It can be difficult visiting a new church alone.  This was me Sunday morning October 11,  at the 151st Street Church of Christ.  They offered a 8AM service and this provided for a very convenient time for worship since my friends were likely going to be sleeping in.  Now I am usually fairly quiet, not desiring to meet new people.  The members at 151st Street were very welcoming.  It was a mix of older people with some younger families.  They had 2 services – an 8AM service and 10:30AM service which gave me the impression that they were growing and perhaps needed to think about getting a bigger auditorium.

When you think about Harry Truman, what do you remember?  The man thrust into the international spotlight by being nominated as vice president to the dying FDR?  (If FDR was dying, why did he run for a 4th term?)  I wonder how long they waited to tell him that the atomic bomb was a option once he took office…whether he knew about it as VP or was is only when he was sworn in as president that he found out about the bomb?  I believe that Truman did the right thing by using the atomic bombs on Japan.  A land invasion of Japan would be prolonged and cost lives on both sides.  It was the best thing for the bomb to be used and end the war quickly.

The Harry S Truman Museum was not only about Truman, but also about the Cold War.  Flashbacks of my junior year in high school occurred as I walked through the exhibits, viewing things I had not thought about since studying for those history tests.  I found myself fascinated on Truman’s actions and prudence during the early days of the Cold War. The documentary shown beforehand provided for a great deal of insight on Truman’s background and seemed to indicate he was not a career politician.

As I waited in line for security screening on my trip from Nashville to Kansas City I realized that this is the last real barrier in keeping our planes safe.  Think about it.  These TSA security screeners, whether they be those with extensive service in law enforcement background, or a unemployed barroom bouncer, keep me safe while flying. How often do you hear of someone working for TSA for a lifetime? This is a revolving door job.  Who wants to be on their feet all day dealing with grumpy travelers? And what of all of this security theater?  Would a terrorist try to slip something past TSA screening or (more likely) try through some other inside methods?

I boarded my plane to Kansas City at 1:50PM, even though the plane didn’t take off until 2:20PM. I’m of the believe that Southwest planes board several minutes before because of the anomaly of open seating….passengers take extra time trying to find a seat, rather than just going to their assigned seat.  Thankfully this was not a full flight and there were some empty seats, one of which was beside me.  Southwest has the option of watching tv over their wifi network.  Although it had some lag at times, I was able to watch a few minutes of reality shows on Discovery Channel and Judge Judy.  The CBS and NBC shows appeared to be from a New York City affilate.

Kansas City International Airport, opened in 1972, was not designed with this new level of security in mind.  Instead of having one funnel for all security screening, each set of gates has their own TSA screening.  This must require for an extra number of TSA screeners.

After arriving and meeting Mark curbside, we went off to Price Choppers for Groceries and then to Minsky’s Pizza…a yearly tradition for us.  Looking forward to a great time seeing friends.

Now that I have been home for a few days and have had time to think about my trip, I offer these reflections on Budapest and travel in general.

The Hungarian people have had a bad rap for much of their history.  They aligned with Austria to form the Austrian Hungarian Empire, then lost much of their territory after World War II.  In World War II, the Nazi’s used their military strength to persuade Hungary to align with them.  After World War II, they were under Soviet influence.  It is just in the past 20 years that they have gotten out of communism and come into a democratic nation of their own.

I found them for the most part to be friendly and genuinely wanted to help a struggling tourist find his way.  Many spoke English.  I found the Hungarian language difficult to understand with no real structure to words.

The Hungarians are a very proud people with a wonderful capital.  Nice Gothic looking Parliament and other Baroque themed buildings.  I felt safe there.  There were times where I walked down dark streets on the way to my hotel, but had no one harass me.

Five days is truly not enough time to see all of Budapest.  I wish I had a couple of more (sunny) days.

Some tips while traveling:

Pack light.  I try to do it with no checked luggage.  You don’t need that many clothes for a one week’s stay.  You don’t need to be lugging a big suitcase down the streets of a foreign city.  And I personally do not bring back that many souvenirs.  If I see something that is too large to fit in my suitcase, I would consider mailing it back.

Along the same lines I would say keep electronics at a minimum.  I brought way too many cables.  I needed probably 2 USB electrical plugs.  I had probably about 4.  I did not bring a laptop and honestly didn’t need it.  My camera card held more than enough photos.  I did have a portable 1 TB hard drive card reader, but didn’t need it.  I had a iPad as well, but really didn’t need it.

Use public transport.  Most all large European cities have great networks of buses, trams, and metros (subways).  Use them.  Don’t be afraid to get lost.  You can always find your way back to your hotel again by studying maps.

I personally look for a hotel with a free breakfast included.  This way I can load up on breakfast before touring for the day.  My hotel also needs free wifi for keeping up with friends at home (and posting updates for family and friends back home).  Also I need to be near a subway, bus or tram stop.  With this particular Budapest hotel I was near all forms of public transportation.  The only problem was that I never seemed to use the same transportation mode to get back.  So I was constantly having to figure out how to get back to my hotel after I got off the bus/tram/subway.

Google Maps is your friend.  If you need to go somewhere just get near a free wifi signal, type in the name of the place you want to go, and Google Maps will tell you exactly how to get there with public transportation.  It will even tell you how many stops it will take.  It works even after you loose the wifi signal.  I used Google Maps more than what I had ever used before this trip.  Google Maps has truly come of age and I’ll continue to use it for my future trips.

Get a good travel book and study it.  Rick Steves is my Bible when I travel.  It tells you exactly where to go and how to get there.  There were times I deviated from Rick Steves’ recommendations, and found myself lost thinking I should have listened to Rick!

