Not knowing where I’ll end up is a given. –Dr. Lisa K. Glueck
I’m pretty sure we all know the worst part about stowing away on a cruise ship is not the black leather patch you need to wear over your eye nor perching a parrot on your shoulder so you fit in with the crowd. The worst aspect of stowing away is that you have no control over where you go or when you arrive, and who knows who your shipmates might be: pirates, thieves, boomers.
The sun has already set, and it’s almost dark by the time I find my way topside—ironically, to the sun deck—as the ship makes its way to our berthing area in Budapest where it will dock on the Pest side of the Danube with a view of Buda Castle on the Buda side. It’s a pleasant enough evening; however, I’m a little uneasy as I prefer to arrive at destinations during daylight hours.
If you’re a Type-A control junkie, it might drive you looney. I’m not Type-A; I’m more the Type-F traveler—go with the Flow. But, although I plan loosely, I like to hold the reins of my trips in my hands: I like to be the one in charge of delivering my fine behind where I don’t know where I’m going, and when. I know how that sounds—go with the flow but somehow control…something. I may have a good excuse: I’m a Libra, always trying to balance both sides of everything; ambivalence is my middle name, and also, there is something to be said for eating your cake and having it, too.
UNDER THE BRIDGES
The first bridge we encounter is the red-beamed, steel-girdered Rokoczi Bridge, a fairly recent and contemporary-designed addition to the river. It’s official name is the Lagymanyosi Bridge, but most locals, and maps, refer to it as the Rakoczi. Some folks—with rather wild, or throwback, imaginations—say the bridge looks like an oversized “toast rack.” You have to admit, it’s a peculiar sight in the night, and it has an interesting and rather unique lighting system. The tops of each of the five columns hold huge mirrors that reflect the light from powerful halogen bulbs beneath them. Rather remarkable, as the light is then spread evenly and continuously over the deck below, as opposed to circles of light and darker areas between.
The lighted building beside the bridge is the Palace of Arts complex, which houses three cultural foundations: the Ludwig Museum, the Festival Theater, and the Bela Bartok National Concert Hall. There are a few notable aspects of the building’s ultra-modern design; the one most noticeable from a distance is easy to discern: the outside of the building changes color, and hues.
At first, you don’t realize the color is changing as each shade lingers a while, perhaps a minute or so; you glance away toward the Buda side to view the Buda Hills on the far shore, the water, the bridge. You turn back to the flat, Pest side of the river, and you’re like: hey, wasn’t that building blue?
Evidently, this is the Greenwich Village part of town because right next door, you find the Nemzeti Szinhaz, the Budapest National Theater. Another distinctive structure, if not quite the iconic character of, say, the Sydney Opera House or the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, but fairly impressive in its own way.
While perusing these buildings from the river, I get the feeling I would like to attend a concert here. However, when I lived in Aspen, Colorado, many years ago, Itzhak Perlman lived next door one summer, and I spent many afternoons in my lounger on the patio sipping gotu kola tea or downing Mountain High Vanilla yogurt or sipping an ice-cold Coors while listening to Perlman practice his solos. The music clarified the air and leaked over the fence between our yards like poised refrains of melted butter. Music seems all down hill from there to me, and now it almost feels sacrilegious to actually pay for a ticket. Or is that merely the miser in me surfacing? Or perhaps, another instance of having and eating that proverbial cake?
SAILING TOWARD BATHING
From here if you look upriver, you see Gellert Hill looming behind Gellert Hotel and Spa. This is one reason why, no matter what Type personality you are—A or B, even F—any traveler should do a bit of research and planning before washing up in some foreign country: Budapest sits on a bubbling crucible of something like 120 thermal hot springs, spewing almost 19 million gallons of hot water a day. They say, soaking in a spa has been a traditional aspect of daily life here since the last “good” Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, ruled the place almost 2000 years ago.
Visiting a spa in Budapest is one of the top three most-popular, bucket-list items tourists tic off here; it’s number one on some lists. But get this, when I arrived, I didn’t know a thing about them: didn’t know they were famous, didn’t know they were popular, didn’t know they existed, didn’t know squat. Obviously, I’m not much of a tourist and carry no bucket list to tic, but perhaps every Type-F traveler should have a Type-A partner to handle important details like this. Or better, especially if solo travel is your thing, an online secretary somewhere in cyberspace, to do research and take care of the pesky business side of things for him? Please, just raise your hand if you’d like to volunteer?
