Idiots", as there seems to be for everything else. All it requires is a small scissor, tweezers and concentration. Have to concentrate on having my legs crossed throughout the whole procedure. But then again, if I lose concentration, we could kill two stones with one bird. On second thought, it seems like a better idea to just use the vasectomy. OOPPS, that was a Major Freudian Slip. Should have brought whiteout with us. Meant to say "visa to me". Saturday June 5 (Epsom Derby Day) Well it's Epsom Derby Day at Epsom Downs. We have been warned by the locals to stay off the roads today, anywhere near Tadworth. We will walk down to the racecourse around 13:30 this afternoon and see how close we can get to the races. We will definitely not drive today. I had read about a famous Hungarian racehorse "Kincsem" from the late 19^th century, at one of my two visits to Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver. There was an article about it in the flyers they hand out to help you lose your money. Went twice, read the tips in the flyers, lost $2.00 both times. Wouldn't trust anything written in those flyers. Did some research on it yesterday to see if it had run in the Epsom Derby. Kincsem ("My Treasure" in Hungarian) ran in most of the famous races all over Europe, including England. However, it never ran in the Epsom Derby. Apparently it was a big sensation, Emperors, Kings and the public all over Europe would follow the results of it's races. Won all of its 54 races in 54 starts. By far the longest undefeated streak and the best undefeated record. Found it interesting reading about it's habits. Apparently it had a boy named "Frankie" and a pet cat it wouldn't travel without, when it went to the races in other parts of Europe. When the horse died, many European newspapers printed their pages with black borders. Hungary went into mourning. Apparently all the flags in the country, that day, were flown at half mast. It's skeleton is kept at Vajdahunyad Castle in the main city park (Városliget) in Budapest. Maybe we will get a chance to see it, since we will visit the park anyway. Many articles, that I've read, refer to him as being the greatest racehorse of all time. It was a surprise to find out that "Kincsem" was a filly. I had always thought that us colts ran faster then fillies, and that's why we are able to catch them fairly consistently. Well, apparently not. They only get caught when they want to be. Now I understand the purpose of fashion, and the great desire ladies have, to shop for uncomfortable shoes, cumbersome and ponderous clothing. It is a self imposed handicap (Definition: difficulties imposed on the superior contestants, or advantages given to the inferior, to allow the inferior contestant to catch the superior contestant more frequently or often enough to satisfy the superior contestants needs.). Fashion, is meant to slow them down, and to deceive us colts, into thinking that they are running at top speed, when they are really just trotting. Thus the expression "Hot to Trot". What a blow to our Male Ego. "Eh" boys? Helicopters are hovering and flying everywhere near the house. Humongous banners dragging behind them. They seem to be aimed at gamblers. Have I mentioned the gambling shops in England? Well, they are everywhere. It is harder to find a pub than a gambling shop. They are small but very busy. And that is just on an ordinary day. Wonder what they are like today? We are off to the races. Will report on the races as soon as we get back. The ladies were wearing their regal hats and we left the house around 13:30. People were parking on Kingswood Road in front of our subdivision and walking to the derby. No parking signs all over the place. Hundreds of people were walking from Tadworth to the races. The sidewalks were full. The first thing as we arrived at Epsom Downs, just like at Expo 86, was to go to the beverage vendors and buy a pop. We found a place by the 5^th furlong marker, just on the other side of the TV camera that shoots along the rails as the horses run by. The visibility was not bad at all. We saw them coming around the bend. After about two or three races the ladies wanted to walk around inside the racetrack, so we crossed between the races. People were barbequing everywhere. Camping with tents, vans, RV's. They were there for the whole weekend. There were crushed pop and beer cans on the ground, all over the place, along with other garbage. People walking around barefooted. Very few garbage bins. There were rows and rows of vendors, selling all kinds of junk, which, of course, interested Eija and Rita. Especially the shoes. I swore, that if Rita bought a pair of shoes, I would find the racetrack farrier and have a permanent pair fitted for her. But Eija and her were just looking. Rita was getting really tired, so she and Eija came back to the house, I stuck it out to the bitter end. On the way home I was walking in front of and behind some young people eavesdropping on their conversations. There are going to be a lot of parties in Tadworth tonight. I don't think more than about 5% of the people were interested in the races. They were there for the fair and the parties before and after. The weather predictions were wrong, there was no precipitation. Just hot and muggy. Sunday June 6 Eija is planning to take the train to East Croydon this morning, to do some shopping, at the two shopping centers that are near the train station. To my surprise, and I'm sure to everybody who knows her, Rita is not going. She is determined to clean the house before Raija and Ken arrive on the 10^th. We were just standing outside having our morning coffee, and the subject of getting a call at the most inconvenient of times came up. I told them a story about one of the millwrights I used to work with. They found it quite amusing. So, since I will probably not have anything interesting to write about today (unless you're interested in carpet, toilet and cleaning in general) I will include this story. We, as millwrights, were always on call. Downtime on machinery in the mill was estimated at around $300/minute. Had to carry radios around all day. One time, one of the machines at the other end of the plant, from where I was working, broke down. The foreman kept calling and calling the millwright who was responsible for the machines at that end of the mill. He didn't answer. The foreman asked, on the radio, if anybody had seen him or knew where he was. Nobody knew. Asked if any of us millwrights could come over and repair the machine, but everybody was busy in their own areas. He was getting frantic, calling and calling, over and over again. You could tell from his voice just how angry he was getting. Sounded like he was having a conniption. Finally, the millwright answered, with a totally calm voice. "Yeah, what do you want?". Foreman: "I've been calling and calling you, where the ____ are you?". Millwright: "I'm in the bathroom." Foreman: "We need you immediately! How long are you going to be?" Millwright: "Not very long." Foreman: "HOW LONG EXACTLY?" Millwright: "Not very long, I just have to finish some of my paperwork." (In memory of Tim Peters, who died just before we left for Europe, and I wasn't able to attend his funeral.) Booked the hotel in Paris today. So now we are booked in Budapest, Carat Boutique Hotel from the 14^th to the 18^th and Hotel de l'Alma Paris from the 18^th to the 20^th. All we have to figure out now is how to get back to London from Paris. Would like to take the Eurostar for £372 for four of us. Tried to get a hold of Sally or Ken on Skype, to see if that is what they would like to do. Of course there is no way of getting hold of them in a hurry. Will have to email. Norm was online so I Skyped him. We chatted for awhile and then Rita and Shelley took over. Getting back to train travel. I had a brilliant idea, of course only after I had already bought the plane tickets a few weeks back. Why not take the Orient Express from Budapest to Paris. Almost felt sick that I had not thought of it earlier. Checked into the ticket prices, and felt much better about flying. It would only cost around $3000.00. No need to Skype Sally and Ken about that one. Rita received an email that her cousin Arja in Finland had passed away. We better hurry and get to Scandinavia, before there is no one left to visit. Hilkka and now Arja have passed away. Just Skyped with Rick and the kids. It seems Erik is doing a good job with the landscaping at the house. Decided to give him a raise with back pay. Rick is certainly doing a lot for us looking after all the things that need to be done. We should give him a raise also. Worked it out on Excel, I think we can afford to quadruple his salary. It's getting closer to our trip to Budapest on the 14^th, so I thought I would check out the ten day forecast for Budapest. You have got to be kidding me. Sunny up to the 13^th and then, there is that 95% chance of precipitation again. I'm going to have a glass of wine, there is a 100% chance that I will have another, and go to bed. Monday June 7 Bought the tickets for the Eurostar from Paris Nord to London St Pancras on June 20^th. Would have cost £484 but since we are seniors, it only cost £372. Love the savings, hate being reminded that I'm a "Senior". I think I will change my name to Sir Tihamer Toth Jr. It will make me feel better. Rita is trying to find a clinic to have her sutures removed, or if they don't accept her again, to find "Surgery for Idiots" in the bookstore for me. They sell "Surgery for Dummies", but I find the Dummies series of books way too challenging. Finally, we were able to go to Epsom without going to the hospital. Just walked around the town. Found a Royal Mail Office where Rita inquired about sending our warm clothes back to Canada. They would accept the parcel, however there is no parking anywhere near by. I would have to lug the 30lb box about 2 blocks from the parking lot to the post office. Walked to the end of the shopping area and the ladies had a coffee. It was cold and windy but Rita stuck it out. I told you we are sending a lot of Rita's warmer clothing back. I was so happy that I wouldn't need a hernia operation in Europe, lugging her enormous suitcase around. I should know better by now. Now, she has room in her enormous suitcase that she has to fill, and she does not procrastinate when it comes to shopping. She shifted immediately into her shopping gear. As nature abhors a vacuum (except between my ears), Rita abhors space in her luggage (no exceptions). Tuesday June 8 First thing this morning I went on the web and tried to get the package picked up at the house. Went on DHL's site, the delivery company the post office had recommended to pick up our parcel at the house, and filled out the information. After I had completed all the forms, it bugged out. Tried again, completed all the forms, bugged out again. Went on EBay, completed the forms on Parcel2Go, printed out the labels and forms, paid, received confirmation email within one minute that they will pick up the parcel today. Cost £79. It would have cost £148 with DHL. There are such things as "Good Bugs". Gave Parcel2Go my @Canada.com email address, as I do for all transactions on the internet, to avoid junk mail on our @shaw.ca address. There were at least a dozen emails for Viagra, as there usually is. I felt like replying to them all, to inform them that I still do have "lucky days" even without Viagra, once in a while. It is 13:00 and FedEx just picked up the parcel. Rita has made arrangements to have her sutures removed on Thursday at the Leatherhed Hospital. Mr. Chidabacam, the surgeon, is going to remove it himself. Doctors in England are just called Mr. Wednesday June 9 Not much time left in England, so we will drive to Stonehenge today. Even if it pours we can do a drive by, or brave it with umbrellas. Raija and Ken have already seen it, so we want to do it before they get here on Friday. It is 6:30 and Rita is already awake, maybe we can get out of the house by 11:00. It is a 1½ hour drive, so we should be there in the early afternoon. Just brought in the garbage can, and ran into the neighbour. Started talking about London attractions, and I mentioned that their museums are enormous. His reply: "Yeah, we've stolen everything we could from around the world." Told him that we were off to Stonehenge today. He said that Stonehenge is nice but he found Avebury much more interesting. It is a village about 40 minutes from Stonehenge. Maybe we will go there also. Before I start my little spiel about Stonehenge and Avebury, I have to apologize to my dear wife Rita. She was ready at 10:15 and not at 11:00 as I predicted. No more Rita jokes for a while. As I said we started for Stonehenge at 10:15, "Bertha" my GPS tried to take us on the back roads of the Tadworth area as it had when I first went to Heathrow to pick Eija up. Now I'm more familiar with the area and I prefer to take the main roads even if they aren't as fast by Bertha's calculations. When I program her I chose "fastest" for navigation, but I haven't been able to figure out whether that means fastest route or the fastest pulse rate. We arrived at Stonehenge around noon and walked up to the burrows. There were a million beetle like bugs flying around, just on top of the grass. They didn't seem to bother me, but the ladies had them in their clothes, one even managed to find it's way into Rita's arm brace. And then to Stonehenge. Paid £18 for three of us and that included the electronic guide. Stonehenge is truly remarkable. Nothing needs to be said to enhance the mystery of the site. Doubt all the theories that have been put forward as to the purpose of the spot. Nobody knows, until some concrete evidence emerges, such as a Rosseta stone. So just leave it at that. I was thoroughly impressed by the sheer effort that went into the construction. Whether it was for religion, astronomy or whatever, the result is awe inspiring. Found the heel stone interesting. Do you see the face? If you have never seen me first thing in the morning, you probably wouldn't notice. I have seen that face all my life, so I recognized the look immediately. We left around 13:30. Gave Bertha instructions to guide us to Avebury. She took us on all kinds of country roads wide enough to drive a donkey cart but not for a car, especially if there is oncoming traffic. Talk about donkey carts, we were right behind a Gypsy horse wagon part of the way. Managed to pull of to the side of the road to take this picture of a horse on a mountainside. Made it to Avebury around 15:20. Again, it is left up to the imagination, why people would go through all the trouble of lining up these enormous stones in a row. What is more incredible, these stones don't have a smooth surface. They are odd shaped and therefore would be more of a challenge to transport than a stone that had been worked and would lend itself to be put on rollers. The mote around the stone circle is also a mystery. Can you imagine the amount of work it took to dig this mote? And for what? Can't imagine how it would be strategically advantageous enough to protect a village or whatever was here four-five thousand years ago to warrant the effort. There must have been another reason for it. But What? We decided to mull it over for a while, so went to the local pub to gain some insight into the mystery. They didn't have any answers but they had beer, a clubhouse sandwich and a baked potato with bacon and cheese. We were happy as you can see on the picture. The Red Lion Pub has a thatched roof which many of the houses in this little area of the country seem to have. Eija and Rita contemplating the mysteries of Stonehenge and Avebury. As you can see Rita has regained the use of her left hand. The dexterity might not be all there yet, but the primary function of the hand has been regained. Thursday June 10 Drove to Leatherhead hospital to have Rita's sutures removed. Saw Mr. Chidabacam and the lady doctor from St. Helier. He said that somebody had made a mistake at the hospital, Rita should have never been given the brace. The plate and nine screws are enough to support her arm until the bone heals. Rita asked him when she will be ready to weight lift. I cringed. Were they going to keep her overnight again, or commit her to an institution for good? Mr. Chidabacam is sending Rita to a Physiotherapist to have instructions on her exercises. Found out that Rita is allergic to Opsite dressings. On the way home Bertha had a hiccup, and while I was fiddling with her I went into the right side lane. Old habits die hard. Eija wanted to go to Tesco, so I drove her to the one I had noticed driving to St. Helier. Good thing I didn't tell her to drive herself. They had wine on at 3/£10. Bought 2 cases and some meats and cheeses. Friday June 11 Waiting for Raija and Ken. They are scheduled to arrive at 14:05 but I