Budapest- My First Walk

My first stop on my trip was the Hungarian Parliament. Hungary is a Parliamentary Republic with a president and prime minister. It's the oldest legislative building and the second largest Parliament building in Europe.


There's several memorial statues in front of and to the side of the Parliament building in Lajos Kossuth Square. My favorite was the Károlyi memorial. He was Hungary's prime minister from 1918-1919 during a brief period of democracy.


I also took my first look at the famous Danube and the Margaret Bridge.


I wandered around Parliament a bit more before it started snowing hard.

I found refuge in the Ethnographic Museum where a holiday fair was happening. The Hungarians have a real talent for arts and crafts. Unfortunately, most things looked too fragile to survive the trip home.

The snow let up enough I was able to continue my journey.



I walked to, then across the Chain Bridge, the most beautiful bridge in Budapest.




On the other side of the Chain Bridge is the base of Castle Hill. The Palace is in the top, left of the picture.


As I'm walking I'm starting to feel safer. There's children out after dark, and the children are acting like children. There's couples braving the cold weather for a stroll along the Danube and several tourists.

By the time I reached the Margaret Bridge, the cold was too much for me tolerate any longer. I dined on Turkish gyros and went back to the hostel.

This is a link to the rest of the photos I took on my first day, complete with captions.

Budapest- The Hostel

I was pleased to find out that the hostel was very easy to find and just a short walk from where I was eating. I was buzzed into the building and wandered up to the second floor where the hostel was located. A chain-smoking but pleasant guy is waiting for me in front of the hostel. He shows me in and to the room I'll be staying in.




I was happy to see the room was clean and there was only one other person staying in the room at the moment. I chose to stay on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed, then I was shown to the lockers in the other room. The hostel owner gave me a lock, which I didn't use, and told me I could pick any locker I wanted.

Upon close examination of the lockers I noticed they had cardboard backs that were held in place by staples. One locker had the back pried off it in the bottom corner. I chose the locker that was butted up against the wall, used my own lock, and decided I'd keep my valuables on me. I brought a bike lock to chain my backpack to my bed, and was now thankful for my preparedness.

After getting settled, I left the hostel for my first walk around the city.

Budapest- The Arrival

I arrived in Budapest in the early afternoon, exhausted from the extraordinarily long travel to an airport less than 10 miles away from me. Apparently the Norwegians don't believe there is a need to operate the ferry across the fjord before 10 a.m. even though there's two very active airports on either side. Budapest Airport Terminal 1 is small and easy to navigate. I quickly exchanged my money, bought my train ticket and was on my way to the train.

Waiting for the train, I was a bit uneasy. I'm committed now. I'm in the country, there's no turning back. I'm also quite ready to get on with my adventure. I picked this tiny little country in the middle of Central Europe, I'm excited to see exactly what I got myself into.

The train arrives and I get on. I now realize I'm really not in Kansas. This train looks like it came straight out of Soviet Russia and it's crammed full of people. There's lanky Russian looking guys smoking in the entrance way, and people lining the hallway that's so narrow I can barely squeeze past.

I was to afraid to take out my camera and start taking pictures. I did, however, find a picture online of an identical train car.

The train I rode in was older, more decrepit, and smokier, but this pic gives an idea.

I find a place to stand next to a large woman in a white coat who doesn't look like the kidnapping type. I stand with my face to the window, my back to a wall between the compartments, and I'm glancing out of the corners of my eyes to either side looking for potential danger and escape routes. I'm grateful I brought my sunglasses along so my eyes now can't betray my fear. I figure the chances of being physically harmed are actually pretty low, but my chances of leaving the train with my backpack are very low as well. Ah well, I really don't need my digital camera and my iPod. My cash, debit cards and passport were safely pinned to clever spots inside my clothes so I'll be able to leave the country with minimum hassle and won't starve.

Eventually enough people leave the train that I can take a seat in a compartment. Now that I have a chance to actually look around at the people riding the train I realize that there's many non-scary people on the train too, old ladies with knitting, other travelers and young students reading books. I allowed myself to relax, but just a bit.

I arrive at the Nyugati Railway station and exit the train without incident. I don't want to look like I don't know where I'm going so I walk confidently out of the train station in search of food. The main roads in Budapest are very busy so there's underpasses for pedestrians to use. They also have subway access. I need a nice safe place to get my bearings, find out where the hostel is, and eat something.

A Burger King with indoor dining is in the underground area. Awesome, my first meal in this new country will be good 'ol American-style fast food.

Budapest- Prologue

I've been uploading pictures of my trip to my Picassa account so I can share them. My hope is to share stories along with the pictures.

Oslo Graffiti

This is another Banksy-esque graffiti I spotted in Oslo on the way to the bus station to begin my journey to Budapest.

Halloween in Norway

Halloween is a very new holiday here. This is the first year the children carved pumpkins. I also showed them how to clean off and bake the seeds.

Traveling in Budapest

This is my second day in Budapest. This city is really cool,very quirky and interesting. I will post pics when I get home.

PS I think I have the comment sytem fixed now so everyone can comment.

Snow Storm

We had the first snow storm of the ear a few days before Halloween. The snow has long since melted. Fortunately, it hasn't been replaces by rain...



...yet

Tønsberg Cemetary

I realize this makes me a bit wierd, but I love old cemetaries. I think they are really beautiful and peaceful spaces. I found this cemetary to be especially neat.





This can't be any more strange than my obsession with ugly footwear.

Out and About in Tønsberg

It was a wonderful winter day in Tønsberg, so I cycled around the city and took some pictures.

This is the boardwalk along the fjord:


There's a neat little jazz bar along it that regularly has big bands playing.


This is a quirky little park that lies next to the cemetary. I have no idea what the log-creature is supposed to be, but I like him.

Aurora's Birthday

Aurora had her sixth birthday.



She picked out her clothes for her brothers to wear to her party.


Magnus looked rather handsom.



Matthias looked rather colorful.

More Joys of Norwegian Healthcare

You have to bring your own urine samples to the doctor, they don't have you do them at the office. So I'm cycling 4 miles with a sample in a diet coke bottle. Good times.

I have to say, it must be more embarassing for a Norwegian in the American system. I could only imagine the look on a doctor or MA's face when the patient hands over their sample.

I haven't updated in forever, I know. I promise, there will soon be more posts!