Caveat: this position is an unpaid internship and will most likely also involve making decisions for said F-Type traveler, but if you’re capable of flipping a coin, you’ve got an edge on other applicants.
I’m pretty sure that Attila the Hun and his tribe didn’t waste time building and lounging in spas, frittering away precious pillaging time. But I can easily conjure them hopping off their horses and barreling into the hot water after a long day of killing and maiming, most likely with all their bloody clothes on and their bows and quivers, too. Someone has suggested that this is how water polo was invented. And goulash. But remember, you can’t believe everything you read.
There are something like 15 public spas in Budapest, all with multiple pools; for instance, the largest and perhaps most famous, the Szechenyi Baths, has 18 pools fed by two thermal springs. And there are quite a few other, private spas inside hotels. I did think about trying one of the spas. But then I discovered they give you an electronic bracelet to wear to enter and to use as your locker key. I don’t know—something about anything electric mixing with water doesn’t sit well with me. Along with that, I’m a bit of a clean freak, and embedding my body in a bathtub full of broiling strangers doing what strangers, and their kids, do in pools of warm water doesn’t sit well with me either.
I do appreciate the concept of a thermal spa; I love the idea of steeping myself in curative hot mineral springs, which many cultures through the centuries have found so healing: Turks, Native Americans, Japanese, Romans, Indians. According to local legend, bathing in hot springs lowers your blood pressure, increases your circulation, aids metabolism, increases the absorption of essential minerals, relieves joint issues. But that’s not all. If you believe what you read, soaking your bones in thermal pools also treats chronic digestive diseases, alleviates constipation, prevents diabetes, cures gout, and aids liver issues.
That all sounds healthy, wondrous, magical (if perhaps, a tad exaggerated or unbelievable to the cynic in you). And when I lived in Aspen during my John Denver/Itzak Perlman days, I would drive down valley maybe once a month or so to dip in the Glenwood Hot Springs and worried little about sanitation—well, it is America, land of lawsuits, where you could expect high-level sanitation.
But many years later in Peru, I visited the hot springs near Machu Picchu just upstream from the nearby, tiny pueblo of Aguas Calientes (“hot waters” in Spanish). If you google the word “odious”, you find 856 stock photos of this hot spring—I forget its name, if it had one other than Aguas Calientes. It costs maybe a buck or two to enter. And they do have a couple rules: you have to have a towel, you have to wear a bathing suit, and you have to wear thongs; they will rent you thongs if you’re wearing your hiking boots, which most travelers are at that elevation in the Andes.
One of the very first things I might desire after hiking the Inca Trail might be to soak in a thermal spa. Almost the last thing I desire is to wear thongs that someone else just wore on their feet in a third-world country at an elevation so high you have to chew coca leaves to stay well and where sanitation is a tragedy searching for a chance encounter. I’ve traveled enough to learn a few things about things: like, scabbies, ringworm, and foot and mouth disease (it’s not limited to animals, you know). Perhaps, the very last thing I desire might be to slip into someone else’s thong that they just wore–at any elevation.
I took a few photos of the springs at Aguas Calientes, but I could not lower myself into that pool. And ever since then, I discover when I’m at other thermal pools in foreign countries, no matter how much I desire to soak or how clear they seem, I just can’t get past the ick-factor firewall I’ve built in my head.
PARTY ON THE BRIDGES
We continue cruising toward Liberty Bridge and Gellert Hill. Liberty Bridge, built in the Art Nouveau style, is the shortest in Budapest. It transforms into a dynamic gathering place for the younger generation at night during summer. If you happen to wander along Liberty Bridge at sundown wearing your eye patch, goatee and parrot, you might be offered a bottle of Dreher brew, a snifter of slivovica, or something to smoke. If you enlarge the photo, you notice numerous travelers sitting on top of the sloping green steel girders. From the ship, I don’t notice them until we pass under the bridge, and I look back from the other side. Two turul bird sculptures spread their wings atop their globes at the peak of the two vertical pillars. The mystical and mythical turul, a huge falcon-like bird of prey, is one of Hungary’s ancient symbols, dating back to prehistoric times.
Some people say the Liberty statue atop Gellert Hill is holding a palm leaf. But I have my doubts. First, where in Hungary do they grow palm trees? Second, where are palm leaves symbols for freedom? And third, it looks more like a mystical turul feather than a palm leaf, doesn’t it? These may not be tough questions, but you have to wonder, right?
