Budapest, Hungary - A World Heritage Site

 Budapest - A World Heritage  Site

Budapest and its Magnificent Waterfront - is a World Heritage Site

 This was our third day and last morning in Budapest. In order to see a much as possible of the highlights of Budapest, we booked a tour of the city which was worth every single penny yesterday, our second day.

There were three different lines to choose from and we chose the green line bus tour which gave us two days unlimited hop on hop off use of the tour bus with English pre-recorded guided tour at a great price.

It even included 2 free 1 hour boat cruise of the Danube River, free Goulash soup on the Budapest Castle hill stop overlooking the city and free beer at another stop.

I was glad that we did the one hour boat cruise because the scenery along Budapest's waterfront was breathtaking!

We learned from the tour that the castle district and the Danube embankment of Budapest was declared a world heritage site in 1987 and it truly deserves this honour!

A vendor booth selling Budapest souvenirs

 I truly wish we had another day at this ancient and well preserved city which is an architectural paradise for people who are interested in building designs.

Night Scene - Budapest

The New York Cafe in Budapest

Before we boarded the train to Serbia, we visited one of the most beautiful and probably most photographed buildings in Budapest - The New York Cafe

 Two main reasons which are drawing tourists  to this city - the beauty of the city and very reasonable prices.













From the outside of the New York Cafe, you would think that it might cost you an arm and leg to eat there, but in fact it was very reasonable.


 Actually, everywhere we went in Budapest, everything was reasonable. And it was no exception at this first rate restaurant.

New York Cafe

People went there to have a drink or dinner just for the chance to take pictures and we were glad  we did before we left.

Unfortunately, we only had time for a coffee there but was grateful to have seen the inside of this magnificent building.

The New York Cafe - The Epitome of Beautiful Architecture in Budapest

 Budapest is a beautiful city with many magnificent buildings.It is a must see for anyone who is interested in architecture or students who are studying in this field.

McDonald Restaurant - Budapest

 Even the McDonald Restaurant in Budapest looks pretty classy!

McDonald's Restaurant - Where else in the world could you find a more beautiful Mcdonald than in Budapest?

Train Station - Budapest

We got on the afternoon train at 1:00pm to Novi Sad.

 The seats were more private this time for us as we were sitting in a 6 passenger cabin with only the two of us and another passenger, Laszlo living at the border town between Hungary and Serbia.

Train Station, Budapest

Stan took the initiative to introduce himself and that set the stage for a wonderful conversation with this Hungary university student for the next three hours.

Lazlo  is studying history at a Catholic University in Hungary and Stan, though an engineer by profession, has a passion for history as well.

So these two history buff met their equal and thus commenced their marathon exchange of history from Hungary to communism to world history.

I made use of this opportunity and asked Laszlo a lot of questions about Hungary's social and education system. Laszlo was a good sport and he answered all our questions with patience and in detail. He said Hungarians enjoy free medical and basically free education, similar to what we Canadians enjoy at  home. Medical schools have two streams; the Hungarian for locals and English for foreign students who have to pay a fee.  Students from countries like Germany and South Korea find that the fees are cheaper than their home country and are attracted to Hungarian schools.  Dentistry standards are high but cheaper than Western Europe and this quality dental care at a good price encourages “Dental tourists” to flock to Hungary.

Stan's work involves develop plans and specifications for highrise buildings in Toronto, naturally he  is always interested in house construction which led to the discussion about housing construction in Hungarian villages.  We learned that many houses in villages are made of a special kind of bricks that provides good insulation and remain cool even in the summer heat.  In winter, heat is generated from wood stoves  and distributed throughout the house from tubes carrying warm water.   Some Hungarians are starting to consider using geothermal heating, which is abundant in his area. 

When asked about the economic crisis in Europe, Laszlo, along with other Hungarians we met on the street, expressed concerns about their country's future and especially youth unemployment.

 In our short three days' visit to Budapest, we learned a lot about it; one of the most beautiful cities in the world,  and the rich culture and history of Hungary.

