Thursday, July 31, 2014--Bratislava, Slovakia
Our hotel has a huge breakfast buffet. Any weight I lost during the first week of the trip was probably regained this morning. I had juice, coffee, a poached egg, bacon, Swiss cheese, waffles with jam, bread with butter and jam, watermelon, grapes, apple cake, and a spice cake with butter. It was nice.
We took another look at Bratislava today. Maybe it's not quite as bad as I described it yesterday, but it isn't much better. We climbed to Bratislava Castle for views of the city. (The castle itself is a rebuild from 1956, and of no particular interest.) We wandered the old town much of the day, often sitting to watch people. We found two more people playing the piano in the patio of the Old City Hall. We walked to the side of the Danube and watched the boats docked along there. (There isn't much traffic on the Danube in this area like their used to be.)
In addition to all of that, we stopped by the train station to buy our tickets for leaving on Saturday, and we searched for a place to exchange some of our left-over florints from Hungary. Apparently, there are no private exchange houses here, and none of the banks show foreign exchange rates. We just used an ATM to get Euros and will try to exchange the Hungarian currency in either the Czech Republic or Poland as we go to those countries.
It's our conclusion that Bratislava is good for a 1-day visit. Tomorrow, we will go out of town part of the day since there is nothing new that we want to see here in town.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
The Stress of Travel Connections
Wednesday, July 30, 2014--Kastheli, Hungary to Bratislava, Slovakia
Travel days are always a bit stressful. But when there are two trains not running on schedule involved and a tight connection, they become more so. Today was one of those days.
We actually awoke early thanks to a fly that had been in the kitchen and found its way into the bedroom sometime during the night. I was so frustrated with it that I almost got a nose bleed swatting at it when it landed on the tip of my nose! Eventually, I gave up and got up at 6:00. When I left the bedroom to go into the kitchen to make coffee and get on the computer, it found Wes and started bothering him. Within 10 minutes, he was in the kitchen, too. So we had plenty of time to get ready before 8:45 when our landlady had said she would take us to the train station.
Our first train was from Kestheli to Budapest. It traveled around Lake Balaton stopping at almost every tourist settlement. It was 1 1/2 hours or more before it turned away from the lake shore. We had pre-bought our train tickets and metro tickets for the day and had gone to the metro stops involved to be sure we knew where to go to avoid wasting time, because we only had 54 minutes to get off the train at one station, get on the metro, go 7 metro stops, get off the metro, and get on the other train at another station. Arriving 15 minutes late with the first train meant that we only had 39 minutes to do all of that today. That's where the stress is a factor. But we made it. Our second train was from Budapest to Bratislava and arrived 20 minutes late. That was not a problem, though, since all we had to do is to get to the Saffron Hotel where we are staying.
Wow, Bratislava is not what I expected. I thought it would be a pretty little city. From the moment we left the train, it was obvious that I was mistaken. There is graffiti everywhere. Few buildings have been restored in decades, so there are lots of old communist buildings falling apart and many of the old pre-communist-era buildings are dark, flaking, and depressing. Pavements are not smooth; sidewalks have gaps, cracks, missing cobblestones, etc., and streets have broken and slanted curbs and peeling layers of asphalt. There are a few modern buildings scattered around, but even some of them seem cheaply built and look awkward set among the mess around them; the one that look good also look out of place among the other buildings.
The old town in Bratislava wasn't much different. My first impressions were negative for many of the same reasons. Also, there is poor lighting giving it a dreary look. I almost felt like I had gone back in time walking down main streets without lighting. But occasionally, there is something striking. We entered the courtyard of the old Town Hall, and I felt like I truly was back in time--maybe in medieval times. The experience was improved by the fact that a young man was extemporaneously playing pieces on the piano ranging from new age to jazz. It was a magical moment--one of those travel experiences that makes one think how lucky he is to be there at that moment in that wonderful place.
There had been some rain when we were on the train, and the showers returned while we sat in a covered passageway there listening to the pianist. When it stopped again, we rushed back to the hotel. We have been having lightning and thunder since.
Travel days are always a bit stressful. But when there are two trains not running on schedule involved and a tight connection, they become more so. Today was one of those days.
We actually awoke early thanks to a fly that had been in the kitchen and found its way into the bedroom sometime during the night. I was so frustrated with it that I almost got a nose bleed swatting at it when it landed on the tip of my nose! Eventually, I gave up and got up at 6:00. When I left the bedroom to go into the kitchen to make coffee and get on the computer, it found Wes and started bothering him. Within 10 minutes, he was in the kitchen, too. So we had plenty of time to get ready before 8:45 when our landlady had said she would take us to the train station.
Our first train was from Kestheli to Budapest. It traveled around Lake Balaton stopping at almost every tourist settlement. It was 1 1/2 hours or more before it turned away from the lake shore. We had pre-bought our train tickets and metro tickets for the day and had gone to the metro stops involved to be sure we knew where to go to avoid wasting time, because we only had 54 minutes to get off the train at one station, get on the metro, go 7 metro stops, get off the metro, and get on the other train at another station. Arriving 15 minutes late with the first train meant that we only had 39 minutes to do all of that today. That's where the stress is a factor. But we made it. Our second train was from Budapest to Bratislava and arrived 20 minutes late. That was not a problem, though, since all we had to do is to get to the Saffron Hotel where we are staying.
Wow, Bratislava is not what I expected. I thought it would be a pretty little city. From the moment we left the train, it was obvious that I was mistaken. There is graffiti everywhere. Few buildings have been restored in decades, so there are lots of old communist buildings falling apart and many of the old pre-communist-era buildings are dark, flaking, and depressing. Pavements are not smooth; sidewalks have gaps, cracks, missing cobblestones, etc., and streets have broken and slanted curbs and peeling layers of asphalt. There are a few modern buildings scattered around, but even some of them seem cheaply built and look awkward set among the mess around them; the one that look good also look out of place among the other buildings.
The old town in Bratislava wasn't much different. My first impressions were negative for many of the same reasons. Also, there is poor lighting giving it a dreary look. I almost felt like I had gone back in time walking down main streets without lighting. But occasionally, there is something striking. We entered the courtyard of the old Town Hall, and I felt like I truly was back in time--maybe in medieval times. The experience was improved by the fact that a young man was extemporaneously playing pieces on the piano ranging from new age to jazz. It was a magical moment--one of those travel experiences that makes one think how lucky he is to be there at that moment in that wonderful place.
There had been some rain when we were on the train, and the showers returned while we sat in a covered passageway there listening to the pianist. When it stopped again, we rushed back to the hotel. We have been having lightning and thunder since.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Relaxing Day in Kestheli
Tuesday, July 29, 2014--Kestheli, Hungary
It was raining this morning, so we were in no hurry to get up. I finally got out of bed after 10 hours of sleep. Wes stayed for another hour. By the time we ate the cheese biscuits our landlady had given us with some Indian Milk Coffee we had made on the single-cup coffee machine in our apartment, had bathed and gotten organized, it was already 11:00 and the clouds were thinning.
We walked back through all the areas we visited yesterday. We went through the castle grounds, we walked down the pedestrian street, we went through the park between town and the beach, we explored the beach area with its outdoor cafes and pier.
We found an empty bench while on the pedestrian street and sat for about an hour watching people. As we left there to go to a restaurant where we planned to have lunch at 1:00, we came across a man making huge bubbles using a stick and a rope. We stood to watch him for a while. It would have been more fun except for the boys who insisted on trying to pop the bubbles rather than let them float through the air. They thought they were so cute; whereas, I thought, "They are the boys who will probably grow up to be bullies and ass**les in life." Fortunately, some of the bubbles came out too high for them to reach or jump, and it was fun watching them float into the air, change shapes, break sometimes into more bubbles, etc. I wonder if the parents of the obnoxious boys gave any money to the man or just walked away thinking how nice it was to see their kids having fun.