Just go with the flow.  Don’t worry if you miss an attraction.  I was there for the experience.  The best thing about traveling alone is there is no complaining.  Who would I complain to?  Still, even though I am an introvert, I found myself longing for human interaction.  The members and American missionaries at the Budapest Church of Christ fulfill those needs to some extent.

This was my first vacation alone…not related to business.  I am thankful I was given a great opportunity to visit a wonderful country.  I hope for many more trips in the future.

It was going to be a long day for me today.  The night before I asked the hotel front desk worker how long to allow to get to the airport for a 9 a.m. flight.  He said that I should allow for 90 minutes because there could be a wreck or some other delay that could make me be late for the flight.  He said he had personally missed a flight because he didn’t plan enough time.

So I sat my alarm for 5:15 AM to make for enough time to actually leave by 6AM.  Google Maps stated I should use a combination of 2 buses so I planned accordingly.  I had spent a few minutes the night before packing so that I would not have to attend to packing in the morning.  As I was trying to lock my door, the front desk attendant exited the floor bathroom and asked if needed help.  I said “Oh I’m just trying to check out.”  He said “Well, I can see that.”  He then helped me lock my door.  I felt so stupid as I had been staying at the hotel for 5 nights, but suddenly I couldn’t lock it this last time.  I gave the hotel attendant my key and made small talk with him.  He was the same front desk worker who was there last night.  I felt sorry for him and wondered what he did all night long.

I walked about 10 minutes to the bus stop.  The bus arrived a few minutes later, but the bus driver pulled over the bus, locked it and walked away.  I figured he arrived early and just wanted to take a break from driving.  He arrived and unlocked the bus for us to get in.  I didn’t show him my ticket because during other times I showed my ticket to the bus driver with very little reaction from the driver.  I figured showing the ticket to the driver was not a requirement.  After I had sat down the bus driver made a very stern announcement in Hungarian to the passengers on the bus and then sat in the driver’s seat.  I figured I’d better show the driver my ticket just in case.  I tapped on the driver’s window and showed him my ticket. I asked a fellow passenger if she spoke English (which she did) and then asked what the announcement was about.  She said the driver stated that I didn’t show him my ticket.

The bus proceeded on its route.  I was to catch the bus to a particular stop then catch another bus which would take me to the airport.  Although Google Maps is good about telling you the names of the stops in between, you can miss the stop if you aren’t paying attention.  This almost happened to me.  But I managed to get off and catch the 200E bus to the airport.

After I arrived to the airport I had difficulty finding which terminal I should go to.  I figured Lufthansa was in that terminal therefore I should go to that particular terminal.  I waited in line at the Lufthansa desk, but they said I should instead go to the other terminal to check in.  This was because I was flying on German Wings to Dusseldorf and not actually Lufthansa.  I finally found the German Wings desk at the other terminal and waited in line to get my boarding pass.  This was because I could not print my boarding pass at the self service kiosk.

I got through security without any problems.  Why is it that European security doesn’t have passengers take off their shoes, while TSA is very adamant about making sure this happens? Since I had an hour to wait for my flight I decided to get breakfast at Burger King and to use up the last bit of Hungarian Forint before leaving the country.  I had 1000 HUF and this provided with enough to get orange juice and a breakfast burrito.

After getting to my gate I found a plug for my phone to charge and sat down on the floor to babysit my phone charger.  I sat in front of an older American couple from Seattle who had taken a Viking Cruise from Germany to Budapest.  The husband was very excited about traveling while the wife wasn’t too enthusiastic. (Usually it is the other way around)

I caught my flight to Dusseldorf.  In Europe I’ve noticed that more often than not passengers are put on a tram bus and actually board the plane outside and away from a sky bridge. On the flight they served a cheese sandwich and a chocolate covered rice bar – a very unusual combination.

In Dusseldorf I cleared German customs and found my way to the gate.  Passengers were to hold their boarding pass with bar code up to the reader in order to board the plane.  However many people were getting rejected.  I too was rejected from boarding.  I found that I needed to have some information from my passport entered into their computer system in order to clear me for travel.  This was unusual as I had already entered this information when I first purchased the ticket.  I got back in line.  The man in front of me tried entering his ticket several times on the reader and it kept rejecting him.  He must not have been watching the screen when it said “Please see attendant.” It was almost like seeing a person repeatedly ram his head into a brick wall.

I sat next to an older Polish couple who immigrated to the United States in the 1980s.  The husband had immigrated with his daughter and then had to wait 3 more years before his wife and son could immigrate.  I asked if they had been to Budapest.  They said they had been there on their honeymoon when they rode on a motorcycle from Gdansk, Poland, to the Black Sea.  They tent camped along the way.  I inquired if Poland was safe for tourists.  He said that it was very safe and every other person speaks English.  I decided I’d better put Poland on my short list of future destinations.

I would have loved to spend more time with this charming couple who must have had alot of stories to tell.

I managed to watch “Mad Max Fury Road” and part of “Little Miss Sunshine” on the way to Newark.  I never got any sleep on planes as it was much too uncomfortable.  It was a middle aisle seat.

I’ve noticed the closer you get to America the more like America it becomes.  I was able to get ice in my drinks on this flight. Plus when we landed it seemed like the attendance spoke clearer English.

Customs in Newark was okay.  The first line was for the customs official to stamp my declaration of enty.  The second line the female customs official asked me what kind of souvenirs was I bringing back. I had never been asked this before and the question caught me off guard.  I said a few t-shirts and a hat for my niece.  This seem to satisfy the official.