We will definitely  return to Budapest in the future and will plan to stay for a much longer visit so that we would experience all the wonderful things that Budapest has to offer. Believe me, there are a lot to see and do in this charming and enchanting city that has been kept in a time capsule. But it would not be long once when tourists and business people en masse discover this gem city!

R.T., Budapest, enroute to Serbia

Aug. 9, 2012

Feszek Artist Club, Budapest - A Pleasant Surprised Discovery

Feszek Artist Club, Currently, the Flamingo Restaurant - Budapest, Hungary 

View from our train ride from Vienna to Budapest

The train ride from Vienna to Budapest was delightful. Seeing the green green grass, the abundant fields, the bright aqua sky and the majestic trees lining the open roads soothed me and lifted my spirit.

It was relaxing and it especially made us happy to see the vast number of gigantic windmills standing proudly on the farmers' fields, stretching their mighty hands skywards, turning the invisible air currents into useful energy for its inhabitants of the land.

I was amazed at how many windmills and how widely they were used in the region where we were traveling. I wish more and more countries would learn how to harvest wind power and make use of that natural energy.

Hotel Unio, where we stayed in Budapest, Hungary

We got to Budapest from Vienna after a little more than  2 1/2 hour ride on the OBB train.
As soon as we alighted from the train, we were approached by some taxi drivers who offered to take us to our hotel.

A beautiful Post Office building - across from our hotel in Budapest

Eventually we settled on one who offered to take us for a fixed fee of 15 Euro.( We found out that it should be only 8 Euro.)

Dining Room of Hotel Unio, Budapest

 We checked into city Hotel Unio.
As soon as we entered the lobby, we thought we were in a movie set of the 1920 - 30's.

 As we opened the door into our room, it was unmistakably as if time had stood still.





The old fashion parquet floor arranged in a v shape, old but clean, the unusual high ceiling that one only sees in old buildings, the antique furniture set off by Victorian light fixtures
and the huge thick golden picture frame with  farm house painting hanging above the double bed all screamed  that this was a room with past history.

Beautiful old but well kept buildings are everywhere in Budapest

We unloaded our luggage and went out for dinner. Many interesting restaurants lined the street and we chose to have Turkish food and had it served outdoors.

It was a pleasant  breezy evening. With the two of us, we ventured out into the side streets close to the busy main thoroughfare.

We were careful not wander off too far from the lights. Lots of side streets were dimly lit, very different from where we were the night before - Vienna.

As we were about to turn back towards the main street, we saw some bright lights ahead from an old building with its doors wide open and lots of pictures hanging in the lobby.










It was a little past 9pm, might be an art gallery still open, we thought. We went in and admired the old pictures hanging on the walls. A gentleman came out and welcome us warmly, inviting us into the Flamingo Restaurant ( located at the corner of Dob Utca 57 and Kertesz Utca 36) .

We were hesitant, not knowing what to expect. From the outside, it looked sleazy,  more like a cheap casino or something suspicious rather than a restaurant. We also just ate and had no intention of eating again.  The man urged us to go in and just take a look  We obliged since he was very sincere and warm.

He led us through the doors and into the backyard dining area.
 Wow! It was like Alice entering the wonderland.  The place looked very elegant!

Feszek Artist Club, where the Artists Used to Gather - Currently, the Flamingo

 It was a restaurant with a big backyard dining area softly lit with lights hanging from the second floor balconies. Old fashioned wall scones and street lamps added to the ambiance of this garden dining room. A couple of old trees were lit up with miniature lights adding a feeling of festivity to the place. In the background, a three member band playing classical music of Mozart and Beethoven. The atmosphere was magical, an unexpected pleasant discovery of such an elegant setting just steps away from our hotel.

Tal, the gentleman who invited us in and the restaurant owner, came over and explained to us about the history of this beautiful place. The Feszek Artist Club was established in 1901 by 100 Budapest artists.  It was a social gathering place of artists, writers, painters. sculptors and celebrities; it also provided a place for presenting the artists' ost recent work. By 1926 the club became the centrum of the artist life of Budapest, having its own bridge and football team and it was a privilege to become a club member.

Feszek Artist Club - a unique restaurant giving patrons a glimpse into its glorious past

As Tal explained this, in my mind's eyes,  I could see elegantly dressed artists gathering and discussing their work on the tables scattered in this lovely garden. It must have been quite a place to be at the time. 
 