We ate lunch at Margareta Etterem. It had a good review in my guidebook and was filled with people. Unfortunately, I found the food to be quite bland. We each had the grilled chicken breast covered in spinach sauce with rice. It was preceded by a small bowl of vegetable noodle soup. There was no flavor to the spinach sauce, and the rice was a poor quality one which seemed to have been cooked without the addition of any salt to bring out its flavor. Maybe we just got the wrong dish, but the meal at the "etterem" (which seems to mean maybe home-style) in Pecs was far better even though it had too much salt.
In the park, we found a bench and watched people going toward the beach for a while. It wasn't very busy, though. We decided to go down to the beach area ourselves. We watched the people sitting at the restaurants lining the way to the beach having a late lunch or just enjoying a beer or a glass of wine. We looked through the bars at the people who had gone to the paid beach. We sat on a bench and watched people feeding the swans and headed for the pier. It was just a slow, lazy afternoon for us.
Returning to town, we each got a chocolate ice cream cone and sat on a bench beside a guy playing a portable stringed instrument with two metal sticks--something like a zither or a cimbalom. He was great at it, and the music was pleasant to hear (although Wes commented that the nearby shop owners may get tired of hearing him over and over every day).
After awhile, we decided to come to the room and relax for a while. Wes is asleep again. We plan to go back to the pedestrian street around 19:00 to see how many people are there in the evenings.
_______________
We did go back into town and found it to be rather dead. We watched people for a while and then returned to the apartment where I made sandwiches for our dinner.
Wes worked on a spreadsheet we are using to keep track of our expenses on the trip. We have always just used a piece of paper, but since we are travelling together for 4 weeks this time, we worried that we could lose track of our records somehow. This way, they are in the computer, and I am e-mailing a copy to myself every few days in case the computer gets lost or stolen.
This is our last night in Kestheli and in Hungary. Our landlady will take us to the train station tomorrow morning. We will transition to Bratislava via two trains and a metro trip--one from here to Budapest Deli Station, a metro trip from Deli Station to Kelati Station within Budapest, and a train from Kelati Station to Bratislava.
Before closing this chapter, I should say a bit more about our landlady here. Yesterday, I mentioned that she lived in Switzerland and retired here because her mother was Hungarian and she speaks the language. She is quite artistic. She paints, writes poetry, and plays the violin. She was playing the violin beautifully when we returned from town this afternoon. Her paintings are nice. Her poetry is all in German. Click here for a photo of her and some of her paintings, and click here for an article about her in German.
It was raining this morning, so we were in no hurry to get up. I finally got out of bed after 10 hours of sleep. Wes stayed for another hour. By the time we ate the cheese biscuits our landlady had given us with some Indian Milk Coffee we had made on the single-cup coffee machine in our apartment, had bathed and gotten organized, it was already 11:00 and the clouds were thinning.
We walked back through all the areas we visited yesterday. We went through the castle grounds, we walked down the pedestrian street, we went through the park between town and the beach, we explored the beach area with its outdoor cafes and pier.
We found an empty bench while on the pedestrian street and sat for about an hour watching people. As we left there to go to a restaurant where we planned to have lunch at 1:00, we came across a man making huge bubbles using a stick and a rope. We stood to watch him for a while. It would have been more fun except for the boys who insisted on trying to pop the bubbles rather than let them float through the air. They thought they were so cute; whereas, I thought, "They are the boys who will probably grow up to be bullies and ass**les in life." Fortunately, some of the bubbles came out too high for them to reach or jump, and it was fun watching them float into the air, change shapes, break sometimes into more bubbles, etc. I wonder if the parents of the obnoxious boys gave any money to the man or just walked away thinking how nice it was to see their kids having fun.
We ate lunch at Margareta Etterem. It had a good review in my guidebook and was filled with people. Unfortunately, I found the food to be quite bland. We each had the grilled chicken breast covered in spinach sauce with rice. It was preceded by a small bowl of vegetable noodle soup. There was no flavor to the spinach sauce, and the rice was a poor quality one which seemed to have been cooked without the addition of any salt to bring out its flavor. Maybe we just got the wrong dish, but the meal at the "etterem" (which seems to mean maybe home-style) in Pecs was far better even though it had too much salt.
In the park, we found a bench and watched people going toward the beach for a while. It wasn't very busy, though. We decided to go down to the beach area ourselves. We watched the people sitting at the restaurants lining the way to the beach having a late lunch or just enjoying a beer or a glass of wine. We looked through the bars at the people who had gone to the paid beach. We sat on a bench and watched people feeding the swans and headed for the pier. It was just a slow, lazy afternoon for us.
Returning to town, we each got a chocolate ice cream cone and sat on a bench beside a guy playing a portable stringed instrument with two metal sticks--something like a zither or a cimbalom. He was great at it, and the music was pleasant to hear (although Wes commented that the nearby shop owners may get tired of hearing him over and over every day).
After awhile, we decided to come to the room and relax for a while. Wes is asleep again. We plan to go back to the pedestrian street around 19:00 to see how many people are there in the evenings.
_______________
We did go back into town and found it to be rather dead. We watched people for a while and then returned to the apartment where I made sandwiches for our dinner.
Wes worked on a spreadsheet we are using to keep track of our expenses on the trip. We have always just used a piece of paper, but since we are travelling together for 4 weeks this time, we worried that we could lose track of our records somehow. This way, they are in the computer, and I am e-mailing a copy to myself every few days in case the computer gets lost or stolen.
This is our last night in Kestheli and in Hungary. Our landlady will take us to the train station tomorrow morning. We will transition to Bratislava via two trains and a metro trip--one from here to Budapest Deli Station, a metro trip from Deli Station to Kelati Station within Budapest, and a train from Kelati Station to Bratislava.
Before closing this chapter, I should say a bit more about our landlady here. Yesterday, I mentioned that she lived in Switzerland and retired here because her mother was Hungarian and she speaks the language. She is quite artistic. She paints, writes poetry, and plays the violin. She was playing the violin beautifully when we returned from town this afternoon. Her paintings are nice. Her poetry is all in German. Click here for a photo of her and some of her paintings, and click here for an article about her in German.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Fields of Sunflowers and Corn on the Way to the Lake
Monday, July 28, 2014--Pecs to Kistheli (Lake Balaton)
Our bus didn't leave Pecs until 11:00, so we had the chance to relax this morning and not feel rushed. However, because we could not buy tickets in advance, we knew to be at he station early. By 10:35 people were lining up. The Lake Balaton area is the most popular summer resort area in Hungary, so we knew there would be crowds. Thank goodness Hungarians line up and don't push and shove. We got in line behind maybe 15 people. Still, by the time we got onto the bus, there were only two rows of seats still available where we wanted to sit--toward the back with a window so we could watch the luggage compartments as people withdrew luggage.
(A few years ago when I was visiting Estonia and Latvia, my bag was removed by someone from the bus. Left behind was an old blue suitcase with nothing inside. Someone had watched me as I waited for the bus and figured my bag would be worth stealing. My guess is that the person never even got on our bus; he probably just walked up at the beginning of the trip--maybe while I was still going up the steps and could not see--put his suitcase in, took mine, and walked away quickly. Yesterday in Pecs, we saw some Romas going through a bag of clothing discovering what was inside. I wondered where they got that bag. From the things they were pulling out and trying on, my guess is that it was not trash. They had grabbed someone's bag of possessions. It's always best to keep your eyes on your possessions at all times, if possible, when travelling.)
