Now this is a great day worth blogging about, because I can finally separate clean from dirty clothes. I can finally stop using Jim's spice-scented deodorant because I stupidly packed mine. I am finally in a room, a stateroom, where you don't need stilts to get into the tub or onto the bed, where the pillows are firm and the coffee maker works; where there's not a dictator in sight to cripple the city.
Nah..that's not why it was a good day. That's why I feel settled, but there are a lot of good things to share.
What are the odds that Jim would be waiting for a drink, small talking like we all do ,with a couple from Buffalo, and when he told them he lives in Aberdeen New Jersey, she immediately asks: Do you know Harvey?" ..and he finished her sentence. Yes, of course we know Faith Brenner and Harvey M. Brenner..we just broke fast with them. So friends, your congregants from Buffalo, the Lustigs, are on board. One degree of separation..and I'm sure it's not the first time.
We've been hanging with Betty from Winnipeg. And no, I did not ask her if she knew my father, who hasn't lived there since the 1940's if she knew his because they both once lived in Canada's fourth largest city.
(OK..I did..wanna make something of it?)
Betty lives in Clearwater now, and she's a colonoscopy nurse. And she were cool t-shirts with Bette Midler on them. And she's eighty. And she only wants to take the gentle walking tours, because she's eighty. And she doesn't want to overdo it, because she's eighty.
I think I have a playmate for the duration of the trip.
She joined us for breakfast in Budapest and was very cool when I told Jim that the Hungarian word for butter is
"v-a-j"...
She joined us for our first meal on the boat, and I can see why people compare this to a luxury ocean liner, because it is. Only less congested. I may even be able to find the stateroom on my own. We were also seated with Boris and Natasha. OK, that's stereotyping. Vlad and Sonya. OK..I'm not sure WHAT their names were because I couldn't understand a word they said. I don't even recall if I attempted to ask them their names. Betty kept the conversation alive with topics like movies and football. I felt too grungy to be sociable.
I even enjoyed the coach ride that would have been a boat ride if the waters were higher. Everyone was commenting on the lush countryside, I only notice things like a strip mall called Paprika World."
Even had The Paprika Hotel.
It RUINS the taste of beef people! I'm not noncommittal anymore, it is not a very nice spice.
(Except on chicken..I liked it sparingly on chicken tonight)
So before anyone thinks that I'm a total waste on a floating hotel trip because all I care about are things like the softness of towels and how many closet hangers I got, there was something very special to share in Budapest this morning.
Jim signed us up for the Jewish Quarter tour, and it was absolutely fascinating, even with all the walking and the heat.
The city was still pretty much paralyzed by the visit from the despot, but I am getting used to walking. In fact, as the coach bus was taking us over the famous Chain Bridge as we were living Budapest today, and Jim pointed out how far I actually walked, I was really quite proud of myself.
Back to the tour..turns out we were the only two on it, and so the rests I needed to ward off any future sciatic attacks were almost a built in future.
Our guide was Anna and she was terrific. In fact, even 'though she spent most of her life in Budapest, she was a history professor..at Evan's alma mater, Rutgers. She told us she has a two year old son named Max and a husband who is a professional mountain biker. Her dream is to teach history at the university level in Canada.
We couldn't believe she wasn't Jewish..she was incredibly informed about history, customs, culture and architecture. (She has Jewish in-laws courtesy of some of her siblings)
Anna took us a round a very crumbly section that had a faint urine smell. We didn't see anything that indicated that the shops were Jewish owned--no Hebrew writing--but she gave us all the rich history of the most renowned street for Hungarian Jews.
Buildings were separated by courtyards, and we snuck into one, only to discover there was no exit..just a wall that at one time locked all the Jewish residents in. I may have shivered just then.
She took us to a much nicer section with cleverly named establishments ..something like Yiddish Mama Mia--and then onto a private section with cobblestone streets and g-l-a-t-t- kosher markets. (Story for spelling it out--autocorrect is not being cooperative)
For a fee of five dollars, we were able to enter the Orthodox temple and see all the ornate decorations and marvelous stained glass. The b-i-m-a was in the center of the room and there was balcony seating for the women. Even 'though I consider myself to be more or less an agnostic Jew, it was quite stirring to be in this temple with it's painted ceiling that moved me even more than the one found in the Sistine chapel.
Anna took us a little further to the reform temple, the largest synagogue in all of Europe. There was a small fee to get in but once I assessed the size of the waiting crowd, I knew it would be something special. ..and it was. I couldn't take my eyes off of the art.
The final part of the tour was the courtyard, a pretty peaceful area with a swath of verdant lawn and marble benches to sit on. Once seated, I noticed all the plaques surrounding different structures. The plaques were basically tombstones, with varied dates of birth but only 1944 or 1945 at the date of death.
Anna explained that there were so many unidentified corpses buried in mass graves. It was educational but tough to really grasp. I thought I was in a pretty park--a peaceful courtyard. Little did I know it was a cemetery filled with a history I wish I could erase.
This wasn't a fun blog, I know. There was a lot to say and I'm really exhausted from all the travel.
But I love all the comments and feedback. I think I'll be funnier tomorrow when I'm clean and rested.
We're doing a city tour of Vienna, a tour of Schoenbrun Palace, and then a classical music concert tomorrow night.
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