You can take a taxi or walk to the top of Gellert Hill to view the Liberty Statue up close and take in a fairly nice panorama of the city. However, if I were in the habit of offering advice, I’d suggest renting a Segway and roll to the top of that hill. Way more panache than a taxi, way more fun than walking, way less hectic than the bus, way less electric than a streetcar. Segways are not as cheap here as they are in Bratislava, but then, neither is goulash.
The ship slips under these bridges, but just barely. The bridges are actually fairly low to the water; the ships that ply these waters are three or four-decks tall.
Side note: This may be another instance proving an F-Type traveler needs a research secretary because it turns out, they do grow palms in Hungary and have since the 1800’s, if only indoors in botanical gardens. Still, my vote goes to the feather of a mystical bird of prey in Liberty statue’s hands.
FLOWING WITH THE FLOW
We continue cruising toward the castle district. Elizabeth Bridge stands in the distance, a modern suspension bridge named after Empress Elizabeth of Austria, Queen of Hungary (in the 19th century). Buda Castle crowns the hill behind the bridge. Some people think this bridge is the most stylish bridge spanning the Danube here: because of its shape and alabaster color. Personally, I prefer the elegance and atavistic charm of the older bridges, but this one’s not ugly—like, say the Conowingo Dam spanning the Susquehanna in Maryland—and its backdrop is rather picturesque.
Clearly, Elizabeth Bridge is nowhere near as popular as Liberty Bridge with the tat-generation, beer-sharing backpackers. But it may have less to do with elegant styling and more to do with the fact that Elizabeth’s girders are not flat like the Liberty, so there’s nowhere to sit on them with a lovely view of stars and lights and water, no place to rest your Dreher Classic, or to hang, to look cool, be young and generous.
You know, looking at this photo reminds me how much I appreciate miracles. I mean, the ship is not speed-boating down the Danube, but we are moving; and with no moon, it’s dark outside tonight, and somehow, I’ve managed to capture a couple of almost-sharp photos—all taken at very slow speeds, like 1/5th second or 1/25th. This rather worthless shot allows you to see what these photos should all look like, a blur off to the left and the out-of-focus wake of the boat on the right. I did have my lightweight Manfrotto ballhead tripod in my carry-on, but for all these shots, I merely rested the camera on the deck.
This reminds me of something Gertrude Stein once mentioned: “One of the pleasant things those of us who write or paint [I’ll insert blog and photograph] do is to have the daily miracle. It does come.” I’m pretty sure I couldn’t get through a day without at least one miracle. Is that a hand raising in the air I see back there volunteering to be my research intern? The one negative thing about miracles is that you can’t simply order one off the menu. Oh, and this: you really have to be careful, and very clear, about what you ask for.
I’m impressed at the size of the castles in this part of the world. Remember, the one in Prague holds a Guinness world record for size. But we can, once again, discount Bratislava. If there is a disappointing castle in this part of the world, it sits there in Bratislava—that square mousey, little thing with pointy corners. I’m not judging, you understand. It’s just that when they call something a “castle”, you expect to see a castle, not a bread box with worthless turrets. Maybe it’s time to confess that I believe I may have passed that milestone in life—to paraphrase Michael Ondaatje—when you begin to identify with sardonic and futzy minor characters in B movies.
As we near Buda Castle, we catch a glimpse of the famous, stone Chain Bridge a few fathoms in the distance.
To my eye, Szechenyi Lanchid, or Chain Bridge as it’s commonly known, is the most elegant bridge in Budapest. Elegance, apparently, is in the eye of the beholder? If you’re a Brit, and you’re going, “hey, that looks like Marlow Bridge on the River Thames,” it’s because they were both designed by the same English engineer in the first half of the 1800’s, perhaps specifically so they could haul a palm tree across to the other shore? The Chain Bridge is the bigger brother to the Marlow.
The Chain Bridge was opened in 1849 and was the first bridge here. Before that, if you wanted to cross the Danube during winter, you had to trudge through the snow on foot or horse or stage coach to Vienna, some 240 kilometers away, where you’d find the closest bridge.
During summers in Budapest, you could cross the makeshift flat-bottomed pontoon bridge, which had to be extracted during winter due to ice flow. Is anyone actually suggesting palm trees grow outdoors here?
Matthias Church, dating back to the 13th century and late Gothic-style, sits on the Buda Hills in the Castle District of town. Sitting next to the church is a World Heritage Site, a former Medieval Dominican cloister and monastery, which has now been morphed into…get this…a Hilton Hotel.
