Budapest Part 1 - all about water

Budapest is dominated by the Danube (unlike Vienna). Our room in the Butterfly Home B & B is on the corner of a building looking out on the river and the Liberty Bridge - a splendid view.

We spend almost all of our stay on or alongside the river. We catch the trams that run on each side of the river to the end of their routes and back again. We go on an after dark-cruise to see the bridges and magnificent buildings along the river all floodlit. We catch a public transport ferry - as with the trams we go to both ends of the route before finally alighting on Margaret Island, the large island at the upstream end of the city. We return from a day trip to Szentendre (historic town made home by many artists) by boat. We cross the river on foot via the Liberty Bridge several times, stopping to watch the huge amount of traffic - vast cruise boats that go the length of the Danube, medium boats that take Budapest tourists on short cruises, ferries, private motorboats, working barges. Peter is fascinated by the way they avoid collisions and by the docking manoeuvres in the strong current - always facing upstream regardless of direction of travel, so requiring a 180 degree turn at every ferry stop when going down river.

It is hot in Budapest, even hotter than it was in Vienna, with two days when the temperature gets to around 36 degrees. We get into the habit of returning to our air conditioned room for a rest toward the end of the day, then heading out to eat in the evening, when it is cooler but still too warm to need anything other than a shirt/top. On the really hot days we head to the baths, spending a whole day at the Gellért and visiting the Szechenyi as part of a day-long visit to the enormous City Park. Although the Szechenyi is the more famous, we much prefer the Gellért. For a start it is in walking distance of the place we are staying. It has a bigger indoor pool than the Szechenyi, and the water is cool to cold, whereas in Szechenyi the indoor pools are small and heated. The big outdoor pool at Szechenyi is unshaded, so on a really hot day it isn't so pleasant. And it is much more crowded and doesn't feel as clean as Gellért. One feature of the indoor pool at Gellért I like is that there are no lanes - instead there is a swimming direction - you swim round the pool on an oblong course. You don't run into people swimming in the other direction, and if you get behind someone slower you just pull out and overtake. So easy. Another nifty feature at both baths was a small spin dryer in the changing area, just big enough for one pair of togs, which made them almost dry in about a minute - very nice when you're carrying them home in your backpack.

Our other water-related excursions include taking a pedalo round the ornamental lake in front of Vajdahunyad Castle in City Park (relaxing when we were in shade, otherwise rather hot) and going into the Lajta Naval Ship Museum (travelling with Peter involves a lot of ship museum visits). This is the oldest remaining river warship, which fought in various battles on the Danube in late 19th and early 20th century. These ships were based on an American design called a monitor ship, and sit very low in the water so that they are a small target. They initially had a single gun in a rotating turret, more firepower was added over the years. Even though it is hot and cramped below decks, we stay for some time as the museum is very well set up with interesting and informative documentation. It includes the life histories of the three commanders of the vessel, which make one very aware of how Hungary has so often been on the wrong side of history. All of them were clearly brave and good captains, one was executed for participating in a rebellion and two died in exile, discredited because they fought on the losing side in a war.

More on Hungary and its history to come in Budapest Part 2, what we did when not in, on, or above water.

Vienna - let them eat cake!

Vienna is a great place from which to start a Middle European holiday. It's an easy city. There are a plethora of things to see and do, mostly within or on the famous Ringstrasse. The significant must-see that is a little further out, Schloss Belvedere, is a few minutes walk from our Etagerie Wien apartment.

Vienna is all art and music. The city has a large opera house which stages 350 performances a year, the Musikverein which has a large hall and 5 smaller performance spaces and a third venue that seems to stage more pop concert type events. We see/hear a great production of Tosca at the Staatsoper, sitting grandly in the front row of one of the best boxes, at enormous expense but worth it. If you are a poor student there are affordable standing room tickets, and if you're really hard up you can watch a whole performance on a big screen outside, free.

We hear Bruckner 4 at the Musikverein, as well as doing the backstage tour there, Mozart Requiem on period instruments at Karlskirche, and join 85,000 others in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace on midsummer night to hear Dudamel conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in an American-themed program which starts with the Overture to Candide, included Rhapsody in Blue with a skimpily-clad Yuja Wang on piano, and finishes with the last movement of Dvorak 9. Another musical experience is the Haus der Musik, aimed at kids but enjoyable for adults, especially the bit where you get to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic with a bit of preliminary advice from Zubin Mehta to get you started. H tackles Brahms Hungarian Dance with reasonable success (there is a video).