I had gotten an email from the airline stating my flight to Nashville was delayed until 6:15 p.m.  I checked with the airline and found there was a flight leaving at 3:15PM.  It was already 2:50PM so I made a bee-line to the terminal.  Had I not had to go through TSA screening again I could have made it.  It always makes no sense.  I had already been screen by security in Budapest.  Why be redundant with screening in Newark.  By the time I made it to the gate the airline attendant said the flight was long gone.  After I found out, I did what every good traveler does.  I called my mother.  Actually I called her, not to complain or for sympathy.  Rather i was just checking and catching up.  While I was talking to my mother I was trying to find a way to get from terminal C to terminal A and was walking back and forth in the terminal.  While I was doing this some guy carrying his bad hit my suitcase pretty hard trying to get around me.  I gave him a dirty look and probably would have said something like “Watch your bag!” had I not been on the phone with my mom.

I caught the bus to terminal A and surprisingly did not have to go through TSA screening again.  My flight was really delayed by at least an extra hour.  I was very thirsty and ended up paying $3.10 for a 20 oz Fanta.  I decide to pass on a meal which I might have had to take out a bank loan to get.

There was a pigeon loose in the terminal, but no one seemed to mind.  I tried to get a photo of it, but decided against as it started flying around instead of just walking on the carpeted floor.

I sat down in a quiet place and composed yesterday’s blog entry by voice to text.  Google’s voice to text is a life saver for those traveling without a keyboard.

The plane to Nashville was very small and had only one stewardess.  I felt somewhat sorry for her.  She tried to sell food during the flight, but no one was buying.

My mother picked me up at the airport and we traveled home.  I had survived my first real solo vacation and expected there to be many more to come.

Today was a day to catch up on anything else that I might have missed and most importantly to get souvenirs for my family and friends. I don’t know what my friends and family would say if I had forgotten to get them a souvenir.

After speaking with American missionaries at Budapest Church of Christ, it was suggested that I go to the Aquicum which was a Roman ruin in the northwest part of Budapest known as a Obuda. I got on Google Maps and get directions. It stated that I should ride a particular bus to a particular stop and then get out and walk. Unfortunately I didn’t pay attention to the actual name of the place I was going to and instead went to a park with a very similar name as the Roman ruins. I noticed my mistake when there were no Roman ruins at the park and instead looked like a normal average city park. I caught a train but unfortunately it was going the wrong direction and I went back two stops before actually realizing my mistake. I got off and waited for the next train. A man approached me as I was looking at the map and offered help I told him that I someone knew where I was going to and describes the Roman ruins. He was a very nice man and told me a little bit about himself and about the Roman ruins. He was unemployed but he had gone to school to be a religious teacher. And he was looking for a job. He was also helpful when we got on the train they made an announcement that the train would not stop at the stop I intended to get off on and suggested that I get off at the stop before and just walk or take a bus. As I got off a stop there were some Japanese tourists who helped direct me to where I needed to go they suggested that I walk which I’m not so sure what the fastest way to get there but I decided to follow their instructions anyway. Where some Japanese tourists who helped lead me to where I needed to go. They suggested that I walk which I’m not so sure what the fastest way to get there but I just headed to fall there instructions anyway. They were very kind and we had a short conversation on our way to the museum.

I got to the museum, paid my fee and went in to look at the exhibits. There are quite a few gravestones which had translations on them. Also  what appeared to be Stone coffins with inscriptions on them as well . I thought to myself whether or not the inscribed stones were made prior to the death and then the inscription was carved later on after the person died. These were very large coffins and were probably for rich families. Within another part of the museum parts were displayed make no doubt about it the Romans were very advanced society to be able to make it sexy beautiful pots and among other things.

What I found very unusual wish to see parts of an organ, albeit very small, that the Romans apparently had manufactured.

Outside of the museum you can see the outline of where a Roman bath was. Budapest is known for its baths and apparently they’ve been having baths in Budapest since ancient Roman times. In a covered area but still exposed on one side to the weather or some more ancient stones from Roman times. I felt as though they probably should have been inside to keep them from being damaged due to the harsh Budapest winters. There were a lot of the stones.

Afterwards I really wanted to see a Roman Stadium but it was further down the area and I felt as though I was running out of time to try and find it. Instead I got on the bus going the direction which I needed to go. This happened many times in my Budapest trip I really didn’t know exactly where I was going but I figured it was good to try and get on a bus going in the direction that I needed to go and then figure it out from there once I recognize the surroundings. The bus I was on terminated right beside a tram station. I found a map of mass transit in Budapest and figured out a way to get on the blue subway line. I felt it was probably best for me to try to go down to the area of where the souvenirs for sold so that I could at least buy some for my family and friends. I had a bit of trouble finding the great Market Hall which was in an area where I know I needed to go but eventually I found it. I had asked a tourist information sites about where I can find particular historic McDonalds. Everyone remembers when McDonald’s opened in Moscow to a big sand fair. But Budapest at a McDonalds you before that. He was actually the first McDonald’s behind the Iron Curtain. I found the McDonalds and got a meal. I decided it was time for me to try and get to see St Ignatius Church. I found a Wi-Fi signal to where I could get a Google map direction. As I got on the bus I found that it was going in a different direction. An older lady was very helpful in pointing out to where the Basilica was.

The Basilica was grand. It had two towers and a domed roof. Before I even entered the Basilica I decided to climb to the very top to make some panoramic pictures by the dome. Also got out my GoPro and did a panoramic around the Dome of the Basilica. I won’t find out until I get home as to whether or not these GoPro videos turned out okay. But usually they turn out better than what I expected.

Inside of the church was nothing special really and it was all posted with silence signs. The Rick Steve book suggested that I pay a 200 Hungarian currency donation to enter the church.

