August 30 - 31, 2012 - All By Myself

Hi All,   

This will be a rather short blog as the boys had headed to Liverpool after breakfast for the game tonight and will not be returning until Friday.  I had the place to myself once the housekeeper finished her chores.  I decided to head over to the White Swan for supper and had a rather bad choice for food; wings, chips and a glass of red wine as they do not sell cider by the 1/2 pint or pint only bottles and one is too much for me.  While at the pub I met some Texans who are in town for a couple of days before heading off on a cruise to Ireland and Iceland.  They had asked me if I knew if the fish had its skin on in the fish and chips.  I thought it did but told them ask at the bar as they would tell you.  We then chatted a bit, they asking me where I was from and how I came to be in the UK.  Once answered I left them to their meals and headed back to the flat.

I was up early on Friday and headed off the Borough Market.  I took the tube and once I got off the tube I managed to get turned around as I took the wrong exit.  I asked a young lady dressed up in goth clothing advertising some dungeon attraction where the market was and she pointed me in the right direction.  I don't need fancy gadget's to find my way, I have a tongue in my head and know how to use it.  The market was the least busy I have ever seen it, and then I realized it was just 10:30 a.m. and usually we were there later in the day on our previous visits, usually around the business lunch time.  Neal's Yard Dairy, a cheese shop, only had four customers and I was one of them.  I purchased a Montgomery Cheddar on of my favourites, an apple Cheshire and a Parmesan cheese they had never previously carried as previously they only carried British cheeses.  The picture on the left is wild rabbits hanging at a butchers.  I continued my exploring purchasing veggies for tonight's supper when the boys return and looking to see if they sell any gluten free bread.  Sadly, they don't but I did purchase a lovely artisan loaf, a farm style loaf for Fred and myself.  Once shopping was done I decided to walk back to the flat.  In hindsight I did this backwards as I should have walked to the market and then taken the tube back to the flat as I was carrying parcels.

The weather was perfect for walking with a nice breeze off the river.  The picture on the right is Pirate Wenlock he was sitting right by the Golden Hind.  The promenade was very busy as it was now lunch time.  I meandered my way back stopping for photo's of various Wenlock's, one of  London's Mascots for the 2012 Olympics and land sights on the riverbank. On Southbank near the London Eye I heard an elderly lady asking her spouse how far do they think they can walk along the promenade. I stopped and let them know they could walk a fair piece if they so desired.  They were from Edmonton and we had a lovely chat before we headed on our separate ways.  The walk took me one hour and 10 minutes at my pace and it is a walk I enjoy as there is always something happening and new stuff to see.

Cheerio for now,

Sandy

August 29, 2012 - London Museum

Greetings All,

Today we started a little earlier as we hoped to visit a couple of museums with Jonathan.  I have packed lunches for all of us so there will be no worries about trying to find gluten free sandwiches.  We took the tube to St. Paul's and then it was a short walk to the Museum of London.  This is a museum that is dedicated to telling the story of London's past.  The museum is located in the City of London, whose boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the middle ages.  London today is comprised of 2 cities (City of London and City of Westminster) and 32 boroughs.  The exhibits trace London's past from the end of the ice age, then the bronze age through to Roman times, Dark Ages, Medieval,Victorian right through to modern times.  The picture on the left is a replica of a horned helmet from 150-50 BC that was found at Waterloo Bridge and the shield from 300-100 BC was found at Battersea. The originals are located at the British Museum.  Many of the artifacts are well preserved because of the environment of the Thames (due to the water) which was surprising to me.  The museum is laid out so that you explore the different time frames you go deeper down into the museum.  The Victorian section was very interesting as it was set up as a typical street with shops and you can actually smell tobacco at the Tobacconist.

The picture on the right is the Ceremonial Carriage for the Lord Mayor of the City of London.  It is very ornate and is drawn by a number of horses.  The whole display including life sized horses took up a large room at the end of the exhibits.