see they are behind schedule and have been delayed to 14:18. I will have to drop Rita off at the Epsom Hospital, where she has an appointment at 13:00 with the physiotherapist. Then I will come back to Tadworth since I would be way too early at Heathrow if I went directly. Rita will have to take the taxi home from the hospital. Left at 13:45 to pick up Raija and Ken at Heathrow. Have my timing down perfect now. Got there had a smoke, waited five minutes and we were off to Tadworth. Raija and Ken have always been Hoity Toightys. Here is Ken in 1^st class. Wonder if he had a pedicure on the plane? He seems to be admiring his toes. I don't know what this will do to his already arrogant personality. After this he might not even want to have a glass of wine with an unpedicured peasant the likes of me. But that alright, I will just have 2 glasses. Come to think of it I have at least 2 glasses anyway, and then I will drink his share. Anyways they're here. Raija didn't even have a hart attack with my driving. I had placed a bet at the shop, that she would. I guess I'm just not a winner. Saturday June 12 The ladies decided they are going shopping today. Us boys, are not invited, so we will just have to find something to do to amuse ourselves. Got to London Bridge and our intentions were to take the Jubelee line from London Bridge to Green park and then transfer to the Piccadilly line to Knightsbridge where Harrods is located. Raija wanted to go and shop there. They were repairing the Jubelee line past Waterloo Station, so we had to transfer there to the Bakerloo line. We let the passengers get off and then started to board the train. Eija was halfway in when the door closed on her with considerable force. There are no auto reverses on these doors or they are very slow. It seemed like a second or more she was trapped in the door. I immediately started for the door, to push the open button that they have beside the doors, had a quick look around people who were standing there. No button on that side, finally after about a second the door opened and Eija was able to get in. Ken was still outside, and he started to get on the train. The doors which are curved inwards at the top, closed and caught the top of Ken's head. I'm not sure whether it was because he has so much extra hair there, or because his head was still a little swollen from traveling in first class. Anyway, I wasn't overly concerned. I thought that is one area where you cannot hurt Ken. I was totally wrong. We arrived at Harrods and the ladies went inside to look around. Ken, went in also. He had wrecked his watch on the plane, while trying to adjust it to London time. He went in to see if the watch department could repair it. Now, I started to worry about Ken's head injury on the subway. Harrods is a store that sells $20,000.00 disposable watches, and there is Ken walking in with his $20 Timex to see if they could repair it. After they told him, no they couldn't, we went to Leicester Square and had lunch. We started walking toward Covent Garden when Raija decided that she wanted to go to Marks & Spencer. So took out Bertha and found that the nearest one was at Camden Road. So we got back on the subway. The area around Camden Road is kind of seedy, and after looking around for a while decided to head home. Ken wanted to go to a pub and watch the England-USA world cup game. So we decided to go to the end of the railway line, to the Beefeater in Tattenham Corner. Can't believe that I didn't take a picture at the pub. Hopefully none of my readers will cancel their subscription from this website due to this oversight. Anyways here we are at Tattenham Corner Station. There weren't that many people around, but the pub is small and we couldn't find seats good enough for the ladies to enjoy the game with a good view of the TV. Finally after some people left we managed to change tables to satisfy the ladies. England scored a few minutes into the game, and the English were excited. But there just wasn't enough people there to create the right atmosphere. The Americans played a good game and it ended up being a 1:1 tie. Had a couple of beers, food which we all agreed was terrible, and came home on the train. Sunday June 13 Went on a bus tour of London. It was kind of backwards for us, since the bus just drove around London in front of places we have already seen and been to. Raija, Rita and Ken enjoyed it, I was not impressed with the caned commentary and having to sit in the traffic jam, which is Downtown London. We are off to Budapest tomorrow, waking up at 4:00. So I better get to bed. Monday June 14 Have to catch the Malev flight from Gatwick at 9:25. The flight was approximately half an hour late. It was a 2 hour flight, and they served breakfast. Cheese or salami sandwiches and RED WINE. You gota love Hungarians. What other airline would serve red wine for breakfast? Arrived at Ferihegy airport. Raija used her Finish passport and went through customs in the EEU line. She got through about a minute before we did. She was very proud of how useful her Finish Passport was. Couldn't find a place at the airport that sold 7 day metro passes, had to wait until we got to the Metro Station in Köbánya. Paid 800 forints ($3.60) for the bus to Köbánya. Ken and I went looking for a ticket booth to buy our metro passes at the station. Finally found it at the other end of the station. 4600 ($20.75) for a weeks pass, which allows you to travel anywhere in Budapest. Raija (AKA. RxAxYxA) who has 2 passports, could have traveled for free, because she is also an EEU citizen with a Finish passport. But, she was at the other end of the metro station and Ken decided to pay the full price. Seniors, who are EEU citizens, travel for free on the Budapest transit system. Took the Metro to Deák tér, the hub of the Budapest subway system. I thought that I would have no trouble finding the hotel, since it was on the street I used to live on. Well, I might as well have been in Greece. Nothing looked familiar. Checked into the Carat hotel on Kiraly Utca at 15:00. Room 211, Raija and Ken are in 210. Nice room for the price, €744 for the two double rooms for 2 nights. We are getting ready to go out and find a place to eat and look around. Walked around looking for a nice restaurant in the neighborhood. Ended up going to Bohém Tanya, the restaurant the teller at the hotel had recommended. It was just around the corner from the hotel on Pauley Ede Ut. As you can see the portions were quite generous. Rita had a bowl of Carp Soup, I had a big chunk of Goose Liver (Liba Máj in Hungarian). Since you readers are all sophisticated, I will call it "Foie gras". Ken had Gulyas Soup, Raija had Stuffed pepper. We were full after the appetizers, and then the Main Course came. Had two bottles of red wine, with dinner. The cost was 23,000 Forints ($104). The portions were generous and delicious. Went to pay. They didn't accept credit cards. Left the ladies at the restaurant as collateral, while we walked to the ATM around the corner to withdraw some money. Walked back and redeemed the ladies. The waiter seemed relieved that he didn't end up being stuck with the collateral. We decided to walk down to the Danube. Took some pictures on the way. Found the side of this building interesting. The Hungarian National Museum. The Nagycsarnok ("main market") in Budapest. Showed Raija and Ken the hotel we stayed at in 1998. Our room was the one between the flags just to the right above the gazebo. Crossed the river again to the Pest side and found a restaurant on the Dunakorzó (the promenade that runs along the Danube) where we had a bottle of red wine. Had to find some cigarettes. Went into a high end western hotel close to the restaurant we were at. Pack of Marlboros $2.25. You just gota love this country. The view is really nice from here in the evening. They light up Buda Castle and the bridges. Found things are still run down after Communism. I expected more progress to have been made. There are beggars in the subways and streets and unlike London, the Police are not visible. I suppose that's the price you pay for not taxing heavily and having cheap booze and cigarettes. Hopefully I will have some better pictures of Budapest to publish by tomorrow. Tuesday June 15 Woke up early and went for a walk before everybody woke up. Walked to the apartment building I used to live at in Budapest. What a disappointment. It was in bad shape when we were in Budapest in 1998. Now I think it's ready for demolition. Walked by the church we used to attend when I was a kid. They had rebuilt it and it looks quite nice. This used to be a beautiful local restaurant. Now it's a Pizza Hut. Had breakfast at the hotel and went on a tour of Budapest. The bus drove down Andrasi Ut towards the city park (Városliget). Stopped at heroes square (Hösöktere). The square was built for the 1886 Worlds fair to commemorate the millennium of the Magyar invasion of Hungary. This is the entrance to the city park. The park has an outdoor skating rink, which is under construction, a couple of museums. The picture above is the Museum of Fine Arts. They also have an amusement park, a circus, and Szécsényi Bath (picture below) which is one of numerous natural thermal baths in Budapest. Then the bus drove across the Danube to the Buda side of the city, and up to the Citadel the castle in Budapest. Stopped for what the guide called a technical break (bathroom break). View from the Citadel. Then we went to Mátyás Templom. The coronation church of the Hungarian Kings. The church has a beautiful Majolica roof. It stands right beside Fisherman's Bastion and the statue of King Mátyás. The view of Budapest is spectacular from this vantage point. We had stoped here for drinks in 1998 with Rachel. We decided we will try to have lunch up here one day during our visit. So after this technical break, we headed back to the Pest side and to the parliament buildings. We took the tour through the parliament building. St. Stevens crown is housed here now. It is the oldest crown in Europe. It has had an interesting history. It has been moved around to avoid capture by invaders and kept at various locations including Fort Knox in the USA after the Second World War. It was returned to Hungary in 2000. The Parliament building is a magnificent and luxurious place. It is the most luxurious Parliament building in the world, according to the guide. For example the MPs have four buttons on their desks. One button for a yes vote, one for no, one for abstain. can you guess what the fourth button is for? It is to call for the butler. Well at least these corrupt politicians don't even make an attempt to hide the fact. It's a good thing we have honest politicians in Canada. They just bring their own Mickey's and hide it under the table. After the tour we stopped at an outdoor restaurant to have a beer. The restaurant was called "Things of the Past". On my way to the restroom I noticed that the tables inside had glass tops with all kinds of interesting old documents displayed under them. Even the countertops in the restroom were glass with all kinds of old pictures and documents under them. Came back to the hotel, freshened up, and started looking for a place to eat. I had mentioned that on my morning walk I came across a Kosher Restaurant sign in the Jewish district. Raija wanted to try it. We walked to the area where I had seen the sign, and after walking around for a while we found it. It was in the courtyard of a building. Raija had a look inside and decided against it. Ended up eating at the Pesti Vendéglö, the restaurant across the street from the Bohémtanya, where we ate the night before. After dinner we walked down to The Danube and had a bottle of wine at a restaurant on the Dunakorzó. The bridges and the castle were all lit up. The Gipsy musicians came to our table and I asked them to play "Csak egy Kislány van a világon". Having had a couple of glasses of red wine, I sang it to Rita, accompanied by the Gypsies. You guys don't know what that means, do you? Well you are obviously not as romantic as I am. It means "There is only one girl in the world." I don't want to tell you the rest of the lyrics in this blog. It is my secret weapon with the ladies. But for a price I'm willing to share. Wednesday June 16 Had breakfast at the hotel restaurant. They have a wide selection in their buffet breakfast. Not as good as some hotels we have stayed in, and a hell of a lot better than others. But for the price this is the best breakfast we have had. It was a rainy morning but we decided to borrow some umbrellas and take the tram to Rita's favourite place in Budapest, the Main Market (Nagycsarnok). After we decided to go to Buda, and see the Museum of Military History that covers 1918-1956. It was in the Buda Castle, and as most castles it is built on top of a hill. It was a hard climb and we had to reward ourselves with a refreshing cold beer. Raija and Rita were impressed by the fact that the Hungarian Army had sent troops to Finland to help them in the Winter War with the Russians. The Museum was not impressive unless you like Hungarian military uniforms and medals. We came back to the hotel, freshened up, and we were off to have dinner before the opera. Had dinner at the Vak Varjú, one of the three restaurants in the street adjacent to were we are staying. We have tried all three now and I would rate this restaurant as #3. The food doesn't have the characteristic Hungarian flavors. We went to the Budapest Opera right after dinner. It is one of the most magnificent Opera houses in Europe. It was where I used to go as a child, and the building was as I remembered it. Saw Don Giovany by Mozart. Our seats were terrible. We were in a room with three other people who sat in front of us. Their role in the opera was to make us miserable, by moving around and blocking our view. I had bought the tickets on the internet and the seats looked good in the seating plan. They only cost us about $14 and were one of the few available with four seats altogether. The other seats that were available cost $6 each and I didn't think they would be suitable for our first class traveling companions. But as it turns out they were probably better than what we ended up with. We decided to have another glass of wine after the opera. Walked around, but it was after 11:00 and a lot of the places were closing. Decided to go back to the Vak Varjú where we had dinner. Drank a bottle of wine, and decided to walk back to the hotel and have a glass of wine in our room. Tried buying a bottle at the local convenience store that is across the street from our hotel. As Ken was looking at the wines the clerk came up to him and told him that they are not allowed to sell alcohol after 6:00PM. What an idiotic rule. If you stock up for a night of debauchery at 5:59 PM, its OK. But not at 6:01PM? We had a couple of small bottles from our courtesy bar in our rooms, and went to bed. Thursday June 17 Beautiful sunny day, so we decided to take a cruise on the Danube. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. I might be biased since this is the city I was born in. Lets say I thought it was beautiful, and let my traveling companions tell you their impressions when we get back. Went under Chain Bridge. Went by the Parliament buildings. . We had intended to go to Margaret Island after the cruise, but seeing it from the ship we realized how big it was. Too big to walk over in a day. So after the cruise we decided to go to City Park (Városliget). Before we went, Raija wanted to stop and have a pastry and coffee at Gerbeaud, a famous pastry shop in Budapest. We each had a pastry and a coffee. Raija wasn't impressed by the pastries, since they are all based on Chocolate and nuts. Rita had a Dobos Torta, Ken had a Gerbeaud I had Eszterházy Torta. The coffee was also excellent. You have to take what I write about Budapest with a grain of salt, since as I said earlier, I am biased. There were a couple of Gypsies playing Hungarian music with a clarinet and guitar on the square. One thing about Budapest is that there always seems to be music around. Then we took the Metro to City Park. We had bought seven day passes for $20.00 and this was one of the few times we used it. The City Park has a Circus a Zoo, and many other kind of attractions for kids. We decided to skip all those. First we went to the Szécsényi Baths. A huge building with many different pools, all thermal, with different temperatures, wave pool etc. etc. We intended to take a tour, since the ladies didn't want to go bathing. If you ever come to Budapest, bring a bathing suit, since that is what the city is famous for, ever since the Romans. They called it Aquicum, the city of water. It was the tour guides day off (of course), so we weren't able to go inside, just saw the entrance. Afterwards we went to the Vajdahunyad castle which is also in the park, just across the street from the baths. It houses the museum of agriculture. There we saw the skeleton of Kincsem, the famous racehorse I wrote about earlier. It also had a thrashing machine on exhibit, just like my grandfather used to own. After the castle we went to another famous Hungarian restaurant, Gundel. Nobility at the turn of the last century used to come here from all over Europe. I think one of my uncles used to work at this restaurant in the 1930's. Went to the restroom. When I say room I mean ROOM, not cubicles. Each room had a full size door, and there were coat and hat racks in each one. Had a Gundel crepe, one of the foods they are famous for. After Gundel we had convinced the ladies that we should stop at the Museum of Terror, on the way home. We stopped at Heroes square to take some pictures. They were reluctant, but as it turns out the museum is not gory, it just deals honestly with the occupation of Hungary by the Germans, and then the Russians. We were all impressed by the presentation of the hardships the people endured during these occupations. For dinner we decided to go to the first restaurant we went to in Budapest. It was the best of the three we had tried. They had a Gypsy violinist and another playing guitar. Of course I serenaded my beautiful wife again. I think from now on I will use "Don Juan" as a nickname. They also played my favorite Hungarian song, "Vörös bort ittam ay este". Translation: "I drank so much red wine last night, I love wine. I can hardly stand on my feet, but the girls still love me." This is a song I try to live up to practically every night. I have mastered the first verse, however Rita has trouble with the second. Went outside to have a smoke and started talking to the Gypsy violinist about the beggars we saw in Budapest, and how it wasn't long ago that they where Communist. He explained that Hungarian politics is like a poor equestrian. When they try to mount the horse they fall over to the other side. When they try to mount again they end up being on the same side where they had stated. They can never seem to find a way just to sit on top of the horse. Bought a CD of their music from them to use on the DVD of our trip when we get back to Canada. Later they came to our table and the guitar playing Gypsy offered Raija and Ken their very last CD. This pissed Raija off and she didn't buy the CD. The restaurant was deserted, only one other table used, as I could see, so the Gypsies were playing in our ears all night. It would have been a lot better if the restaurant was full and they would have spread themselves around to all the tables. Went to bed fairly early since we were leaving Budapest for Paris the next day. Friday June 18 We took the Metro and the bus to Ferihegy Airport in Budapest. They are building a new metro line all the way to the airport, but it isn't finished yet. We had booked a flight on Easyjet leaving at 10:30. Checked in and discovered that Easyjet considered a purse to be one carry on. So we had to check Rita's suitcase in. We also discovered that one camera was one carry on. I had my camera (one), video camera (two), computer case (three) and my small back pack (four). We had had no problem with Malev when we flew to Budapest from London. With Easyjet there is nothing EASY. Checked in my backpack, managed to put the cameras into Rita's purse, had my computer case as my carry on. The price for Rita's suitcase and my backpack was €44.00. They didn't serve anything, so we bought two absolutely lousy sandwiches and two coffees. The price €18.00. The price of the tickets from London to Budapest with Malev was €397.65 The price of the tickets from Budapest to Paris with Easyjet was €332.25+€62.00= €394.25 Would not recommend Easyjet to anybody. Arrived in Paris and took a Taxi to the hotel I had reserved with Hotels4u.com The Hotel De L'Alma. The price €32. They had never heard of us. After the teller, who was a very nice young girl, phoned around we were told that we had been transferred to another hotel on the other side of the Eiffel tower. She called a taxi for us, and while we were waiting she recommended and made reservations to a restaurant that she really liked. The taxi finally arrived and drove us to the Hotel Beaugrenelle, for €25. What a dive. Checked in anyway. Wasn't going to spend our short stay in Paris looking for another hotel, so decided to stay. They were renovating the Bar area in the hotel, things were taped off and covered with plastic, strong smell of paint. Checked in and took the small elevator to our rooms on the first floor. As the elevator was coming to a stop on the first floor, and trying to find the right level, it dropped about 2 inches. Rita and Raija jumped about 2 feet in the air. Went to our rooms. The wall paper was peeling off the walls. The girl at the hotel had made reservations for us for 19:30, so we decided to go to the Eiffel tower before going to dinner. Walked towards the Eiffel tower and decided to have a beer at a sidewalk cafe. It was on a busy street. It must have been garbage day in the neighbourhood. At least six garbage trucks drove by us while we drank our beer on the sidewalk. Then we headed for the tower. Millions of people, thousands of mostly black hucksters selling miniature Eiffel towers on the side of the sidewalk. We lined up for tickets. There was a Finnish couple behind us that Raija and Rita carried on a conversation with during the half hour or so we were in the line-up. Took the elevator to the first level, and stood for another half an hour to go to the top. You could hardly move. Spent about five minutes up top, taking pictures and admiring the scenery, then took the elevator back down. Started walking towards Le Blavet the restaurant reserved for us. We were late. We thought Paris was one hour behind Budapest time. It is actually in the same time zone. They sat us down anyways. It was a small restaurant nicely decorated. As you can see from the picture Raija was totally pleased with the food, Ken I don't know about. The food was certainly beautifully decorated. Raija just couldn't stop raving about the food. Rita thought it was excellent. Ken thought it was fine, as I did. As in Budapest, I ordered Goose Liver (If you remember Liba Máj in Hungarian). But since it was about 10 times the price and 1/10^th of the chunk I got in Hungary, I better not call it "Liba Máj" or "Goose Liver". I will call it "Foie gras" so I won't feel totally ripped off. My steak came with sweet and sour sauerkraut and a piece of cheese and potato pie, which just didn't do anything for the steak. Raija was so impressed with the restaurant that she even raved about the cut flowers that were on the windowsill. She was feeling the flowers and even the water that was in the vase. I pointed out to her that they were plastic. Didn't matter, she raved about the plastic flowers and how well they were arranged. While having a smoke outside, I noticed a little old lady carrying cardboard boxes and making a place for herself on a bench beside the restaurant. I suppose all major cities in the world have the same problem, with homelessness. Walked back to the hotel to have a good rest for the next and our only day in Paris. Saturday June 19 Had breakfast and walked to the Eiffel tower to catch a tour bus. Walked by all the black hucksters and found the stop where the tour buses leave from. We were informed that they only take cash, and there was an ATM under the tower. Ken and I went to get some money, and were approached by a Gypsy woman, dressed in traditional Gypsy clothes, holding a piece of paper saying that she was from Bosnia and needed money. Took some money out of the ATM and paid the tour bus driver. It was not a very nice day. Decided to sit on the open top deck of the bus, with Ken, so I could get some good pictures. Ken didn't last long on the top deck. He soon moved down to where the ladies were sitting. The weather was lousy but it was worthwhile sitting on the top deck. Paris is magnificent. We took the whole tour and ended up back at the Eiffel tower. We decided to go to Notre Dame so stayed on the bus and got off there. Rita wanted to go inside and look around. The line-up was way too long, so we decided to have lunch. Walked to the La Chaumiére en L'Isle which is on the other side of the Seine a couple of blocks away. We hopped back on the bus after lunch, and went to the Chance Elise and the Arc De Triomphe. Walked around looking into shops, which we obviously couldn't afford to shop in, took some pictures hopped back on the bus and headed for home. Decided to go for dinner, and walked down to the Seine on Rue Linois. There were no restaurants there, so we went back to the square on the corner of Rue Linois and Av Emile Zola. We decided on a restaurant called Linois. After ordering I went outside to have a smoke. As I was walking, I notice the waiter taking a plate to another table. I was hoping that it wasn't what I had ordered. It didn't look very good. Guess what. It was. Raija kept insisting that this restaurant was for tourists, so on my next trip outside I made a point to do some eavesdropping on the other patrons. Everybody in the restaurant that I heard was speaking French. Raija said that they must be from Quebec, since no self-respecting Frenchman would eat in a restaurant such as this. This time we all agreed on the quality of the food. It was lousy. Went back to the hotel and went up with the elevator. The elevator kept going up and down, trying to find the right elevation, jumping and falling about 6 inches each time. Finally it stopped. I don't think I have ever seen Raija and Rita move as fast as when they were disembarking. I just tried to stay out of their way to avoid being run over. The ladies were using the staircase after this trip. Too bad that the weather was lousy all day. Paris would be absolutely lovely on a nice sunny day. We could also have been luckier and found some really good French restaurants. None the less, our experience in Paris was wonderful. The people, despite hearing otherwise, are really friendly. We have decided that one day, as with Budapest, we would love to spend a month here. Sunday June 20 Had breakfast in the small breakfast area. It was nothing compared to the breakfasts we had in the Budapest hotel. There were Croissants, sliced cheese some processed meat, and yoghurt. It wasn't terrible, but many people couldn't find a place to sit. Luckily, and may I say surprisingly, we were early for once so we had no problems. The Taxi we had ordered the night before arrived a little early, but we were already in the lobby when it showed up. €35.00 and we were at Gare du Nord (the train station the Eurostar leaves from) 2 hours before the train was leaving. Dozen or so Gypsy women, one at a time, where running to the taxis as they arrived at the train station. Surprisingly we weren't approached. I guess because we were traveling with Raija, who had told a few other Gypsy women to get a job. the word must have spread around. We filled in our customs declarations. Raija used her EU passport so she didn't have to. Raija, Rita and Ken went through security, I went outside had an espresso at an outdoor restaurant, and watched the Gypsy women hustling the taxis. Went through security about ½ an hour before the train was ready to leave. The train left Gare de Nord at 13:28. The trip to London took approximately 2 hours. I clocked the train at a maximum speed of 304 Km./Hr with my GPS. Arrived at St. Pancras Station where we took the subway to London Bridge and the train to Tadworth. Cooked dinner, had way too much wine and went to bed. Monday June 21 Just hung around the house, recuperating from our trip. In the afternoon we drove to Tesco to do some shopping, and then drove to Epsom where Raija bought all the England Caps from a little pharmacy we had found on an earlier trip to Epsom with Eija. Came home had dinner. We are trying to eat up all the perishables we have bought, so we wont have to throw them out. Brett and Andrew, the people we are exchanging with, will not be coming home for another 3 weeks and we don't want the house to be stinking when they finally get home. Tuesday June 22 Took Rita to her appointment at 10:00 to Epsom Hospital. Raija and Ken had already left for the Tower of London. Took Rita back to Epsom Hospital at 14:00 for another appointment. She was finally discharged. All the x-rays and everything looks good. Ken and I went to a Pub in the forest here in Tadworth, and had a beer. We saw the second half of the Argentina-Greece game. Argentina won 2:0. Wednesday June 23 Caught up on this blog while Rita was writing her to do list, about cleaning the house before we leave. Ken was busy doing the things on the to do list. I have now caught up, so I guess I should help Ken do the things on the to do list. We are planning to stay at a hotel near Heathrow tomorrow night, because our plane leaves at 8:05 on Friday. I will drive everybody and the luggage to the hotel, bring the car back and take the train from Tadworth back to the hotel. Ken and I decided to go to the local pub in the forest to watch the England-Slovenia football game. The locals were really excited. Even Ken was acting like a local and cheering. England won. We had a couple of beers, and after a couple of beers who wouldn't act like a local. We even started to slur our words like the English do. Our dear wives were patiently waiting for us to come home and tell them what the final score was. So after the game finished, we decided we should update them on the standings in the World Cup, and we came directly home. They were thoroughly thrilled with our update. Had dinner and waited for a call from Michael on Skype, which had been arranged by Ken. He finally Skyped around 20:30 our time. We were sitting in the gazebo having a glass of wine after dinner at the time. Ken needs some information to get his Finnish Passport, which is, guess where, in his filing cabinet back in Kelowna. Michael, Elaine and the kids will be up there this weekend and Ken was explaining to Michael the information that he needs. The document is in Finish, but since Ken is a Finnish Citizen, he had absolutely no problem translating the document and relaying the information to Michael. I was thoroughly impressed by his knowledge of Finish, and I think we will use him as our translator when we arrive in Finland on Friday. Thursday June 24 Cleaning and packing day in Tadworth. This is the only drawback to home exchanges. Unlike hotels, you have to make sure that everything is left clean. Did the bed sheets, towels etc. and were out of the house at 13:30. Drove to the hotel at the airport. I should say we tried to drive to the hotel. I had programmed the GPS to take us to 15 Bath Rd Heathrow. It had accepted the address and we started driving. The GPS took us past Hampton Court Palace and down many many small roads. We were near the address, but then it wanted to take us down a road that had been converted to pedestrian only. Drove around for at least half an hour trying to find the address. Finally managed to park the car beside a parking lot, and Ken and I set off on foot to the pedestrian street to try to find the hotel. Nothing, no street signs no addresses on the doors. Asked some people where the Premier Inn was. We were told that it was on the other end of Bath Rd. a few miles away. Didn't have time to check, but it must be, as in Vancouver, an East West thing. Finally arrived at the hotel and checked in. Took the suitcases up to our rooms, had a quick bite to eat and Ken and I drove back to Tadworth to drop off the car. Did a last quick check of the house, turned off the dishwasher which had been going all the time we were gone. Never did figure out the appliances at the house, they went on for hours and sometime they wouldn't stop automatically. Took £10 out of the ATM at Barclays Bank which was close to the train station in Tadworth, since we knew the shuttle from the hotel would cost £4 each. Took the train from Tadworth to Clapham Junction, transferred to another train to Feltham station. From there we had to catch a bus. The teller at the hotel had given me directions on which bus to take, to get back to the hotel, but we couldn't find the bus stop. Asked and we were directed to another street where we finally found it. The fare was £2, which left us £8, the exact amount we needed for the shuttle. The bus started going and we were back at the train station we had arrived at. The bus stop was in the front of the station. We had exited from the rear and didn't see the stop in front. Arrived back at the hotel around 20:00, had dinner and went to bed, since we would have to get up at 4:00 to catch the 5:24 shuttle. Set the TV alarm to 4:00 AM. I guess I BS too much. Ran out of space on this site. Click link to June Part 2 to read the rest of June.