If you visit the Hilton for a drink at their restaurant overlooking the river at sunrise (well…um…when in Rome…), you can also visit a portion of the ancient monastery—if it isn’t under restoration and cordoned off as it was when I visited. I did pretend not to see the signs and lifted the ropes and slipped under (I might try anything after a slivovica for breakfast), but the Hilton’s super-slick secret police had their radar on me and ushered me right out of there with gusto and a little less graciousness than I would have preferred. However, you can see remnants of stone arches in the lobby. If you rent a room here online in advance, make sure you request one with a view of the Danube, some rooms have views of stone walls just next door. Neither are cheap.
When we hear the words “City of Light”, we probably most commonly think of Paris, although some call Paris the City of Love. But other cities also claim to be the city of light: Abu Dhabi, Las Vegas, Tehran, Be’er Sheva, Ohrid in ancient Macedonia. Oh, and Eidhoven, but here it may be only because they have a manufacturing plant that produces light bulbs.
However, right now as I drift on the Danube—which magically, now and again, appears almost blue in this light—it seems like Budapest should be on the top of anyone’s city-of-light list. This thought actually runs through my head: if I was impressed with Prague, I’m really impressed with Budapest. What is it about lights, especially bright lights in the night (even fireworks), that impresses us so thoroughly? Perhaps it distracts us, or empowers us, against the dark side of things? Or maybe a piece of our DNA remembers when night was only dark, all night long, and dangerous. Or maybe it’s just that light is inherently beautiful to our eye—like moths to candles?
Spoiler alert: Budapest does not harbor quite the same ambiance and elan during daylight hours. Still impressive, but not Prague impressive, not Amsterdam impressive, not Venice impressive. On the other hand, nobody’s calling Budapest the timid wallflower at the party of A-list impressive cities.
Hungary, luckily, now has one of the lowest prices for electricity in Europe—it’s cheaper in Bratislava and Novi Sad. Makes you wonder how much it costs to light up all these buildings each night. Here, the Budapest Parliament building shines like an irregular galaxy embracing the river. It actually is quite a star, and might be worth the $25 ticket to tour the place as it is the third largest parliament building in the world and is over a hundred years old. It has almost 700 rooms and just under 13 miles of stairs. If you see a hallway cordoned off with a rope in the Parliament building, do not pretend you don’t see the sign and try to slip under it–security here carries the 12.7mm Gepard M6 semi-automatic anti-material rifle slung over their shoulders.
There are a few more bridges spanning the Danube in Budapest, but we reach our berthing area, and the ship moors at its dock at the river’s edge.
In the morning, the haze at sunrise smolders into fine layers of vermillion lace along the horizon, then rises into thin ribbons of gray, lavender, pale blue. A bold skein of bright cumulus billows above, and over that, a swathe of cerulean veils the heavens. You feel as though you could sit here all day and Relax” target=”_blank”>relax and enjoy the view. Maybe even peel off the eye patch, and parrot—be yourself for a while, do nothing while savoring a serene romance with solitude.
Just to be clear: As you may surmise, I have received no compensation from Hilton Hotel. Actually, I’d reckon, they would prefer I stay away, stay on my side of the ropes, drink breakfast on the other side of the river, and just shut up about them.
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COMING UP NEXT WEEK: POT LUCK
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You can find more of Lucile’s: Photo Rehab
Find more DP Photo Challenge: New Horizon
Find more DP Discover Challenge: Tough Questions
source 1 Photo: Daniel Zsolt Hajmasi Thesis-http://elsolanchid.hu/konyvek/pontonhidakrol2012.pdf
Badfish & Chips Cafe 
Great night view at the city. Oh! Now, I can recalled it. I wrote about this city in one of my Master Degree Project at Jone International University. I wish I can find my written article and post it here. Again, it is marvelously sparkling city during the night view. Thank for sharing.
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I was thinking I must remember to take my own thongs if ever I go to Machu Picchu, but by the end of the paragraph I had changed my mind. I completely get the ick factor. I didn’t kiss the Blarney Stone for the same reason.
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Aaarrrrggggghhhhh!!!! Yeah…that’s another one…no kissing no blarney stone!! Talk about ick factor popping up.
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Just think of all the germs breeding on that thing. Gross. Maybe best not to think of all those germs. Could put us off our dinner.