We had our lunch in the cafe area of the museum and Jonathan questioned the fact that we were not eating food bought from the cafe.  We let him know it is the British way.  We are not sitting at the cafe's tables but on a bench in the general area of the cafe, where several other people were doing as we were.  After lunch we headed out as plans had changed somewhat.  A friend from Toronto had contacted Jonathan as we headed out in the morning to see if he was available to meet as today would be the only day they would be available.  So the plan was to now meet up with her and her sister at the Tower of London.

The picture on the left is what remains of the original Roman walls of the City of London.  We were quite shocked when we headed outside. The temperature had dropped and the heavens opened. None of us were really dressed for the lower temperatures or had raincoats, although we did have umbrellas, the cold and wind was unexpected.  We took the tube back to the flat rather than walk to the Tower and left Jonathan to meet up with his friends.  With the plans having changed I did not cook supper, instead Fred and I went to Pizza Express for supper and enjoyed their new menu that has pizzas that are just 500 calories.  The crust is super thin and the middle is missing and replaced with a nice light salad. We treated ourselves to dessert which are also downsized and coffee.

We have had another full day partly shared with our son and partly just the two of us enjoying ourselves.

Cheers,

Sandy & Fred

August 28, 2012 - London First Full Day with Jonathan

Hi All,  

Our eldest son Jonathan arrived for a much needed vacation.  Our first full day with him started a bit late as we were lazy and slept late according to him.  His time clock was all screwed up with an eight hour time difference from Vancouver.  We headed off for a day of walking, firstly to the Parliament Buildings then off to Horse Guards.  We lucked out as we reached Horse Guards as they were changing the Guard.  This was the first time we had seen it and I got a video which can be seen on my facebook page.  From there we headed for Trafalgar Square then headed down the Mall.  They were working on the mall so we were blocked from continuing along it to the Palace.  Instead we took a detour and I finally got to check out a monument we have passed many times on previous visits but never knew who the person was up top, so the question is now answered, it was a monument to Frederick Duke of York.  Due to the detour Fred and I got to explore an area we had not previously been to.  The picture on the right is of stone work on a building we passed while in the area.  We continued on and ended up in front of the residence of Charles and Camilla.  Again we were in luck as they were changing the guard, which can be seen in the picture to the left.

We continued on until we finally reached Buckingham Palace.  The picture on the right is Jonathan pointing out the Canada Gate (don't know whether or not that the official title, it's the gates to Green Park near the Mall) and British Columbia's Provincial Emblem, he just can't escape from home. With photo taken we headed through Green Park up to Piccadilly and then to Regent Street to walk along the shopping District. We did not plan the day very well.  With Jonathan on a gluten free diet, we had bought gluten free bread and lunch meats and should have packed a lunch. We had a hard time finding places that sold sandwiches made from gluten free bread, and the ones that did were vegetarian or some other yucky stuff.

The picture on the left is Piccadilly Wenlock.  Wenlock and Mandeville are the two Olympic Mascots and they are dotted all over the city.
We stopped at Hamley's the amazing toy store for a quick tour and then headed to Oxford Street.  We finally got lunch at Marks and Spencers. Jonathan had sushi whle Fred and I had sandwiches.  Hunger pangs taken care of we walked down Park Lane and headed back to the flat.  It has been four hours of walking with me sometimes lagging behind like a little kid trailing their parents.  We stopped for some liquid refreshment at  the Cask which is just down the street from the flat.  Jonathan and I had cider, mine was Pheasant Plucker and Jonathan's was Bee Sting.  Fred had a 1/2 pint of beer called Swinging Harry.  As it was a very strong beer (12% ABV), he had only a half.  We covered 9.12 miles today and headed back to the flat so Jonathan can nap before we head off for supper.