Europe 2010 June Part 1

Tadworth, Tattenham Corner, Epsom, Smitham, Chipstead, Kingswood, Leatherhead, Stonehenge, Avebury, London: England

Budapest: Hungary

Paris: France

June

Tuesday June 1

Tadworth weather forecast: CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 95%.

Does that mean that we have a 5% chance of having a beautiful warm sunny day?

Not bloody likely!

Not being a meteorologist, I would say, just by looking out the window, that the chance of precipitation is 110%. But then what do I know. The weather in Tadworth when we arrived on March 28^th was a high of 13°C and sunny. Guess what the high is today, June 1^st. Yup. The high is 13°C and pouring. The only consolation is that we can't go anywhere anyways. Hopefully Eija is having better weather in Bath Spa.

Started putting a fire under Raija and Ritva our Fin-Swede traveling companions and commanders. So far the planning for the Scandinavian part of our campaign:

Arrive in Helsinki June 25 13:00 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Leave Copenhagen July 14 15:00.

Our Commanders better start filling in the blanks or the lower ranks will desert before the debacle.

Wednesday June 2

Eija came home in the afternoon from Bath Spa. I copied and published her pictures.

The last two pictures tell me that two nights was a little too much for Bath Spa. I think Eija has been watching TV and babysitting way too much. Or is she in her second childhood?

Eija and Rita walked to Tadworth, bought me some Goose Fat, and bandages for Rita. Rita tried to walk into a clinic in Tadworth, to have her bandages changed. She was rejected, and was told to go to the emergency at the hospital.

Around 17:00 took Rita to Epsom Hospital Emergency. She insisted on having the same bandage she originally had, remember, the one I thought she was allergic to. Came home and half an hour later she started having new blisters under the new bandage. Had to change her bandage again. If she keeps having her bandage changed daily, she will never heal.

Thursday June 3

Finally a beautiful day. We decided to town hop again, without breaking a wrist this time. Took the 13:24 to Woodmansterne.

Walked to the end of town, decided we would go a few blocks further, ended up in Smitham.

Got on the train and went to Chipstead.

Then on to Kingswood.

Decided not to have a beer there. but head to Tattenham Corner.

Walked around the town and went to "The Beefeater". We have used the washroom, but never had a beer there. So decided to give them the business. As you can see Rita is back in the groove.

Because she was on medication, Rita had a non alcoholic beer. Eija and I had a pint of London Pride. As I was ordering, a little old lady standing beside me at the bar, emphatically said, while grimacing; "I don't like that beer". I gave her one of my polite "Yea,Yea,Sure,Sure" smiles and thought to myself; "What the hell does a little old lady know about beer!". Rita's beer tasted like it might already have been processed, ours definitely had been. London should take more pride in its beer, and I should not be so flippant and learn to listen more to little old ladies, at least when it comes to beer.

