Goose Liver...

Goose liver is considered a delicacy in Hungary. It is listed on almost every menu..."goose liver in butter", etc. It was the source of some merriment between us. The last night we were in Budapest Curmudgeonette looked at the menu and said, "I like liver, I think I'll order the goose liver". So she did and discovered she liked it. That should have been no surprise because she likes liver...the joke was on her...she could have been enjoyed earlier.

Surrendering My Credentials......

Traveling on Frequent Flier miles separated the Curmudgeon from the Curmudgeonette. Originally I was scheduled to overnight in Hartford on my return trip. Yesterday in Amsterdam I was able to rebook on a direct flight to Mpls. Because it was a last minute change I decided to pay for an exit row. The agent warned me that it was an inside seat but I chose to risk it. Settling into my seat I was soon joined on my left with a young couple and their one year old daughter, Shiloh. They had no more than settled in when a young mother with her two year old daughter, Evasophia, sat down on my right. The Traveling Curmudgeon did a personal inventory and decided that there was one way to survive an eight hour flight in that situation, and, no it didn't involve alcohol. "If you can't get out of it get into it" I think is an Outward Bound motto. So I did. I held Shiloh who thought my beard was cool. Her Mom's from Monte Carlo. Evasophia was also a delight. Her mother is of Croatian descent, grew up in Ecuador, is an American citizen who lives in Spain with her Spanish husband. I never had an eight hour flight go so fast. Does this mean I have to surrender my credentials as a curmudgeon?

Heading Home

We spent our last day walking the inner parts of Budapest including the Chain Bridge that links Buda and Pest. The unseasonably cold weather kept us from patronizing any of the out door cafes either in Vienna or Budapest. We leave for home tomorrow, the 27th, though I have to overnight in Hartford, CT., because of the Frequent Flier ticket I'm using, so I'll be home the 28th. I'll post pictures from home.
We recommend the places we stayed. In Budapest, Hotel Pest is a boutique hotel about a block from the Opera House in the central historical district. In Vienna, Pension Suzanne is about 50 yards from the State Opera House and just off the main walking street. Good values in prime locations.
I will likely post some reflections on the trip after I get home. Thanks for all the kind comments and responses. It's been a grand trip and I told the Curmudgeonette that she did well...or as a Norske might say, "She could have been a lot worse!"

Tales of Vienna

Returning to Budapest has made clear that Vienna is a gleaming city. Not that Budapest is bad. It just does not evidence the gleaming, scrubbed prosperity of Vienna. Trains no longer stop at the borders of countries in the European Union. We could tell when we crossed from Austria to Hungary by the condition of the houses and villages. Hungary shows the effects of the stress on it's economy. Yet, there were beggars in Vienna showing that not all have shared the obvious prosperity. Vienna is a cultural mecca with music, dance, theatre and other arts readily available. One of the high points for me was free...hearing the 30 ton bell in St. Stephan's pealing! As we walked the few blocks from out hotel to the subway at St. Stephan's Platz we were accompanied by the ringing of church bells from several directions.

Take the Yellow Line...

The instructions from our hotel seemed simple enough; "From the train station take the Yellow Subway Line three stops to "Opera". The Chinese fire drills began as we dismounted the train and ploughed our way through 3 gazillion people in the station. " Which way's the subway?? Down these stairs? You stay with the luggage and I'll go look...nope not there. Hey, see over there? doesn't that look like a stairway accross that street? Yes. But is that an under ground parking garage? You stay with the luggage.....Yes, it's the subway. Now what? There's an information desk. You don't speak English? Yes. She pointed to the ticket booth and down the escalator and left. Two tickets to 'Opera'...much writing, stamping with tickets in hand and down the escalator. No sign for Opera, on the train getting farther from recognized landmark, off the train slip past the ticket inspectors, up, over...oopps another ticket inspector...unloose a barrage of English...waved on, we get the world's oldest subway car..three stops later we emerge near our hotel. All this and not a cross word between the Curmudgeon or Curmudgeonette! Much easier than driving in Romania last year!

Still to come: Reflections on our stay in Vienna.