The ride from Pecs to Lake Balaton was a nice one. We took back, two-lane roads that went through rolling hills planted mostly in either corn or sunflowers. We passed small towns and villages. Eventually, we came to the first town on the shore of Lake Balaton. People were riding bicycles, walking, heading to the beaches, strolling through the shopping areas, etc. After we got to the lake, people would get off at every community. Rather than having one large resort area, the lake (the largest in Europe outside of Scandinavia) has one small resort after another.
Our landlady Ilona was at the bus station to meet us. She introduced herself and drove us to her home where we have rented an apartment upstairs. She explained that her mother was Hungarian but married a Swiss man. She grew up in Switzerland, but speaks Hungarian due to talking to her mother. My guess is that she moved here after retiring to help stretch her pension, since prices are so much lower here than in Switzerland.
The Swiss-Style Apartment we have rented is the best so far. It is huge with two large bedrooms, a large kitchen, 1 1/2 baths, a balcony, etc. It is much nicer looking than the photos on the webpage. It is about 1.75 miles (3 km) from the center of town, but that is not a problem for us, since we walk so much anyway. The biggest problem we have found is that the wi-fi signal is a bit weak. It works, but it is frustrating if trying to lead pages with photos or ads.
We had an interesting incident after the landlady dropped us off and left to do some other things. As we started to leave, we could not open the outside gate. (The building is like a home on a plot of land with tall fencing all around it. We live upstairs and she lives downstairs.) The key she had given us did not work. Fortunately, I figured a way for us to climb over the fence. It was awkward and difficult, but we managed to do it. I kept thinking, "How many other 69-year-old men would be able to do that!" Before climbing over, we left a note on the front door telling her the problem and saying that we hoped she would be here to let us in when we returned.
We headed off to town. First, we explored the Festetics-Kastely (also known as Helikon Castle), a huge castle that was built here first in the 1700s and then enlarged by two great wing additions in the late 1800s. We had hoped to take a candlelight tour of the castle, but those are only offered on Saturdays. Today, we walked the grounds and took exterior photos. We will decide later whether we want a regular tour inside. Castles can be like churches. After you've gone to quite a few, they start to become a bit of a bore, especially when seeing many of them in a short period of time. We will explore the photos on the Internet tonight and decide whether the interior seems appealing to us or not.
We walked down the pedestrian street after leaving the castle grounds. It is a typical walking street except for the number of tourist traps along the way--shops that have no use except as souvenirs and "museums" hosting every possible theme to entice people inside. Wes got excited about the one named the Erotic Wax Museum!
Eventually, we made it to the lakeside. There, we saw the small beach which has an admission fee to relax on the grassy areas, play on the small sandy beach, or swim in the water which has a very long, shallow incline. We didn't come here for the beach, we just wanted to explore the town and see what the lake is like.
Next to the beach is a long pier. At the end of it, there were tour boats that take visitors around parts of the lake for 1-2 hours and the ferry landing for the boats that go across the lake to the other resorts.
We had been walking about three hours by then, so we headed back through town. On the way, we walked through Helikon Park, a large, wooded area that is between the center of the town and the beach. We stopped at a restaurant we had read is good and decided to have lunch there tomorrow. And we stopped at Spar and bought some things to make pasta in tomato sauce tonight and have it with a bottle of wine.
One of our observations is that Kesthely has not had as much restoration work done on its old buildings as Budapest and Pecs. It's a bit sad. There are wonderful old buildings that have just been patched with plain, flat plaster to get by until the money is available to restore them with the details that still show in spots. The ones that HAVE been restored are very nice, but they tend to be public buildings, and the cost was paid by the EU.
Our bus didn't leave Pecs until 11:00, so we had the chance to relax this morning and not feel rushed. However, because we could not buy tickets in advance, we knew to be at he station early. By 10:35 people were lining up. The Lake Balaton area is the most popular summer resort area in Hungary, so we knew there would be crowds. Thank goodness Hungarians line up and don't push and shove. We got in line behind maybe 15 people. Still, by the time we got onto the bus, there were only two rows of seats still available where we wanted to sit--toward the back with a window so we could watch the luggage compartments as people withdrew luggage.
(A few years ago when I was visiting Estonia and Latvia, my bag was removed by someone from the bus. Left behind was an old blue suitcase with nothing inside. Someone had watched me as I waited for the bus and figured my bag would be worth stealing. My guess is that the person never even got on our bus; he probably just walked up at the beginning of the trip--maybe while I was still going up the steps and could not see--put his suitcase in, took mine, and walked away quickly. Yesterday in Pecs, we saw some Romas going through a bag of clothing discovering what was inside. I wondered where they got that bag. From the things they were pulling out and trying on, my guess is that it was not trash. They had grabbed someone's bag of possessions. It's always best to keep your eyes on your possessions at all times, if possible, when travelling.)
The ride from Pecs to Lake Balaton was a nice one. We took back, two-lane roads that went through rolling hills planted mostly in either corn or sunflowers. We passed small towns and villages. Eventually, we came to the first town on the shore of Lake Balaton. People were riding bicycles, walking, heading to the beaches, strolling through the shopping areas, etc. After we got to the lake, people would get off at every community. Rather than having one large resort area, the lake (the largest in Europe outside of Scandinavia) has one small resort after another.
Our landlady Ilona was at the bus station to meet us. She introduced herself and drove us to her home where we have rented an apartment upstairs. She explained that her mother was Hungarian but married a Swiss man. She grew up in Switzerland, but speaks Hungarian due to talking to her mother. My guess is that she moved here after retiring to help stretch her pension, since prices are so much lower here than in Switzerland.
The Swiss-Style Apartment we have rented is the best so far. It is huge with two large bedrooms, a large kitchen, 1 1/2 baths, a balcony, etc. It is much nicer looking than the photos on the webpage. It is about 1.75 miles (3 km) from the center of town, but that is not a problem for us, since we walk so much anyway. The biggest problem we have found is that the wi-fi signal is a bit weak. It works, but it is frustrating if trying to lead pages with photos or ads.
We had an interesting incident after the landlady dropped us off and left to do some other things. As we started to leave, we could not open the outside gate. (The building is like a home on a plot of land with tall fencing all around it. We live upstairs and she lives downstairs.) The key she had given us did not work. Fortunately, I figured a way for us to climb over the fence. It was awkward and difficult, but we managed to do it. I kept thinking, "How many other 69-year-old men would be able to do that!" Before climbing over, we left a note on the front door telling her the problem and saying that we hoped she would be here to let us in when we returned.
We headed off to town. First, we explored the Festetics-Kastely (also known as Helikon Castle), a huge castle that was built here first in the 1700s and then enlarged by two great wing additions in the late 1800s. We had hoped to take a candlelight tour of the castle, but those are only offered on Saturdays. Today, we walked the grounds and took exterior photos. We will decide later whether we want a regular tour inside. Castles can be like churches. After you've gone to quite a few, they start to become a bit of a bore, especially when seeing many of them in a short period of time. We will explore the photos on the Internet tonight and decide whether the interior seems appealing to us or not.
We walked down the pedestrian street after leaving the castle grounds. It is a typical walking street except for the number of tourist traps along the way--shops that have no use except as souvenirs and "museums" hosting every possible theme to entice people inside. Wes got excited about the one named the Erotic Wax Museum!
Eventually, we made it to the lakeside. There, we saw the small beach which has an admission fee to relax on the grassy areas, play on the small sandy beach, or swim in the water which has a very long, shallow incline. We didn't come here for the beach, we just wanted to explore the town and see what the lake is like.
