Next Stop Sopron

After getting tons of incredibly useful information from Lena Bayer at the Sopron TourInform office, the next step was to visit the city to put it to use. This is the first time that Sopron will appear in a Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary book, so I am a bit charged about it. After writing to the three hotels that Lena suggested, only one was willing to give us a free night with the understanding that this did not guarantee them a place in the book. They were secure enough to offer a room anyway. We left the Huffman family, a Fulbright family who were B and B guests. They were returning to Debrecen on a later train. We had another single guest in the small room, but he knew ahead of time, we would have to be gone Monday morning, so if he wanted the room, it would be self-catering with a small discount for the inconvenience. He was fine with that. Arriving at the train station at 9:15 am to buy tickets for the 10:10 train seemed to be plenty of time for a Sunday morning. It was surprising how busy the station was at that hour. I receive a 50% teachers discount for all travel within Hungary, but Ron questioned if he receives a discount with his Hungarian pensioner card. How does FREE strike you? All he had to pay was the 520 Ft for the reservation; it was a direct train taking 2 hours and 40 minutes. Score one for seniors. With Marshall Karp's sequel to Rabbit Factory, the second book Bloodthirsty in hand, I could have ridden up to 3 whole hours on the train before complaining. I sweat out the ticket collector thinking he would give Ron a hard time, but it was smooth. The hotel was only a 15-minute walk from the train station, very centrally located. We dropped my backpack and then went to see the sites. With a very Austrian feel, it is also compact and easy to negotiate. Sopron is considered responsible for the beginnings of the Iron Curtain coming down with the Pan European Picnic twenty years ago this month. After running around, we went to one of the restaurants Lena had suggested. The first and closest was located in a courtyard, but then up a ramp and back in the corner. There was not a seat to be found, but will all entrees under 980 Ft, we could see why. They were only open until 4pm on Sundays, so we did not want to try our luck waiting. Besides, everyone looked like they were hunkering in for the long haul of food to be served. Our second attempt, also suggested by Lena, was fantabulous! The meal was actually better than many we have had in Budapest and the service was exquisite. We sat in the courtyard with old fortress walls surrounding us with gardens planted. When we paid the tab, I told the waiter they were going to be in my book. He told the manager provoking a VIP tour of the entire restaurant and wine cellar. Chasing down all of the attractions was an amazing race within a city, knowing they would all be closed on Monday. Time was short, but we managed and even spent 45 minutes in the medieval synagogue. With all of the streets neatly rolled up and tucked away by 6pm, we went back to the hotel for a full tour so I could take notes for the book. The chapter is so small, I can barely get much of it in, but it was lovely. Our room had twin sleigh beds with cozy mattresses that swallowed us up in a nurturing comfort zone, like being back in the womb. After a rest, we went to restaurant number three on Lena's list. The Google map did us wrong, so we went a mile out of the way only to find that it was really only blocks from our hotel. Another open courtyard, different in charm with brick walls surrounding us and a pleasant waiter who was excited to practice his elementary English skills. My dinner was served in an enamel baking pan just like we have at home, but this particular size, we use when making four portions. It was heaping to the top and was solely my portion. I do swear a gym membership should be provided to every guide book writer. To be fair to the review, I ate until I thought I would topple off of the chair for weight displacement and a tear emerged as I let the waiter take the rest of the dinner away. Had we been in Budapest, it would have been a take home portion worthy of lunch for the both of us the next day. A lengthy walk was needed to burn off ten or twenty calories before retiring. That "just too stuffed to bend over feeling" needed some release. To bed with a good book after combing the city and taking lots of notes, this is the life. If you want to know the names of the restaurants and hotels, the book will be out in April 2010, but I will give a preview if you are heading this way sooner.