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there’s a reason they started calling it the blarney stone in the first place, you know
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True!
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Aiyah! We love the Japanese Onsen. Fortunately you jump into the water butt naked. But then the images of the bug conjured up in our minds is beginning to build that wall!
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Mel & Suan…hey guys, yeah, Onsen…the Japanese know how to do things right! And the Fins, with their saunas in the snow…a lot less ick factor there!
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Nice write-up! Makes me want to visit Budapest.
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Thanks! And I’m pretty sure you’d love Budapest. Try the goulash!!
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Something so romantic about bridges in the moonlight, or lack of moonlight 🙂 A lot of bridges! And somewhere those symbolic shoes on the quayside? My hand is halfway raised to be your research volunteer. I wouldn’t want to be too decisive 🙂 🙂
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I have to admit, I couldn’t stop taking photos although I was sure none of them would turn out. Yeah, those shoes, we docked a few minutes away from those shoes: I stood beside them for a long, long time. I tried to photograph them, but I couldn’t get a good shot, but the emotion was overwhelming. Yeah, nobody should be too decisive, eh!
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Ah, thongs in Peru made me think of bowling shoes here in the States. Yeah. No. Oh, and I am an excellent coin-flipper, although borderline Type-A. At least let me think I have control. Big plus.
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Lois…yeah, right, bowling shoes. I now realize, I was developing that ick factor way back in my teens when I bowled and had to wear those dang used shoes. They always made me shudder, but I did have socks on.
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The ick factor never leaves us, BF….
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that’s what I’m saying!!
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There’s a little bit of history behind how that feather got on top of the statue and the inscription below.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Statue_(Budapest)
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yeah…but see, they say “palm leaf” and I’m just not buying it!!
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Totally agree. Palms don’t grow in Russia either. “Know what I mean? And I think you do.”, Joe Bob Briggs.
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it’s Joseph to you, dude
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Your photos and stories are a wonderful resource. I have lots of photos from some of the places you have documented (including Budapest) but I didn’t take the time to record the names of the buildings, bridges, etc. Thanks for making the identification a lot easier!
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Oh BTW, nice photos again! But I’m still trying to purge my mind of the mental image, rental thongs (both kinds) required in the pool. Dermatologists rule in Budapest!
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YIKES!!
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ditto
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You had quite a few little miracles the day you took these. What a fabulous picture that dawn is as well. I love all the golds and greens and the way things are lit up (not to mention changing color!). thanks for mentioning the settings. I’m probably going to try to get some night shots soon, but just of winter lights!
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Like I say, I can’t get through a day without at least one miracle. And yeah, the morning photo (though not a miracle) turned out well, too. Good luck on the night shots…I always wanted to shoot stars, but never have!! Use a tripod.
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Yeah, I don’t think I could stomach sharing “thongs” ie flip flops other people have worn. I used to faithfully get my pedicures until I got a fungus from one of the California salons which are not as sanitary as the Alabama or Colorado salons I went to. Apparently the health standards are not as strict or monitored.
I’ve gone to few (two) community springs, both were not as popular as Glenwood’s, which always seemed so overly populated that the idea of sharing space with so many cooking bodies seemed like jumping into a Petri dish. The two I went to, one in Buena Vista, Colorado and the other in Idaho near the City of Rocks after a major rock climbing trip were amazing though.
It seems that sanitation in general is less than optimal in most countries, not quite as regulated as in the US. I’m sure there are exceptions.
My son stayed at a Hilton in Turkey when he was commissioned to guard the president there. He was sent six weeks in advance and they were kind enough to give our Marines, all the free calls stateside to talk to their families. It was great, because it was the only time in all his assignments he could afford to call home.
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Yeah, see, maybe I’m not the only weird one with an ick factor firewall, eh? Here, I pay way more than you should for a haircut, because you can go to one of the shops run by Indians or Pakistanis or whatever and get a haircut really cheap, but they don’t sterilize their scissors or combs, they just cut one guy after the next. Is your son still in the Marines? I’ve been in the Hilton in Istanbul…they didn’t offer me no free phone calls, what’s up with that?
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You weren’t a Marine guarding the president. LOL
I don’t go to cheap hair salons. If I did, I might as well cut my own hair, but like you, I’m cheap, so I keep my hair long so I seldom have to go.
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I haven’t had a hair cut since last May!! I might do a cheap cut in, say, India if I really needed/wanted one. But I’d be shrieking inside
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I’m sure you can cut your own.