Afterwards it was time for souvenir shopping. This always provides a headache for me because I never really know exactly what to get. Eventually I realize that some souvenirs that I give to my niece and nephew will be will end up in a garage sale. but I try to get them something anyway just to let them know that I’m going to be about them whenever I’m traveling. Which souvenir shopping you have to shop around because some stores are very expensive for all of the stores are very inexpensive for the same exact items. Number one on my list for myself was a soccer jersey. I try to get a soccer jersey for every country I go to. I also planned on getting my nephew a soccer jersey. The store I went into the salesman was actually running to separate stores and had to unlock the soccer store in order for me to look at jerseys. The first Jersey that’s always over 50 US dollars and I decided not to get that. The others were much more inexpensive aunt probably of the same type of material as the other jerseys.

Before going to the Basilica I had seen people looking at what I thought were Russian hats with a big red Russian store. So I tried to find these heads but actually I don’t think they ever really existed. It could be were thet were the winter hats but they did not have a Russian store on it. I could get these hats in Nashville easily so I wasn’t going to spend the extra money on a very similar hat Budapest if there was nothing about it. But it did take time for me to walk up and down the shopping area several times before realizing that these hats were inside of the store.

After picking up several souvenirs including Easter eggs that were actually going to be used as Christmas ornaments I decided it was time to start heading back to my hotel. The Budapest Church of Christ was having a mission campaign and had services at 6 p.m. that night. I wanted to be sure to support these mission efforts. After eating supper at Subway I headed back to my hotel. I jumped off my souvenirs and only took my Bible with me. This is very unusual for me and it almost felt very awkward not having my backpack full of maps and a camera. I walked a few minutes and caught the tram to the area near the church. The church meets in an apartment complex with a gated front door. I have been told how to ring the buzzer for them to allow you to let me in but I wasn’t sure if I was doing it properly. Finally some residents of the apartment came out the door and I managed to get into the apartment. I walked up to the steps to a lot open door where the church with having their worship service. The preachers were busy getting together a laptop to record the services.

The gentleman speaking that evening hold of God’s love toward him. It seems that he had had a brother commit suicide and he himself had been divorced previously and gotten into some fights before converting to Christianity.

After the church service we moved into the church’s kitchen to have some fellowship. One of the preachers brought his young son along. The resident preacher gave the young sons kinder eggs which have small toys with moving parts inside of them. These kinder eggs are banned in the US and would be confiscated by customs if it was ever tried to be brought in period I guess the US children are just not that smart to be able not to the small parts inside of the egg. It was great seeing the young boys get excited about the kinder eggs.

I said my goodbyes to the fellow Christians at the Budapest church and headed back with a family in the same direction as my tram stop. I had a big day the next day so I wanted to be sure and pack before having to get up early in the morning to catch my bus back to the airport for a flight to the US.

Yesterday due to spending time at the Budapest Church of Christ in fellowship I actually did not start touring until 4 p.m. Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed spending time with Americans and more importantly Christian but it did put a slight hamper in my plans. So I decided to catch up on things that were must sees in Budapest. I had brought my GoPro camera and a suction cup device that would allow me to film videos on glass windows. I really wanted to test it out on the funicular which transported people from an area around the Chain Bridge to Castle Hill. I found my way to the funicular loading area and paid to somewhat higher price for a one way ticket to the top. I had a bit extra time to get ready to fill including positioning the GoPro suction cup on the window. Now keep in mind that I do not have a laptop with me and am instead just using memory cards, a cell phone, and an iPad. So in reality I won’t really know how these videos turned out until I actually get home.

I got to the top of Castle Hill and salsa familiar. The only difference is this is a nice sunny day whereas yesterday’s weather was somewhat cloudy and rainy. I was able to get a Chinese couple to help take my picture. What I like to do whenever I’m vacationing by myself is to seek out someone who has a large camera preferably the same brand as mine and ask them to take my picture. Not everyone who carries around a nice fancy camera knows how to use it. But it is the risk I take when asking others to take my picture rather than using a lame selfie stick. Anyone who uses a selfie stick or a cell phone as their primary camera is likely not familiar with cameras and taking pictures, at least not familiar enough for the quality I prefer in my pictures.

I bought tickets to the Fisherman’s Bastion which is basically an area which allows you to take panorama pictures of the city. Actually it is not really necessary to buy tickets and still get the same view of the city. But this tickets are fairly cheap so I decided to splurge and spend some money.

Next was onto a tour of the tower of St Matthias Church. This was the church which I bought a ticket to view the inside of yesterday but I didn’t really have enough time to see the inside of the church. Tours of the tower were at the top of every hour and I just happen to get there right on time as a tour with starting so no time was wasted. In the tour it was me and the family from Israel. They spoke good English and I do believe the father may have had dual citizenship in America. One of our tour guides ask me where I was from and I told him Tennessee. He was able to name off the Tennessee Titans very quickly. I asked him how he knew about NFL and he said there is a club in Budapest that keeps up with NFL games. He said he was also collecting States of people who tour of the tower he said he didn’t have New Mexico, Hawaii or Maine as having visitors tour in the tower. It was quite a walk up stairs to the tower but was well worth the view. Anytime I have an opportunity to take a walk up to a tall tower in any European city I go for it because the pictures on it are worth the trouble. I am glad I’m able to physically walk up the stairs because I know one day I will be unable to do so in soon that will take away the ability to take pictures from such high altitudes. While I was at the top I got out my GoPro and did a panoramic of the entire tower. This should make for good views of the city on a video I have plans to edit once I get home.