Jonathan had researched places that serve gluten free foods and found a place in Herne Hill (Brixton) that serves gluten free fish and chips (including the malt vinegar and tartare sauce) every Tuesday. We took the tube to Brixton and then got on a train (Southeastern ) to Herne Hill.  Once Fred and Jonathan sorted out in which direction we needed to be going with their phones, it was a short walk to Ollie's.  Fred and I had starters, mine was calamari and Fred's was prawns which the waitress was quick to point out was not gluten free.  As we had no worries we advised her that Jonathan was the one that needed to be gluten free.  The fish and chips were very good.  They even had a gluten free beer, Celia from the Czech Republic so Jonathan was really happy to be able to enjoy a beer with his meal.  We took the Southeastern train to Victoria Station and walked from there to the flat.  Jonathan was exhausted and Fred and I were stiffening up from the days adventures.  It was early to bed as tomorrow we plan to visit some museums.

Cheerio ,

Sandy & Fred.

August 20, 2012 - Budapest Last Day

Jo napot all,   

For our last day we headed off to the Jewish Quarter which is walking distance from our hotel.  At 10:00 a.m. and it was already very hot. Thankfully, we were able to get a late checkout so we could shower again and relax before our ride came to take us back to the airport.

The Jews first settled in Hungary in the 13th century and then a second wave of immigrants arrived in the 19th century settling in the same area of Pest.  The community thrived until 1941 when the first anti-Semetic laws were passed by Admiral Horthy's pro-Nazi dictatorship.  In 1944 the area became a ghetto from which tens of thousands of Jews were taken  to death camps.  Today there is only a small Jewish community.  We did not take a tour of the synagogue as a bus load of tourists arrived while we were taking pictures.

We headed off to Mihaly Pollack Square named after the architect of several Neo-Classical buildings.  The National Museum being one of them.

The square is also famous for the three palaces built here for Hungary's richest aristocrats.  The picture on the left is Festetics Palace and is the only one that is open to the public though not today as it is a National Holiday (St. Stephen's Day).  Once our photo's were taken we strolled back to the hotel as it was now in the high 80's and it was expected to reach the mid 90's by mid afternoon. Way too hot for walking around, the weather was more suited for the beach.  I never thought I would say this but I was glad to be heading back to the UK and cooler temperatures.

I hope you have enjoyed this portion of our travels.  The next post will be about our explorations with our son Jonathan who arrives in London on August 27th.

Viszontlatasra,

Sandy & Fred

August 19, 2012 - Budapest Day 3

Jo napot all,

We started off a little later as we were walking today.  At 10:30 a.m. it was already hot.  We headed off to the Gellert area and the southern end of Vaci utca.

We crossed the Erzsebet hid (Elizabeth Bridge) which was adorned with flags along the walkway.  The bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world when completed in 1903 and had to be completely rebuilt after WWII and it did not re-open until 1963.  When it was under reconstruction, great care had to be taken on the Pest side to ensure the City Parish Church was not damaged.  At one point the communist authorities wanted to demolish the church but a compromise was reached and as you can see in one of our pictures on Flickr, the bridge is mere inches from the wall of the church.

The Gellert Monument was built in 1904 to the christian martyr Bishop Gellert who was thrown off the Old Hill in a sealed barrel during a pagan revolt in the 11th century.  A century later, to seek forgiveness from God the citizens decided to dedicate the hill to him.  The Bishop is now worshipped as a Patron Saint of Budapest.

We headed back across the bridge and walked along Vaci utca to the southern end.  The Vaci is very busy in spite of it being a Sunday.  Our first stop after running the gauntlet of vendors and restaurants inviting us to sample wears or eat  we came upon Saint Michael's City Rectorate.  The church dates back to 1230 and was originally the property of the Dominicans (the Blackfriars).

The church has had a very tumultuous history, having been destroyed twice (by the Mongols and the Turks), with the current church being built between 1700-1765.  In 1784 the Order of the Dominicans was dissolved by Joseph II and the church eventually became a convent to Mary Ward's Order of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The church has been under restoration since 1999.