The Beefeater is in Tattenham Corner overlooking Epsom Downs Racecourse. The Epsom Derby is on the 5^thof June. We will walk down to the racecourse, a 20 minute walk, and find standing room somewhere. We were considering renting a box for £36,000.00 but decided not to be show offs. Besides, Rita would have to find a ridiculous hat on short notice. I am not saying that she isn't good at buying ridiculous things, but she needs time to shop around for the most ridiculous things.

We decided not to take the train back, but to walk. Noticed this button at a road crossing.

Rita was wearing her Shapeup running shoes, and my worst fear just about came through. She stumbled and banged her thumb on a railing. No major damage this time. Could somebody who can exercise some influence on her, talk to her about safe and comfortable walking shoes? I'm her husband and therefore ignored.

Friday June 4

Walked outside to have my morning coffee and a smoke, a big clump of moss from the roof just missed my head. I had noticed ever since we arrived that there were big clumps of moss on the patio everyday. I thought that the gutters were somehow self cleaning or were so full that the moss just flowed over the edge. Looked up and a black bird, half the size of a crow, with a bright orange beak was looking down at me from the gutter. It had its beak open and bobbing its head up and down. Looked as if it was laughing at me. Went inside to get my camera, but of course by the time I got back out, it was gone. We sure could use a bird like that in Langley.

Just received the bill for our trip, or should I say Rita's trip: £3233.90. Told you she was an expensive keeper. But, she is a keeper (I thought I should put that in to avoid pain, suffering and further medical expenses). Her next appointment is June 15^th. We will have to change that since we are scheduled to be in Budapest then. Going to St. Helier again this afternoon, to pay and straighten everything out.

Well we have paid the bill. I had great difficulties in putting the card in the machine. Worried about them diagnosing me for Alzheimer's and admitting me, with my hand shaking like it was. But managed to get through it, and now we're done, hopefully that is the end of it.

Rita managed to change her appointment to the 22^nd which is the day after we come back from Budapest and Paris. She will have to have her stitches removed before then. Offered to do it myself. I'm sure there is a book out there, "Surgery for Idiots", as there seems to be for everything else. All it requires is a small scissor, tweezers and concentration. Have to concentrate on having my legs crossed throughout the whole procedure. But then again, if I lose concentration, we could kill two stones with one bird. On second thought, it seems like a better idea to just use the vasectomy. OOPPS, that was a Major Freudian Slip. Should have brought whiteout with us. Meant to say "visa to me".

Saturday June 5 (Epsom Derby Day)

Well it's Epsom Derby Day at Epsom Downs. We have been warned by the locals to stay off the roads today, anywhere near Tadworth. We will walk down to the racecourse around 13:30 this afternoon and see how close we can get to the races. We will definitely not drive today.

I had read about a famous Hungarian racehorse "Kincsem" from the late 19^th century, at one of my two visits to Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver. There was an article about it in the flyers they hand out to help you lose your money. Went twice, read the tips in the flyers, lost $2.00 both times. Wouldn't trust anything written in those flyers. Did some research on it yesterday to see if it had run in the Epsom Derby. Kincsem ("My Treasure" in Hungarian) ran in most of the famous races all over Europe, including England. However, it never ran in the Epsom Derby. Apparently it was a big sensation, Emperors, Kings and the public all over Europe would follow the results of it's races. Won all of its 54 races in 54 starts. By far the longest undefeated streak and the best undefeated record. Found it interesting reading about it's habits. Apparently it had a boy named "Frankie" and a pet cat it wouldn't travel without, when it went to the races in other parts of Europe.

When the horse died, many European newspapers printed their pages with black borders. Hungary went into mourning. Apparently all the flags in the country, that day, were flown at half mast. It's skeleton is kept at Vajdahunyad Castle in the main city park (Városliget) in Budapest. Maybe we will get a chance to see it, since we will visit the park anyway.

Many articles, that I've read, refer to him as being the greatest racehorse of all time. It was a surprise to find out that "Kincsem" was a filly. I had always thought that us colts ran faster then fillies, and that's why we are able to catch them fairly consistently. Well, apparently not. They only get caught when they want to be. Now I understand the purpose of fashion, and the great desire ladies have, to shop for uncomfortable shoes, cumbersome and ponderous clothing. It is a self imposed handicap (Definition: difficulties imposed on the superior contestants, or advantages given to the inferior, to allow the inferior contestant to catch the superior contestant more frequently or often enough to satisfy the superior contestants needs.). Fashion, is meant to slow them down, and to deceive us colts, into thinking that they are running at top speed, when they are really just trotting. Thus the expression "Hot to Trot". What a blow to our Male Ego. "Eh" boys?

Helicopters are hovering and flying everywhere near the house. Humongous banners dragging behind them. They seem to be aimed at gamblers.

Have I mentioned the gambling shops in England? Well, they are everywhere. It is harder to find a pub than a gambling shop. They are small but very busy. And that is just on an ordinary day. Wonder what they are like today?

We are off to the races. Will report on the races as soon as we get back.

The ladies were wearing their regal hats and we left the house around 13:30.

People were parking on Kingswood Road in front of our subdivision and walking to the derby. No parking signs all over the place.

Hundreds of people were walking from Tadworth to the races. The sidewalks were full.

The first thing as we arrived at Epsom Downs, just like at Expo 86, was to go to the beverage vendors and buy a pop.

We found a place by the 5^th furlong marker, just on the other side of the TV camera that shoots along the rails as the horses run by.

The visibility was not bad at all. We saw them coming around the bend.

After about two or three races the ladies wanted to walk around inside the racetrack, so we crossed between the races. People were barbequing everywhere. Camping with tents, vans, RV's. They were there for the whole weekend.

There were crushed pop and beer cans on the ground, all over the place, along with other garbage. People walking around barefooted. Very few garbage bins.

There were rows and rows of vendors, selling all kinds of junk, which, of course, interested Eija and Rita. Especially the shoes. I swore, that if Rita bought a pair of shoes, I would find the racetrack farrier and have a permanent pair fitted for her. But Eija and her were just looking. Rita was getting really tired, so she and Eija came back to the house, I stuck it out to the bitter end. On the way home I was walking in front of and behind some young people eavesdropping on their conversations. There are going to be a lot of parties in Tadworth tonight. I don't think more than about 5% of the people were interested in the races. They were there for the fair and the parties before and after.

The weather predictions were wrong, there was no precipitation. Just hot and muggy.

Sunday June 6

Eija is planning to take the train to East Croydon this morning, to do some shopping, at the two shopping centers that are near the train station. To my surprise, and I'm sure to everybody who knows her, Rita is not going. She is determined to clean the house before Raija and Ken arrive on the 10^th.

We were just standing outside having our morning coffee, and the subject of getting a call at the most inconvenient of times came up. I told them a story about one of the millwrights I used to work with. They found it quite amusing. So, since I will probably not have anything interesting to write about today (unless you're interested in carpet, toilet and cleaning in general) I will include this story.

We, as millwrights, were always on call. Downtime on machinery in the mill was estimated at around $300/minute. Had to carry radios around all day. One time, one of the machines at the other end of the plant, from where I was working, broke down. The foreman kept calling and calling the millwright who was responsible for the machines at that end of the mill. He didn't answer. The foreman asked, on the radio, if anybody had seen him or knew where he was. Nobody knew. Asked if any of us millwrights could come over and repair the machine, but everybody was busy in their own areas. He was getting frantic, calling and calling, over and over again. You could tell from his voice just how angry he was getting. Sounded like he was having a conniption. Finally, the millwright answered, with a totally calm voice. "Yeah, what do you want?".

Foreman: "I've been calling and calling you, where the ____ are you?".

Millwright: "I'm in the bathroom."

Foreman: "We need you immediately! How long are you going to be?"

Millwright: "Not very long."

Foreman: "HOW LONG EXACTLY?"

Millwright: "Not very long, I just have to finish some of my paperwork."

(In memory of Tim Peters, who died just before we left for Europe, and I wasn't able to attend his funeral.)

Booked the hotel in Paris today. So now we are booked in Budapest, Carat Boutique Hotel from the 14^th to the 18^th and Hotel de l'Alma Paris from the 18^th to the 20^th. All we have to figure out now is how to get back to London from Paris. Would like to take the Eurostar for £372 for four of us. Tried to get a hold of Sally or Ken on Skype, to see if that is what they would like to do. Of course there is no way of getting hold of them in a hurry. Will have to email. Norm was online so I Skyped him. We chatted for awhile and then Rita and Shelley took over.

Getting back to train travel. I had a brilliant idea, of course only after I had already bought the plane tickets a few weeks back. Why not take the Orient Express from Budapest to Paris. Almost felt sick that I had not thought of it earlier. Checked into the ticket prices, and felt much better about flying. It would only cost around $3000.00. No need to Skype Sally and Ken about that one.

Rita received an email that her cousin Arja in Finland had passed away. We better hurry and get to Scandinavia, before there is no one left to visit. Hilkka and now Arja have passed away.

Just Skyped with Rick and the kids. It seems Erik is doing a good job with the landscaping at the house. Decided to give him a raise with back pay. Rick is certainly doing a lot for us looking after all the things that need to be done. We should give him a raise also. Worked it out on Excel, I think we can afford to quadruple his salary.

It's getting closer to our trip to Budapest on the 14^th, so I thought I would check out the ten day forecast for Budapest.

You have got to be kidding me. Sunny up to the 13^th and then, there is that 95% chance of precipitation again.

I'm going to have a glass of wine, there is a 100% chance that I will have another, and go to bed.

Monday June 7

Bought the tickets for the Eurostar from Paris Nord to London St Pancras on June 20^th. Would have cost £484 but since we are seniors, it only cost £372. Love the savings, hate being reminded that I'm a "Senior". I think I will change my name to Sir Tihamer Toth Jr. It will make me feel better.

Rita is trying to find a clinic to have her sutures removed, or if they don't accept her again, to find "Surgery for Idiots" in the bookstore for me. They sell "Surgery for Dummies", but I find the Dummies series of books way too challenging.

Finally, we were able to go to Epsom without going to the hospital.

Just walked around the town. Found a Royal Mail Office where Rita inquired about sending our warm clothes back to Canada.

They would accept the parcel, however there is no parking anywhere near by. I would have to lug the 30lb box about 2 blocks from the parking lot to the post office.

Walked to the end of the shopping area and the ladies had a coffee. It was cold and windy but Rita stuck it out.

I told you we are sending a lot of Rita's warmer clothing back. I was so happy that I wouldn't need a hernia operation in Europe, lugging her enormous suitcase around. I should know better by now. Now, she has room in her enormous suitcase that she has to fill, and she does not procrastinate when it comes to shopping.

She shifted immediately into her shopping gear. As nature abhors a vacuum (except between my ears), Rita abhors space in her luggage (no exceptions).