The waitress handed us the menu which contained choices of good selection of local dishes and the prices were very reasonable - 15 Euro for a three course meal! If you are watching your budget, you could order a la carte which are much cheaper. Too bad that we just ate. This would have been a wonderful place to spend the entire evening enjoying some local food and great music.

We ordered a couple of drinks and enjoyed this lovely place for  a short while during our first night in this marvelous city which transported us temporary back into the past.

Standing outside of our Budapest hotel

  Sometimes in life, we come across some magical places and treasured moments not by meticulous planning but by chance. The Flamingo Restaurant in Budapest was such a place upon which we stumbled.

R.T.
Budapest, Hungary
Aug.7, 2012

OBB Train Ride from Vienna to Budapest

Day 3 – OBB Train Ride from Vienna to Budapest

Beautiful statues and buildings in Vienna

This morning the temperature was at around 20 degree, a much more comfortable weather for us.

Yesterday, especially in the afternoon, the temperature must have reached close to 40 degree! We did not do much as any movement would cause a huge sweat.

The courtyard where we had our breakfast each morning while in Vienna

We had the buffet breakfast at the hotel and our visit to Vienna sadly ended.

What a beautiful and glitzy city!

Every building in the city has been beautifully restored to its original glamour and things are run with  efficiency and order.

No wonder the city has been chosen as one of the best cities to live in for a number of years.

When we were there, we noticed that the newspaper kept a tally of the number of  medals won by the different countries at the Olympics.







Unfortunately, it has been zero for Austria everyday. We wish the Austrian athletes all the best in the Olympics! They indeed have so many things to be proud of in their country!

We took the OBB train from Vienna in the afternoon  to Budapest. ( 29 Euro per person.) The train was right on time, not a minute late at 4:09 pm! The train was busy, packed with travellers, with the first class people boarding at train number 1, while people with mobility issue boarded at another train with staff ready to assist them. A thoughtful idea indeed!

We boarded and were seated at the regular train. The train ride was relaxing and comfortable allowing us to take in the scenery as the train sped along the countryside. One thing I enjoyed looking at most was the row upon rows of windmills standing proudly on the farmers' fields stretching their mighty hands harvesting wind power to be used. 

We saw many wind power farms while on the OBB train

 A train hostess with a trolley filled with sandwiches, snack food and beverages came along for any customers wishing to buy something to eat. Or if you felt like stretching your leg, you could nimble over to the dining train and order from the menu listed with a variety of food.  The train is a good way to travel in Europe.

We met a couple of German travelers on the train, a mother and daughter, who were exceedingly friendly, chatting us up throughout the entire train ride. The mother’s name was Bianca and the daughter – Jacklyn.  Both were heading to a small town in Hungary to attend a festival there.

 I have often been told that Northern Europeans are a little aloof, not very warm people.So don't be offended if they don't talk to us. But Bianca broke that stereotype as she was very friendly and warm towards everyone. There was a young couple travelling with their 4 month old baby; Bianca tried to talk to her and was delighted when the baby smiled back at her. We had a really interesting exchange of conversation and I found out that Bianca loved music, kind of a hippie, and Jacklyn , besides going to school, also worked at a school with young children.
There are people who we may meet often but our conversations could never go beyond weather. Then there are people whom we have just met and we can talk about anything and everything as if you have known them for a long time. 

Bianca and her lovely daughter were just these kind of people. We were on the train for  two and half hours going to Budapest and talked almost non stop. It was experience such as this – meeting people along the way that made traveling interesting and exciting.

 All the best to you, Bianca and Jacklyn, the friendly people from Stuttgart, Germany. Hope you have a great time at the music festival in Hungary! 

R.T.
Vienna enroute to Budapest

August 7, 2012

Visit to Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria - Day 2 - Our Visit to Schonbrunn Palace

We were up early and ready for another day of sightseeing in Vienna.

Last night we left the public concert around 10:pm and took the subway back to Praterstern
Station – the station that was just a stone throw away from our hotel - Hotel Kunsthof.