Then there is Art, with a capital A. We  visit the Belvedere (Upper twice, Lower once), the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Albertina, Klimt's Beethoven frieze at the Secession. When we return to Vienna we will revisit the Secession to see the rest which was closed for renovation, go to the Leopold and possibly return to the Albertina and Kunsthistorisches Museum to see bits we missed.

If you are into Baroque architecture there is no shortage. We find it rather OTT, but enjoy the National Library and the state rooms at Schönbrunn, Belvedere. Church interiors (Stephansdom, Karlskirche) not so much. Our non-conformist souls are dismayed to find that very large donations were made to the Red Cross to over-decorate a memorial chapel to Franz Joseph's wife Sisi in the Franz of Assisi church (gold mosaics and too much marble).

Vienna is also made attractive by green spaces: parks and gardens, small and large, everywhere. We walk through Sigmund Freud Park, the Volksgarten, gardens of the Belvedere and Schönbrunn. We go to the Prater and hum Harry Lime in our heads as we ride the famous Reisenrad. We have a time-out Saturday afternoon in the Stadtpark, full of Viennese and visitors doing likewise.

What surprises us is how little the Danube contributes to Vienna. You could easily stay for some time and not see it at all unless you arrived by cruise boat. The Ring is completed not by a road along the river, but by one along the Danube Canal, but even that isn't particularly interesting - no major buildings. The Wien River has been put into a concrete drain reminiscent of the Moonee Ponds Creek. Being boaty people we make the effort to visit both river and canal. Donau Insel, the island in the middle of the river, and the canal banks are green and pleasant, somewhere to jog, ride a bike or push a pram, but that's about it.

We take in the Hundertwasser house on the return trip from the canal, so it's not a complete waste of time.

Vienna is famous for coffee houses, but the best known are now on what we refer to as the rubber chicken route (with apologies to Rod Quantock). We do get into Cafe Central for a very pleasant lunch without having to queue for long, but Cafe Demel is full of tour groups with a half hour wait to get in, and we are too thirsty and in need of caffeine to wait.

We tend to eat in cafes in or attached to the places we are visiting, Prater, Hofburg, Staatsoper, Schönbrunn, Naschmarkt,  Kunsthistorisches Museum, Cafe Imperial near the Musikverein. Not usually gourmet or particularly good value for money, but attractive surroundings and quite good food. Best eating experiences are our first lunch at Meinl am Graben (famous delicatessen with cafe upstairs), brunches at Belvedere and at Cafe Goldegg near our apartment, and a late meal at Cafe Führich, where the helpful staff whisk us and our very nice meals inside when it starts to rain heavily and water is coming off the umbrellas into the food. And a delicious slice of pizza at a tramstop late at night on the way back from Schönbrunn, perhaps because we were really hungry. It's been too hot for big meals, and we've been drinking beer in preference to wine as we are constantly thirsty.

We are most impressed with Vienna's public transport system. On arrival we buy 7 day passes, which conveniently run Monday to Sunday (we arrive early Monday morning). We travel mostly by tram because there is a stop 2 minutes away, but use the Metro as well for places like the Prater, Schönbrunn, Naschmarkt  Once you have your pass there is no validation process for each journey, so much easier than Melbourne's Myki. We don't see any inspectors - people seem to be trusted to do the right thing. The trams are so frequent you can do your own hop-on-hop-off tours and we do. We also catch trams when we might have walked if it hadn't been over 30 degrees.

Things we got right:

• Accommodation - cheap and a great position. Only drawbacks are no aircon, but as it is on the east side of the building it is ok, and poor soundproofing especially if you open the windows to let some air in. We've booked it again for our return.
• Not buying a Vienna card. Our 7 day passes are way cheaper, and we find that the seniors discount is greater than the Vienna card discount in the places that do discounts.
• Buying and packing more lightweight clothes just before we left. Europe is experiencing a serious heatwave. The things I brought to wear in the cool of evening are all still in the bag.
• Not paying for reservations on the train to Budapest as recommended when you buy a railpass. Just not needed.
• Not booking a "skip-the-line" ticket for the Reisenrad. Go at dinner time - there is no line and you see the city as the sun is setting.