Tuesday June 8

First thing this morning I went on the web and tried to get the package picked up at the house. Went on DHL's site, the delivery company the post office had recommended to pick up our parcel at the house, and filled out the information. After I had completed all the forms, it bugged out. Tried again, completed all the forms, bugged out again. Went on EBay, completed the forms on Parcel2Go, printed out the labels and forms, paid, received confirmation email within one minute that they will pick up the parcel today. Cost £79. It would have cost £148 with DHL. There are such things as "Good Bugs". Gave Parcel2Go my @Canada.com email address, as I do for all transactions on the internet, to avoid junk mail on our @shaw.ca address. There were at least a dozen emails for Viagra, as there usually is. I felt like replying to them all, to inform them that I still do have "lucky days" even without Viagra, once in a while.

It is 13:00 and FedEx just picked up the parcel.

Rita has made arrangements to have her sutures removed on Thursday at the Leatherhed Hospital. Mr. Chidabacam, the surgeon, is going to remove it himself. Doctors in England are just called Mr.

Wednesday June 9

Not much time left in England, so we will drive to Stonehenge today. Even if it pours we can do a drive by, or brave it with umbrellas. Raija and Ken have already seen it, so we want to do it before they get here on Friday. It is 6:30 and Rita is already awake, maybe we can get out of the house by 11:00. It is a 1½ hour drive, so we should be there in the early afternoon.

Just brought in the garbage can, and ran into the neighbour. Started talking about London attractions, and I mentioned that their museums are enormous. His reply: "Yeah, we've stolen everything we could from around the world." Told him that we were off to Stonehenge today. He said that Stonehenge is nice but he found Avebury much more interesting. It is a village about 40 minutes from Stonehenge. Maybe we will go there also.

Before I start my little spiel about Stonehenge and Avebury, I have to apologize to my dear wife Rita. She was ready at 10:15 and not at 11:00 as I predicted. No more Rita jokes for a while. As I said we started for Stonehenge at 10:15, "Bertha" my GPS tried to take us on the back roads of the Tadworth area as it had when I first went to Heathrow to pick Eija up. Now I'm more familiar with the area and I prefer to take the main roads even if they aren't as fast by Bertha's calculations. When I program her I chose "fastest" for navigation, but I haven't been able to figure out whether that means fastest route or the fastest pulse rate.

We arrived at Stonehenge around noon and walked up to the burrows. There were a million beetle like bugs flying around, just on top of the grass. They didn't seem to bother me, but the ladies had them in their clothes, one even managed to find it's way into Rita's arm brace.

And then to Stonehenge. Paid £18 for three of us and that included the electronic guide.

Stonehenge is truly remarkable. Nothing needs to be said to enhance the mystery of the site. Doubt all the theories that have been put forward as to the purpose of the spot. Nobody knows, until some concrete evidence emerges, such as a Rosseta stone. So just leave it at that. I was thoroughly impressed by the sheer effort that went into the construction. Whether it was for religion, astronomy or whatever, the result is awe inspiring.

Found the heel stone interesting. Do you see the face?

If you have never seen me first thing in the morning, you probably wouldn't notice. I have seen that face all my life, so I recognized the look immediately.

We left around 13:30. Gave Bertha instructions to guide us to Avebury. She took us on all kinds of country roads wide enough to drive a donkey cart but not for a car, especially if there is oncoming traffic. Talk about donkey carts, we were right behind a Gypsy horse wagon part of the way.

Managed to pull of to the side of the road to take this picture of a horse on a mountainside.

Made it to Avebury around 15:20.

Again, it is left up to the imagination, why people would go through all the trouble of lining up these enormous stones in a row.

What is more incredible, these stones don't have a smooth surface. They are odd shaped and therefore would be more of a challenge to transport than a stone that had been worked and would lend itself to be put on rollers.

The mote around the stone circle is also a mystery. Can you imagine the amount of work it took to dig this mote? And for what? Can't imagine how it would be strategically advantageous enough to protect a village or whatever was here four-five thousand years ago to warrant the effort. There must have been another reason for it. But What?

We decided to mull it over for a while, so went to the local pub to gain some insight into the mystery.

They didn't have any answers but they had beer, a clubhouse sandwich and a baked potato with bacon and cheese. We were happy as you can see on the picture.

The Red Lion Pub has a thatched roof which many of the houses in this little area of the country seem to have.

Eija and Rita contemplating the mysteries of Stonehenge and Avebury. As you can see Rita has regained the use of her left hand. The dexterity might not be all there yet, but the primary function of the hand has been regained.

Thursday June 10

Drove to Leatherhead hospital to have Rita's sutures removed. Saw Mr. Chidabacam and the lady doctor from St. Helier. He said that somebody had made a mistake at the hospital, Rita should have never been given the brace. The plate and nine screws are enough to support her arm until the bone heals. Rita asked him when she will be ready to weight lift. I cringed. Were they going to keep her overnight again, or commit her to an institution for good? Mr. Chidabacam is sending Rita to a Physiotherapist to have instructions on her exercises. Found out that Rita is allergic to Opsite dressings. On the way home Bertha had a hiccup, and while I was fiddling with her I went into the right side lane. Old habits die hard.

Eija wanted to go to Tesco, so I drove her to the one I had noticed driving to St. Helier. Good thing I didn't tell her to drive herself. They had wine on at 3/£10. Bought 2 cases and some meats and cheeses.

Friday June 11

Waiting for Raija and Ken. They are scheduled to arrive at 14:05 but I see they are behind schedule and have been delayed to 14:18. I will have to drop Rita off at the Epsom Hospital, where she has an appointment at 13:00 with the physiotherapist. Then I will come back to Tadworth since I would be way too early at Heathrow if I went directly. Rita will have to take the taxi home from the hospital. Left at 13:45 to pick up Raija and Ken at Heathrow. Have my timing down perfect now. Got there had a smoke, waited five minutes and we were off to Tadworth.

Raija and Ken have always been Hoity Toightys. Here is Ken in 1^st class. Wonder if he had a pedicure on the plane? He seems to be admiring his toes. I don't know what this will do to his already arrogant personality. After this he might not even want to have a glass of wine with an unpedicured peasant the likes of me. But that alright, I will just have 2 glasses. Come to think of it I have at least 2 glasses anyway, and then I will drink his share.

Anyways they're here. Raija didn't even have a hart attack with my driving. I had placed a bet at the shop, that she would. I guess I'm just not a winner.

Saturday June 12

The ladies decided they are going shopping today. Us boys, are not invited, so we will just have to find something to do to amuse ourselves.

Got to London Bridge and our intentions were to take the Jubelee line from London Bridge to Green park and then transfer to the Piccadilly line to Knightsbridge where Harrods is located. Raija wanted to go and shop there. They were repairing the Jubelee line past Waterloo Station, so we had to transfer there to the Bakerloo line. We let the passengers get off and then started to board the train. Eija was halfway in when the door closed on her with considerable force. There are no auto reverses on these doors or they are very slow. It seemed like a second or more she was trapped in the door. I immediately started for the door, to push the open button that they have beside the doors, had a quick look around people who were standing there. No button on that side, finally after about a second the door opened and Eija was able to get in.

Ken was still outside, and he started to get on the train. The doors which are curved inwards at the top, closed and caught the top of Ken's head. I'm not sure whether it was because he has so much extra hair there, or because his head was still a little swollen from traveling in first class. Anyway, I wasn't overly concerned. I thought that is one area where you cannot hurt Ken. I was totally wrong.

We arrived at Harrods and the ladies went inside to look around. Ken, went in also. He had wrecked his watch on the plane, while trying to adjust it to London time. He went in to see if the watch department could repair it. Now, I started to worry about Ken's head injury on the subway. Harrods is a store that sells $20,000.00 disposable watches, and there is Ken walking in with his $20 Timex to see if they could repair it.

After they told him, no they couldn't, we went to Leicester Square and had lunch.

We started walking toward Covent Garden when Raija decided that she wanted to go to Marks & Spencer. So took out Bertha and found that the nearest one was at Camden Road. So we got back on the subway. The area around Camden Road is kind of seedy, and after looking around for a while decided to head home.

Ken wanted to go to a pub and watch the England-USA world cup game. So we decided to go to the end of the railway line, to the Beefeater in Tattenham Corner.

Can't believe that I didn't take a picture at the pub. Hopefully none of my readers will cancel their subscription from this website due to this oversight. Anyways here we are at Tattenham Corner Station.

There weren't that many people around, but the pub is small and we couldn't find seats good enough for the ladies to enjoy the game with a good view of the TV. Finally after some people left we managed to change tables to satisfy the ladies.

England scored a few minutes into the game, and the English were excited. But there just wasn't enough people there to create the right atmosphere. The Americans played a good game and it ended up being a 1:1 tie.

Had a couple of beers, food which we all agreed was terrible, and came home on the train.

Sunday June 13

Went on a bus tour of London. It was kind of backwards for us, since the bus just drove around London in front of places we have already seen and been to. Raija, Rita and Ken enjoyed it, I was not impressed with the caned commentary and having to sit in the traffic jam, which is Downtown London. We are off to Budapest tomorrow, waking up at 4:00. So I better get to bed.

Monday June 14

Have to catch the Malev flight from Gatwick at 9:25.

The flight was approximately half an hour late. It was a 2 hour flight, and they served breakfast. Cheese or salami sandwiches and RED WINE. You gota love Hungarians. What other airline would serve red wine for breakfast?

Arrived at Ferihegy airport. Raija used her Finish passport and went through customs in the EEU line. She got through about a minute before we did. She was very proud of how useful her Finish Passport was.

Couldn't find a place at the airport that sold 7 day metro passes, had to wait until we got to the Metro Station in Köbánya. Paid 800 forints ($3.60) for the bus to Köbánya. Ken and I went looking for a ticket booth to buy our metro passes at the station. Finally found it at the other end of the station. 4600 ($20.75) for a weeks pass, which allows you to travel anywhere in Budapest. Raija (AKA. RxAxYxA) who has 2 passports, could have traveled for free, because she is also an EEU citizen with a Finish passport. But, she was at the other end of the metro station and Ken decided to pay the full price. Seniors, who are EEU citizens, travel for free on the Budapest transit system.

Took the Metro to Deák tér, the hub of the Budapest subway system. I thought that I would have no trouble finding the hotel, since it was on the street I used to live on. Well, I might as well have been in Greece. Nothing looked familiar. Checked into the Carat hotel on Kiraly Utca at 15:00. Room 211, Raija and Ken are in 210. Nice room for the price, €744 for the two double rooms for 2 nights.

We are getting ready to go out and find a place to eat and look around.

Walked around looking for a nice restaurant in the neighborhood. Ended up going to Bohém Tanya, the restaurant the teller at the hotel had recommended. It was just around the corner from the hotel on Pauley Ede Ut.

As you can see the portions were quite generous. Rita had a bowl of Carp Soup, I had a big chunk of Goose Liver (Liba Máj in Hungarian). Since you readers are all sophisticated, I will call it "Foie gras". Ken had Gulyas Soup, Raija had Stuffed pepper. We were full after the appetizers, and then the Main Course came. Had two bottles of red wine, with dinner. The cost was 23,000 Forints ($104). The portions were generous and delicious. Went to pay. They didn't accept credit cards. Left the ladies at the restaurant as collateral, while we walked to the ATM around the corner to withdraw some money. Walked back and redeemed the ladies. The waiter seemed relieved that he didn't end up being stuck with the collateral.

