Budapest without the Baths

We did one of Rick Steve's walking tours today, of downtown Pest.  We really have enjoyed his tours in other cities and this one did not disappoint.  There is a great deal of architecture still here from the 1890's and some newer from both the communist era as well as current, modern times.  There are also numerous parks and squares in the city, which Rick masterfully guides you through as you follow his walking tour.

The city tour began with a lovely stop at a cafe on a square and ended at the Great Market Hall.  All in all we loved the sights and sounds, the friendly people and the food of Budapest.  I would definitely return!

Trams, subways, buses and more

Budapest has multi modal transportation systems that get you everywhere pretty easily.  But some trams are the same numbers as Metros.  So you do have to be on the alert.  But almost everything was a 30 minute walk from our location, so even if we missed everything, we could have gotten home.  Today we went to the New York Cafe, named after New York Insurance company, and today it's a high class hotel with a fabulous restaurant and live music.  Think Versailles and you have an idea of the opulence and decadence.  We followed Rick Steve's advice and had a beverage and split a small snack.  Lovely.

We stopped at a lovely park and saw the Heroes Square, which is where the attempted revolution of 1956 took place.  Anthony Bourdain's Budapest show highlighted the daring film makers who documented the uprising and smuggled the film out.  It was pretty intense.  After that we went to the nearby Castle that now houses the Agriculture Museum.  It's now 100 years old, celebrating the 1000 year history of the founding of Hungary.

We finished with a trip to the Danube, with a view of the Chain Bridge and the Castle Hill in Buda, across the river.  Got a picture of the Buddha with Buda in the background:)

The shoe memorial along the Danube, commemorating those who were killed and toppled into the river during World War II by fascists called the "Arrow Cross".

It's Buda PESCH not Budapest:)

It's a city!  It's two cities!  Split by the Danube River.  The Hungarian city of Budapest has been a destination "want" for about 10 years.  We're finally here!  And the hubs got a cold.  So day one was spent indoors mostly.  We did go to the pub and grabbed a beer and then Face Timed our Sci Fi book club in Denver, which was reviewing one of my all time faves, Dan Simmons "Hyperion".  So that was good.

Today, hoping he gets up before 10AM so we can see the Castle, the River Memorial of bronze shoes, and the City walking tour, followed by one of the Baths.  We are staying in a remarkable apartment with 13 to 15 foot ceilings, beautiful herringbone wooden floors and a washing machine!  Yes, that exclamation point is deserved, as so few apartments in Europe have washers, and even fewer have dryers.  We have a spacious 500 sq foot or so, an extra room with a twin, a big TV that works with our Chromestick (Yay, caught up on Dr. Who!), and a full on gas stove.

First day here we rode in on Europe's oldest Metro line to get to our place.  It was so old!  And then we had dinner at an authentic Hungarian Restaurant and had pate, more pate, sausages, cucumber salad (OMG YUM) and a veal stew with paprika and noodles.  I also had seared duck liver with fried fingerling potatoes.  We split some delicious local Pinot Noir and all in it was under $80.  With a chocolate yum dessert thing as well.  I think we're going to like it here.

The Five Mother Sauces

I'm not taking anything for granted.  We were supposed to be traveling for a year, but that was contingent on our boyo doing well with online school.  He has not done well.  So our travels will change in September.  We will be back in Denver for part of the year, and taking more mini vacations of two or three weeks at a time, as well as spending time with aging parents and grandkids in Tennessee and Arizona.

So in the spirit of all things France, for we are in Paris right NOW, I am cooking the mother sauces.   It seems fitting.  Tonight's special is Sauce Espagnole.  A lovely, rich brown sauce with a rich and buttery finish.  It is the base sauce for Classical Demi-Glace and for Sauce Bordelaise.  We will be pairing it over seared pork loin chops with thyme and mushrooms and boiled potatoes.  

I feel so blessed that we have had these almost three months now in Europe.  And it's not over, we still have the summertime to continue on this epic journey.  Next up is Budapest for four days, followed by Bucharest for a month.  Then a few days in Germany with the hubs family, hopefully with a side trip to see the namesake city of Halbach, Germany.

In July we have a trip to the UK set and some of our family is coming along to see the sights with us.  Still confirming who will show up, but one daughter and grandson are currently confirmed, and two more adult boys and my mom are currently planning and contemplating the trip as well!  A sister would like to come with my mom in September or October as well, and rumor has it the other sister may join in, particularly if we go to Norway.  And I'm still hoping to connect with a friend in Munich at the end of September.

All in all, it has been very worth it to give up the "stuff", including cars and an apartment in order to travel Europe.  I will never forget these times!

Next up Sauces Bechamel, Hollandaise, Veloute and Tomat.

Bois de Vincennes

There are a remarkable number of parks in Paris.  From postage stamp sized hidden enclaves to actual King's Woods that have converted to public spaces.  We chose option two this past Sunday.  I'm glad the boyo wanted to go see this park, which he had heard is twice the size of Central Park.  And it is.  Three times larger and 10% of the total area of Paris with 2,459 acres.

We were able to see the Temple of Love, hiked for about five miles and saw some extreme remote controlled boat racing up close and personal.  There is a gorgeous little grotto under the Temple of Love that we clambered down to.  Next time, we'd like to see the English landscape gardens and the arboretum.  It was so peaceful to be hiking under those trees, and we had a beautiful, cloud-enhanced sky but no threats of rain.

We had started our day in the Marais district, a beautiful and previously unexplored area of Paris with great shops, bookstores, restaurants and "world's best falafel."  The lines were long, but we ate inside and had a lamb shawarma and a falafel sandwich.  It was fantastic and it has been the best falafel that I've personally had!  I stopped in a tea shop and got some earl grey to try out as well.  All in all, a great way to pass a sunny day in Paris and thanks to Baruk for the suggestion of the Marais neighborhood and the falafel.