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lawnrrd(I originally wrote this entry longhand at 2 P.M. on September 12, 2002.)
Back on Malev airlines, this time leaving Budapest and headed for Amsterdam, for the third leg of my wife's ex-boyfriend tour of Europe. We had a wonderful time in Budapest, despite raging, out-of-control allergies.
Actually, the "ex-boyfriend" part of this leg was a bust. The relevant ex-boyfriend was in Italy with his family.
My wife lived in Budapest for a year, about eleven years ago, just after the Berlin Wall fell. she had not been back since, and I had never been there. Since we were going to be nearby, in Romania, we decided to spend a few days in Budapest.
Like Romania, Hungary was a communist state dominated by the Soviet Union. Unlike Romania, Hungary is not hopelessly fucked up. Budapest is a vibrant city, a seemingly successful attempt to build a modern city atop Soviet-era infrastructure.
We stayed in an apartment owned by Zoltan (Zoli), a friend of my wife. Zoli's life is fascinating. An ethnic Hungarian born in Romania, Zoli walked across the border into Hungary fourteen years ago with only the clothes on his back. Since then, he has become a Hungarian citizen. He and my wife were roommates briefly while my wife was in Hungary. Zoli is a successful entrepreneur, having built a chain of cell-phone shops that he recently sold.
Several years ago, Zoli married an American woman. They lived in Budapest, having two daughters together. Sadly, she left him recently and moved back to the United States, taking their children with him. You can see in his eyes how much that has cost him.
But for the past year or so, Zoli has been dating a devastatingly attractive ski instructor. He recently moved in with her, living his beautiful apartment vacant. We were thus able to stay there while in Budapest.
Budapest is not big, and it is well-served by an extensive system of public transport. We took a lot of trams as we did some touristy things, like visiting a museum, spending a morning at the mineral baths, walking through the parks, and the like. My wife was surprised by how little the city seemed to have changed, although she thought the new shopping centers were impressive.
Yesterday was September 11, of course. I observed the date by compulsively checking CNN and the BBC. We had looked for an observance in Budapest, but there seemed to be only a memorial concert that evening, and we already had plans with friends. We had lunch at McDonald's though, which we decided in hindsight was an appropriate celebration of American capitalism.
That night, we had dinner with our host and his girlfriend at Gundel, which is widely regarded as the best restaurant in Hungary. There were a couple of lapses, but the meal was very good. There was a strolling violinist, and we requested "New York, New York." When he played it, my wife started crying.
Back on Malev airlines, this time leaving Budapest and headed for Amsterdam, for the third leg of my wife's ex-boyfriend tour of Europe. We had a wonderful time in Budapest, despite raging, out-of-control allergies.
Actually, the "ex-boyfriend" part of this leg was a bust. The relevant ex-boyfriend was in Italy with his family.
My wife lived in Budapest for a year, about eleven years ago, just after the Berlin Wall fell. she had not been back since, and I had never been there. Since we were going to be nearby, in Romania, we decided to spend a few days in Budapest.
Like Romania, Hungary was a communist state dominated by the Soviet Union. Unlike Romania, Hungary is not hopelessly fucked up. Budapest is a vibrant city, a seemingly successful attempt to build a modern city atop Soviet-era infrastructure.
We stayed in an apartment owned by Zoltan (Zoli), a friend of my wife. Zoli's life is fascinating. An ethnic Hungarian born in Romania, Zoli walked across the border into Hungary fourteen years ago with only the clothes on his back. Since then, he has become a Hungarian citizen. He and my wife were roommates briefly while my wife was in Hungary. Zoli is a successful entrepreneur, having built a chain of cell-phone shops that he recently sold.
Several years ago, Zoli married an American woman. They lived in Budapest, having two daughters together. Sadly, she left him recently and moved back to the United States, taking their children with him. You can see in his eyes how much that has cost him.
But for the past year or so, Zoli has been dating a devastatingly attractive ski instructor. He recently moved in with her, living his beautiful apartment vacant. We were thus able to stay there while in Budapest.
Budapest is not big, and it is well-served by an extensive system of public transport. We took a lot of trams as we did some touristy things, like visiting a museum, spending a morning at the mineral baths, walking through the parks, and the like. My wife was surprised by how little the city seemed to have changed, although she thought the new shopping centers were impressive.
Yesterday was September 11, of course. I observed the date by compulsively checking CNN and the BBC. We had looked for an observance in Budapest, but there seemed to be only a memorial concert that evening, and we already had plans with friends. We had lunch at McDonald's though, which we decided in hindsight was an appropriate celebration of American capitalism.
That night, we had dinner with our host and his girlfriend at Gundel, which is widely regarded as the best restaurant in Hungary. There were a couple of lapses, but the meal was very good. There was a strolling violinist, and we requested "New York, New York." When he played it, my wife started crying.
