Budapest

It is a three hour train trip from Vienna to Budapest. We made this journey on Monday - leaving Vienna on a spacious and comfortable train. When we stepped off the train at our destination we entered another world. . . : clean and refined Vienna replaced with dinghy, worn Budapest train station and peopled not with elegant Viennese but with a cadre of folks looking worn and aged by hard living. Our welcoming committee was a handful of pan-handlers and guys looking to trade currency on the black market. Via a subway ride and a walk at dusk to find our hostel on a dark side street in Budapest, we were sobered by our introduction to this city. Each of us later confessed that the thought of spending four days here was daunting and I even wondered how I had developed such high expectations.

Today it is Thursday, four days from that melancholy introduction, and in a few hours we leave on an early train for Croatia. We turned the corner on that inauspicious introduction to Hungary, when later that evening over dinner in a joint that bore the hilarious title of "Western Saloon" (in English even), decorated as a early American west saloon . . . but with wait staff decidedly Hungarian (knowing no English) and the menu equally, completely - and deliciously - Hungarian. Over the successive three days the wonders and beauty of Budapest unfolded for us. .. made all the more sweet by our initial grim impression.

My highlights:
1. Walking across the Danube River on the Chain Bridge. .. going from Pesch to Buda.
2. Viewing Budapest and the Danube River from Castle Hill and the National Gallery of Art. Standing in the cupola at the top level of the museum, a kindly guard motioned me to a glass door which he gestured me through with the single word, "Wonderful!" . . . ahh, the view of a lifetime. . .
3. Taking the group to the Hungarian Opera House for a performance of the National Ballet Company in 'Zorba.'
4. Dining at a cafe on the plaza by St. Stephen's Cathedral on a clear and gorgeous evening as the bells tolled the hour.
A special shout-out to 'Robert' our English speaking waiter at this cafe who wins the prize for the most effusive Hungarian we met. . . as gregariousness and smiles are not cultural traits we have encountered in high proportion. (Frankly, Robert didn't have much in the way of other contenders for this award. As a group from southern US culture that highly values warmth and interpersonal 'niceness' . . . it has been a point of intercultural awareness.)
5. The Baths of Budapest. . . ! As a group we went to one on Monday. . . which turned out to be the true local scene. We were THE only non-natives and trying to figure out the customs and proper behavior in this very Hungarian place / tradition was quite a hoot. Today I went with two of our group for an afternoon at the bath in town that is the true destination - The Gellert Hotel Spa. It is stunning enough to be listed in '1001 Places to See Before You Die' . . . a status it deserves.

Final notes on Austria

It was thanks to Linda Noble that I met Bruce and Kelly Branson. . .with whom I rendezvoused in Vienna for a delightful evening (it was through them that I found the fabulous restaurant - Amberlingbiesl). .. they were also in Europe with a student group from NCSU. They are for the next several weeks back in Prague. ..

Now here comes my favorite (next to the obvious food part) of Vienna: the Hindertwasser-Krawina House. If you are looking for cultural enrichment, google Hindertwasser to discover my favorite new artist. This 'house' is actually a small housing area of Vienna (which you can find with some diligence and a good map) created by this artist / architect team. A fanciful play of mosaics and lines and color to create a truly unique space. I fell in love with it.

So. .. Vienna was our 'easing into' Eastern Europe portion of the trip. By the end of our two days 14 of our 16 team members had all arrived as expected (more about those other two later as they arrive in due time. . .). We spent two days seeing Vienna and then came together on our final morning in the city for our first immersion into the theme of the trip: Peace and Conflict studies. On Monday morning we went to the Hofberg Palace (which now houses various national libraries and offices) to meet Kyle Scott, a deputy secretary with OSCE - the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Just let me say, we have since formed the Klye Scott fan club. An articulate, thoughtful and incredibly insightful 'briefing' (impressive that we had a 'briefing' huh?) about politics and peace in Eastern Europe. I think three members of our group are now seriously considering careers in international diplomacy. This was a foundational session for the rest of our trip. As a kid who grew up in the sixties and was shaped by the popularization of the peace symbol (I had a cool wooden necklace that prolaimed it) and the hopeful tunes of Peter, Paul and Mary et. al. . . I imagined that somehow we were 'getting it' and someday this peace thing would truly be a reality. The sobering portrayal of the scene we are moving in to as we head ot Bosnia painted by Kyle Scott, together with the several decades of life experience which keep rocking my youthful idealism. ... I realize more and more that the 'peace' theme of this trip, is quite a lofty challenge.

more on Austria

This computer access thing is more complicated than I had imagined it would be. But check it out. Here I am. Access! AND I am typing sucessfully on a computer where all the on-line commands are in Hungarian. Yes . . we are in Hungary, but first, I must back up to finish the Vienna report.

