SLOVENIA SIDE TRIPS-HUNGARY-PART FIVE

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Saturday morning brought another mild summer day. Clear sky and breezes so light the hundred-plus sail regatta on Lake Balaton is merely languishing in place. Our plans call for a drive to Budapest, stopping at Tihany, a peninsula that juts almost four miles into Lake Balaton, nearly touching the opposite shore. Tihany is one of the more significant places on the lake, with traces going back to Roman times and King Andrew founding a Benedictine monastery in the 11th century. A twin spired church was built in 1754 on the ruins of King Andrew’s earlier church, commanding a magnificent view over the lake. The remains of King Andrew (ruled 1046-1055) rest in a limestone sarcophagus under the crypt, and the former Benedictine abbey is now a museum of contemporary Hungarian art. Being in Tihany, it was here that I found the wine we had the night before, securing three bottles to take back to Slovenia. First things first, right! There are lots of old churches in Europe, but some wine can be difficult to find. Carpe Vino I say; not carpe diem.

Later that afternoon, entering Budapest by automobile, an unfamiliar large city, and finding our hotel could have been a daunting task. A few years ago a group of college students in Prague started a service of picking up arriving tourists at checkpoints outside of town and driving them to their destinations, Prague being a particularly old city with many winding, narrow and one way streets and lanes. I suppose that service kept them in beer money, but it does not seem to have survived beyond graduation.

With Elysee navigating, we entered Budapest in due course and found our hotel straightaway. As is our practice we lodged on the executive floor this time at the Marriott, affording us a grand view of the Chain Bridge and Castle Hill, and immediately availed ourselves of the hospitality lounge, doing our best to amortize the extra cost. An inquiry at the concierge led us to buy tickets for that night’s Danube Symphony Orchestra performance, a fine program of mostly Hungarian composers, Kalman, Bartok, Liszt with a little Strauss and Brahms thrown in for added measure.

Budapest, like Vienna, is a city of music and musicians. Within many of the cafes lining the Danube there are small groups playing lilting sonatas and gypsy dances, so on a summer’s evening you are never far from the sounds of a violin.

Our seats at the concert hall, being ordered only hours before the performance, were in the front row, giving a whole different perspective on the soprano’s dental work. But considering that we arrived only that afternoon with no plans made, we had a great Saturday night out, the performance was very entertaining, and we lingered at the bar until after 1 A.M. As many of you can testify who have been there, night life in Budapest is lively unto the wee hours. Hungarians know how to have a good time.

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Photos

ABBEY CHURCH 1754
OLD AND NEW. MODERN SCHULPTURE OF CHRIST

AMERICAN STYLE BUFFET
ALL YOU CAN CONSUME???THAT\'S OUR IMAGE.