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I’m beginning to think: ponytail
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That too! Send me a pic! You’ll look so professorial, lol!
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Thongs are slightly different garments over here, and believe me the type you can wear on your feet are way more comfy! Sometimes I’m an ‘A’ type sometimes an ‘F’, leaving plenty of time to watch the world go by but not wanting to miss anything crucial. Love all those bridges, but can’t imagine you on a cruise ship for one minute.
Now, where are you going next week?
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Hahahh! I hear that. I just don’t get the concept of the other type of thong. I mean, of course, I don’t mind looking at them. But can’t even imagine wearing one if only for the comfort factor.
Next week: hmmmm. pot luck! don’t know?
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So much content here Badfish it is hard to know where to begin…. you certainly pack it all in!
But okay, the color changing bridges are a great way to highlight bridges and we saw this in Danang Viet Nam ~ definitely not as grandeur as this but nonetheless makes for a romantic night sky.
Your mention of Michael Ondaatje had me happy…I am currently reading his book about his family in Sri Lanka. Who knew he was Sri Lankan?!? Not me sir.
Ah yes traveler type F ~ check. We resonate there!
Hot springs…yes please! Been in New Mexico, Thailand, Ecuador, California, Tokyo…. just beware post hot water exhaustion. I think the heat probably, no, hopefully!! kills all the crap. However in Japan we noted the signs that forbad bathing if you have a tatoo. Any restrcitions to going in with open sores/ wounds etc? Nope. Hmmm. Strange as strange can be.
Peta
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Peta…yeah, who doesn’t like to look at a lit up bridge at night, eh, whether in Budapest or Danang or Timbuktu. Hey, I did not know Michael Ondaatje was from Sri Lanka!! I imagined Africa for some reason, the name alone? What’s that about. Is it Sri Lankan?
You may be a Type-F traveler, but you live your lives a little differently!! You make bathtubs!
What’s up with a tattoo? I can understand a “new” tat with oozing blood, but an old one?? what’s up with that…oozing ink?? Strange indeed. One thing I’ve learned here is not to begin a sentence with the word “why”!
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A great travelogue, well told.
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Hey Margaret, thanks. Glad you liked it and glad you stopped by for a chat in the cafe!
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Well Type F traveler funny that this Type A is also a Libra. Can’t blame it on the stars I guess. As to volunteering we may have to work out some bartering system although you do seem to be handful . I’m in Hungary and then getting the ick factor in Peru. Talk about going with the flow!
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So…does the libra in you like to weigh both sides of everything? Bartering could work!!! Yeah, I have to go with the flow because that’s the way my mind (doesn’t) work.
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Well there does seem to be a lot of thinking about the pros and cons yet often I am quite spontaneous in trip planning. Not at the last minute but in making a decision quickly.
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yeah, I get caught up in the pros and cons
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5 days to WHAT I wanna know!! And I am currently out of “thong” jokes.
But once again, I am really moved by HOW you are writing these days. There were sentences this time that I will be taking to my Writer’s Group to share. (I’ll let you know their reaction.) I mean, where did you find, in your brilliant brain, THIS gem?
“The music clarified the air and leaked over the fence between our yards like poised refrains of melted butter.”
All I know about Perlman is what I learned in Meryl Streep’s movie Music from the Heart (one of my favorites…and Wes Craven’s only non-horror movie) I do love a good “teacher” movie. And I do love your bridges!!
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Yeah, five days to what is what I want to know, too. If you’re out of thong jokes, perhaps I should go back to the topic of poop? There’s always something to say about that.
A writers group…cool. Let me know what they say. I found that line floating around in the bubbling broth we call a brain, but mine doesn’t work, so things just have to bubble up to the surface.
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NO no, Poop references not necessary. I’ll come up with something here soon! Thongs for your patience….ugh…Ok, something better than that…soon.
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How about this? (when you have 9 minutes to waste!)
No thongs but some great slippers..
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THIS!! what you thought was cool was the slippers??? Yikes…
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Hahahahah! good one! and thongs for the memories
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I’m a pretty regimented traveler, I like knowing what to expect as to time and destination, but by the same token I love being with a fly by the seat of their pants type. I loved the cruise ship because I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to get somewhere or when, but at the same time when we arrived, it was freelance all the way. NO TOURS. Of course, you can always count on the crew to give you suggestions on out of the way places, which they love doing. They know what non tourist night clubs and places to hit that are interesting and not necessarily geared for “locals”.