We continued south to the Central Market Hall which is closed as it is Sunday so all we were able to do was take some photos.  Once we have taken photo's of  the Hall, buildings and sites in the area we headed back along Vaci utca to find a spot for lunch.  We had been stopped on our way down by a young lady who was trying to sell us Dead Sea skin care products and she stopped me again on the way back as she wanted me to try a product for my eyes as she said she was really thinking about what I had said.  LOL, I again declined but I guess you got to give her an "A" for effort.  We had lunch in a little cafe and were offered a plate for two that included 4 Hungarian dishes.  We declined as one of the dishes was a stew which, I am not a lover of.  We both had Chicken Paprika which was tasty but we had our doubts about how authentic it was after googling it for a recipe.  The Chicken Paprika we had had the sour cream was poured over the chicken rather than it being incorporated as part of the cooking process.  Fred had a beer (Soprani) and I had an ice tea as once again it was very hot.  Once lunch was finished we continued along to the north end of Vaci utca taking pictures of some of the more ornate buildings.

The temperature had hit the high 80's and was too hot to walk around so we decided to sit in the Hard Rock Cafe and enjoyed some liquid refreshment and watched the world go by.  I had a Mojito and Fred enjoyed a Dreher beer.  A couple of drinks later we meandered back to the hotel to cool off and shower before deciding to head back to Vaci utca for supper.

At 7:00 p.m. as we headed out it was still quite hot.  We finally decided on an Italian Cafe that has out door seating allowing us to once again watch the world go by.   We both had pizza, water and a nice bottle of Hungarian red wine, with coffee and limoncello to finish off our meal.  Supper was very leisurely and we were not rushed at all even though it was busy.  We then strolled back to our hotel.  The picture on the right is of the Boscolo lit up at night.


Viszontlatasra  all,

Sandy & Fred

August 18, 2012 - Day 2 Budapest

Jo napot all,

Our exploration this day took us by bus to the Castle District and North Buda, with our first stop being the Fisherman's Bastion and Matyas Church.  The only bad thing about the bus is, to me, it is not a really true hop on hop off bus.  It once again stopped at the Citadel for 25 minutes and as it was already very hot we got off to get water and I picked up postcards. We then had another 15 minute wait at another stop before reaching our destination.  Once off the bus we walked slowly up a small hill then a number of stairs before we reach the Bastion.  For a very small fee we walked along the walls of the Bastion which gave us views down into the Pest side of the city.  It was extremely busy with tour buses arriving by the minutes.  There were two men with a hawk and a golden eagle trying to get people to pay them to hold the birds so they could get their picture taken with them.  We eventually got a good picture of the birds.  It doesn't matter where we go, people are rude, pushy and irritating.  Makes me wonder if they were taught any manners.

Matyas Church as seen above and on the right is a good example of the city's troubled history.  The original  church was destroyed in 1241 and a new church was built as part of Bela IV's fortified city in 1255-1269.  It was later expanded in the 15th century by Matyas Corvinus who the Church is named after.  Final restorations occurred in 1873-1896 by Frigyes Schulek in the Neo-Baroque style. The roof was burnt down during the Soviet Siege in 1944-45 and was replaced with the colourful tiles now in place between 1950 and 1970.  The inside of the church was undergoing restoration so the entrance was under scaffolding but further into the church we were once again treated to some amazing artwork and architecture.

From the church we walked along to the Vienna Gate Square so named as it was through the gate that you once traveled from Buda to Vienna.  The gate is a replica, built in 1936 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Buda's liberation from the Turks.  From here we took a short walk to the Church of St Mary Magdalene. Built in the 13th century for Hungarian citizens who were not allowed to worship in Matyas Church it now lies in ruins. All that remains is the tower and gate.  We now headed off and walked along Lord Street.  The street is full of Baroque and Gothic facades but sadly are not the original structures as most were rebuilt in the 1950 - 1960 due the heavy destruction during WWII.  The statue on the left was a point for some conversation for Fred and myself.  We had to wait for a bit as group of young Italian girls climbed up the structure to kneel under the horse and hold the horses balls to get a picture.  It must be a popular past-time and hold some meaning that we are unaware of they and the horses rear legs were the only parts of the horse that were shiny.  Fred thought that it would be hilarious if a mechanism could be installed in the horse so that once the balls were cupped the horse peed on the person.  I had a good laugh as I could just picture it.  We continued our walk along Lord Street (Uri utca) which runs into Buda Castle or Royal Palace.  There was a huge arts and craft show going on, an annual event that runs from Aug 17 - 20, which is St Stephens Day and a National Holiday.  We opt not to pay to get into the Palace grounds as it was teeming with vendors and people so  getting any decent pictures would have been impossible.  The Palace is now home to several museums and the Hungarian National Gallery.