The Style To Which One is Accustomed

A couple of days ago we rode the subway out to the train station to buy our tickets back to Budapest. We had the world's crabbiest ticket seller and in the ensuing melee` ended up with second class seats. Having ridden in royal style to Vienna, Curmudgeonette was hoping to go back to Budapest the same way. When we arrived at the train station Stepahnie was more than happy to upgrade us with smiles and good cheer. Curmudgeon and Curmudgeonette schlept their bags down track 6 as prescribed. So far so good. A division of opinion occurred. Curmudgeon maintaining that lst class cars had compartments and 2nd class open seating, while Curmudgeonette held that lst and 2nd class cars were identified by a '1' or '2' on the side of the car. Following Curmudgeon's lead they settled in a compartment on a car clearly marked '2'. The conductor carefully inspecting tickets informed us that we had first class tickets but were in a second class car...where we could stay if we like and we did because first class had no compartments. The moral of this story is never argue with Curmudgeonette unless she suggests an upgrade.

When In Vienna Make an LWR Visit....

The last evening in Vienna was one to remember. It began with an organ (circa 1730) and trumpet concert in a quaint church. We'd walked by this church several times a day and never paid any attention until we found the concert there last night. A full complement of Bach, Handel, Mozart, et. al., in this accoustically wonderful setting. The church is Catholic of the Maltese Order. It's as old as the organ and is eight pews long and between 30 & 40 feet high with much marble, stone and wood giving great reverberations. One to remember.
From there we went to dinner at our favorite Italian place two doors from our hotel. It's very small, seats about 20, run by this delightful couple who immigrated 33years ago from the part of Croatia that abuts Italy. We'd made it our hangout because the food was so good and the couple so winsome. It was sad to say goodbye to them. They took great delight in our attempts to speak German. Surprisingly a bit of German came back to me from college...which must be over 100 years ago.
While we were having our dinner another American couple came in. She kept staring at us but he was facing away. Finally she asked Joanne; "Are you Mark Hanson's sister?" Joanne, of course, went into denial mode and said three times; "I do not know that man!"! JOKE. As it turns our they are John & Jen Augstine from Milwakuee whom Joanne had visited on behalf of LWR (Lutheran World Relief). John and Jen met when Jen was in the Lutheran Volunteer Corps in Chicago. She was assigned to Lutheran Family Mission at the time my cousin Al Bergh was the director. John was a seminary student an Al introduced them. You can about imagine how much we had to talk about! I'm hoping that Joanne's supervisors at LWR giver her extra credit for carrying on the work even in Vienna!

And Then the Dog....

In our ungoing effort so see as much dead marble as we can we took a trip (short) to Schönnbrunn Castle. We were admitted to 23 of the 144 rooms which we agreed was enough. We did get to see the room in which Motzart played his first concert at age six and then leaped in the Empress' lap and smothered her with kisses. The Empress response was not recorded. We also got to see where Franz Joseph pooped, which reminds me.....dogs go everywhere in Vienna; restraunts, hotels, subways, etc., which I thought was nice until I saw one in the train station with diarrhea......
The day began with snow but the eventually the sun appeared. The wind keeps the air clear and reminds me of South Dakota. The dollar doesn't go as far as it used to but then neither do we! Tomorrow we head back to Budapest.

A Tale of three Easters

At St. James, Crystal, it was a long standing tradition to to invite people to join the choir to sing the Hallelujah Chorus at the end of the service. When we left St. James Joanne said that is one of the traditons she would miss. Last year, in the first year of my retirement, we spent a wonderful Easter with Lars' in-laws in NJ. There, Joanne and Lars, sang the Hallelujah Chorus with the choir of First Methodist Church, Hackettstown, NJ. Today we went to a Easter Service at an English Speaking Lutheran Church and they, too, had the tradition of inviting everyone to sing the Hallelujah Chorus.
We checked out the Mass at the Cathedral but the orchestra wasn't up to the size of the space so we went on to St. Peter's....much better. From there we went on to the Lutheran Church so it really feels like Easter.
Gotta love a country that puts chocolate flakes in granola! and the beer's not bad either. A lot of marble gave it's life for the buildings of Vienna!

Churches and things....Vienna woods, etc.