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Yeah, I hear that, especially the first day at a new place—I want to know I have a bed. But in the past, and young, I’d get off the ferry and walk to the cheap area of town, and go from one hotel to the other. Tours…right, I’m making the sign of the cross with two fingers.
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Looks like a feather to me!!!…Beautiful pictures Mr. Badfish…beautiful words…
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Keli…I agree, I’m calling it a feather until the Hungarian government steps in. And thanks.
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This entire thing was worth reading for this:
“The music clarified the air and leaked over the fence between our yards like poised refrains of melted butter.” It had *me* melting like butter.
Beautiful photographs. I’m always captivated by night time photos, and these were no exception, but for some reason I was most taken with the last – daytime – shot. It’s like a painting.
Alison
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Alison, it’s interesting how some sentences flow onto a page and then how some people like them over others. I’m just glad all this happens. And yeah, I too, like night shots, but I think my daylight photos are usually far superior to my night shots. I like the one of Chain Bridge. The others need a stationary tripod.
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Great shots of the bridges and gleaming night waters. I had my hand up super high to do research and take care of the pesky business side of things, but then I got to the unpaid part. As I just re-retired (ha – wonder how long this one will last?!), I’m afraid I can’t just volunteer to flip coins for you all day long. 🙂 Have a great break (can’t wait to see what you do …)!
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I thought I saw a hand go up, then disappear! But retired….Yikes what a wonderful sounding word. I like it. I would love to retire and devote all day to blogging…but yeah, a guy has to eat.
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City of bridges and lights, I must say. Budapest looks amazing through your lens! Great post – I love how traveling a city could bring about previous recollection other places that you have visited!
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Indah…right, lights and bridges, that’s Budapest. A wonderful city. Great food, great people. Great vistas. And somehow it brings on memories of times gone by!!
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If the water is hot enough, will it kills scabies, ringworm, foot and mouth disease, etc? If it hot enough to do that, it might melt a person, I suppose.
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At the source, I’m assuming that water is hot enough to kill anything. But you’re right…it melts skin.
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Type F, huh? hah
bridges and lights are beautiful
I love the under the bridges shot -= but each photo is brilliant as usual.
and wow to this:
Itzhak Perlman lived next door one summer, and I spent many afternoons in my lounger on the patio sipping gotu kola tea or downing Mountain High Vanilla yogurt or sipping an ice-cold Coors while listening to Perlman practice his solos. The music clarified the air and leaked over the fence between our yards like poised refrains of melted butter.
dude – how cool is that.
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Yeah, type F, I’m afraid. And right, I kinda wish I’d take an even closer shot of those bridges. I like them best up close. Glad you like those little Perlman lines. It was a good summer!
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🙂
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I love the way you fixate (palm trees and interns this time) and your night shots are splendid. I’m just glad I didn’t read your riff on thermal pools before I submerged on my one day in Budapest – with a very healthy local who does it daily.
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HA! Yeah, I’m glad you got to enjoy the spa while there! I’m just a little over the line about some things. I might try it next time there??
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Those pictures are gorgeous! And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pontoon bridge before. How interesting! Now you have confirmed what I have already found out about hot water and unseeable critters. I don’t EVER get into even a swimming pool (though I’ve had to do the pool for back therapy). And I found out the hard way that no matter how damn hot and chlorinated that water is, you CAN catch things in a hot tub! (rolls eyes…)
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You know, I’d never seen a pontoon bridge before either. No, that’s not true. I saw a modern one in Dubai. But I’d love to walk across one of those older types with real pontoons.
And oooohhh!! I hate it when it happens the hard way!
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BUT you don’t soon forget! LOL
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that’s why they call it the hard way!
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Ah, Michael Ondaatje (sigh). Love his stuff. I’m sure he’d agree a person’s “bread box with worthless turrets” (great line!) is still his/her castle, if they think it so.
Now, here’s a thought: Market the Budapest Parliament as the Ultimate Stairmaster, complete with uber-motivational 12.7mm Gepard M6 semi-automatic anti-material rifle slinging security guards. You know, just in case you need incentive to run all 13 miles of stairs. In only a thong.
Looking forward to Pot Luck, whatever that is!
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You’re right, of course, a man’s breadbox is his castle.
Stairmaster…with a semi-automatic trainer—you should go into marketing!!!