But because we got back when it was dark it took us a little while before we could find it.

We decided to have the buffet breakfast offered at the hotel, at 13 Euro per person. It was a nice spread with fruit salad,  different types of cereals to which you could add 2 types of yogurt, a variety of  dried fruits,  seeds, plus a good assortments of cheese, cold meats, fresh bread as well as hot food items with eggs, sausages and bacon.

We Enjoyed our Vienna Breakfast in this Lovely Garden

Stan and I are not big meat eaters, especially not sausages. But the sausages here were quite good and they were not as fattening and salty as what we were usually served in North America.

We had our breakfast in the tranquil garden surrounded by wall climbing vines covering the three sides of the walls. 

There are two optical illusions in our hotel dining room. Can you find them?

We just love travelling on our own taking the time to enjoy  and observe the little things rather than with a tour group when you have to be rush here ad there, often up at 6am and run around all day until late at night.

Stan did a really good job booking this hotel with such a nice surrounding,  close to the old town without breaking our bank.

This morning we did book a city tour which included a visit to the Schonbrun  Palace where the Austrian Empress Maria Teresa and her11 children lived during her reign.

he tour company sent a van and picked us up right at 10a.m. on the dot ( This was our second experience with the Germans’ precise timing. Our first one was with the Lufthansa’s connecting flight from Frankfurt to Vienna with the flight leaving exactly at the time it was supposed to, not a minute late. Wow! )

The tour bus gathered more tourists along the way and we were transferred to a double decker bus at the company’s bus depot. 

We booked an English tour but it turned out that it was bilingual with the tour guide speaking both in German and English to each respective group of tourists. Poor lady, she spoke non stop for three hours without a break.

The city tour cost 39 Euro each but frankly, we could have done it on our own since the transportation system was quite efficient in Vienna. 

The bus took us to the famous Ring Road  whose city walls used to separate the royal families from their citizens but were later completely demolished allowing the public to enter and visit the palace and other grand buildings.

 Stan and I already walked around and visited there yesterday . 

Schonbrun Place, Vienna

 We did a better job ourselves exploring most of the grand buildings as we had more time to do it leisurely on our own whereas with the bus tour, it just drove passed these buildings without any stop at all.

After a drive through the Ring Road, the bus tour took us to the famous Schonrunn Palace where the well known  musician Andree has put on a number of grand concerts and broadcasted to  North American audiences. I was glad that we got to visit this famous palace. 

Since Stan and I visited Versailles in France a few years ago, this palace reminded us of that palace in many ways:

- the huge fountain,
- the numerous white statues lining both sides of the symmetrically design formal garden
- the century old trees that formed a shaded archway
- a hunting ground for the royals etc,
The design was strikingly similar to the design of the garden in Versailles.

It was difficult to say who copied who in the design of this royal residence.  We were given just 20 minutes in the royal garden to roam free our own.   During our tour, we picked up tidbits of interesting historical facts such as Napoleon  was a guest at this palace and we were shown the bed where he slept on, surprisingly a short and narrow one indeed.

Garden of Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna

There were  numerous spacious rooms in the palace, but when it came to sleeping comfort, these beds were small in scale in comparison to the size of the palace except for the ceremonial bed of the royal couple.

 We also learned that Maria Antoinette was one of the 16 children ( unfortunately, a few of them died of childhood diseases, so there were 11) of empress Maria Teresa.

After the tour, it was about 1:30pm and by then  the temperature must have reached more than 40 degrees as the heat was absolutely unbearable.

Everyone became sluggish and many people, including us, took refuge in the shade under the trees.

We just sat on a bench in one of the many parks in the city and waited for the sun to go down before we dare to move at all. 

We had dinner at one of the sidewalk cafes.

 I needed some distilled water for my breathing machine and went to the pharmacy store to get some. But the pharmacists working there did not understand the English  term distilled water.  Stan came to the rescue with his German - Distilled? wasser. Bingo.

The pharmacist's eyes lit up, dispensed 1 litre of distilled water in a brown coloured glass bottle, slapped a label on it and charged me 16. 50 Euro for a litre of distilled water! (  In Canada, that same bottle of distilled water only cost me  U.S $1.50!)  I must think of a way to bring distilled water with me in my travel next time.