Next to the beach is a long pier. At the end of it, there were tour boats that take visitors around parts of the lake for 1-2 hours and the ferry landing for the boats that go across the lake to the other resorts.
We had been walking about three hours by then, so we headed back through town. On the way, we walked through Helikon Park, a large, wooded area that is between the center of the town and the beach. We stopped at a restaurant we had read is good and decided to have lunch there tomorrow. And we stopped at Spar and bought some things to make pasta in tomato sauce tonight and have it with a bottle of wine.
One of our observations is that Kesthely has not had as much restoration work done on its old buildings as Budapest and Pecs. It's a bit sad. There are wonderful old buildings that have just been patched with plain, flat plaster to get by until the money is available to restore them with the details that still show in spots. The ones that HAVE been restored are very nice, but they tend to be public buildings, and the cost was paid by the EU.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Sunday in Pecs
Sunday, July 27, 2014--Pecs Hungary
Last night after posting my blog entry, we decided to postpone having the peaches our landlord gave us and our wine we had bought. With the cooler air, we decided to go out and explore the city more. It was a good decision. People were out everywhere having a good time. And the shadows from the setting sun made it perfect for getting photos of the old buildings and monuments in the city. We walked to get an orientation for many of the areas we would be revisiting today. Pecs is a very beautiful and charming city.
As we went to the patio to have our peaches and wine after our walk, it was getting dark. We sat there watching the silhouette of a cart walking across the roofline of the home next door, talking about how tall the rose bush is that provides the blossoms for the living room of our apartment, etc. Then the landlord saw us and came out to turn on colored lights that are strung around the area where we were. It was a very peaceful and pleasant experience just relaxing, talking, eating the fresh peaches, and drinking the wine.
Today, after taking our time to get up and out of the apartment, we headed east of the older part of town to the buildings that housed the Zsolnay Porcelain factory for over a hundred years. Today, only a small portion still houses the factory. The remainder has been turned into two uses--as a cultural center with a gallery, a planetarium, a Zsolnay porcelain museum, etc., and as the classrooms for the College of Arts and Humanities of the university here in Pecs. There are many nice buildings and smaller structures, and lots of uses of glazed decorative tiles from the factory to decorate them.
Back in the downtown area, we stopped at the Aranygaluska Gyorsetterem, a restaurant my guidebook had recommended in this way: "Working-class heroes gather here for the generously portioned, cafeteria meals...." And the portions were huge. We each ordered beef in paprika sauce with potato noodles (which looked just like this dish from a photo in another blog). On a large plate, the server scooped up 4 huge serving-size spoonfulls of noodles and 3 of the same size scoops of the meet. We also ordered vegetable soup, and it came in a large bowl that was probably about 3 cups (0.75 l) of soup. It was difficult to eat it all. It was like homemade food, but for our tastes, it was salted a bit too much (which may be the common procedure here).
The rest of the afternoon, we explored and took photos of the synagogue, the cathedral, the ancient city walls, etc. We toured the medieval remains of the original buildings of the university. We saw the ruins of old Christian mausoleums that have been named a World Heritage Site.
We are now back at the apartment. I will make us dinner from things in the refrigerator--cold cuts, cheese, bread, etc. And we will probably eat it out on the patio tonight after making a final stroll through the city as it cools down and becomes evening.
________________
We did go out, and we had a great time. We sat on the main square watching people pass by, and while we were there a band began setting up. They are called the Boss Street Brass Band, and they are great!! The crowd grew, and they performed a variety of pieces--some Hungarian and others, like the Ghostbusters Song, not. They had a bit of a New Orleans jazz band sound with a Hungarian flavor. Here are links to their website and to some YouTube videos:
http://bossstreetbrassband.com/releases
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik0SE9tjr0Q
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2XNJEjv9NpTb6okXCTHEsw
After that, we returned home. We went to the patio to eat open-faced sandwiches, the final peaches from our landlord, and the last bottle of wine we had bought here. It was a nice end to a good day.
Last night after posting my blog entry, we decided to postpone having the peaches our landlord gave us and our wine we had bought. With the cooler air, we decided to go out and explore the city more. It was a good decision. People were out everywhere having a good time. And the shadows from the setting sun made it perfect for getting photos of the old buildings and monuments in the city. We walked to get an orientation for many of the areas we would be revisiting today. Pecs is a very beautiful and charming city.
As we went to the patio to have our peaches and wine after our walk, it was getting dark. We sat there watching the silhouette of a cart walking across the roofline of the home next door, talking about how tall the rose bush is that provides the blossoms for the living room of our apartment, etc. Then the landlord saw us and came out to turn on colored lights that are strung around the area where we were. It was a very peaceful and pleasant experience just relaxing, talking, eating the fresh peaches, and drinking the wine.
Today, after taking our time to get up and out of the apartment, we headed east of the older part of town to the buildings that housed the Zsolnay Porcelain factory for over a hundred years. Today, only a small portion still houses the factory. The remainder has been turned into two uses--as a cultural center with a gallery, a planetarium, a Zsolnay porcelain museum, etc., and as the classrooms for the College of Arts and Humanities of the university here in Pecs. There are many nice buildings and smaller structures, and lots of uses of glazed decorative tiles from the factory to decorate them.
Back in the downtown area, we stopped at the Aranygaluska Gyorsetterem, a restaurant my guidebook had recommended in this way: "Working-class heroes gather here for the generously portioned, cafeteria meals...." And the portions were huge. We each ordered beef in paprika sauce with potato noodles (which looked just like this dish from a photo in another blog). On a large plate, the server scooped up 4 huge serving-size spoonfulls of noodles and 3 of the same size scoops of the meet. We also ordered vegetable soup, and it came in a large bowl that was probably about 3 cups (0.75 l) of soup. It was difficult to eat it all. It was like homemade food, but for our tastes, it was salted a bit too much (which may be the common procedure here).
The rest of the afternoon, we explored and took photos of the synagogue, the cathedral, the ancient city walls, etc. We toured the medieval remains of the original buildings of the university. We saw the ruins of old Christian mausoleums that have been named a World Heritage Site.
We are now back at the apartment. I will make us dinner from things in the refrigerator--cold cuts, cheese, bread, etc. And we will probably eat it out on the patio tonight after making a final stroll through the city as it cools down and becomes evening.
________________
We did go out, and we had a great time. We sat on the main square watching people pass by, and while we were there a band began setting up. They are called the Boss Street Brass Band, and they are great!! The crowd grew, and they performed a variety of pieces--some Hungarian and others, like the Ghostbusters Song, not. They had a bit of a New Orleans jazz band sound with a Hungarian flavor. Here are links to their website and to some YouTube videos:
http://bossstreetbrassband.com/releases
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik0SE9tjr0Q
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2XNJEjv9NpTb6okXCTHEsw
After that, we returned home. We went to the patio to eat open-faced sandwiches, the final peaches from our landlord, and the last bottle of wine we had bought here. It was a nice end to a good day.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Moving South in Hungary
Saturday, July 26,
2014—Budapest to Pecs
Things were a bit confusing today. I was working from memory thinking that our train was leaving at 9:23, so we set the alarm for 7:00, got ready, removed the bedding from our beds and stacked it on top of the washer, made sandwiches for our trip, and left the Hello Leo apartment. When we got to the station, there was no train listed for that time. Then I recalled that 9:23 had been the time that I found that we could leave our nearby station for the trip to the departure station where our train to Pecs was not really leaving until 9:59. We could have slept another 30 to 45 minutes!!