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Great post! Budapest is such a photogenic city. I’m lucky enough to be able to go there very often, I always find something captivating. Next time, I’ll do a cruise.
And the next time, don’t forget to visit Budapest… from under: http://pierrepichot.com/portfolio-item/budapest-metro-stations-photo-essay
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I did get under Prague!
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Now I know why haven’t been complaining so much about my only one bridge. You brought a couple of them as a revenge. Well done. I accept defeat. Now I’m only waiting for your photo of my bridge. I’m sure you have secretly shot one.
Your posts are the best destination; forget Budapest, bridges and hot waters. Who need that if we have your blog?
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Yeah, I thought about you the whole time I was shooting these bridges!! Revenge, as they like to say, is so very sweet!
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So beautiful… great post which reminds us of the importance of building bridges… Instead of walls… wishing you the very best for the New Year ahead, dear Badfish… much love! 😀
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I’m sitting here with Carol, the Eternal Traveller, in her thongs in Melbourne, Australia looking at your blog. That’s quite amazing on several levels. First, I’m from California. Second, I’ve never been here, and we have a beautiful place right in the center of town. So here we are looking at blogs! Go figure! She was right. You’re a great blogger. I love this line, ” Type-F traveler—go with the Flow.” That’s me. And we are about to flow out of here. Glad to meet you Mr. Badfish. 🙂
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Marsha…WELCOME to the cafe, and thanks for joining and letting me know where you are and what you’re doing. Glad you like the blog, and yeah F-type, I think maybe there’s a few of us out there. I lived in San Diego for ten years, I loved it there.
Are you in Carol’s thongs or did I misread that line? And it’s funny because I am about to make a post and Carol is featured in it, and her blog, well, her comment! Glad to have you here, Marsha!
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Haha. I did misspeak. Carol guards her thongs carefully. Our apartment has an assortment of things in the entry hall welcoming us to remove our shoes. 🐨🐨🐨
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Marsha. OK, got it. Are you renting that apartment or you live there, or what? My hallway where I live has no sign, but does have a shoe rack with all my shoes on it.
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We are renting it for six days. It has a shoe rack as well. It’s been lovely. Carol read your post to two other bloggers as we traveled back from the zoo in Healesville, Victoria, Australia. 🙂
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cool! shoe racks rule. I’m pleased Carol read my blog to others, but that one was a little shakey, I’d rather she shared one of my other ones…but hey, no worries here!!!
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We’ve been taking pictures for you everywhere we go, but Carol is anxiously awaiting your photos around the world in return. We speculated about how you would manage that task and stay decent. 😜😜😜
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Well, OK…bring it on!!
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Watch for Carol’s posts. I don’t have my own thongs!!! 😜😜😜
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Hey, I don’t share thongs with anyone. That’s just way too personal
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yeah…didn’t imagine you as a thong sharing kinda girl. Is your daughter in Prague?
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She was there over Christmas. She loved it and keeps telling us we must go there. She’s not home for another week so I have yet to hear about all she did and saw. She read all your posts about Prague before she went.
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I agree, you must go there. Maybe not winter, though that would be the time I would go if I go again…less people, and snow on the bridge for better photos. Let me know what she did/thought!
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I had a quick look on Google at some shots of Bratislava castle from various angles. I wondered if you might be exaggerating, but I’m afraid it is a little underwhelming as castles go. It looks like a not very interesting hotel building with four totally unnecessary towers stuck on each corner.
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I rest my case!! underwhelming, indeed…
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Wow – truly a beautiful city with impressive buildings and bridges. I’ve played with the idea of a Danube river cruise, even checked out some dates, but can’t convince hubby to come along…may have to find a woman friend to be a companion 🙂
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My advice is spend the extra cash on an upscale cruise, some boats are so much nicer than others. I was the only single person on my ship! But everyone gets friendly! What cruise line did you check? What ports?
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It might have been Viking River Cruises…
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Viking was one of the best I saw on the river, just make sure you get one of their newest boats. In a future post, I will have a photo of a Viking ship. They had dining tables also outside at the stern…very lovely.
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good to know, thank you.
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It might have been Viking River Cruises… Maybe not winter, though that would be the time I would go if I go again…less people, and snow on the bridge for better photos.
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It might have been Viking River Cruises… Maybe not winter, though that would be the time I would go if I go again…less people, and snow on the bridge for better photos.
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It might have been Viking River Cruises… I agree, you must go there.
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