Things we got wrong:

• Ordering a slice of cheesecake at Aida konditorei, assuming it would be a baked one like the delicious ones I bought at a Viennese bakery in Thames Ditton in the 70s. It was what I think of as American cheesecake, cold and very sweet. It was described as "creamy" on the menu, so I should have known better. I did manage half a small piece of apfelstrudel that came with breakfast at the Belvedere (yes really, with the boiled egg, ham and cheese), but not even Vienna can turn me into a cake person. Love the bread though, and have eaten lots of it.
• Pre-booking a taxi from the airport. The fast shuttle would have been much quicker, and we could have walked from the station to our apartment if we'd been too dazed to work out the tram system.
• Booking a "skip-the-line" tour for Schönbrunn. We could have seen the apartments with a self-tour audio guide with far less waiting and probably far cheaper.

Overall we found we didn't need to book ahead from home. Even our opera tickets were returns bought on standby just days before the performance (but that was from Melbourne).

We think we have enough things left to fill the final week of our trip when we return. There is the Secession, the Leopold, more of the Hofburg. Peter wants to return to the Technisches Museum (really interesting, especially a whole section on musical instruments). And we will do out-of-town excursions, to the Wachau Valley at least.

Ready, set...

Just over a week until takeoff for Mitteleurop. All the big items done: airfares, railpasses, TravelSims, accommodation for the first month. Insurance. New luggage and rainjackets acquired, lists made of things to pack, sponge bags found.

London, London!

I "grew up" in London. Not in the usual sense of being there in my childhood, but in the sense of going from a somewhat protected late developer to a mature adult capable of managing her life on her own. I lived there for over three years from 1969 until 1972. Peter and I have been back since, but only for short periods, and for the longest of these we stayed in the centre of London and didn't stray much further afield. So one of the joys of our most recent trip was rediscovering London, and becoming aware of how much it has changed, and how much it hasn't in the last four or five decades.

The Thames for me is one of the key features of London. In the 1970s I lived in East Molesey, in a house with a view of the Thames from the back window. And I spent many an interval at concerts in the Royal Festival Hall staring out across the river. On this trip we stay on the Isle of Dogs, right in the bend of the Thames, and we have a lot to do with the river, travelling beneath it by tube on multiple occasions, and even by foot through the tunnel from Greenwich, walking along its banks, crossing it on foot by most of the main bridges, including the new Millennium Bridge. Living in the East End we see all the reconstruction of the areas around the old docks, making this area an interesting mixture of new expensive apartments and older housing estates. We become aware of the huge amount of tourist traffic now on the river every day, as well as the commuters using it as an alternative to the tube. The "arts precinct" on Southbank that began with the building of the Royal Festival Hall in the 1950s has now extended to the new Globe and the Tate Modern, but the Southbank Centre itself is now old enough to need redevelopment, so two of the smaller concert halls are closed.

From the splendid vantage point of the top of the Tate Modern you can look over the London skyline. On the north bank are the familiar shapes: the dome of St Pauls, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament. But there are also a series of extraordinary modern edifices sticking up from amongst the old: the Eye, the Shard, the Gherkin, and others whose nicknames I don't know but whose architecture is just as challenging. Some, like the Walkie-Talkie, seem to be larger at the top than they are at the bottom, which leaves one wondering how the structural engineers have managed it. These new structures don't really blend into their surroundings at all - quite the reverse - they are very "look at me!". But somehow it makes London look modern and vibrant, rather than just making it look like a hotch-potch. Living on the Isle of Dogs we are of course in the midst of the new high rise: sixteen of London's fifty tallest buildings are here.

Meanwhile, back at ground level, what else is new?
The parks: Hyde Park, Regents Park, are still the same wonderful green oases. There seem to be more people than ever using them, but that may be because we are there in the height of the tourist season. Peter and I are slightly disconcerted on one occasion to see a large group of fully-covered Muslim women coming towards us, then settling on the grass like so many huge black crows. They proceeded to picnic, lifting food up under their niqabs.

Muslim women are also strongly in evidence in the posh department stores in Oxford Street, although fewer of these are fully covered, most are just wearing headscarves. No doubt there are migrants from the Middle East who are not well off, but equally there must be lots of rich shopaholics, as they almost outnumber the uncovered. London's stores once seemed to me to be magical places, but on this trip we find them disappointing. Department stores everywhere now seem to be stocked with the same big brands - rather dull if having designer labels on your gear and goods doesn't turn you on. Places like Fortnum and Mason are now ludicrously expensive - we cannot bring ourselves to buy afternoon tea there (price £26 to £45 per person). And I am totally defeated in my search for a paper napkin holder as a present for friend Laura who has many a garden party. (On return to Australia I find a choice of three in the South Melbourne Market).  The only shopping we really enjoyed was in the Greenwich Market, which had lots of interesting and original stuff. If we return to London I will make a point of visiting more markets.