Another confusing aspect of the morning was that Leo, the owner of the apartment had told us he would be going out with friends in the evening and probably would not be able to meet us before we departed this morning. I had suggested that we just lock the front door and the door burglar gate and drop the keys through the mail slot I had noticed beside the door. (I've done that in other places before.) But this morning, I discovered that the mail slot was sealed shut! In a quick decision, we reopened the door, locked the gate without locking the door, threw the keys inside through the gate, and closed the door (by reaching through the gate) and pulling it shut without locking it. Hope Leo wasn't upset when he found it that way, but there didn't seem to be any other solution at the time.
The train trip was a HOT one. The air conditioning wasn't working properly. Everyone was suffocating. Not until about two hours into the trip did the conductor come through opening the windows. The breeze created by that made all the difference in the world, especially since the train had fallen behind schedule by about 20 minutes.
We discovered upon our arrival in Pecs that it would be an uphill walk to the Green Garden Apartment we had reserved. (The photos at the website are of the actual apartment we are occupying, including a cream-colored rose from the garden on the coffee table.) It was a hot, sunny day, so it wasn't a comfortable walk. We made it in about 35 minutes, though. The apartment is bigger and nicer than the one in Budapest, and it is just on the edge of the old city--a block outside of the remaining parts of the walls.
We got glimpses of this beautiful, old city of Pecs as walked through it coming to the apartment. Pecs has been around for hundreds of years. It was the northernmost city in Europe to be occupied by the Ottoman Empire. In fact, in the center of town is a church that was originally built to be a mosque, and it has the unusual name of Mosque Church--a reversal of what happened in Istanbul with churches that got turned into mosques! Pecs is also the home of the first university in Hungary which was founded in the 1400s and is a "bit" older than Harvard and other older universities in the US!
We went to the bus station to try to buy our tickets in advance for our trip on Monday to our next destination. As we understood it, we must wait and buy the ticket from the bus driver that day. We asked our landlord, whose English is very limited, and we got the same impression from him. I just hope the bus won't be full and that we will be able to get seats on it.
From there, we explored town further. There are medieval buildings here including some used by the university. We stopped at a supermarket to buy some things for the refrigerator. Then we returned to the apartment. The landlord just passed us a plate of fresh peaches from his garden through the window, so we are about to eat them. Then we will go to the table in the garden to sit and drink a bottle of wine we bought at the supermarket.
Friday, July 25, 2014
The Thermal Baths
Friday, July 25, 2014--Budapest
This was our last full day in Budapest. During the morning hours, we visited the Kisceli Museum, a small, but nice place on a hilltop in suburban Budapest. We had some problems finding it, because the maps either do not show that far out or only show major streets. But with the help of a woman and the map on her cell phone, we got there.
(Speaking of cell phone maps, I was surprised during my planning process to find that the maps of cities in Hungary are not downloadable for offline use. I've downloaded maps for cities in Slovakia and the Czech Republic for this trip. Wonder why the cities in Hungary aren't available?)
The museum has some nice paintings by Hungarian artists. And it has an interesting section with old ornaments used outside shops to identify their type of business--an umbrella sculpture for the umbrella maker/seller, a boot sculpture for the bootmaker/seller, etc. Beside each hanging ornament, they had a photo of the old shop with it hanging in front.
We had also hoped to see the Vasarely Museum in the same area, but we failed to find it. We walked in a huge circle following directions that people told us, and still we couldn't find it. And no one seemed to even recognize the name Vasarely who was from Hungary and became as famous as Andy Warhol. Anyway, I like Vasarely's paintings, and I'm sorry we never found the museum.
Around 2:30, we went to the Lukacs Thermal Baths, one of many large thermal bathing complexes in Budapest. It was a nice facility with large pools for swimming in lanes or playing, smaller pools with various water temperatures, a Finnish sauna and ice bath, and the one pool that had all kinds of features such as bubbling reclining beds, shoulder massage spouts, bubbling holes from the bottom of the pool, a lazy river flowing fast enough to be fun. We spent most of our time in this latter pool and in the sauna.
It was interesting to observe the people, especially the women who monopolized the bubbling holes in the floor of the pool. It was quite obvious that they were getting pleasure from the strong air currents bubbling up under their bodies.
I spent some time speaking with an Indian man who was vacationing here, too. Actually, he is of Indian descent, but he was born in Austria, grew up there, and lives and works there now. He was here with a friend of the family and the friend's fiance. He had visited San Antonio once with a friend who was a student in Austin.
In the evening, we walked around the area near our apartment just watching people sitting at sidewalk cafes and having drinks or eating. We are rather tired from these first few days mainly because we still haven't gotten enough sleep to make up for the lost night of sleep when we flew across the Atlantic.
This was our last full day in Budapest. During the morning hours, we visited the Kisceli Museum, a small, but nice place on a hilltop in suburban Budapest. We had some problems finding it, because the maps either do not show that far out or only show major streets. But with the help of a woman and the map on her cell phone, we got there.
(Speaking of cell phone maps, I was surprised during my planning process to find that the maps of cities in Hungary are not downloadable for offline use. I've downloaded maps for cities in Slovakia and the Czech Republic for this trip. Wonder why the cities in Hungary aren't available?)
The museum has some nice paintings by Hungarian artists. And it has an interesting section with old ornaments used outside shops to identify their type of business--an umbrella sculpture for the umbrella maker/seller, a boot sculpture for the bootmaker/seller, etc. Beside each hanging ornament, they had a photo of the old shop with it hanging in front.
We had also hoped to see the Vasarely Museum in the same area, but we failed to find it. We walked in a huge circle following directions that people told us, and still we couldn't find it. And no one seemed to even recognize the name Vasarely who was from Hungary and became as famous as Andy Warhol. Anyway, I like Vasarely's paintings, and I'm sorry we never found the museum.
Around 2:30, we went to the Lukacs Thermal Baths, one of many large thermal bathing complexes in Budapest. It was a nice facility with large pools for swimming in lanes or playing, smaller pools with various water temperatures, a Finnish sauna and ice bath, and the one pool that had all kinds of features such as bubbling reclining beds, shoulder massage spouts, bubbling holes from the bottom of the pool, a lazy river flowing fast enough to be fun. We spent most of our time in this latter pool and in the sauna.
It was interesting to observe the people, especially the women who monopolized the bubbling holes in the floor of the pool. It was quite obvious that they were getting pleasure from the strong air currents bubbling up under their bodies.
I spent some time speaking with an Indian man who was vacationing here, too. Actually, he is of Indian descent, but he was born in Austria, grew up there, and lives and works there now. He was here with a friend of the family and the friend's fiance. He had visited San Antonio once with a friend who was a student in Austin.
In the evening, we walked around the area near our apartment just watching people sitting at sidewalk cafes and having drinks or eating. We are rather tired from these first few days mainly because we still haven't gotten enough sleep to make up for the lost night of sleep when we flew across the Atlantic.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
A Sunny, Exhausting Day
Thursday, July 24, 2014--Budapest
After sleeping well for about 8 1/2 hours last night, we got up and were out of the apartment by 9:30. It was a sunny, warm day, and we jumped on the metro headed toward Buda, the part of the city on the southern side of the Danube.
Our goal was to explore this hilly, older section of the city--the home of Buda Castle, several museums, and a neighborhood that mostly includes architecture from medieval times through the 1800s (along with reconstruction that occurred after bombings during WWII.
We walked the streets admiring the buildings. We watched roofers re-tiling a high roof with a dramatic slope. We watched all the tourist crowds from all over the world. We toured the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum which are both housed in the massive old palace. (In regards to the former, we noticed the pattern that if your name is Károly, you apparently HAVE to become a painter. Either that, or Károly is as common a name here as Smith is in the US.)