A visit to Karl's Church rounded out architectual styles with Baroque; Stephan's Cathederal and Votiv Church were Gothic and St. St. Peter's was Rococo. There is a metal scaffold in Karl's which houses a lift that goes the first 200 ft and 50 ft of steps from there lead to the very cupola offering a close up of the art work and a panoramic view of the city.
We used our week's pass on the tram to ride out to the Vienna Woods for a hike. It is a lovely sunny day and the Woods are grand. I thought I should compose some music after that hike but nothing came to mind.
Franz Joseph just got his marvelous palace constructed and along came the first world war and ended his reign. There are many Hapsburg large building here and we saw them. Some where there is a story about a wealthy farmer who had a great crop, decided to build bigger granaries and then he died. Maybe someone wants to preach about this sometime.
Reflections on continental differences in public transit: In America you can't get on a subway, etc., without paying. In Europe you can get on or off without paying but if you get caught riding without a ticket the fine is very steep. In Bangkok you have to pay a minimum to get on but if you ride past the zone for which you've paid you can't exit the station.

Opera House, Vienna

We took a tour of the Vienna State Opera House...many oohs and ahs. It is much bigger than Budapest's but much was lost in the rebuilding after WW II. In Budapest there was an l.e.d. screen above the stage which gave an Hungarian tranlation of the Italian....didn't help us much. In Vienna every seat is fitted with it's own monitor and you can choose either German or English.
Tommorow we will see many more large old buildings.

When A Scam is Not a Scam.......

Remember when I said I was scammed by being given two 400 Ruble notes instead of 400 Florents and I thought it was a scam? I took the Rubles to the money changers, not in the temple, today and received $25. which is 4 times the value of 800 Florents. It's a mystery but I pocketed the money!
Curmudgeonette and I went to a Viennese concert last night, (surprise since we are in Vienna) of Strauss, Mozart, etc., complete with operatic singers and dancers. Fun, but probably once is enough. Scmaltz is like frosting...best if you don't have too much.
Yesterday we off loaded the train from Budapest and headed for the subway. We found the automatic dispensers for subway tickets and proudly bought tickets for a week. How foolish of us to assume that a week ticket would begin on the date of purchase when everyone knows that the week begins on Monday. Ahh the Austrian mind......
We began a walking tour of central Vienna until the cold drove us inside. We did see St. Stephan's Cathederal and St. Peter's Church. Vienna could be summerized by, "many large, old buildings." We'll finish the tour on a warmer day. We'll go back to St. Stephan's tonight for a Good Friday Mass with the Passion of St. John,

I'm dreaming of a white Vienna...

Not only am I dreaming of a white Vienna I'm dreaming of an English keyboard! Our train from Budapest entered Vienna to the heaviest snow they had all winter. The delightful Aussie couple, with whom we shared a compartment, were estatic because they could go home and tell their friends they saw snow! The traveling Curmudgeon and Cumudgeonette have both seen snow....... The Budapest train station makes the one in Bangkok, though much larger, seem simple. (The population of Bkk and Hungary are the same.) It was a fun ride with wildlife, deer, pheasants and rabbits accompanying the farmers in the field.
We're in a B & B 50 yards from the Opera House and a half block from the Karntner Strasse pedestrian street. There is free internet access at the B & B but the catch is a German keyboard and you know how those Germans are. We're off to a concert of smaltz (Yes, Lars.) tonight. It will be nice to have five days here!
Blessed Maundy Thursday!

What does Mt. Fuji have to do with Budapest?