Went to bed early with my breathing machine and slept like a baby!

  
R.T.,Vienna, Austria
Aug. 5, 2012

Starting our First European Holiday from Vienna, Austria - the Music Capital

Finally, we are going to Europe! This is a trip we have been planning for a little while and we are excited. Jon was great as he came on the subway right at 1 pm to drive us to the airport.

The beginning of our Euro trip was not without drama. We planned to have brunch with Jon but then at the last minute, my hubby just realized that the departure time was at 4:30pm instead of 6:30pm. He kept referring to 6:30pm which in fact was 16:30 hour. So we made a mad rush to the airport by 3pm. It was good that S. spent the time beforehand and printed out our boarding passes. We were able to get to the head of the express check in time and all our luggage got checked in an hour before boarding time without us waiting in line at all.

We started a walking tour of Vienna ourselves from the hotel

We got on Air Canada which took about 7 hours from Toronto to Frankfurt, Germany. The plane departed on time and we got to Germany by 7:00am, local time and we took the connecting flight to Vienna.

It took about an hour and a little bit and we landed in Vienna by 10:30am.
It cost only 4 Euro per person from the Vienna Airport to the hotel, which is a stone throw away from the OBB station.

We stayed at the Hotel Kunsthof in Vienna

We have been planning this European trip for while since Liilian invited us to her daughter's wedding in Serbia and S. has spent a month, a couple hours a day researching the info on destinations and doing the booking etc.

His efforts paid off. We stayed at the Hotel Kunsthof which is easily accessible from the airport by pubic transit.

Got to our hotel after 1pm and had a good rest before hitting the town.

Public transportation is easy and accessible in Vienna

We admired the many splendid buildings in Vienna, Europe.

Vienna is a beautiful city with many old buildings. In fact, it felts like the entire city is consisted of old grand, imperial buildings.

 A Street Quartet performing for a street audience, Vienna

It has the reputation as the music capital and  as we strolled along the streets and we came across this old gentleman playing his accordion in the park entertaining himself and passersby.

A Street Performer Entertaining Kids on the street of Vienna

There were buskers and armature musicians on the streets.

As we approached the main square, the music of Billy Jean and other Michael Jackson songs played by a young quartet group filled the air and stopped many pedestrians at their track.

We celebrated S.'s birthday with a carriage ride through Vienna

Since today was Stan's birthday, I treated us to a horse drawn carriage ride and was given a brief introduction to the grand buildings on the famous Ring Blvd of this city.














The carriage ride cost 7 Euro, very reasonable indeed, and we were dropped off at the Rathaus ( City Hall ).

The Rathaus was packed with hungry people and filled with food stalls serving foods from all the countries you could imagine.










We always pride ourselves as being adventurous in food, trying new and different foods at every opportunity. But the international food stalls here served really yummy exotic gourmet dishes such as St Peter's fish, calamari, Norweign wild salmon, Hungarian dumplings, and many other food which I did know.

We had a feast eating to our heart's content and trying foods that we never had before. A fitting celebration on Stan's birthday. 

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After the feast, we enjoyed a free pubic concert at the Rathaus lawn ,
( there is a free concert every evening during the summer months)  along with hundreds of Austrians and other visitors.

It was a Sunday evening and we could not believe that the place was packed with audiences.

In Toronto, such free public concerts would only take place on Friday and Saturday evenings as Sunday is considered a work evening.

Enjoying our first breakfast in Vienna, Europe!

 North Americans do work harder, I think, than Europeans who seem to know how to enjoy life more and tend to take more holidays than we do.

We both look forward to our Eropean holiday for the next few weeks visiting a number of countries on this continent!

R.T. 

Vienna, Austria

Aug. 4-5, 2012

Waterloo, Ontario - The Best Place to Find Jobs in Canada

I have been going to the city of Waterloo monthly for the past few years working with the immigrant community, assisting them with some of their concerns and helping them to settle and get adjusted to this new country.

