My last email got us to Croatia and my encounter with Croatian law enforcement and someone else’s encounter with the grill of an oncoming truck. What I left out between those two episodes was a day of hiking in Croatia’s Plitvice National Park. Back when we were planning this trip, I had asked Quynh-Nhu and Nikolas […]
After my last post I went to one of the fancy old public baths in Budapest. It was giant neoclassical complex built in the mid-1800s and painted bright yellow. Turned out not to be anything like the Turkish baths; instead, it was a hot springs on steroids. We started outside, in a series of pools […]
Hostal Ginkgo Hungarian Parliament Architectural purists are horrified by this Renaissance dome on an otherwise Gothic building Chamber of Parliament Cigar HolderThe MPs would leave their cigars here in the foyer when they needed to go into the chamber to vote or debate Fisherman’s Bastion Can you see me? Now can you see me? […]
I hadn’t known entirely what to expect from Budapest, and it has definitely exceeded those nebulous expectations. I would say that Budapest is to Vienna what London is to Paris, or what New York is to Washington DC. In other words, it’s vibrant, chaotic, kind of messy, and full of energy — I love it! […]
After exhausting Vienna (to the extent you can exhaust that city in 36 hours), we packed up the car and headed east to Hungary. The direct route to Budapest wouldn’t have taken very long, but we wanted to see a series of cute little villages that are tucked into a bend of the Danube river. […]
I’m in Budapest at the moment, sitting at the computer desk in the hostel while it pours rain outside — Quynh-Nhu, Nikolas and I had just finished a fantastic dinner at Cafe Menza on Liszt Square when it started to rain. We thought we could wait out the rain by ordering dessert (which, granted, we would have […]
I forgot to mentıon thıs before, but ıf you want to see pıctures of thıs latest stınt ın Istanbul, here’s the lınk agaın to Amanda’s blog: http://www.chitarita.blogspot.com/ I just saw that Mıchael Jackson dıed! Holy cow – does somethıng major have to happen every tıme I leave the country? Fırst I go to Guatemala and […]
Thıs wıll most lıkely be my last emaıl from Turkey – tomorrow we fly back to the US! We have been ın Istanbul for almost three days now. We flew here rıght after the hammam experıence ın Cappadocıa. Orıgınally we thought we’d have a good afternoon ın Istanbul that day, sınce we were leavıng at […]
You probably thought you were done hearing from me for a while — at least until I got to Istanbul, right? Well, so did I, but now there’s news: the Turks may not have grasped the concept of deodorant, but they have definitely got bathing down to an art! Faced with a morning of unscheduled […]
It’s moi; still in Turkey; thought I’d send along another update as I wind up the Cappadoccia section of the trip and head to Istanbul. First, I want to say “Happy Father’s Day” to Dad. I’m sorry I wasn’t around to call and say it in person, but I definitely thought of you and hope […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 