We came down from the tower and it was next on my list to visit a ruined church known as St. Mary Magdalene Church. I found my way to it by a short walk from St Matthias Church. The church was destroyed in World War 2 and since the population of Budapest had decreased so rapidly and there was no need to repair of the church since Saint Matthias Church was nearby. The Mary Magdalene church only has the tower left. You can see the outline of what was the church in the footprints of the walls left behind. I really wanted to go up to the top but alas it was Monday and the museum and therefore the tower was closed. Many times in European countries museums are closed on Mondays for whatever reason or another. Mostly I think it’s because so many people tour museums on Sundays that it gives the staff of the museum to break the following day.

Next it was time to catch a bus down to the bottom of the Pest Side. The thing about Budapest is sometimes I don’t know exactly where I’m going but I usually find a way to get there if I just hop on a bus heading in the direction that I want to go. This was the case with me getting down to the bottom of the hill. The bus terminated at the bottom of the hill and I had to find a different bus to take. I’ve been pretty adept at finding buses that go in the direction that I need to go if only by looking on the bus schedule and see if I recognize any of the stops. And to think when I was in New York City I relied on my friend to figure out the New York City mass transit system. I’ve managed to travel all around Europe using mass transit but I can’t figure out the New York City Transit System nor the Chicago Transit System.

I found my way to Parliament which I head toward on Friday but it was raining and therefore I did not have a good chance to take nice pictures of outside of the building. Before taking photos of the building I decided it was time to find a restroom and remembered that there was a business area with free restrooms only north side of the parliament. That’s the thing in Europe if you ever find a free restroom make a mental note about it because it’s well worth going back to find the restroom without having to worry about paying an attendant for it. Restrooms should be free for all. And this particular restroom I used at least twice that day.

I got some great shots of the Parliament and even interacted with some Americans who seem to be asking questions about the Parliament and I got out my Rick Steves book to read the article on the sculpture they were inquiring about. Hungarian military guards are stationed beside the flag in front of the parliament. Ever so often they to soldiers walk around the ring at the base of the flag in step. I took several more pictures before moving on to the Rick Steves tour of the parliament area. I found a sculpture whose name escapes me at the moment and took photos of it. I really wanted to find the Ronald Reagan statue and eventually found it. I got an American couple to help take photos of me. The wife seem to know what she was doing even asking me to pose by it. Next I was into a quandary. I needed to eat lunch but there didn’t seem to be in a tasteful lunch areas around. Sure there were some local restaurants but I feel uneasy about eating at some of these restaurants as I don’t really know what I’m ordering nor the quality of the food. I decided to travel to a Subway restaurant in octagon metro stop. After lunch I decided to go back to a 1956 Museum the American couple who took the photo of me with Ronald Reagan had recommended. I got there and they were setting out a sign that said closed temporarily 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. This was somewhat frustrating as I had just got there and they set out the sign. I tried to come up with some ideas about what I should do to waste 45 minutes until the 1956 museum was open again. I decided to find the memorial to Jewish Holocaust victims. On the banks of the Danube between the Chain Bridge and the parliament are some empty shoes which represent the lives of the Jews who were killed during World War II. I took several pictures of the shoes even though there were so many tourists around to taking pictures. I like for my pictures to not contain any tourist. But sometimes it’s difficult to crop them out. I walked back to the area of the 1956 museum and happened upon a boat ramp. Budapest public transportation system also allows for boat access to travel up and down the Danube River. Since my week pass covered this I thought it would be a nice cheap way to get to sail on the Danube river without necessarily paying for a full riverboat cruise. I caught the first boat to come along. It was sailing south on the river. We went under the Chain Bridge. I managed to get some great video of the Chain Bridge and sites along the shore. This particular boat had an upper deck which I could go up on. This made for some better shots than having to say down in the lower deck behind glass. The boat on the way back north bound did not have an upper deck and therefore I had to stay at the bottom. About six 20 somethings came in and there was not enough room at a table they wanted to set out so I gave up my seat to allow them to set together.

By the time I got back from the boat the 1956 uprising museum had opened. This free museum gives an insight into the news regarding the 1956 uprising of students against the Soviet Union. Hungary had been apart of the communist bloc since right after World War 2. Stalin passed away a few years before and this allowed for some organize demonstrations to occur in Budapest. In October of 1956 everyone had gathered in the square in front of Parliament for some speech. It is unclear who fired the first shot but the aftermath was clear. Several protesters were shot but didn’t exact number we may never know because when they were taken to the hospital, the hospital staff did not want to upset the communist government so they reported the wounded as a different cause rather than being shot. The museum offered first-hand interviews of those present that day. I was surprised that so many people were still alive to talk about 1956. But many of these protesters were teenagers at the time which makes it really sad that so many young people were shot and killed. The museum had a Hungarian flag with the center cut out. I believe the Soviet error Hungary flag has a red star represent in communism on it.

Next on my list was trying to find the Great Synagogue. I rode the metro to the Astoria stop but had difficulty finding the synagogue. I did not have a reliable map. Please note that many of Rick Steves maps can be inaccurate. I asked a passerby if he knew where the Great Synagogue was. He said that he was visiting hungry too but would ask a lady on the street. The lady said that I should have ridden a metro station further up. However I knew that this probably wasn’t right in the Great Synagogue was probably in walking distance. From the ladies description I knew the area to go to so I started walking. The Great Synagogue can hide behind other buildings in the area so sometimes you might miss it. I got there and found no ticket taking window open. There are other Americans there wondering why the synagogue was closed. I walked around and found a sign that stated it was Rosh Hashanah today and tomorrow and therefore the synagogue was closed. This was a great disappointment to me because I understand the inside of the synagogue is fairly elaborate. The Great Synagogue is the second largest synagogue in the world only behind a synagogue in New York City. So now I know to always check the Jewish calendar for closings before planting a visit to a synagogue.

