Part 1 of 3.....

Budapest Day 2

The next morning, everything in Budapest awoke simultaneouslz and ended our slumbers. We took a morning walking tour to learn about Budapest. We learned why waiters and waitresses are not as welcoming as one would expect" apparentlz Hungary has had many visitors over history who seriously overstayed their welcome: Turks, Austrians, Communists. We rode the oldest subway in Continential Europe. Saw Trabies which are 2-stroke, 26 horsepower engine cars that have bodies made out of a paper and plastic mixture (they look pretty solid). We found out that hello and thank you are some of the hardest words to learn in Hungarian and that holograms and the ball point pen are Hungarian inventions.

Near the end of the tour, as it was getting hotter and hotter, we walked up the castle hill = the funicular is for wusses, even in 34C = we were on a walking tour after all. After 3 hours of touring, our nice guide left us in Buda at the Palace (circa 1950 due to destruction and rebuilding) with a lovely view of Pest and the Parliament buildings. Shannon, Michelle, LisaB, LisaG cooled off by touring the underground catacombs which were cold enough to see our breath. It was creepz but soooo refreshingly cool. In the middle of the catacombs we were greeted by the sweet smell of ivzgrotto, a fountain that flows wine instead of water!

Michelle and Lisa took off for an hour of speed shopping while LisaG, Nicole, Shannon headed back to the hostel to recuperate and write postcards (see = we are thinking of you all). We met up in time to head off to the Opera. We had picked up tickets during our walking tour: 5dollar opera. It was a performance of THe Queen of Spades in Russian translated via text screen above the stage into Hungarian. We were lost on the plot until the second intermission when Shannon bought an English playbook. The inside of the Opera house was STUNNING. Michelle snuck some pictures with her digital spy camera. It was a beautiful experience (although Michelle suffered though the first act with a headache) though we all agree that you just cannot follow an Opera without knowing what they are saying. Strange European-Hungarian custom = all the performers come out at the end of every act to bow. And the audience claps in unison.

After all the excitement we all crashed in our beds and slept until 6am when the garbage trucks woke Michelle.

Tune in later for Parts 2 and 3!!