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Sunday, March 17, 2024

Budapest to Birch Bay

It's been awhile since we last posted from the Hungarian State Opera House in Budapest.





The remainder of our short trip (five nights in Budapest) was uneventful. For most of our stay we were plagued by jet lag symptoms such as waking up at 2:00 AM and being unable to get back to sleep for several hours. We’re hoping it resulted from a too easy trip over, an overnight flight in business class giving us a few hours of sleep, a leisurely overnight stay at the Heathrow Hilton, and a relatively short flight the following day from London to Budapest.

We’re already thinking about our upcoming trip to Europe with an active 11-year-old grandson, and hoping we can keep up with him.  

On our final night in Budapest we walked a couple of blocks to an Italian restaurant owned by the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. It was, well, okay. 











Our stroll back to the Hilton gave us one last chance to admire the sights of Castle Hill, now illuminated.



To be frank, we were a little disappointed in our food experiences in Budapest. The fact we chose an Italian restaurant on our final night there is indicative of that. Everything was fine, but there were no special flavors that jumped out at us and tickled our taste buds.

Kathy actually prepared Chicken Paprikash the other night when daughter Karen and son-in-law Chuck visited us, and it was far superior to anything we tasted in Budapest, even though Kathy didn’t consider it one of her best efforts. 

To make a perfectly ridiculous generalization, we do prefer the cuisines of Western Europe to those we’ve experienced in Eastern Europe, but that only motivates us to explore Eastern Europe more and to search out great meals. 

We offer a quick note on our airport transfers. Brian had booked return trips during a Christmas sale at Sun Transfers, a large outfit that serves Budapest as well as many other places. Our drivers were friendly, showed up on time, and got us to our destinations, but the trips themselves were a little too exciting for our tastes, especially the return trip to the airport. 

Our driver tried to avoid the busy main roads and took us on some bumpy side streets that included some rather rundown sections of the city and a light industrial area. By the time we arrived at the airport, Kathy in particular was feeling quite carsick. The streets were busy but the airport itself was quiet and we zipped through a friendly security line in record time and spent some time in a small and crowded contract lounge before boarding our first flight.

We even got to watch our A319 arrive.





The return flights on British Airways mirrored our outbound flights, Budapest to London Heathrow to Vancouver (BUD-LHR-YVR). We experienced again the agonizing lack of legroom that seems to characterize BA intra-European flights. 



Having the blocked middle seat in European-style business class helps a little, but not much.

We landed and departed for our onward flight to YVR from the same Terminal 3. It still took us the better part of an hour but it gave us time to visit the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge (one of the perks of our OneWorld Emerald status) and enjoy Dim Sum and other delights.







To continue our cranky little tirade about seating, the low-backed chairs in the CX lounge lean back too far for our tastes.





We actually sneaked down the hall to the business lounge for the opportunity to sit in real chairs before boarding our flight to YVR. Could it be our own bodies that are the problem? Nah…

Once aboard our BA A350, Kathy fell asleep almost immediately and skipped dinner. That’s generally not a great loss on BA. Brian did eat dinner, and could assure Kathy she wouldn’t have enjoyed the so-called Beef Tartare appetizer all that much.



Brian accidentally triggered a parental control guard on his entertainment system, and a flight attendant had to visit some master control system in the front galley to deactivate it.



Brian slept through the pre-arrival meal, and, despite a delayed departure we landed at YVR in good time. The airport was quiet and we were able to access a virtually empty NEXUS line to process our arrival on a machine and present the printout to a bored immigration official.

The favorable weather we’d experienced on this trip continued to prevail at YVR on a clear evening without a hint of rain. A Park’N Fly shuttle arrived before long and took us back to the lot, where our car awaited us. Incidentally, the cost for a week plus a couple of hours of valet parking was almost exactly US $100 all in, a relative bargain compared, say, to Seattle Airport parking. 

It was a relatively quiet 45-minute evening drive from the airport back to our house, with no delay at the US border. Almost before we knew it, we were home and in bed by around 10:00 PM local time.