We decided to walk down to the Danube. Took some pictures on the way. Found the side of this building interesting.

The Hungarian National Museum.

The Nagycsarnok ("main market") in Budapest.

Showed Raija and Ken the hotel we stayed at in 1998. Our room was the one between the flags just to the right above the gazebo.

Crossed the river again to the Pest side and found a restaurant on the Dunakorzó (the promenade that runs along the Danube) where we had a bottle of red wine. Had to find some cigarettes. Went into a high end western hotel close to the restaurant we were at. Pack of Marlboros $2.25. You just gota love this country.

The view is really nice from here in the evening. They light up Buda Castle and the bridges.

Found things are still run down after Communism. I expected more progress to have been made. There are beggars in the subways and streets and unlike London, the Police are not visible. I suppose that's the price you pay for not taxing heavily and having cheap booze and cigarettes.

Hopefully I will have some better pictures of Budapest to publish by tomorrow.

Tuesday June 15

Woke up early and went for a walk before everybody woke up. Walked to the apartment building I used to live at in Budapest. What a disappointment. It was in bad shape when we were in Budapest in 1998. Now I think it's ready for demolition.

Walked by the church we used to attend when I was a kid. They had rebuilt it and it looks quite nice.

This used to be a beautiful local restaurant. Now it's a Pizza Hut.

Had breakfast at the hotel and went on a tour of Budapest.

The bus drove down Andrasi Ut towards the city park (Városliget).

Stopped at heroes square (Hösöktere). The square was built for the 1886 Worlds fair to commemorate the millennium of the Magyar invasion of Hungary.

This is the entrance to the city park. The park has an outdoor skating rink, which is under construction, a couple of museums.

The picture above is the Museum of Fine Arts. They also have an amusement park, a circus, and Szécsényi Bath (picture below) which is one of numerous natural thermal baths in Budapest.

Then the bus drove across the Danube to the Buda side of the city, and up to the Citadel the castle in Budapest. Stopped for what the guide called a technical break (bathroom break).

View from the Citadel. Then we went to Mátyás Templom. The coronation church of the Hungarian Kings.

The church has a beautiful Majolica roof. It stands right beside Fisherman's Bastion and the statue of King Mátyás.

The view of Budapest is spectacular from this vantage point. We had stoped here for drinks in 1998 with Rachel.

We decided we will try to have lunch up here one day during our visit. So after this technical break, we headed back to the Pest side and to the parliament buildings. We took the tour through the parliament building.

St. Stevens crown is housed here now. It is the oldest crown in Europe. It has had an interesting history. It has been moved around to avoid capture by invaders and kept at various locations including Fort Knox in the USA after the Second World War. It was returned to Hungary in 2000.

The Parliament building is a magnificent and luxurious place. It is the most luxurious Parliament building in the world, according to the guide. For example the MPs have four buttons on their desks. One button for a yes vote, one for no, one for abstain. can you guess what the fourth button is for?

It is to call for the butler. Well at least these corrupt politicians don't even make an attempt to hide the fact. It's a good thing we have honest politicians in Canada. They just bring their own Mickey's and hide it under the table.

After the tour we stopped at an outdoor restaurant to have a beer. The restaurant was called "Things of the Past". On my way to the restroom I noticed that the tables inside had glass tops with all kinds of interesting old documents displayed under them. Even the countertops in the restroom were glass with all kinds of old pictures and documents under them.

Came back to the hotel, freshened up, and started looking for a place to eat. I had mentioned that on my morning walk I came across a Kosher Restaurant sign in the Jewish district. Raija wanted to try it. We walked to the area where I had seen the sign, and after walking around for a while we found it. It was in the courtyard of a building. Raija had a look inside and decided against it. Ended up eating at the Pesti Vendéglö, the restaurant across the street from the Bohémtanya, where we ate the night before.

After dinner we walked down to The Danube and had a bottle of wine at a restaurant on the Dunakorzó. The bridges and the castle were all lit up.

The Gipsy musicians came to our table and I asked them to play "Csak egy Kislány van a világon". Having had a couple of glasses of red wine, I sang it to Rita, accompanied by the Gypsies. You guys don't know what that means, do you? Well you are obviously not as romantic as I am. It means "There is only one girl in the world." I don't want to tell you the rest of the lyrics in this blog. It is my secret weapon with the ladies. But for a price I'm willing to share.

Wednesday June 16

Had breakfast at the hotel restaurant. They have a wide selection in their buffet breakfast. Not as good as some hotels we have stayed in, and a hell of a lot better than others. But for the price this is the best breakfast we have had.

It was a rainy morning but we decided to borrow some umbrellas and take the tram to Rita's favourite place in Budapest, the Main Market (Nagycsarnok).

After we decided to go to Buda, and see the Museum of Military History that covers 1918-1956. It was in the Buda Castle, and as most castles it is built on top of a hill. It was a hard climb and we had to reward ourselves with a refreshing cold beer.

Raija and Rita were impressed by the fact that the Hungarian Army had sent troops to Finland to help them in the Winter War with the Russians. The Museum was not impressive unless you like Hungarian military uniforms and medals.

We came back to the hotel, freshened up, and we were off to have dinner before the opera. Had dinner at the Vak Varjú, one of the three restaurants in the street adjacent to were we are staying. We have tried all three now and I would rate this restaurant as #3. The food doesn't have the characteristic Hungarian flavors.

We went to the Budapest Opera right after dinner. It is one of the most magnificent Opera houses in Europe. It was where I used to go as a child, and the building was as I remembered it.

Saw Don Giovany by Mozart. Our seats were terrible. We were in a room with three other people who sat in front of us. Their role in the opera was to make us miserable, by moving around and blocking our view. I had bought the tickets on the internet and the seats looked good in the seating plan. They only cost us about $14 and were one of the few available with four seats altogether. The other seats that were available cost $6 each and I didn't think they would be suitable for our first class traveling companions. But as it turns out they were probably better than what we ended up with.

We decided to have another glass of wine after the opera. Walked around, but it was after 11:00 and a lot of the places were closing. Decided to go back to the Vak Varjú where we had dinner. Drank a bottle of wine, and decided to walk back to the hotel and have a glass of wine in our room. Tried buying a bottle at the local convenience store that is across the street from our hotel. As Ken was looking at the wines the clerk came up to him and told him that they are not allowed to sell alcohol after 6:00PM. What an idiotic rule. If you stock up for a night of debauchery at 5:59 PM, its OK. But not at 6:01PM? We had a couple of small bottles from our courtesy bar in our rooms, and went to bed.

Thursday June 17

Beautiful sunny day, so we decided to take a cruise on the Danube.

The scenery was absolutely beautiful. I might be biased since this is the city I was born in. Lets say I thought it was beautiful, and let my traveling companions tell you their impressions when we get back.

Went under Chain Bridge.

Went by the Parliament buildings.

We had intended to go to Margaret Island after the cruise, but seeing it from the ship we realized how big it was. Too big to walk over in a day. So after the cruise we decided to go to City Park (Városliget). Before we went, Raija wanted to stop and have a pastry and coffee at Gerbeaud, a famous pastry shop in Budapest.

We each had a pastry and a coffee. Raija wasn't impressed by the pastries, since they are all based on Chocolate and nuts. Rita had a Dobos Torta, Ken had a Gerbeaud I had Eszterházy Torta. The coffee was also excellent. You have to take what I write about Budapest with a grain of salt, since as I said earlier, I am biased.

There were a couple of Gypsies playing Hungarian music with a clarinet and guitar on the square. One thing about Budapest is that there always seems to be music around.

Then we took the Metro to City Park. We had bought seven day passes for $20.00 and this was one of the few times we used it.

The City Park has a Circus a Zoo, and many other kind of attractions for kids. We decided to skip all those. First we went to the Szécsényi Baths. A huge building with many different pools, all thermal, with different temperatures, wave pool etc. etc.

We intended to take a tour, since the ladies didn't want to go bathing. If you ever come to Budapest, bring a bathing suit, since that is what the city is famous for, ever since the Romans. They called it Aquicum, the city of water.

It was the tour guides day off (of course), so we weren't able to go inside, just saw the entrance.

Afterwards we went to the Vajdahunyad castle which is also in the park, just across the street from the baths.

It houses the museum of agriculture. There we saw the skeleton of Kincsem, the famous racehorse I wrote about earlier.

It also had a thrashing machine on exhibit, just like my grandfather used to own.

After the castle we went to another famous Hungarian restaurant, Gundel. Nobility at the turn of the last century used to come here from all over Europe. I think one of my uncles used to work at this restaurant in the 1930's.

Went to the restroom. When I say room I mean ROOM, not cubicles. Each room had a full size door, and there were coat and hat racks in each one.

Had a Gundel crepe, one of the foods they are famous for.

After Gundel we had convinced the ladies that we should stop at the Museum of Terror, on the way home. We stopped at Heroes square to take some pictures.

They were reluctant, but as it turns out the museum is not gory, it just deals honestly with the occupation of Hungary by the Germans, and then the Russians. We were all impressed by the presentation of the hardships the people endured during these occupations.

For dinner we decided to go to the first restaurant we went to in Budapest. It was the best of the three we had tried. They had a Gypsy violinist and another playing guitar. Of course I serenaded my beautiful wife again. I think from now on I will use "Don Juan" as a nickname. They also played my favorite Hungarian song, "Vörös bort ittam ay este".

Translation: "I drank so much red wine last night, I love wine. I can hardly stand on my feet, but the girls still love me." This is a song I try to live up to practically every night. I have mastered the first verse, however Rita has trouble with the second.

Went outside to have a smoke and started talking to the Gypsy violinist about the beggars we saw in Budapest, and how it wasn't long ago that they where Communist. He explained that Hungarian politics is like a poor equestrian. When they try to mount the horse they fall over to the other side. When they try to mount again they end up being on the same side where they had stated. They can never seem to find a way just to sit on top of the horse.

Bought a CD of their music from them to use on the DVD of our trip when we get back to Canada. Later they came to our table and the guitar playing Gypsy offered Raija and Ken their very last CD. This pissed Raija off and she didn't buy the CD.

The restaurant was deserted, only one other table used, as I could see, so the Gypsies were playing in our ears all night. It would have been a lot better if the restaurant was full and they would have spread themselves around to all the tables.

Went to bed fairly early since we were leaving Budapest for Paris the next day.

Friday June 18

We took the Metro and the bus to Ferihegy Airport in Budapest. They are building a new metro line all the way to the airport, but it isn't finished yet.

We had booked a flight on Easyjet leaving at 10:30. Checked in and discovered that Easyjet considered a purse to be one carry on. So we had to check Rita's suitcase in. We also discovered that one camera was one carry on. I had my camera (one), video camera (two), computer case (three) and my small back pack (four). We had had no problem with Malev when we flew to Budapest from London. With Easyjet there is nothing EASY. Checked in my backpack, managed to put the cameras into Rita's purse, had my computer case as my carry on. The price for Rita's suitcase and my backpack was €44.00. They didn't serve anything, so we bought two absolutely lousy sandwiches and two coffees. The price €18.00.