I decided to try and find a great market hall to see if there were any good souvenir stands. The great Market Hall is a historic shopping area with the ground floor having produce and meat and the second floor having mostly souvenirs. By the time I got there the shops were closing at 5 p.m. so I did not have very much time to look around.

I decided to make a visit to a thermal baths for some relaxation before having supper. Supper was at TGI Fridays in the Octagon area. I decided to get an old reliable that is a cheeseburger and fries. Cooking the meal took a little bit longer than I expected. When they did bring it out to me it had no condiments on it although there was catch up at the table. I asked my server for some mustard and it took her a little bit extra time to bring it back to me. The quality of the burger was okay better than a regular McDonalds but not as good as a Chili’s burger. I decided to treat myself with a smoothie as well. It costs the equivalent of $3 but figured I was only in Budapest one time and decided to splurge.

I made it back to my hotel room and chatted with some friends before going to sleep. I had a big day the next day to try and catch up on anything that I missed and buy souvenirs for friends and family.

All in all I think I had a very productive day today as I was able to catch up on a lot of my tours and must-see stops.

I managed to be able to sleep in on Sunday. On a whim before I left I searched for Budapest Church of Christ. Research results showed a bilingual Church of Christ and the Buda part of town. In the past I had gotten into the bad habit of not worshipping God on Sundays while on vacation I decided to start a new healthy habit of trying to find a church at destination points of my vacation. Through some research I found some contacts at the Budapest Church of Christ. They confirmed that there would be some American missionaries visiting during the time I would be visiting and therefore this services would be bilingual. I was interested in knowing more about the average Hungarian and wanted to spend time with other Christians at the church. The church was located at an apartment complex near the Castle Hill area of Buda. I went to the address but I did not know which apartment to ring in order to be able to be let in. I wish someone in a panic mode because I really wanted to spend time with the church but I wasn’t sure if I was going to be let into the apartment. Just a few minutes later an American missionary showed up and I asked him are you with the Church of Christ. This must of caught him off guard with having an American speak to him in English and in a foreign land. He knew which door to buzz in to allow us to go up to the church. I spent time speaking with the Americans there the minister was an American who had married a Hungarian wife. There were other missionaries from Memphis and New Orleans. It was good to spend time talking with them. I’m normally an introvert but on this particular vacation it causes me to crave for human interaction because I had been away from Americans for several days. Worship was time to begin. Just having some familiarity with worship put my mind at ease. The sermon was very basic emphasizing the fact that the Bible is the one and only source of God’s Word. I’m guessing many of these Christians are new converse and therefore they need to have the milk of the word given to them before they’re able to take on the stronger meat. The service was translated into Hungarian by a couple of different translators. We also sang songs in Hungarian some of which I knew the English versions of but the others I had no idea about. It helped me to understand some of the Hungarian language because quite frankly I don’t know any of it except for just a very few words.

After worship was over they dismissed the children to go to Bible class and I stayed for the adult class which consisted mostly of another sermon without much interaction with the crowd. It was a little disappointing because I was hoping that there would be more interaction with the crowd. After worship was over I spent time talking to the preachers and also enjoyed a few snacks in the church’s kitchen area. Afterwards I was invited out to eat by the American preacher along with some of the other missionaries. It was good to be able to spend time with these preachers and hear more about some of the mission efforts that they have been involved with. The current preacher in Budapest had spent several years preaching in various locations including the Soviet Union.

After a lunch of fried chicken and fries I decided it was time to depart and see some sights at Castle Hill. The only problem was it had started to cloud up and was going to rain sooner or later. I hiked up to Castle Hill and take some photos at some of the news. By the time I got to St Matthias church it was starting to sprinkle. I bought a ticket to st. Matthias Church which happened to be discounted because it was so close to closing time. Once into St Matthias Church I found that it wasn’t really anything special as I had seen many other churches in Europe. I guess once you’ve seen one old church you’ve probably seen them all on various degrees of design. I really wanted to go to the second floor of the church but they had blocked it off because it was so close to closing time. I exit the church and wanted to find one of two things in order to end my day. One was the Labyrinth and the other was the Hospital in the Rock. The map I had was very difficult to navigate. I decided that whichever one I found first I would do that and then try to find the other one if there was enough time. After wandering around for quite a while I finally found the Labyrinth and entered. The Labyrinth is a maze complex with in the underground of the castle. Its claim to fame was Vlad Tepes had been kept there. The Labyrinth had quite a few wax figures and other archaeological artifacts. At one point I wandered into the maze of darkness. Honestly I could not see anything at all and had to break out my cell phone in order to find my way around. The only problem was I did not want to use up all of my cell phone’s battery as I had been using Google Maps to try and find my way home. Luckily there were some other Americans within the dark maze and I was able to follow them around with the light. The labyrinth would be good to use for a Halloween party or something of that nature. In fact I saw where they can have children’s birthday parties there. At 6 p.m. they cut off the lights and gave other people lanterns to find their way out. The only problem was I did not have a lantern and had to rely on others to find my way out. One particular couple seems not amused that I was following them around but I really had no choice since I couldn’t see anything. The Labyrinth also had a prop grave of Dracula, some fake heads impaled on sticks, among other things.

I spent about an hour in the Labyrinth and later found my way to the Hospital in the Rock. The Hospital in the Rock was used during World War II, the uprising of 1956, and during the Cold War as a bomb shelter. I paid my fees and waited. I had a nice good 45 minute wait until the next tour. In the tour we found about how they had to improvise on certain things because the amount of patients was just so high during world war 2, especially during the siege of Budapest. The hospital was built to hold 60 patients but it went to at least 200 or more during world war 2. They pushed beds together in order to have three people in a bed. Also during a dire shortage of bandages that begin to use bandages off of the patients who had recently died. This of course was bad for infection but it was the only way because they had ran out of clean bandages. I had noticed our tour guide had a Finnish flag on her lapel and I asked her about it. She said that she was studying Finnish and asked me if I had interest in the Finnish language. I told her that I just recognize flags and that’s really my interest in the Finnish language. I meant to ask her later on if she had ever been to Helsinki because it is on the list of my destinations to visit. But I never did ask her. The museum had many wax figures in them some unrealistic but it did help and visualizing how the hospital operated during previous times.