We now hopped back on the bus and head off to Heroes Square as seen on the right.  Originally, it was laid out for the Millennium Celebration of 1896 and was the site of Communist demonstrations. The Millennium monument itself commemorates the 1,000 year anniversary of the conquest of the Carpathian Basin by Magyars. The central column is 110 feet tall with the Archangel Gabriel on top.  The base are the seven chieftains representing the seven tribes that settled in Hungary.  Once photo's were done we found a small cafe for a late lunch as we had booked for dinner at the hotel.  I had the best ice tea that I have had for quite a long time.  It was so refreshing.  I had two while Fred enjoyed a bottle of Borsodi, a Hungarian beer.  From here we caught the bus and headed back to the hotel to cool off and get ready for our anniversary dinner.  While I am cooling off Fred headed off to the grocery store to pick up beer and wine for the room.  He also picked me up a cider which he spotted, a Strongbow Gold.  More on his buys later in the blog.

Thirty nine years ago today we said "I Do".  Were has the time gone and who would have thought we would be living our dream.  Fred researched this trip as I always say lets go here or do this.  Originally, I thought of a visit back to Rome would be a great place to spend our anniversary but Fred found this Signature Hotel, which is part of the Marriott Chain in Budapest, a five star hotel.  A bit of history of the hotel.  It was originally commissioned by the New York Insurance Company as a palace and cafe in a Italian  renaissance and baroque style and opened in October 23,1894.  The New York Palace Cafe gained its literary rank in the first decade of the 20th century as it became the centre of intellectual life for writers, artists.  The First World War ended the golden age of the cafe and it then became a restaurant.  After the threat of war and with the 1930's economic crisis social life declined which lead to the cafe being closed and operated as a warehouse, the most beautiful in the world.  In 1954 it re-opened as the Hungaria, but not as a cafe but almost in its original splendor.  In February 2001 the Boscolo group undertook the restoration and reconstruction of the Palace.  In the spring of 2006 it was re-opened with all its former splendor along with upgrades to bring it into the the 20th Century.

The hotel is splendid but as a five star goes we found the service rather lacking at times.  At breakfast on the last morning we had to ask for tea and coffee and experienced poor service at other times during our stay.  We decided to have pre-dinner drinks in the bar and waited a good 10 minutes before anyone appeared for service.  I did have a rather healthy Boscolo Champagne which was brandy, cointreau and champagne and Fred had a Soproni beer.  Our dinner itself was delicious.  For appetizers Fred had foie gras ravioli with apple sauce and I had a foie gras with a tiny brioche loaf.  Fred's main meal was duck with cabbage ravioli and I had chicken this was accompanied with a very nice Hungarian red wine.  More photo's can be seen on my Facebook page.  We were then treated to a free dessert of a chocolate cake and ice cream to share.  We did find the service in the Cafe to be good, the waiter was attentive but not overbearing.

We headed back to our room to download pictures and enjoy another drink.  You recall Fred bought himself a beer.  Well it turned out the beer he bought, while recognizing the beer name as one he had while we were out and about, it was non-alcoholic.  He said it tasted odd and discovered when he looked closer at the tin what it was. My cider was not much better, it did not taste like a Strongbow, it had a very strong apple flavour.  We had a good laugh and poured the drinks away and enjoyed a glass of red wine as a night cap instead.