After all that, we were starving. We ate a shawarma sandwich from a small shop at the metro stop. Then we continued our exploring. We took the metro to the Budapest City Park. We sat on a bench watching people enjoy the nice day visiting, picnicking, etc. Then we headed to one last museum for the day--the Museum of Fine Arts which housed mostly paintings and sculptures by artists from various European countries.
By 17:30, we were totally exhausted and headed for the apartment. We expected Leo to pick us up at 20:00, and we knew we needed to drink water and rest before that.
Leo drove up at 20:00. We were waiting on the street. He drove us to the top of the hill where the Hungarian Statue of Liberty, celebrating their break from Soviet domination, is located. We were there looking out over great views of the city and the Danube when the lights on the bridges and across town came on for the evening. We took several photos of views from up there. The statue itself is not very impressive; it has too much of a communist-style design, I think. But the views are great.
Leo was going to a concert at 9:00 and needed to get his car back home so he could take public transportation to the venue--an open garden area with a bar along Ráday utca, a street that is lined with sidewalk cafes. We encouraged him to leave us so that we could walk back down the hill. While he was returning the car, we came down, found the street with the concert, and listed to the band (a Polish/Hungarian folk group) play one song before going on a break. Then we walked the street looking at he diners at all the sidewalk cafes on each side. It was a bit like the Riverwalk in San Antonio--one crowded restaurant after another with live music at many of them, but without the river between the two lines of restaurants.
Because the band was still on break, we decided not to look for Leo there. We were tired, so we went to the nearby metro stop and made our way home.
After sleeping well for about 8 1/2 hours last night, we got up and were out of the apartment by 9:30. It was a sunny, warm day, and we jumped on the metro headed toward Buda, the part of the city on the southern side of the Danube.
Our goal was to explore this hilly, older section of the city--the home of Buda Castle, several museums, and a neighborhood that mostly includes architecture from medieval times through the 1800s (along with reconstruction that occurred after bombings during WWII.
We walked the streets admiring the buildings. We watched roofers re-tiling a high roof with a dramatic slope. We watched all the tourist crowds from all over the world. We toured the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum which are both housed in the massive old palace. (In regards to the former, we noticed the pattern that if your name is Károly, you apparently HAVE to become a painter. Either that, or Károly is as common a name here as Smith is in the US.)
After all that, we were starving. We ate a shawarma sandwich from a small shop at the metro stop. Then we continued our exploring. We took the metro to the Budapest City Park. We sat on a bench watching people enjoy the nice day visiting, picnicking, etc. Then we headed to one last museum for the day--the Museum of Fine Arts which housed mostly paintings and sculptures by artists from various European countries.
By 17:30, we were totally exhausted and headed for the apartment. We expected Leo to pick us up at 20:00, and we knew we needed to drink water and rest before that.
Leo drove up at 20:00. We were waiting on the street. He drove us to the top of the hill where the Hungarian Statue of Liberty, celebrating their break from Soviet domination, is located. We were there looking out over great views of the city and the Danube when the lights on the bridges and across town came on for the evening. We took several photos of views from up there. The statue itself is not very impressive; it has too much of a communist-style design, I think. But the views are great.
Leo was going to a concert at 9:00 and needed to get his car back home so he could take public transportation to the venue--an open garden area with a bar along Ráday utca, a street that is lined with sidewalk cafes. We encouraged him to leave us so that we could walk back down the hill. While he was returning the car, we came down, found the street with the concert, and listed to the band (a Polish/Hungarian folk group) play one song before going on a break. Then we walked the street looking at he diners at all the sidewalk cafes on each side. It was a bit like the Riverwalk in San Antonio--one crowded restaurant after another with live music at many of them, but without the river between the two lines of restaurants.
Because the band was still on break, we decided not to look for Leo there. We were tired, so we went to the nearby metro stop and made our way home.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Exploring Budapest Again
Tuesday-Wednesday, July 22-23, 2014--Budapest
After I posted from the airport last night (Tuesday, the 22nd), Wes arrived on time. We picked up our Budapest Cards from the tourist office (not usually a good buy in most cities, but a good one here in Budapest only because half the cost is overed by admission to one of the thermal bath complexes and the other half the cost is more than a 3-day pass to the public transportation.
We caught the bus from the airport to the nearest metro station where we transferred to the #3 line. That took us to the Nyugati Train Station which was only a two-block walk from the Hello Leo Apartment we had rented. With just a little confusion as to when to get off the bus and related to which side of the street we would find the apartment (Google Maps was wrong as I have found it to be so many times), we made it to the apartment about 20:15. Leo was there waiting for us.
The apartment looks much as it does in the photos. It is in an old building, so the layout is awkward. The refrigerator is in the dining room (since the kitchen is only about 3 yards by 3 yards [3m x 3m]), and one must walk through the dining room from the front door to reach the living room and bedroom. Both of those rooms are quite large and comfortable. The living room has two seating areas, and the bedroom has a twin bed set-up downstairs and a bed on the loft above that is the equivalent of a king-size.
Leo gave us a bottle of Hungarian wine, a map of the city, directions for finding a reliable ATM, and suggestions for neighborhoods to explore. He said he would like to take us out one evening--probably Thursday. Leo works as a detective in the police department and seems to rent this apartment as a way to meet and interact with interesting people from around the world.
We were both so tired. We went to bed at 21:30. I was awakened around 5:00 by a noise and couldn't return to sleep. I got up and did some things on the computer, then I went back to bed around 6:30 and slept until Wes got up around 8:30.
Today was a day to take care of some business and to just explore the city in general. It had rained all day Tuesday, so we were lucky to find sunshine today. We walked, we took public transit, we went to the Great Market Hall, we walked along the Danube, we bought 3 train tickets we will use while here in Hungary, we went to stations where we would be taking trains and changing from station to station to be sure we would know what to do when the time came, we stopped at a park to watch people, we shopped at SPAR for some food items to have at the apartment, etc.
As we expected, we tired out very fast. By 18:30 we were both nodding. We took one final tour on a streetcar and returned to the apartment for dinner--3 open-faced sandwiches on buttered rye bread (salami, ham, and cheese), pickles, the wine from Leo, and a small serving of strawberry yogurt.
It's now 21:30, and we will prepare for bed. Tomorrow should be a much better day, because we should be better adjusted to the time!
After I posted from the airport last night (Tuesday, the 22nd), Wes arrived on time. We picked up our Budapest Cards from the tourist office (not usually a good buy in most cities, but a good one here in Budapest only because half the cost is overed by admission to one of the thermal bath complexes and the other half the cost is more than a 3-day pass to the public transportation.
We caught the bus from the airport to the nearest metro station where we transferred to the #3 line. That took us to the Nyugati Train Station which was only a two-block walk from the Hello Leo Apartment we had rented. With just a little confusion as to when to get off the bus and related to which side of the street we would find the apartment (Google Maps was wrong as I have found it to be so many times), we made it to the apartment about 20:15. Leo was there waiting for us.
The apartment looks much as it does in the photos. It is in an old building, so the layout is awkward. The refrigerator is in the dining room (since the kitchen is only about 3 yards by 3 yards [3m x 3m]), and one must walk through the dining room from the front door to reach the living room and bedroom. Both of those rooms are quite large and comfortable. The living room has two seating areas, and the bedroom has a twin bed set-up downstairs and a bed on the loft above that is the equivalent of a king-size.
Leo gave us a bottle of Hungarian wine, a map of the city, directions for finding a reliable ATM, and suggestions for neighborhoods to explore. He said he would like to take us out one evening--probably Thursday. Leo works as a detective in the police department and seems to rent this apartment as a way to meet and interact with interesting people from around the world.
We were both so tired. We went to bed at 21:30. I was awakened around 5:00 by a noise and couldn't return to sleep. I got up and did some things on the computer, then I went back to bed around 6:30 and slept until Wes got up around 8:30.