I think our tour guide did not know English as well because I asked her a question and she did not seem to understand it. I think I may have been the only native English speaker in the door because the other seem to be Japanese or Italian.

For supper I decided to get pizza at Leonardo’s Pizzeria just down the street from my hotel. On my five minute walk I saw a homeless person female peeing on the side of the church. I think the neighborhood where my hotel is has a problem with homeless people. Although it may be widespread all around Budapest. I have seen homeless people sleeping near the metro station. Also I saw a homeless person sleeping in the 24-hour lobby of a bank. The pizza at Leonardo’s Pizzeria was ok it was quite thin but I was able to eat all of it. While I was waiting on my food I was watching the Hungarian version of American Idol. It was kind of strange to see Hungarians sing the music of Elvis and KISS. I’m not even sure if they have the English lyrics correct but they did know the chorus. That’s the thing about Europe is that you will hear English songs on the radio no matter where you are. I think Europe is in love with American music and doesn’t care of that they may not know the language involved.

After Pizza I returned to my hotel room to try and get a good nights sleep before touring again tomorrow.

It was an early start for my day today. Yesterday I decided to do a day trip to Bratislava after seeing the weather forecast for Budapest. It was supposed to be raining in Budapest today however in Bratislava it was only cloudy in the afternoon and no rain. So I decided to go to Bratislava. I needed to catch the 7:25 a.m. train from Budapest to Bratislava. I got there about an hour early and bought my ticket. Then I got breakfast at McDonalds next to the train station. It was the same train station which just weeks ago had hundreds of refugees stranded while trying to get to Germany. This time I saw no refugees.

One thing that is always uncertain for me when I ride the trains is whether or not I get on the right train. Trains can be really confusing. And it even makes it more confusing when you’re speaking a different language. As I boarded the train I heard some Americans in conversation and I moved toward them if only to be surrounded by English speakers. However when the conductor came to punch our tickets he told me that I was in the first class car but I had a second class ticket therefore I’d have to move. When I found the second class car it seemed to me that was nicer than the first class car. The only real luxury in the first class car was adding charging outlets in the seat rows.

After about two and a half hour train ride I got off at Bratislava’s main train station. Had I been by myself I may not have gotten off at the right stop but I was able to ask fellow passengers if that was the correct stop. I’ve been walked about 20 minutes down to the old town. The old town was a lot like Gatlinburg except with less cars and more pedestrian walkways. Some of the winding streets reminded me of when I got lost in Lisbon looking for the castle at the top of the hill. I looked at souvenir shops but somehow a lot of the souvenir shops have the same exact souvenirs but they are very overpriced. I’d like to find their supplier and cut out the middleman and get stuff for cheap. I got to them main square where City Hall is in everything was set up with a stage and a lot of balloons. The MC of the event made an announcement in English and said that there would be a lot of women running through the streets Bratislava. Yes it was some sort of Marathon for only women.

I saw a sign for a supermarket and decided to check it out as sometimes there are some unusual food there which Americans may not always be aware of. After looking around I decided to get a sandwich on a footlong bread, a Fanta and a banana for lunch. As I ate my sandwich I realize they have put some kind of orange dressing on it which made it almost unbearable. I surprised myself and ate the whole sandwich with that dressing on their.

It’s at this point that I should probably point out and atrocity that Europe has never been able to explain away. I’m speaking of the atrocity of pay toilets. In America pay toilets are unheard of. Anyone in America can enter into any gas station or restaurant and use the restroom without buying anything. But somehow in Europe pay toilets are the norm. Using the restroom is a bodily function that should not be taxed. Those who implement pay toll its state it’s a user fee to keep the bathrooms clean. But what happens when you find yourself in a bind with no extra change? Do you find a tree and risk getting fined for public exposure? So I saw that the public restroom in the Bratislava Square and I jumped the turnstile without paying. I will always do this given the chance.

I walked around Bratislava’s old town and found the city walls and eventually made my way up to the castle at the top of the hill. I think I took the long way around the castle as there was a shorter way whenever I came down.  Of the city of Bratislava. You could really see the communist influence on the city with the large drab apartment complexes. Also met a new friend  – a stray cat. Always like to joke around with my friends and say that I never am able to communicate with cats I see in other countries because I’m not able to speak the local language. This time it was that I didn’t know the Slovak word for meow.

I headed down from the castle and browse around the city some more. While on the city wall I noticed something unusual. In a room off to the side was a book case of books written in Slovak. I found this to be very unusual and that no one was there trying to sell books.

I then set off to try to find a baby blue painted church. With the help of google maps I was able to find it. But the inside was decorated up as for a wedding so I was unable to go inside. Today must of been a time when many couples were getting married has a soul at least two couples getting their wedding pictures made in the old town of Bratislava.

It was at this point that I had to decide if I was going to go back at the 3 o’clock hour or the 5:30 hour. I was running out of things to do and to be quite honest with you Bratislava wasn’t too interesting after you have booked it a few times. Within Rick Steves book he highly recommended going to the top of the UFO Skyview. This is very similar to the Space Needle in Seattle. After finally finding the entrance I paid my 6.50 euros and caught the elevator to the top. The observation deck outside was very bitterly cold with the wind blowing constantly. I stayed out there long enough to get a few pictures of almost all the sides. I then headed down.