As with any new immigrants, their immediate and number one concerns understandably is finding employment and securing a source of reliable income. I have always been hosted at people's houses and I simply come and go during my monthly visit to Waterloo, never really had the opportunity to get to know the city.  However, this time, I decided to decline staying as a house guest and stay on my own so that I could have more free time to roam and discover the city.

What I found is a very vibrant city with two universities and a community college - University of Waterloo, Laurier University and Conestoga College. This is uncommon for a medium size Canadian city to have two universities located within the same city.

University of Waterloo is one of the most famous universities in Canada and its admission criteria is one of the toughest because of its excellent co-op program, research, Math and Computer Science Program. I remember in the 1970's when I took my first computer program, my professor told me the first computer language - C language, was developed by the Computer Dept. at Waterloo University.  R.I.M. - Research in Motion, a Waterloo founded and based company,  invented the Blackberry and was the first one to create and market its technology of instant messaging and retrieval in the world!

Besides the high tech companies, there are also many big finance and insurance companies such as Manulife  that has chosen Waterloo as the location for its headquarter employing hundreds of professional and office workers there.

In my past experience of meeting people in Kitchener/Waterloo,  it appears that new immigrants with a reasonable command of English and some IT or professional skills such as accounting could easily land a technical/ or professional job in this southern Ontario city.  Amid all these talks of difficult economic times and high unemployment rate in the US,  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that one of my volunteer parents - a new immigrant who just landed here during my 2 weeks of VBS camp, with a little bit of English, immediately landed a job and started working! 

This was a bit of good economic news! I am delighted to know that there are jobs out there for job seekers and that it's not all gloom and doom in the job market!

Kitchener-Waterloo is a clean, safe, friendly community with a high standard of living and a tradition of tolerance among people of diverse backgrounds. Settled by German-speaking immigrants from Pennsylvania and Europe in the 19th century.  The heritage and influence of German culture are evident in Kitchener-Waterloo where  Oktoberfest has been celebrated throughout the Waterloo region in the fall. It is a great  multicultural city with residents from all parts of the world, and a great place to raise a young family!


R.T.
August 3, 2012

 

Helping Schools in Cambodia - Donations from the Parenting Centre

Helping Schools in Cambodia - Donations from the Parenting Centre

I just came back from my two weeks of VBS in Waterloo and  it was a successful event!

Without advertising outside of the church we had twenty two children aged 5 - 12 registgered for the two week full day camp. What made the camp really exciting was the energy and the creativity of the nine highschool volunteers we recruited to help us run the camp. I must ackowledge their invaluable contributions; without these volunteers, I would never have been able to come up and implement all the fun activites for the children.

I am immensely grateful for their two week participation and we look forward to next year's camp!

I drove to meet with Maria and Eliza at the west end Board Office. The weather has been dry and unseasoanbly hot this summer hovering at around 30 degree almost everyday. The sky started to get cloudy when I left my house, then dark clouds gathered and covered the entire sky and they got thicker and wider while I drove. I lstarted driving almost an hour and half before the meeting time. I kept praying that I would be able to get to the destination wihtout being caught in the rain storm.  I was not and got to the office in the nick of time just before it began to rain cats and dogs!

 I was welcome by one of the staff members warmly and was served some hot beverage. With a warm cup of tea in my hand, I sat down to wait for Maria and Eliza. I picked up a research paper written by the TDSB Research Dept on the Pareting Centre and how young children benefitted from these early learning experiencea. The research study reported that this preschool programs had a positive impact on children who attended and they  performed better than their counterparts socially after they started school. It was interesting reading indeed.




 Donations from Parenting Centre Staff for the Cambodian Project

  After Maria and Eliza arrived, we were presented with  a good quantity of gently used materials from the Paretning Centre staff for the school project in Camboida. The Cambodian school project has been in the planning stage for about a year or so and I have been invited to join their team. The more I talked to Maria and Eliza, the more excited I got about this project. I have been looking for opportunites to lend my expertise in schools overseas and be involved in some charity project to help kids. This is an excellent opportunity!  Hopefully, I will be able to contribute in some way to the development of the education system in this war ravaged country. I look forward to my first visit to the schools there within the next few months!

R.T. Toronto
July 2, 2012