One of our favourite spaces was a reclaimed dock area on the South Bank, with a fabulous sculpture that did all kinds of interesting things, mostly driven by falling water (see left).
We found lots of good cafes in London, but it's hard to get a decent coffee if you like your coffee black. The long black seems to be a peculiarly Australian invention. Cafes in the UK and many in Europe offer black coffee in two forms: Espresso and Americano. An espresse in France is a short black, but in London and in places like French Autoroute cafes, asking for an Espresso gets you about a half inch of very strong coffee in a very small cup - one is not sure whether to drink it or inject it. The alternative Americano comes in a huge cup, and tastes like a bucket of slops from cleaning out the espresso machine (if that strong). In one very pleasant cafe in Bank, I actually resort to instructing the barista on how to make an Australian long black. Since he is a Dane, he is open to learning something new.

But overall, I love London, and would go back in a heartbeat. Peter says he couldn't live there, but I think I could probably last as long as I did first time round - after three winters I couldn't face a fourth.

London - the inside story

There are so many historic and cultural places to visit in London that it's hard to know where to start. Somewhat to our surprise and disappointment, the range of events is more limited. There isn't much theatre happening apart from musicals and kids shows. And apart from the Proms, not many concerts either - nothing in Festival Hall or the Wigmore Hall. It is school holidays, of course. Fortunately the museums are all open.
Our favourite of these is probably the Docklands Museum, walking distance from where we are staying. It occupies one of the few warehouses left standing after the Blitz, at the end of Canary Wharf. It presents a fascinating history from the time when all the docks in the area were created, to the present day when the land is being reclaimed for sky-high office buildings and trendy flats. In between there are all the wartime stories, and a wonderful, if wrenching story of slavery. We spend the best part of a day there.
Peter loves all the science and technology museums. He makes two visits to the Science Museum in South Kensington, one to the Royal Institute where Faraday did his experiments, and goes to Bletchley Park for the day. Helen joins him at the Royal Institute (where we are the only two visitors) and on one of the Science Museum visits.

Arvo Tea at the Wallace Collection

On the artier side, we go to the Wallace collection twice, and the National Gallery once. We go to the British Museum, but it's hot and crammed with tourists, so we make our visit a short one.
Helen manages to get a single return to see Macbeth at the Globe Theatre, the only serious theatre going. Her enjoyment of the performance is slightly marred when the mobile phone of the person beside her buzzes just as Macbeth begins "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...". She feels the need after the show to explain to the young girl that turning your phone off means turning it OFF, not just putting it on silent. And that even if you don't actually answer it, it's just as distracting for the person beside you if you pull it out of your bag and start texting.

Music-wise, we go to an organ recital that just happened to be on at St Paul's Cathedral when we walked there on our first evening, and a lovely concert of baroque music in St Martin-in-the-Fields on our last evening. This gives us the opportunity to sit and take in these two lovely churches, quite apart from the pleasure of hearing the music. In between we go to the Proms in the Albert Hall three times, and Helen takes in a "Proms at..." concert at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre in the Globe - vocal music inspired by Shakespeare played by the Arcangelo early music group.
We discover Polish cuisine in London, eating out at two restaurants that serve excellent food at reasonable prices, with impeccable service. One is near the Albert Hall, the other near Southwark tube station, convenient for our return to Canary Wharf. We have good meals at the local Indian restaurant two minutes walk from the door of the flat. After a hard days walking we quite often return to the flat, cook a meal and veg out, but discover that free-to-air television in the UK has less to offer than television in Melbourne (for example, very old episodes of the Doctor Blake Mysteries!) So we read books and I try to keep the diary up to date instead.

Another significant amount of indoor time was spent at Howarth's of London, purveyors of wind instruments. After four separate visits Helen finally settled on a pair of Buffet Festival clarinets (an A and a B flat). Then there was the fifth visit to collect them the day after the purchase, and one more visit to get assistance in taking the A clarinet apart (new joints are very stiff). This sixth visit was also an opportunity to buy a zip up case cover with backpack type straps, without which she would never have got the instruments safely home to Melbourne (along with her older clarinet, which had gone with her on the entire trip).