In my own mind I thought I had about an hour left to catch the train which didn’t include the 20 minute walk from where I was. I knew that catching the train was going to be somewhat confusing so I wanted to give myself a little extra time. I made my way to the train station and tried to look for my train back to Budapest. However it wasn’t assigned a platform yet. I asked a fellow traveler who happened to the American what did it mean if a train had not been assigned a platform. He made mention that he didn’t think that it was cancelled it’s just that it was so far off that they had to find a platform to it yet. Later on he found that his train to Vienna has been canceled. I tried asking the ticket booth representatives about this anomaly but they just said that they did not know train platforms and would direct me to other non existent information centers. Eventually my train got assigned to platform one which I got on. However the train to not leave the station on time and instead ran 80 minutes late. This put me back to Budapest at around 10 p.m. During the train ride I met some Slovaks and Hungarians. The Slovak lady spoke good English and she was able to give me updates about when the train would leave. The Hungarian man and his wife mostly spoke Hungarian the entire way although the man tried to speak a mix of German and English and we were able to communicate a little. I finally made it back to Budapest at around 10 and grabbed some chicken McNuggets at the local McDonald’s.

Yesterday’s weather called for rain all day so I decided to tour indoor museums.

Weeks before I had purchased an English speaking tour of the Hungarian Parliament. The tour started at 9:45 a.m. so I made sure I got there in plenty of time. The visitor center was packed with many different groups of people speaking different languages. I saw a tour group of French speaking people leaving to take a tour. It came close to time for me to go and I went up to some people standing in line and noticed the books they were reading guides in English. I asked them if they were with the English speaking tour and they said yes in a very British accent. I’m always intrigued about British nationals because I like the way they speak however I noticed on these people’s passports that they were actually Danish. It happens a lot in Europe any English you here is actually British English since it’s the closest native speaking English country.

The tour began and we went through x-ray machines. There was far less security that you would find compared to touring the US Capitol. I guess the Hungarian Parliament is just not a high level target.

The Hungarian Parliament is really old and has gone through many different government of Hungary. There was one particular area which we were not allowed to take photos. It was where the crown jewels were. There were ceremonial guards standing beside the crown jewels. It is at this point that I should probably say that the crown jewels weren’t really julies, rather mostly just a crown and a sword. But this is really important to the Hungarian people.

We went to the chambers of parliament and was told that there was a certain amount of seats and the amount of legislators was greater than the amount of seats. I didn’t catch how they sat if they switched out of seats. In the lobby area the tour guide point it out to the cigar holders which were left over when politicians were allowed to smoke cigars in the lobby. At some point in the tour I really wanted to ask the tour guide of her experiences in 1989 when the change in government from communism to democracy occurred. I figured the tour guide might have been a little younger than myself in the way she looked. But I never got a chance to ask her and I’m not sure if asking tour guides personal information was appropriate.

After touring Parliament I decided to try to squeeze in a tour of the house of terror. It is an exhibit of the atrocities that the Nazis and Soviets engaged upon the Hungarian people. It is actually in the same building that d political prisoners were held at. There was a long line of people wanting to go into the House of terror to buy tickets. There was a man greeting us at the door and putting our with umbrellas in plastic bags so as to keep the inside building dry. After I bought my tickets I had to check my bags. Also no photography was allowed so I just left my camera in my bag as I checked it. The first exhibit you see is a large tank I believe a Nazi German Panzer which was used to subdue hungry during World War II. Leading up in the atrium part are pictures of the victims of both regimes. It was a sobering reminder about how many lives were affected by these periods of terror. I found myself using the Rick Steves book in the exhibit area. I opted out of the English audio tour guide as Rick Steves said it was confusing. All of the exhibits were in Hungarian but they did provide some English translations in papers off to the side. In one room there was the carpeted map of all of the gulags in the Soviet Union which Hungarian citizens were sent to. In another area we got to the basement and saw some of the torture chambers that the students are victimized by. One area had a chamber just tall enough for someone to only stand but not sit down. Another one had a chamber you would have to bend down in order to get into therefore you could never stand up completely in that chamber. We so the area where they hanged people. It was a very sobering look.

I ate lunch at a Subway restaurant in the area. I then proceeded to the Opera just a few blocks away. My tour was to begin at 1 p.m. and I showed up about an hour early. I sat down and rested in a bench nearby. I paid extra to be able to photograph inside the building. The first stop was the auditorium itself. The tour guide pointed out that when the opera was built during the Austrian Hungarian time line it was stipulated that the Opera House had to be smaller than the Vienna Opera House. Although it was smaller it was more elaborate as there was a lot of gold leafing around. Also the tour guide pointed out that it was important to mostly use Hungarian building material to construct the Opera House. When the Opera House opened the Emperor was invited but according to legend he did not stay the entire time and left before the opera was over with. Legend states that he was upset that the Hungarian opera was more elaborate than the Vienna Opera. The Emperor was of Austrian descent so this upset him. He never returned the Opera. But his wife did return on several occasions but never sat in the Emperor’s box. Instead she sat in the box off to the side mostly to be seen. Throughout the tour the guide talked about the different entrances for the class system in Hungary at the time. The Emperor had his own entrance while common people had to go through another door.

After the opera tour I opted to go to Budapest bath for a nice relaxing swim time in the evening. I took my towel from my hotel because I as understand it they will charge you extra to use their towel. I got lost on my way back to the Hotel. But was able to find my way back eventually. I ate a Pizza Forte which had a much different taste to it. Today I am going to Bratislava it is supposed to rain in Budapest but not as much in Bratislava.