The opera was grand...from the fifth row we got a clear view when the bad girl shot the good girl just as she was to drive off in a new, sporty, BMW with Edgar. The moral of the story, as I understand it, is, don't hang out with good girls. The opera house, built in 1884, is grand and it was an interesting contrast with the modern staging of the opera....2008 chic. I'd do it again but not twice.
A traditional Hungarian dinner in a tradtional hungarian place; painted walls, marble columns, huge chandeliers, silver service, (goose liver is big here) with a live band, introduced us to a new musical instrument. It sounds like a piano but is played with mallets like a marimba and is called a "timbolo" or "timpolo". The player said it was unique to Hungary. He sat in front of it and the strings lying flat in front of him were struck with mallets in each hand. A good time was had by all.
In 1961 I spent a few months in a tent camp at the base of Mt. Fuji. We arrived under the cover of darkness and awakened to Ft. Fuji looming above us with little snow, pictures taken; soon it snowed, pictures taken; more snow, pictures taken....and on and on until I was the proud owner of 300+ pictures of Mt. Fuji. Walking Castle Hill in Buda today in the sunshine I had to restrain myself from turning the Parliment Building in Pest into another Fuji experience.
It was interesting to visit St. Mattias' church and Europe's largest synagogue on the same day. Similarities, large, ornate, painted walls and ceilings....yet significant differences, e.g., statuary, etc. Which reminds me, at the Basilica the most prized relic is St. Stephan's, first king of Hungary, right hand. I also saw a rosary with beads the size of chicken eggs. (Go MaryJane!)
Tomorrow we'll take the three hour train ride to Vienna. The boat on the Danube only goes during the summer. We'll be glad to get a couple of more days in Budapest on our way home. We've found it to be as delighful as everyone says.
My first scam is amusing. I went to pay my internet bill with a 500 bill thinking it was Florents worth about $3.33, and they wouldn't accept it. Turned out it was a 500 Rubles bill which looks similar but isn't worth anything, here at least. I'd been given two of them somepace as change...good joke on the Curmudgeon!

The Pietist

Our hotel Pest is located one block from the Budapest Opera and about five blocks from St. Stephan's Basilica. We wandered on down to the Basilica for a look-see. Wow! Much marble and gold but only one mention (a picture) of the collapse of the dome while it was being built in the 1880s. The pietistic Curmudgeon couldn't help but wonder if this is what Jesus wants?
The hill behind the castle gave a wonderful view of the hills of Buda and the flats of Pest accross the beautiful blue (grey) Danube. The broken clouds dappled the scene with light and dark effects.
The Hungarian Goulash, actually a very good soup, came in a bowl with a cap of bread baked on it. It went down well on a chilly day when there were occasional snow flakes in the air. Signs of spring are showing in the green grass and trees beginning to bloom. Paprika's big here. Our breakfast table had salt and paprika shakers but no pepper.
Wanting to see the opera we went to the ticket office (Budapest's version of Ticketmaster) next door to the hotel. The "system was down" so we agreed to return after our two hour bus tour. When we did, they had tickets for us ( in the fifth row so we'll be able to see the fat girl sweat). They don't take credit cards so I offered to go to an ATM. The clerk motioned me to follow her, she led me to my hotel and there I was able to use my credit card for the tickets. The opera is Puccini's EDGAR. I'll report on the experience tomorrow and double check the spelling of the composers name. (The traveling curmudeonette gave me the correct spelling.)

Illiterate

After meeting Greg Mortenson and hearing him speak at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum at Concordia, Joanne thought she should read his book, Three Cups of Tea. It tells the story of the building of schools, particularly for girls, in Pakistan and Afganistan (61 to date). A well written and inspiring book it illuminates the problem illiterate women face. Living with the Dutch gives us some small sense of the frustration of illiteracy, or, Joanne would have read the sign that proclaimed "this lane closed" and not have waited in vain at the grocery check-out. Everyone here seems to speak English very well but signage is only in Dutch, unlike SE Asia, where everything is in both the country language and English. Oh, Yes, and Joanne recommends the book.
Deep into the biograpy of Gengis Khan I also recommend it. Written by a professor at Macalester College it is both very readable and very educational.
So, tomorrow, it's on to Budapest......

Palm Sunday Proicessional

The map says "Lutheran Kerk" and it's about a ten minute walk from our bed without breakfast so I put on my rain coat and Joanne grabbed her pink umbrella and off we went. Assuming that worship services are at the standard 11:00am we arrived at the minute. But the ancient round brick Lutheran Kerk is now the Renissance Hotel Conference Center. So our Palm Sunday Processional was with a pink umbrella rather than with the traditonal palms. Hosanna In the Highest.
I got my turn at angelhood for a young Japanese woman schlepping her luggage through the rain looking for her youth hostel. I was able to point her in the right direction.
Maria, the owner of the bed without breakfast stopped in this morning. She buys apartments and renovates them herself. This buiding dates from ca. 1700. We booked this online. There are two rental rooms. The common area has internet access.

