By: Bob Hughlett
So where were we? That’s right, on the road or, rather, water – make that lotsa water. Today we find ourselves on the river Danube motoring from Vienna to Melk in southern Germany. Our voyage began in historic Budapest four days ago and will conclude in the jewel of Europe, Prague – at least from what we hear, guess we’ll see for sure in 4 more days. The “we” is once again the stalwart Band of a dozen or so travelers who are continuing in our joint exploration of the world. Larry has organized a trip of seasoned veteran’s predominately from Cerritos who have come to be fast friends and steely eyed sore footed fellow travelers.
Budapest, like Istanbul, is a city of two halves divided by water. Pest is the industrial, economic and social section of magnificent old buildings such as the Parliament, unhappy history culminating with the days of Josef Stalin, not a far cry in time from Hitler and arguably equally unsavory tyrants of the past. Relics of their work can be found in the pockmarks caused by bullet holes in numerous buildings and the somber story of the temple located in what was the Jewish ghetto in the 1940’s. Cross the Danube on one of four bridges and you are in the beautiful bedroom community of Buda. For centuries the well heeled resided in mansions of varying sizes that all seemed to share spectacular views. The best of the latter is found from the tallest promontory in town, the fortified Citadel. The Hungarian Statue of Liberty, a 35 meter bronze lady holding high an olive branch also resides atop the hill. So you put the two halves into one whole and you have Budapest – although you need to pronounce it “Budapesshht” when among the locals and just to sound urbane and suave in general.
Per usual one comes across unexpected people and moments to remember when half a world from home. Barbara is one of them. While staying at the Budapest Hilton we happened across a small café while wandering down a side street. When eleven of us returned for dinner we were greeted by an extremely pregnant owner (we think – owner, that is, she was definitely pregnant) and an extremely nervous waitress, Barbara, whose English was barely passable but whose nervous smile and trembling hand could not be missed. Our meal of goulash – of which there are two varieties at least, a soup and a dinner plate with noodles - peasant plates and chicken paprika were all wonderful. When the bill arrived we learned from two other diners at an adjoining table that a large group had come through the day before and had been not as nice as we so her fear of foreigners carried over to us. When we all tipped her Barbra was delighted to the point that she broke down and thanked us all in tears. Ahhh, another moment and unique personality to remember.
Tears were brought to our eyes by the local condiment made from paprika – a little daub will definitely do you. Gloria and George gobbled the stuff down with a grin while I snuck up cautiously on the cheery, bright red scorcher. It is a town of many churches as befits any European city – we counted at least a dozen and visited an average of four a day much to the happiness of the women and, I’m sure, at least some of the men.
Next day we all board our river craft, the Viking Danube, and quickly settled in. The ship is uniquely designed to travel the 25 locks and occasional 4.5 meter shallows of of our journey from Budapest to Prague. As it turned out, it wasn’t the shallows which led to unexpected adventures – but more on that later. The predominantly Croatian crew – with a Hungarian or two mixed in – was likewise skillfully blended to provide great service, bounteous smiles and a spoken version of the English language which could often be both puzzling and entertaining. As a quick example, Marcella, the frenetic program director, introduced the maitre d’ to all of us by saying “and now, to give you some more words, is Zoltan.” Our stalwart Captain spoke only Croatian so his announcements were translated and probably pureed by Marcella but we didn’t care. We all figured that if he was heading upriver we were on course. Now, on to Melk, Vienna, Nuremberg, Prague on the ominously rising river Danube.
Let me know what you think of this column or suggest topics or interesting people for others by emailing me at b.hughlett@verizon.net.
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