Jo jobb all,

Sandy & Fred

August 16 - 17, 2012 - Budapest

Jo napot all,

We headed off again for a short 4 day break, this time to Budapest to celebrate our 39th Wedding Anniversary.  Our flight left mid afternoon from Manchester so we didn't arrive in Budapest until 7:00 p.m. local time.  This was our first time using Jet2.com and we were amazed at how quickly we were boarded once the gate announcement was posted on the board.  The flight was non eventful and approximately 3 1/2 hours from gate to gate.  The drive to the hotel was about 25 minutes and our cabby used his phone a lot on the way so I guess no rules about driving and using the phone.  We arrived safe and sound and the hotel is a very impressive building from the outside (picture on the right) and does not disappoint with the interior either.  Once checked in, we took a short walk to locate a grocery store to purchase a bottle of wine for the room while we planned our attack for the next day.

For our first full day we headed out at a decent time after breakfast.  As the weather was very hot, we decided to do the "Hop On Off Bus" and checked with the concierge as to where the stop was.  It turned out the hotel sells tickets for one of the "Hop On Hop Off" bus lines which are good for 2 days and the stop was right outside the door.  We had timed things rather well, quite by accident, as the bus arrived in 15 minutes.  Our original plan was to ride the bus around the whole route to get the lay of the land then stop where we wanted.  The plan changed though as the tour stopped at the Citadel a high point that gives you a good panoramic view of the city for 25 minutes.  This stop is a long one as there are a number of souvenir vendors and they want you to buy.  We got our photo opportunity

in and grabbed water as it was already hot.

We decided to get off at St Stephen's Basilica rather than do the whole route.  St Stephen's Basilica was built from1851 to 1905 in the form of a Greek cross and is the work of three successive architects.  The dome is 315 ft, the exact same height of the Parliament.  The dome was designed in 1867 after the original dome caved in due to poor workmanship and materials.  The outside of the Basilica is posted on the right.

The inside of the basilica is truly magnificent considering it was seriously damaged during World War II, having gone through major renovation and restoration between 1983-1989.  The Basilica also houses the mummified right forearm of St Stephen a very holy relic to the Hungarian people and on August 20th the hand is carried through the crowds, by Basilica priests, that gather for St. Stephen's Day.

After the Basilica we walked to the Hungarian Parliament taking in the sights and stopping to take photo's of interesting buildings and sights along the way.  The Parliament was built in 1902 and was inspired by London's Houses of Parliament.  The designer was Imre Steindl a professor at Budapest Technical University.  The picture on the left (below) is the Parliament Building taken from the boat tour we took later in the afternoon. 

We continued our exploration, walking along the Danube Embankment to Margaret Island an escape from the city hustle and bustle.  The island has been inhabited since Roman times and was named after Princess Margit, daughter of King Bela IV, who spent most of her life in a convent on the island in the 13th century.  The island was a popular hunting ground for medieval kings and monks were drawn to the peace and quiet.  It has been a playground for the city since 1869.  The picture on the right is shot of a garden on Margaret Island.


More photos of the area can be seen on our Flickr site and my face book page as the blog does not allow us to share enough of
the beautiful sights we saw.

We decided to take the river boat from Margaret Island to Central Pest or the Inner City, which is included with our Hop on Off bus tickets.  From the boat Fred took some great pictures of the Parliament, bridges and other sights as seen from the River Danube.

As we continued to explore and headed to Vaci Utca.  This is an area that is considered the heart and soul of Budapest.  Divided into North and South it is a commercial and social hub.  We headed to the north end as this is where all the restaurants and cafes were and we were in need of refreshment and food as it had been a long hot day.  We found a cafe in Vorosmarty square and I had pork kebabs with the most amazing potatoes and diet coke.  Fred had Hungarian style pork and Dreher (Hungarian) Beer.  Satisfied, we headed back to the hotel stopping for more photo's on the way and a bottle of wine for the room while we planned our attack for the next day.

Viszontlatasra,

Sandy & Fred