Between catching up on sleep, dealing with miscellaneous tasks, and readying ourselves for our next trip, we’ve managed to keep occupied during our brief stay at home. Kathy in particular has spent some serious time at the computer, reviewing not only our itineraries but those of relatives and friends who’ve asked for her help. A couple of examples…

First, Deutsche Bahn, the national railway company of Germany, canceled a previously booked train trip with grandson Jace from Frankfurt to Salzburg via Mannheim, cordially inviting us to drop by a Frankfurt train station to pick up a refund for our original seat reservation after Kathy booked a reservation for an earlier train. We just might try that when we’re in the Frankfurt Airport.

Kathy eventually managed to sort that one out, and we’ll hopefully still arrive in Salzburg early enough to check in at our hotel before attending a dinner performance of some of Mozart’s greatest hits.

We hadn’t booked a hotel in Seattle for our late-May arrival from Australia. We were thinking of flying straight through from Brisbane to San Francisco to Seattle to Bellingham in one fell swoop, but our recent sleepless-in-Budapest experience motivates us to break up the trip with a 12-hour overnight stay at the SEA Doubletree.

Kathy also noticed that the add-on cost of the flight to Bellingham has dropped by $40 and rebooked it. That will average down the cost of that Seattle hotel stay. 

Kathy checked a Birch Bay Village neighbor’s Alaska account yesterday and noticed that a $150 flight credit is expiring soon. She got in touch and offered help in booking a flight before that deadline.

We can’t emphasize enough that money can be saved by continuing to check transportation and accommodation costs right up to the time of departure. We do enjoy an elite privilege of being able to rebook our Alaska flights if the price drops and having the refund credited to our account and used to purchase future flights. Others may not have that option, but can still take advantage of hotel rates that are reduced between the time of booking and arrival. It’s sometimes possible to save money simply by changing the reservation to a non-refundable rate.

A week after we fly back from Europe with Jace the two of us are off to Lima, Peru for a week. This trip resulted from a flight credit when we canceled our planned trip to Ecuador due to civil unrest. We’ve been to Lima twice, and are looking forward to returning and sampling more ceviche in this quite wonderful food city. 

Three weeks after we return from Lima, we’re off to Australia for one more Oz Fest, this one in Cairns. After all that, we intend to be stay-at-homes in Birch Bay for much of the summer.  For now, keeping a close eye on those three upcoming trips, along with several trips of friends and relatives, keeps us busy. 

And not to forget work in the yard as Spring arrives in Birch Bay.





Tuesday, March 5, 2024

A Night at the (Hungarian State) Opera

The homage to a classic Marx Brothers movie in the title reflects the exhilaration we felt at attending an opera in this splendid opera house.

Opening in 1884, it’s far from the largest opera house in Europe (capacity 1000-1200), but it ranks up near Milan’s La Scala in its acoustics, and renovations have maintained and enhanced its beauty.

We took it all in as we arrived via Bolt taxi (Bolt has worked well for us).



The expansive open areas and sweeping staircases were designed in part to allow the attendees to show off their finery, especially the ladies’ fancy gowns.

We didn’t forget to admire the ceilings and chandeliers.






Brian got a little disoriented in this corridor on his way back from the men’s room before the performance, stopping short of where he’d left Kathy, but managed to reunite with her in plenty of time to get seated before the overture.



The employees, including the ushers and cloakroom attendants, are all smartly attired.



The interior of the auditorium itself is magnificent.






There are numerous private boxes.



Naturally, we had to take a look at the orchestra pit.



The opera we attended was Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades. We were unfamiliar with it, but thoroughly enjoyed the lengthy production.

English surtitles displayed above the stage and on the seat backs in front of us told us all we needed to know about the plot.



We two were quite satisfied with our center orchestra seats, row 9 on the aisle.



No photography is allowed during the performance but we, like others, snapped a a quick photo of the large cast during the numerous curtain calls.