Today was a day to take care of some business and to just explore the city in general. It had rained all day Tuesday, so we were lucky to find sunshine today. We walked, we took public transit, we went to the Great Market Hall, we walked along the Danube, we bought 3 train tickets we will use while here in Hungary, we went to stations where we would be taking trains and changing from station to station to be sure we would know what to do when the time came, we stopped at a park to watch people, we shopped at SPAR for some food items to have at the apartment, etc.
As we expected, we tired out very fast. By 18:30 we were both nodding. We took one final tour on a streetcar and returned to the apartment for dinner--3 open-faced sandwiches on buttered rye bread (salami, ham, and cheese), pickles, the wine from Leo, and a small serving of strawberry yogurt.
It's now 21:30, and we will prepare for bed. Tomorrow should be a much better day, because we should be better adjusted to the time!
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Return to Budapest
Monday-Tuesday, July 21-22, 2014--San Antonio to Chicago to Munich to Budapest
I
just arrived in Budapest for the first time since the early 1980s which
was during communist times here. I am at the airport waiting for Wes'
flight to arrive in about an hour, then we will head into town where we
have the Hello Leo Apartment reserved.
I
am remembering the last time I was here. I was travelling with David Cordova, and we took a train from Vienna
even after being warned that a major music festival was occurring here
and that housing would be full. I figured there was no way that a
communist country would let a westerner go homeless. When we arrived at
the train station, I got in a long line of people waiting at a window
where they had lists of rooms available in homes of private citizens
hoping to earn some hard currency. Fortunately, an American was in
front of me, and I overhead his conversation. They told him that they
had no more rooms available. He was smart enough to know there were
more offices around town and that their lists were kept in a card file
rather than a database on a
computer. He asked about another office, and they suggested that he go
there to see if they still had any rooms available. I quickly asked if he minded if we went with him.
We
took a taxi to the other office and, sure enough, they did have rooms
available. We got rooms in two separate suburban communist-style
apartment buildings that were near each other. He dropped David and me off and
suggested that he return a few minutes later and that we go into town together to eat. Since we were out in the suburbs with few businesses in sight, we agreed.
We took the streetcar back into town, and he immediately noticed that La Boheme was being
performed at the famous opera house here. The performance would start
in only 30 minutes, so he suggested postponing dinner and buying tickets
if they were available. I was so hungry, and I was worried about being dirty and dressed poorly for attending the opera. However, he was so excited, that David and I waited while he checked at the box office. Sure enough, we got tickets for only about $3
each. Although I was still worried about being dirty from traveling and being only in
jeans and a polo shirt, I figured at that price we would be high in
the balcony.
That
wasn't the case, though. As we entered, we were escorted straight onto the main floor to the 9th
row of the orchestra! My concerns increased when a party of 6 dressed
in evening wear sat beside us. The elderly lady next to me had heard us talking
and asked me, "Are you Canadian or American?" When I responded, she
said, "My husband is our ambassador here." I wished I could
disappear!! When I told her I was from Texas, she replied that they were
friends with J. Frank Dobie, had visited him in West Texas, and asked me if I knew who
he was. I responded, "Of course, anyone who has gone to school in Texas knows
his writings."
As
the opera progressed, a different person sat beside me for each of the 4
acts. Was it due to my smell? The ambassador was one, and I asked him to
suggest a place to eat that would be open after the performance. Hungary being a communist country at the time, I figured that most places would close early and that we would have trouble finding a place. During
the next act, their friend, a British actress whose name I never caught and whom I did not recognize (but
who may have been famous or become famous later without my being aware of it) leaned toward me and said,
"The place the ambassador recommended is very nice, but it is quite
expensive!" I could tell she was evaluating us on our appearances.
After
the show, we eventually went to the place the ambassador recommended,
because we could not find anything else open. It was already about 11:00 p.m. The atmosphere of the restaurant and the food were both wonderful. And it cost only about $6 per person. Yes, we had been considered to be poor backpackers who could not afford such a
place!! And that story has become one of my better memories of my world travels.
Our trip to arrive here over the past two days went well. I had good seats, and
although the flight from Chicago to Munich was delayed by over an hour, I
still had 4 hours to catch
my connecting flight from there to Budapest. The best part was that I
had all 3 seats on the Atlantic flight which allowed me to recline and
sleep a little.
As
soon as Wes gets here, we will take a bus and then a subway line to get
downtown. The Hello Leo Apartment where we are staying will only be
about two blocks from the metro station where we will end our journey.
Leo, the owner, will be waiting there for us. We'll go to bed quickly
having taken a melatonin to help re-set our clocks, and will be up
tomorrow ready to start
exploring. It's summer, so there will be no opera. But if there were,
I am sure it would be much more than $3 for an orchestra seat these
days. Too bad that political liberty and low costs can't combine here in Europe!!
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Travel Planning Frustrations
Thursday, July 17, 2014--San Antonio, TX
I have been planning constantly now for about 3 weeks in preparation for the trip. It takes a LOT of time to plan for being gone 10 weeks. Unexpected problems pop up, too. Major planning is almost complete. The more planning I can do before departure means the more time I have on the trip to enjoy where I am. I am now trying to plan all my transportation connections from place to place. I have a tentative travel itinerary which was posted as a revision to the previous entry here. Two of my frustrations that might be interesting to read:
AIRBNB PROBLEM and COMPLAINT
I made a reservation for an apartment in Brno. The entry said there was a "moderate" cancellation fee, but that wasn't a concern since I knew I would not be canceling. Yesterday, I got an e-mail (outside of the Airbnb communications system) from the host of the apartment saying that it would not be available due to city water and gas work and wanting me to accept a different apartment twice as far from downtown and not as nice. As a part of that communication she asked ME to cancel my original reservation with Airbnb if I did not want the replacement apartment. In my mind, I am facing a bait and switch operation, because if I cancel the apartment, I still have to pay her "moderate" cancellation fee. She has written again after I wrote her asking HER to cancel, and she again has asked ME to cancel.
Airbnb does NOT have an 800 number. They try to deal with disputes via an online form that gives only options to check. I completed their online form. As I completed it, I clicked an "urgent" button, and it gave me a toll number I could call. When I called that number, it said there was more than a 30-minute online wait.
I was frustrated, so I called my credit card company and filed a dispute for the charge. Several hours later, I got a message back from my online form saying that they would investigate the problem and get back to me no later than the 22nd (after I have left on my trip). I immediately sent back a copy of the e-mail I had gotten from the host and pointed out the problems: 1) She is trying to operate outside Airbnb which is against the rules. 2) She expects ME to cancel the original reservation so she can get the "moderate" fee for cancellations plus the rent for the new apartment. 3) Airbnb seems to be favoring their host who is creating a problem rather than their customer who has gotten in the middle of the problem. 4) That a good company would have some flexibility for their employees to make a decision immediately to cancel when presented with the evidence (her e-mail) that the host is the problem. Anyway, I still do not know what is going to happen. I will NOT stay in her alternative apartment. I do not feel comfortable searching for a new place until this is resolved. If Airbnb doesn't resolve this in my favor (via communications with me and by not fighting my dispute with the bank), then I am going to be stuck with the "moderate" cancellation fee or the whole cost of the apartment. I really question whether I should do any more business with Airbnb after discovering how difficult it is to deal with them related to problems.
Update: Got a cancellation notice from Airbnb on my e-mail before posting this. Problem solved, but WHAT a hassle! Have reserved a hotel in Brno-see Itinerary post before this one.