London

Love London. Would happily have stayed longer, although Peter was ready to leave after our 17 night stay.
Journey to London is wearing. A long drive with various motorway holdups, then longer holdups getting into Luton, finding the hire car drop-off, going off again to get petrol, finding the drop-off again, finding out where to go to get the car checked out, waiting for the shuttle to London, crawling through London peak hour traffic in the bus, and finally a hot and crowded tube journey from Baker Street to Canary Wharf. We sink our pride and get a taxi from the station to our lodgings, even though it is only about a 10 minute walk. Final piece of the disaster becomes apparent later when Peter realises he has left his wallet in the taxi. Despite considerable effort (visits to police stations, multiple visits to Transport for London Lost Property), we never see it again.
Our accommodation in Canary Wharf is great - a cleverly designed open plan apartment where the bed pulls out like a huge drawer from under a raised living area. It has all mod cons - washing machine and dryer, dishwasher, good kitchen where we cook quite a few meals. We occasionally patronise the local Indian restaurant which is two minutes walk from the door, or eat in London proper while we are out and about.
Weather in London is amazingly good. It doesn't rain until our very last day, and the temperature is generally in the low twenties. As a result we spend a lot more time outdoors than we anticipated. We walk and walk and walk, and get our money's worth out of our weekly Oyster cards. We go to Bush Road in the Surrey Quays area to see the house where Peter spent his first months, in the middle of the Blitz. Contrary to family myth, the terrace that the house is in wasn't destroyed by bombing, only damaged when the houses across the road and further down the road were destroyed. Their place has been taken by rather ugly 50s utilitarian buildings, but the Victorian terrace containing Peter's family house is intact. Peter manages to find some people who've been in the area for years to confirm this.
I re-visit some of my old haunts. After one of our fruitless trips to TFL Lost Property, near Baker Street, we walk through Regents Park and up to Chalk Farm, where I manage to locate the bedsit that my brother and sister-in-law were renting when I first arrived in London in 1969, and where I lived until I found a place of my own. On another excursion I explore Paddington, finding that the office where I worked is no longer in existence, but the pub where I drank is. After a chat with the barman I walk to Inverness Terrace in Bayswater where I lived next in 1969, and from there walk across Hyde Park to join Peter who is enjoying a day in the Science Museum.
We love being near the Thames. On our first Saturday we go via the tube to Greenwich, explore Greenwich market, visit the Naval College. We return to the north bank via the foot tunnel under the Thames, then walk all the way up the east side of the Isle of Dogs and back to the flat in Canary Wharf. On another excursion we go via the Docklands Light Railway to Tower Bridge.Starting with Tower Bridge, we cross the river, walk along the bank, cross at the next bridge, walk along the bank... we get as far as Southwark Bridge before we run out of steam, stopping along the way to visit a wharf that's now a shopping mall, and to have a cup of tea in the Tate Modern, and to admire the view from the top of that building.

Yorkshire

Recycled birthday cake (lots of baby boomers here)

We arrive in Goldsborough on Wednesday evening, and stay for a week with Laura Lindsay, who has been a friend since we were in Grade 6. She has insisted that we arrive in time for my 70th birthday, so that she can throw a party. Festivities begin the previous evening with dinner and my first present - a picture from my step-daughter from my first marriage which she has posted to Yorkshire to await my arrival. More cards and presents the next day, a cardigan and some bling, the latter is immediately worn for the afternoon party. The weather starts fine, but by about 11am it is clearly not going to stay that way, so we relocate drinks and nibbles to the garage, and have lunch indoors. Last guests leave at about 9:30pm, by which time I've over-indulged in both food and wine. But a good time was had by all.

Peter meets Blind Jack in York

We spend the next five days participating in English village life. P is disappointed because there is not one murder. We attend a wedding in the local ancient church, because Laura and partner David are singing in the choir (they are paid to do so). We thoroughly enjoy an amateur performance of "Quartet" in Harrowgate, help Laura entertain again when her choir has its end-of-season garden party before the summer break after their usual performance in church on Sunday. On Monday and Tuesday we venture further afield  to the Yorkshire Dales to admire the views, eat a splendid pub lunch, and go to York to visit the Railway Museum, and walk around that very historic city. The weather is an improvement on Glasgow, but still showery.
On Wednesday we pack up and say farewell to Goldsborough, which has been lovely, and head south.
More pictures.