Interesting Decision

As a young man Vincent van Gogh decided he was going to be a painter. There's no record that he had shown any aptitude at drawing, painting or artistry. Today there is a museum dedicated to his art where we spent most of the day. The visiting exhibit is of the work of Millais about whom I knew nothing. We were joined by hordes of people who also wanted to see Vincent's work.
Joanne missed the trip to Argentina, working you know, when Lars and I went. Sick of hearing about Argentina grass-fed beef she whined (maybe not whined)until I took her to an Argentina restaurant. To quote her response; "best steak I ever had". It cost about the same as a week in Argentina.
Amsterdam is a city of bicycles. People sit ram rod straight and everyone seems to ride. In front of Central Station there is a three story bicyle parking ramp. Every street has a bike lane.
Several long streets have been turned into pedestrian malls. A warm Saturday brought out hordes of people looking a bit like gophers emerging from a long hibernation.

Grace Abounds

We, Joanne and her Traveling Curmudgeon, flew into Amsterdam. With Joanne along I'd made a reservation at a bed no breakfast place within walking distance of the Central Station. Fortunately it wasn't raining as we had about a fifteen minute walk. We misread the directions and were standing on a street corner trying to puzzle it out when angel number one stopped and asked if we needed help. She soon had as on our way and we found it with no more trouble.
When we arrived there was a note in the window for me to call the owner. That revealed two problems. First, I thought I had called her from the station. The pay phone was 100% Dutch but in spite of that I thought I had left her a message. Who knows what I had really done though I know it cost 2 Euros. Second, we had not activated our cell phones, so there we stood on a side street with no way to call. Out of the next door came a man, who, when he saw us standing forlornly with our bags said we must call Maria. We explained we had no phone, he popped back into his apartment, returned with a cell phone and called Maria for us...angel number two. Soon Hans showed up to let us in.
Hans had directed us to a good grocery store and because we have a kitchen we went. Thinking there would likely be an ATM in the store we entered and stood inside the door looking about . Angel number three asked if she could help us and pointed us to an ATM acrros the room. We hadn't been in Amsterdam three hours and we'd been visited by three angels.
I'm so jet lagged I think I could sleep standing up! Once when I was here with family we made the mistake of taking a canal ride the first day....all six of us slept through it.
Oh, yes, spell check is in Dutch and many of you know my spelling ablities.

Some Reflections

They did the best they could. It is not their fault that the hospital in Tha Khek, Laos, is less than the best. I was treated with respect and dignity and the staff did the best they could with what they had. My bill, approximately $10, for sutures and medications is the same that a Laotian would have been charged. They did not radically inflate the bill because I was a foreigner. In a country where many people work for $1. a day $10. would be more than they could pay, but for me, pocket change. In a health care system that relies on families the doctor deputized my Tuk Tuk driver to be my family. The Tuk Tuk driver accepted the responsibility cheerfully and was always concerned about my welfare.
Because I'm a person of wealth and privilege I could go to Bangkok for treatment at a state of the art hospital. What would happen to a Laotian who got an infection as I did? Would they be able to get IV antibiotic treatment in-patient for two days? Many could not. The experience has made more conscious of the billions of people who live with that level of medical care...not to mention the millions in this country with out health insurance. Our work is not done!
The kindness of strangers who appeared when I needed them could be the subject of a sermon. The woman who took me under wing and assisted me as I bused across the border from Laos to Thailand is an example. In Mudakarn, Thailand, where I had a three hour layover between buses, a Tuk Tuk took me to an e-mail cafe. Returning to the bus depot I stood on the street waiting for a Tuk Tuk. The one that stopped for me had a passenger who told the driver to take me to the depot first. Tired, hungry and in pain I was very grateful. The nurses at the hospital in Bkk who un-bandaged me and decided to call the surgeon served me well. The Christian Guesthouse held my room while I was in the hospital and worked to find space for me for the three weeks of convalescence is yet another example. So, when people ask, "How was your trip?" I can honestly say, "Great"!