NO NAZIS
The graffiti at the side of the station tracks said NO NAZIS. I guess it was put there by people who wanted English speaking people to know that some Hungarians or Pestis at least do not want anything to do with the rise of Nazism.
The train ride from Salzburg to Budapest passed through some of the most beautiful countryside - windmill farms, old time churches , one and two factories. The border with Hungary was clearer though, the houses looked a bit older, and there were glimpses of rural poverty. Some satellite dishes were rusty. I thought of Guyana.
The Keleti Pu is a beautiful station, some parts in need of repair. I am pinching myself .. thinking, I am in Hungary, I am in Hungary.. what am I doing here. When I was younger, I had a stamp from Hungary and I used to wonder what it would be like there.
Zsuzsanna and Gabor are there.. last time Zsuzsanna and I met, we had gone to Bourda Market. This is couchsurfing karmaThe apartment building.. character. The steps are worn down, the hallway has graffiti, beautiful wrought iron balustrades, no elevator.
The apartment is on the fourth floor.. and I sit down and I keep saying, what am I doing here, what am I doing here? The view from one window is the non-working chimney and the sky. I am lucky with the weather.
Some of the metro stations, smell of freshly baked bread and pastries. No other place I have been with metros that smell of bread and cake.
On the plane coming back, the Hungarian teacher told me that the bakeries start at 4am, and bread has to be eaten fresh every day.
A lot of the places are touristy. I avoid those places and find a few places which have no English signs or cambios or anything like that. There was one market as well.. I like visiting markets in different countries. It was just amazing to see the paprika and garlic and the hundred different cheeses and yoghurts and the one stall which just had pickles. Zsuszanna when she had come to Guyana also bought different things in Bourda market and I felt the same way, to buy the different fruits they had there.
There are bookshops all over the place, and there are people reading all over the place. Saw a girl walking and reading as well. I like being in a place where people are reading and buying books.
This is one country that seems to have always been occupied one way or another. The Andrassy Utca has some of the buildings, some without windows which have For Sale and For Rent on them. The Terror Museum, slate grey, is where they secret police tortured and killed people during the Communist years. This is how they will remember those days. Most of the museums seem to be for tourists.
Ice cream all over the place,but they only sell 1 gambulc at a time, and the cone cup taste horrible, I just want the ice cream. Lovely pastries, and some lovely looking but they dry. Turo cheese , it wuk good with the pasta I cooked the first night and had every night for the other three nights.
I am still eating like a student.. mek one pot for a few days..
Different sights.. the churches are beautiful and I light a candle in each one that I visit, while saying the prayers to Mother Laxmi.
Rudas bath is fascinating, old bath, from Turkish times apparently, but the pools are at different temperatures and it feels good to soak in warm heavy water. Dries out the skin though. I meet Akeel here, who came to do capoeira.
Akeel say that Budapest reminds him of Havana, beautiful buildings, but run down.. spirit is interesting, maybe it is summer, not so crowded, and some people are smiling and laughing. It is not Latin America.
A man stares me down, cold grey eyes, short buzz hair.. like the secret police in the spy thrillers. Then he comes to sit down next to me and asks me where I am from in English. This is in Kiraly Baths. He then tells me I am tall so my penis must be big.. he says maybe , maybe not. I ask him what he does.. he says he is a psychiatrist and I get visions of him interrogating suspects.. and like he come to interrogate me. But he asks about Guyana and he knows of it.. and he talks of how the water in the baths are good for potency and so on..
There are many great spots to just sit and do nothing.. i walk across bridges, find benches, listen to two old men play violin and guitar. I have a coffee and chocolate torte and watch the world go by. This is what I needed, the ability to be anonymous, and to wander aimlessly in a different place. It worked well.
At the airport, they say I need a visa for the UK.. I thought, wow I will get a few days more.. but they sort out that I could go.
The train ride from Salzburg to Budapest passed through some of the most beautiful countryside - windmill farms, old time churches , one and two factories. The border with Hungary was clearer though, the houses looked a bit older, and there were glimpses of rural poverty. Some satellite dishes were rusty. I thought of Guyana.
The Keleti Pu is a beautiful station, some parts in need of repair. I am pinching myself .. thinking, I am in Hungary, I am in Hungary.. what am I doing here. When I was younger, I had a stamp from Hungary and I used to wonder what it would be like there.
Zsuzsanna and Gabor are there.. last time Zsuzsanna and I met, we had gone to Bourda Market. This is couchsurfing karmaThe apartment building.. character. The steps are worn down, the hallway has graffiti, beautiful wrought iron balustrades, no elevator.
The apartment is on the fourth floor.. and I sit down and I keep saying, what am I doing here, what am I doing here? The view from one window is the non-working chimney and the sky. I am lucky with the weather.
Some of the metro stations, smell of freshly baked bread and pastries. No other place I have been with metros that smell of bread and cake.
On the plane coming back, the Hungarian teacher told me that the bakeries start at 4am, and bread has to be eaten fresh every day.
A lot of the places are touristy. I avoid those places and find a few places which have no English signs or cambios or anything like that. There was one market as well.. I like visiting markets in different countries. It was just amazing to see the paprika and garlic and the hundred different cheeses and yoghurts and the one stall which just had pickles. Zsuszanna when she had come to Guyana also bought different things in Bourda market and I felt the same way, to buy the different fruits they had there.
There are bookshops all over the place, and there are people reading all over the place. Saw a girl walking and reading as well. I like being in a place where people are reading and buying books.
This is one country that seems to have always been occupied one way or another. The Andrassy Utca has some of the buildings, some without windows which have For Sale and For Rent on them. The Terror Museum, slate grey, is where they secret police tortured and killed people during the Communist years. This is how they will remember those days. Most of the museums seem to be for tourists.
Ice cream all over the place,but they only sell 1 gambulc at a time, and the cone cup taste horrible, I just want the ice cream. Lovely pastries, and some lovely looking but they dry. Turo cheese , it wuk good with the pasta I cooked the first night and had every night for the other three nights.
I am still eating like a student.. mek one pot for a few days..
Different sights.. the churches are beautiful and I light a candle in each one that I visit, while saying the prayers to Mother Laxmi.
Rudas bath is fascinating, old bath, from Turkish times apparently, but the pools are at different temperatures and it feels good to soak in warm heavy water. Dries out the skin though. I meet Akeel here, who came to do capoeira.
Akeel say that Budapest reminds him of Havana, beautiful buildings, but run down.. spirit is interesting, maybe it is summer, not so crowded, and some people are smiling and laughing. It is not Latin America.
A man stares me down, cold grey eyes, short buzz hair.. like the secret police in the spy thrillers. Then he comes to sit down next to me and asks me where I am from in English. This is in Kiraly Baths. He then tells me I am tall so my penis must be big.. he says maybe , maybe not. I ask him what he does.. he says he is a psychiatrist and I get visions of him interrogating suspects.. and like he come to interrogate me. But he asks about Guyana and he knows of it.. and he talks of how the water in the baths are good for potency and so on..
There are many great spots to just sit and do nothing.. i walk across bridges, find benches, listen to two old men play violin and guitar. I have a coffee and chocolate torte and watch the world go by. This is what I needed, the ability to be anonymous, and to wander aimlessly in a different place. It worked well.
At the airport, they say I need a visa for the UK.. I thought, wow I will get a few days more.. but they sort out that I could go.
This would be such a fantastic thing to do, it's not often that we get an opportunity to get lost in another culture... or be interrogated about the size of your member by random strangers :-)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy.