Hungary - Land of Goulash and Cousins

From the thoroughly Western city of Vienna, we headed east to Budapest, Hungary, where one can still sense the vestiges of Communist rule.  We dubbed our room for the first two nights the "Commie Cube", as it was a mammoth cavern with equal height, width, and length, and a heating element the size of a Yugo.  It certainly wasn't cozy, but it was clean, quiet, and came fully decked out with a putting green.  The weather delivered a relentless drizzle and temps near freezing for the bulk of our stay, so we were happy to have warm, dry bases of operation.

We had a one day respite from the rain and made the most of it by walking and gawking.  Buda and Pest were two distinct cities separated by the mighty Danube until a bridge united them in 1111.  Even 900 years later, they still retain distinct personalities - Buda with its leafy hills and imposing castle and Pest as the noisy, fast-paced urban area.  Our favorite sites were the photogenic Parliment building, the view from the turrets of Mathias Church, and the sprawling bridges tying the two distinct cities together.

The highlight of our stay in Budapest was connecting with Carolyn's long lost Cousin, Tiana, who is in medical school there.  We think it has been at least 15 years since Carolyn and Tiana got together, so obviously their lives have changed a bit since then.  The reunion was a happy one, with a few dinners and Tiana giving us a personal tour through the city one night.  She also generously offered up her flat for our last two nights in town and we got to enjoy the thrill of cooking in a real kitchen and watching trashy American TV shows on a couch via the internet.  It is amazing what a treat that can be after months on the road. The role reversal was comical, with the thirty-somethings as the low budget backpackers and Tiana, the college student, as the established one with the nice flat.  We promised to have an "adult" home for Tiana to visit when she comes to the States, although the specific location is to be determined.

One way that we are keeping our minds sharp while on constant holiday is wrestling with the rapidly shifting currency conversions that come with changing countries once or twice per week.  In Hungary, 200 forints equals a US dollar, allowing us to walk around like mafia bosses with tens of thousands in bills stuffed in our pockets.  This contrasts greatly with countries on the Euro, each of which is worth about $1.50.  Imagine going from buying a Coke for 1.5 and feeling ripped off to buying one for 200 and being thrilled to buying one for 10 a few hours down the road and having no idea whether to be mad or glad.  That was us this week.

While the math and the stacks of books we've plowed through on trains and buses keep our minds sharp, our bodies have taken a drubbing.  Since there is no routine anymore, exercise comes mainly from walking.  This comes in voluminous quantities but doesn't deliver the cardio workouts we enjoyed in our running days back home.  The food, though usually quite tasty, has also been punishing on our taut elastic waistbands.  Most meal decisions are focused on low cost with a quick turnaround, which means lots of grub that sticks to more than your ribs.  European mothers must not tell their kids that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because in our experience, it generally consists of crusty bread, jam, and secondhand smoke.  Luckily markets are ubiquitous, so we scoop up fruit and veggie snacks often.

In an attempt to out maneuver the rain, we headed south from Budapest into Croatia.  Our first stop was the capital city of Zagreb, which greeted us with dazzling blue skies.  We spent the afternoon and evening wandering the streets and downing pizzas (see above), thrilled to jettison our raincoats.

The next morning we continued south to Plitvice Lakes National Park, where we took an incredible hike through the deciduous forest.  Autumn has hit the park with full force and the hills surrounding the cascading lakes were painted in broad brushstrokes with bright yellow, orange, and red hues.  We were thrilled to relish the peace of the woods after a string of big cities.

 

 

 

From the park, we made our way to the city of Split, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.  One of Croatia's best attributes for the lazy backpacker is that when you step off a bus, train, or boat, you are typically greeted by a jostling throng of locals hoping to rent you a room in their house.  We love how cheap and easy this makes lodging...especially as we look cringingly ahead to hostels in London.

From Split we plan to work our way south down the Dalmatian Coast.  More to Come!  Thanks again for all your comments and thoughts.