AIR TICKET
I needed an air ticket from Kiev, Ukraine to Batumi, Georgia. That was one of my goals today. I couldn't really try to buy this ticket until I had my itinerary completed, because I needed to know the exact date that I should fly. Through previous research, I already knew I could get a one-way ticket with Ukrainian Airways for about $166.
Well, I went online today and Ukrainian Airways had NO dates available anywhere near the date I needed to fly. Apparently, people from Ukraine, having lost the Crimea as their summer travel resort area, are flying to Batumi for their holidays.
My general search on Kayak showed another airline flying the same route with a seat available. I checked, and it required an overnight stop at the hub airport for that airlines--a town not worth visiting and with a small airport that might not allow me to stay within the airport overnight for 9 hours. Also, that alternative would have cut a day from my time in Georgia.
I went to the webpage for the airline--DnieproAvia. I searched there and found I could get to Batumi on the day I wanted to travel by going through Kharkiv, and had the added surprise that it would be the same cost as if I had flown Ukrainian Airways. Kayak had not shown that possible route.
All of these efforts up to this point are just normal travel planning procedures. There are always small headaches. But then my efforts became more complicated. The DnieproAvia webpage made it seem as if they would mail me a PAPER ticket. I couldn't go further without investigating this, and they do not have a number in this country. At this point, however, I was trying to do it without being registered on their site. I completed the registration process and indicated I was above 65 years old as a part of it. Then I started the whole process all the way through. The first surprise was that the cost of the ticket went down because I was a senior; it was now $12 cheaper!!
I muddled my way through page after page of the process which lead to other problems. They use an online payment system named Galileo (similar to Paypal, but located in Ukraine, I guess, or maybe Russia) for payment. The bank refused the payment thinking it was fraud. I had to call my bank. We got that straightened out, and while on the phone line I had to go through the payment process again including waiting for an SMS giving me a code to use to complete the payment with Galileo.
Anyway, I finally got my ticket for a good price and on the day I wanted it. I do NOT have to stay overnight at an airport, and I arrive at a much better time (mid-afternoon) than I would have with Ukrainian Airways (10:00 or 11:00 at night). So things worked out for the better even through there were frustrations along the way.
Update: In less than one hour after I bought this ticket, the news that the Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down over the Ukraine/Russia border was released. My flight from Kharkiv (sometimes spelled Kharkov) to Batumi will follow this route. My earnest hope is that the army and the resisters will be scared to death about shooting toward planes after this first incident. (My guess is that it will be the Russian resisters who did it, since they are probably the only ones who have been provided with weapons capable of such accuracy at such a distance.)
I have been planning constantly now for about 3 weeks in preparation for the trip. It takes a LOT of time to plan for being gone 10 weeks. Unexpected problems pop up, too. Major planning is almost complete. The more planning I can do before departure means the more time I have on the trip to enjoy where I am. I am now trying to plan all my transportation connections from place to place. I have a tentative travel itinerary which was posted as a revision to the previous entry here. Two of my frustrations that might be interesting to read:
AIRBNB PROBLEM and COMPLAINT
I made a reservation for an apartment in Brno. The entry said there was a "moderate" cancellation fee, but that wasn't a concern since I knew I would not be canceling. Yesterday, I got an e-mail (outside of the Airbnb communications system) from the host of the apartment saying that it would not be available due to city water and gas work and wanting me to accept a different apartment twice as far from downtown and not as nice. As a part of that communication she asked ME to cancel my original reservation with Airbnb if I did not want the replacement apartment. In my mind, I am facing a bait and switch operation, because if I cancel the apartment, I still have to pay her "moderate" cancellation fee. She has written again after I wrote her asking HER to cancel, and she again has asked ME to cancel.
Airbnb does NOT have an 800 number. They try to deal with disputes via an online form that gives only options to check. I completed their online form. As I completed it, I clicked an "urgent" button, and it gave me a toll number I could call. When I called that number, it said there was more than a 30-minute online wait.
I was frustrated, so I called my credit card company and filed a dispute for the charge. Several hours later, I got a message back from my online form saying that they would investigate the problem and get back to me no later than the 22nd (after I have left on my trip). I immediately sent back a copy of the e-mail I had gotten from the host and pointed out the problems: 1) She is trying to operate outside Airbnb which is against the rules. 2) She expects ME to cancel the original reservation so she can get the "moderate" fee for cancellations plus the rent for the new apartment. 3) Airbnb seems to be favoring their host who is creating a problem rather than their customer who has gotten in the middle of the problem. 4) That a good company would have some flexibility for their employees to make a decision immediately to cancel when presented with the evidence (her e-mail) that the host is the problem. Anyway, I still do not know what is going to happen. I will NOT stay in her alternative apartment. I do not feel comfortable searching for a new place until this is resolved. If Airbnb doesn't resolve this in my favor (via communications with me and by not fighting my dispute with the bank), then I am going to be stuck with the "moderate" cancellation fee or the whole cost of the apartment. I really question whether I should do any more business with Airbnb after discovering how difficult it is to deal with them related to problems.
Update: Got a cancellation notice from Airbnb on my e-mail before posting this. Problem solved, but WHAT a hassle! Have reserved a hotel in Brno-see Itinerary post before this one.
AIR TICKET
I needed an air ticket from Kiev, Ukraine to Batumi, Georgia. That was one of my goals today. I couldn't really try to buy this ticket until I had my itinerary completed, because I needed to know the exact date that I should fly. Through previous research, I already knew I could get a one-way ticket with Ukrainian Airways for about $166.
Well, I went online today and Ukrainian Airways had NO dates available anywhere near the date I needed to fly. Apparently, people from Ukraine, having lost the Crimea as their summer travel resort area, are flying to Batumi for their holidays.
My general search on Kayak showed another airline flying the same route with a seat available. I checked, and it required an overnight stop at the hub airport for that airlines--a town not worth visiting and with a small airport that might not allow me to stay within the airport overnight for 9 hours. Also, that alternative would have cut a day from my time in Georgia.
I went to the webpage for the airline--DnieproAvia. I searched there and found I could get to Batumi on the day I wanted to travel by going through Kharkiv, and had the added surprise that it would be the same cost as if I had flown Ukrainian Airways. Kayak had not shown that possible route.
All of these efforts up to this point are just normal travel planning procedures. There are always small headaches. But then my efforts became more complicated. The DnieproAvia webpage made it seem as if they would mail me a PAPER ticket. I couldn't go further without investigating this, and they do not have a number in this country. At this point, however, I was trying to do it without being registered on their site. I completed the registration process and indicated I was above 65 years old as a part of it. Then I started the whole process all the way through. The first surprise was that the cost of the ticket went down because I was a senior; it was now $12 cheaper!!
I muddled my way through page after page of the process which lead to other problems. They use an online payment system named Galileo (similar to Paypal, but located in Ukraine, I guess, or maybe Russia) for payment. The bank refused the payment thinking it was fraud. I had to call my bank. We got that straightened out, and while on the phone line I had to go through the payment process again including waiting for an SMS giving me a code to use to complete the payment with Galileo.
Anyway, I finally got my ticket for a good price and on the day I wanted it. I do NOT have to stay overnight at an airport, and I arrive at a much better time (mid-afternoon) than I would have with Ukrainian Airways (10:00 or 11:00 at night). So things worked out for the better even through there were frustrations along the way.
Update: In less than one hour after I bought this ticket, the news that the Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down over the Ukraine/Russia border was released. My flight from Kharkiv (sometimes spelled Kharkov) to Batumi will follow this route. My earnest hope is that the army and the resisters will be scared to death about shooting toward planes after this first incident. (My guess is that it will be the Russian resisters who did it, since they are probably the only ones who have been provided with weapons capable of such accuracy at such a distance.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