As we leave the opera house some 3 1/2 hours later, we felt quite pleased for treating ourselves to the performance, at a fraction of the price we would have paid in some European capitals.




In Budapest: Overlooking the Fisherman’s Bastion

We happened to be seated for breakfast in the Hilton this morning with a view similar to the one from our suite.





That’s Fisherman’s Bastion above. Although this famous site looks medieval, and was based on previous historical structures, it was actually built in the late 1800s. Its seven towers symbolically commemorate the seven Hungarian chieftains who founded Hungary in 895 AD.

Back upstairs in Room 307, we took a moment to enjoy our private views.







According to Wikipedia, the Bastion “is one of the most important tourist attractions due to the unique panorama of Budapest from the Neo-Romanesque lookout terraces,” making the vista looking down on it from our windows extra special.

Monday, March 4, 2024

Wandering Budapest

Sunday morning proved to be beautiful, so we decided to walk around the area and work our down the hill toward the Danube.

Many steps later, we were strolling along the beautiful blue Danube, buying somewhat expensive tickets to ride the funicular back up to the top.









We exited just in to watch the changing of the guard ceremony at the Presidential Palace.








After that, we wended our way back to the Hilton, enjoying the scenery along the way.





We had dined in the Hilton’s restaurant the first night of our stay, and the restaurant manager, whom we’d met in the Executive Lounge, suggested we try the nearby Pest-Buda Bistro Sunday evening. Off we went.



It was geared somewhat for tourists, but we are tourists and don’t mind that. Besides, a multigenerational Hungarian family was celebrating a birthday nearby, so it’s a place that the locals must enjoy as well.

We both enjoyed the goulash soup as a starter.







Brian chose stuffed cabbage rolls for a main course.



Kathy, of course, selected chicken paprikosh, which she enjoyed, while still preferring her own spicier version.



The Hilton restaurant offers a great buffet breakfast, but Monday morning we had a 9:30 AM food tour scheduled, so slipped down the hall to the Executive Lounge, where we enjoyed a perfectly good breakfast, skipping the tempting breakfast bar offerings.



We used the return portion of our funicular ticket to ride down the hill, and used Brian’s Bolt Taxi App to summon a cab. Uber isn’t allowed in Hungary, but this app is almost identical and proves to work like a charm.

Our destination was the Main Market Hall on the Pest side of the Danube. There we met Barbara of Taste Hungary Tours, who was taking us on their Cilinary & Eine Walk.



Barbara is a charming young woman completely fluent in English, with food in her family background and education (her husband is Italian). Her knowledge of Hungarian cuisine is extensive, and we had her all to ourselves as the only people signed up for this Monday morning tour.







We first toured the market hall itself, stopping at stall to sample Hungarian specialties such as Lángos, the garlic-covered fried flatbread.



What would a Hungarian food tour be without salami?



That included our first (to our knowledge) taste of horse meat salami.

The displays of meats, poultry, fish, and vegetables were as impressive as those in any market we’ve visited.





Goose and duck are popular here.



Peppers, cabbage, and sauerkraut are practically staples here.



We eventually left the market hall, crossed a busy street, and found ourselves in a relatively quiet neighborhood that contained both the university law school and a venerable butcher shop turned restaurant. By starting the tour at 9:30 AM, we beat the morning rush and Barbara selected a variety of tasty and filling specialties that we couldn’t possibly finish.







Our next stop was the Central Café and Bar, an 1887 coffeehouse in Austria-Hungarian style of Vienna’s.







Cappuccinos and richly elegant desserts…







From the classy coffeehouse we proceeded to a charmingly seedy old bar, where we downed a locally famous digestif. Apparently the taste of Unicum grows on you.





Our final stop was a charming little wine shop where we taste a white, a red, and an impressive Tokay, each one introduced by our humorous host.















We bought some more paprika to add to yesterday’s grocery store purchases, thanked Barbara for a terrific tour, and taxied back to the Hilton around 2:00 PM.

No thanks to dinner or even lounge snacks this evening. We’re stuffed!