The price of the tickets from London to Budapest with Malev was €397.65

The price of the tickets from Budapest to Paris with Easyjet was €332.25+€62.00= €394.25

Would not recommend Easyjet to anybody.

Arrived in Paris and took a Taxi to the hotel I had reserved with Hotels4u.com The Hotel De L'Alma. The price €32. They had never heard of us. After the teller, who was a very nice young girl, phoned around we were told that we had been transferred to another hotel on the other side of the Eiffel tower. She called a taxi for us, and while we were waiting she recommended and made reservations to a restaurant that she really liked.

The taxi finally arrived and drove us to the Hotel Beaugrenelle, for €25. What a dive. Checked in anyway. Wasn't going to spend our short stay in Paris looking for another hotel, so decided to stay. They were renovating the Bar area in the hotel, things were taped off and covered with plastic, strong smell of paint. Checked in and took the small elevator to our rooms on the first floor. As the elevator was coming to a stop on the first floor, and trying to find the right level, it dropped about 2 inches. Rita and Raija jumped about 2 feet in the air.

Went to our rooms. The wall paper was peeling off the walls.

The girl at the hotel had made reservations for us for 19:30, so we decided to go to the Eiffel tower before going to dinner. Walked towards the Eiffel tower and decided to have a beer at a sidewalk cafe.

It was on a busy street. It must have been garbage day in the neighbourhood. At least six garbage trucks drove by us while we drank our beer on the sidewalk. Then we headed for the tower.

Millions of people, thousands of mostly black hucksters selling miniature Eiffel towers on the side of the sidewalk. We lined up for tickets. There was a Finnish couple behind us that Raija and Rita carried on a conversation with during the half hour or so we were in the line-up. Took the elevator to the first level, and stood for another half an hour to go to the top. You could hardly move.

Spent about five minutes up top, taking pictures and admiring the scenery, then took the elevator back down. Started walking towards Le Blavet the restaurant reserved for us. We were late. We thought Paris was one hour behind Budapest time. It is actually in the same time zone. They sat us down anyways. It was a small restaurant nicely decorated.

As you can see from the picture Raija was totally pleased with the food, Ken I don't know about.

The food was certainly beautifully decorated. Raija just couldn't stop raving about the food. Rita thought it was excellent. Ken thought it was fine, as I did. As in Budapest, I ordered Goose Liver (If you remember Liba Máj in Hungarian). But since it was about 10 times the price and 1/10^th of the chunk I got in Hungary, I better not call it "Liba Máj" or "Goose Liver". I will call it "Foie gras" so I won't feel totally ripped off.

My steak came with sweet and sour sauerkraut and a piece of cheese and potato pie, which just didn't do anything for the steak. Raija was so impressed with the restaurant that she even raved about the cut flowers that were on the windowsill. She was feeling the flowers and even the water that was in the vase. I pointed out to her that they were plastic. Didn't matter, she raved about the plastic flowers and how well they were arranged.

While having a smoke outside, I noticed a little old lady carrying cardboard boxes and making a place for herself on a bench beside the restaurant. I suppose all major cities in the world have the same problem, with homelessness.

Walked back to the hotel to have a good rest for the next and our only day in Paris.

Saturday June 19

Had breakfast and walked to the Eiffel tower to catch a tour bus. Walked by all the black hucksters and found the stop where the tour buses leave from. We were informed that they only take cash, and there was an ATM under the tower. Ken and I went to get some money, and were approached by a Gypsy woman, dressed in traditional Gypsy clothes, holding a piece of paper saying that she was from Bosnia and needed money. Took some money out of the ATM and paid the tour bus driver.

It was not a very nice day. Decided to sit on the open top deck of the bus, with Ken, so I could get some good pictures. Ken didn't last long on the top deck. He soon moved down to where the ladies were sitting.

The weather was lousy but it was worthwhile sitting on the top deck. Paris is magnificent.

We took the whole tour and ended up back at the Eiffel tower. We decided to go to Notre Dame so stayed on the bus and got off there. Rita wanted to go inside and look around. The line-up was way too long, so we decided to have lunch. Walked to the La Chaumiére en L'Isle which is on the other side of the Seine a couple of blocks away.

We hopped back on the bus after lunch, and went to the Chance Elise and the Arc De Triomphe.

Walked around looking into shops, which we obviously couldn't afford to shop in, took some pictures hopped back on the bus and headed for home.

Decided to go for dinner, and walked down to the Seine on Rue Linois. There were no restaurants there, so we went back to the square on the corner of Rue Linois and Av Emile Zola. We decided on a restaurant called Linois.

After ordering I went outside to have a smoke. As I was walking, I notice the waiter taking a plate to another table. I was hoping that it wasn't what I had ordered. It didn't look very good.

Guess what. It was. Raija kept insisting that this restaurant was for tourists, so on my next trip outside I made a point to do some eavesdropping on the other patrons. Everybody in the restaurant that I heard was speaking French. Raija said that they must be from Quebec, since no self-respecting Frenchman would eat in a restaurant such as this.

This time we all agreed on the quality of the food. It was lousy.

Went back to the hotel and went up with the elevator. The elevator kept going up and down, trying to find the right elevation, jumping and falling about 6 inches each time. Finally it stopped. I don't think I have ever seen Raija and Rita move as fast as when they were disembarking. I just tried to stay out of their way to avoid being run over. The ladies were using the staircase after this trip.

Too bad that the weather was lousy all day. Paris would be absolutely lovely on a nice sunny day. We could also have been luckier and found some really good French restaurants. None the less, our experience in Paris was wonderful. The people, despite hearing otherwise, are really friendly. We have decided that one day, as with Budapest, we would love to spend a month here.

Sunday June 20

Had breakfast in the small breakfast area. It was nothing compared to the breakfasts we had in the Budapest hotel. There were Croissants, sliced cheese some processed meat, and yoghurt. It wasn't terrible, but many people couldn't find a place to sit. Luckily, and may I say surprisingly, we were early for once so we had no problems.

The Taxi we had ordered the night before arrived a little early, but we were already in the lobby when it showed up. €35.00 and we were at Gare du Nord (the train station the Eurostar leaves from) 2 hours before the train was leaving. Dozen or so Gypsy women, one at a time, where running to the taxis as they arrived at the train station. Surprisingly we weren't approached. I guess because we were traveling with Raija, who had told a few other Gypsy women to get a job. the word must have spread around.

We filled in our customs declarations. Raija used her EU passport so she didn't have to.

Raija, Rita and Ken went through security, I went outside had an espresso at an outdoor restaurant, and watched the Gypsy women hustling the taxis.

Went through security about ½ an hour before the train was ready to leave.

The train left Gare de Nord at 13:28. The trip to London took approximately 2 hours. I clocked the train at a maximum speed of 304 Km./Hr with my GPS.

Arrived at St. Pancras Station where we took the subway to London Bridge and the train to Tadworth.

Cooked dinner, had way too much wine and went to bed.

Monday June 21

Just hung around the house, recuperating from our trip. In the afternoon we drove to Tesco to do some shopping, and then drove to Epsom where Raija bought all the England Caps from a little pharmacy we had found on an earlier trip to Epsom with Eija.

Came home had dinner. We are trying to eat up all the perishables we have bought, so we wont have to throw them out. Brett and Andrew, the people we are exchanging with, will not be coming home for another 3 weeks and we don't want the house to be stinking when they finally get home.

Tuesday June 22

Took Rita to her appointment at 10:00 to Epsom Hospital. Raija and Ken had already left for the Tower of London. Took Rita back to Epsom Hospital at 14:00 for another appointment. She was finally discharged. All the x-rays and everything looks good.

Ken and I went to a Pub in the forest here in Tadworth, and had a beer. We saw the second half of the Argentina-Greece game. Argentina won 2:0.

Wednesday June 23

Caught up on this blog while Rita was writing her to do list, about cleaning the house before we leave. Ken was busy doing the things on the to do list. I have now caught up, so I guess I should help Ken do the things on the to do list.

We are planning to stay at a hotel near Heathrow tomorrow night, because our plane leaves at 8:05 on Friday. I will drive everybody and the luggage to the hotel, bring the car back and take the train from Tadworth back to the hotel.

Ken and I decided to go to the local pub in the forest to watch the England-Slovenia football game. The locals were really excited. Even Ken was acting like a local and cheering. England won.

We had a couple of beers, and after a couple of beers who wouldn't act like a local. We even started to slur our words like the English do. Our dear wives were patiently waiting for us to come home and tell them what the final score was. So after the game finished, we decided we should update them on the standings in the World Cup, and we came directly home. They were thoroughly thrilled with our update. Had dinner and waited for a call from Michael on Skype, which had been arranged by Ken. He finally Skyped around 20:30 our time. We were sitting in the gazebo having a glass of wine after dinner at the time.

Ken needs some information to get his Finnish Passport, which is, guess where, in his filing cabinet back in Kelowna. Michael, Elaine and the kids will be up there this weekend and Ken was explaining to Michael the information that he needs. The document is in Finish, but since Ken is a Finnish Citizen, he had absolutely no problem translating the document and relaying the information to Michael. I was thoroughly impressed by his knowledge of Finish, and I think we will use him as our translator when we arrive in Finland on Friday.

Thursday June 24

Cleaning and packing day in Tadworth. This is the only drawback to home exchanges. Unlike hotels, you have to make sure that everything is left clean. Did the bed sheets, towels etc. and were out of the house at 13:30.

Drove to the hotel at the airport. I should say we tried to drive to the hotel. I had programmed the GPS to take us to 15 Bath Rd Heathrow. It had accepted the address and we started driving. The GPS took us past Hampton Court Palace and down many many small roads. We were near the address, but then it wanted to take us down a road that had been converted to pedestrian only. Drove around for at least half an hour trying to find the address. Finally managed to park the car beside a parking lot, and Ken and I set off on foot to the pedestrian street to try to find the hotel. Nothing, no street signs no addresses on the doors. Asked some people where the Premier Inn was. We were told that it was on the other end of Bath Rd. a few miles away. Didn't have time to check, but it must be, as in Vancouver, an East West thing.

Finally arrived at the hotel and checked in. Took the suitcases up to our rooms, had a quick bite to eat and Ken and I drove back to Tadworth to drop off the car. Did a last quick check of the house, turned off the dishwasher which had been going all the time we were gone. Never did figure out the appliances at the house, they went on for hours and sometime they wouldn't stop automatically.

Took £10 out of the ATM at Barclays Bank which was close to the train station in Tadworth, since we knew the shuttle from the hotel would cost £4 each. Took the train from Tadworth to Clapham Junction, transferred to another train to Feltham station. From there we had to catch a bus. The teller at the hotel had given me directions on which bus to take, to get back to the hotel, but we couldn't find the bus stop. Asked and we were directed to another street where we finally found it. The fare was £2, which left us £8, the exact amount we needed for the shuttle. The bus started going and we were back at the train station we had arrived at. The bus stop was in the front of the station. We had exited from the rear and didn't see the stop in front. Arrived back at the hotel around 20:00, had dinner and went to bed, since we would have to get up at 4:00 to catch the 5:24 shuttle. Set the TV alarm to 4:00 AM.

I guess I BS too much. Ran out of space on this site. Click link to June Part 2 to read the rest of June.