About Vienna: First may I just say, Wow.
Stunning. Breath-taking city.
And the food. . . oh my.

I went to Vienna with two basic goals: See the city and eat at Paul Tesar's favorite restaurants.
Paul being a dear Cup a Joe friend and my Favorite Austrian. Paul gave me a lovely two pages of narrative on his favorite f00d spots from his home town, Vienna, with which I wandered the streets until I located at least three of them. Paul, I am happy to report I had lunch at TRZESNIEWISKI, coffee and pastry at AIDA and another lunch at BRAUNERHOF.
All were fabulous.! (TRZENIEWISKI is like nothing else. . .) .
I also discovered a great restaurant called AMERLINGBEISL - which served a unique mix of Austrian and fusion dishes. One night I had a rutabaga lasagna (?!) and returned another night for pumpkin soup and a tortellini in a sage cream sauce. I also discovered Apperol Geszt Spritz, a fabulous drink made with Austrian white wine (Guner Weltliner) and a local orange liquer - Apperol.

opps. time is up again. more later.

My final food in Vienna . .. an apple strudel and a fabulous cup of coffee.
*note to Bill T. The coffee IS fantastic and so is the food and the wine. But the company . . ahh, never as good as you and the morning crowd. . .

Vienna Arrival

The obvious difficulty with blogging is a) time, and b) computer access.  The shared laptop ratio of 1:14 means my turn just came up. . . so. . .here's my quick account of two days in Vienna.

We'll rush through the travel part:  airplane, airplane, airplane.  new terminal, new terminal, lug baggage,  security check X 4('you are carrying WATER! off with your head!!'  . . . another time about my feelings of meaningless security measure that give us an illusion of security through maximum busyness), ARRiVAL!!  (all of us minus two bags. . ).  All in al, pretty darn smooth.

Arrived at the "Happy Hostel" in time to unload our luggage and walk around the corner to a local place run by Inge and Gary.  If Gary sounds Non-Austrian, it's true, he's from California. Inge is Austrian and enjoyed serving our  table  the 'Student Special' . .. a nice first course of beef consumme' and then weiner schneitzel with potatoes and cabbage.  An appropriate introduction to Austria.  When we finally allowed ourselves to crash at the respectable hour of 9:30 pm Vienna time we'd been up for a good 38 hours+ and sleep was a delicious thing.

Friday morning we moved our bags to the hostel where we would meet the rest of our group, arriving in the afternoon (goodbye HappyHostel, hello Wombats).  And for those of you who think I'm milking this job for cushy international travel. . . may I note that I'm too in a bunk bad with the rest of them, 4 to 6 of us in a room and one shared bath.)

Time's up for my computer allotment. . .tomorrow, more on the daily life of Vienna.  Hint:  it has been a lot about food.  

23 hours to take off

16 people ,5 countries, 5 1/2 weeks, May 22 - June 30.

The Caldwell Fellows Summer 08 trip is off to Eastern Europe: Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Turkey.
We have the lofty goals of studying 'peace and conflict in post-war Bosnia'. . .and cultural immersion in a part of the world for which I would have flunked my geography quiz before this all began.
We also plan to do everything possible (short of illegal) to drink deeply of this experience and have as much fun as possible. .. (never a problem traveling with this crowd; i recommend young adults for your traveling companions...)

How did this begin? hmm. . .good question.
1. it's emerged to be 'what we do' in this program to think about leadership (our charge) in a global perspective (that being what the world needs now. . besides that love sweet love thing)
2. it's hard to do #1 and stay comfortably at home
3. they (these students I get to work with) keep dreaming up more places to go. .and the common denominator is where we have a personal connection for each trip. For this trip we have Sabina! who with her family left Bosnia during the war, in due time she ended up at NC State. Sabina will be our translator and cultural guide.

Our flight heads out Thursday at 2:00 pm. Back to packing. .. !