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Kim Files 9

The last day is always a bummer when you are really enjoying your time together. Kim and Ron gave me a helping hand in getting all of the beginning of the school year things to my office at the university. I had bought a printer for my own use, had piles of CDs and my laptop to bring back. This gave me the opportunity to show off the computer lab I had set up where I teach academic and creative writing, blogging courses, and monitor a peer to peer writing center. We were going to Margaret Island next. The tram stops on the bridge, but the buses are curtailed due to construction. As warm as it was, the breezes kept us cool. We had wanted to rent a Brigihito bike built for four with a canopy, but it was already rented, not to be returned for fifty minutes. Hold Udvar is close, but an attempt to get some early lunch was thwarted by their not opening until noon. We grabbed a sausage from a vendor for the price of a lunch at the restaurant. Our choice in bikes was still not available, so the next best thing turned out to be the better choice. We rented a golf cart that was motorized. Kim had to do it; you had to have a valid driver's license. She drove us around the island for an hour, on any path we could find. It was fantastic. On the way home, Kim and I got off a Antique Row for some browsing, walked to the Parliament, went to see the statue of Imre Nagy, and took the metro home. I tried making reservations at Hemingways. Tonight was a doubly special occasion. It was Kim's last night and also our 16-year anniversary. I was truly upset when Hemingway could not give us a table; they closed for a private party. It is such a romantic spot. One of my readers had written and suggested Dio be put in the book. This was plan two. We sat outside. The service was spectacular. Food was beautifully prepared and each morsel was taste bud heaven. This was truly a fabulous choice and Kim was kind enough to pick up the bill as a congratulatory present. Those rose shaped ice cream cones called our names once again, so we had that for dessert. Now the countdown really starts for Kim to leave us. The shuttle comes at 4:50 am.

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Tough Tourism Times

As I research everything for the next edition of the book, I have been surprised at how many of the luxury hotels have actually dropped their rates projected for next year and beyond. Even some restaurants have lower their higher end entrees to lower prices since the last time I reviewed them, but certainly not enough since we pay for all meals out of pocket. The Hungarian Hotel Association has continually stated that the occupancy rate for hotels has been steadily under 50%. As I make my way from hotel to hotel, marketing managers are telling me they have cause for a celebration if they book a large group at one time. The Restaurant Association had similarly grim news predicting that 30% of all restaurants in the country would close by the years end. I thought it was Hungary, but came across these two articles today in a travel site. The first talks about how it is all over Europe, tourism down, people are just not spending.

http://www.tourism-review.com/article/1748-etc-european-tourism-in-decline This one is specifically Hungary's woes. Though the link is misleading. If it were only 12, there would be no need for concern.

http://www.tourism-review.com/article/1749-hungary-welcomed-12-less-tourists

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More Cows

I went to meet with the restaurant owner of Spinoza's today. She also owns self-catering apartments and a nightclub for young people. I have all of this in the current book, so I was unclear why she wanted to meet with me. After we discussed the business at hand, updating the information for the next edition, she asked me how long I have lived here. She and I have had this conversation innumerable times over the years, even before I started writing the book, but since I metamorphosize every two years, I have to forgive her for not remembering. She tells me she loves Budapest and Hungary, but the politics are what is keeping it from progressing into the future. As I give her my most sincere sympathetic look, she says to me "There is a Hungarian story...you have a cow and your neighbor has a cow...." I could not help but laugh out loud causing her to ask "Have you heard this story?" Yes, as a matter of fact, when I first moved here, but as luck would have it, in the last two weeks, I have heard variations of it from four different people, you are the fifth to start it. If you don't know the story, look at July 1st posting on Cows.

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On the Restaurant Front

I just read an article that is predicting 30% of Hungary's restaurants are in danger of closing. The reason is of course the economic crisis. Read the news! Hotel occupancy was down 50% in 2008 over 2007 AND in 2007 it was down 12% over 2006. Anyone thinking of opening a restaurant should have thought it over a dozen times and then pull a Nancy Reagan "Just Say No!" Over our 7+ years, we have been horrified and then entertained by the stores and restaurants that spend months remodeling, open their doors for three months and then closed down. The next renter rips out all of the lovely work left behind, starts over from scratch, only to end up like a phoenix without a reincarnation complex. With any luck, the 30% of closures will be the places where the staff could care less if you are there to eat or play shuffleboard. They act like you are disturbing their private time. But it seems luck is not what this is all about. Time will tell.

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Choo Choo Charlie Melbourne to Sydney

Our train trip was booked from Melbourne to Sydney; however, we received an e-mail stating that due to track work, we were being bussed to Albury. From there we were to be switched to a train for the rest of the trip. The bus was space challenged; they had to run three buses to accommodate all of the people. The ride was three hours; shockingly, it went by rather quickly. We were met by train personnel who pointed us to the correct car. The train, albeit comfortable was not like the last train we used, but each are run by two different companies. The seating on this one was 2-2 seats, which were not that wide to begin with. This also lacked car service, we had to go fetch food from the dining car and bring it back to our seat. We had not shopped for and packed munchies, so we did the mad dash to the dining car as soon as it opened to avoid the rush. The highlight was when they announced there would be Devonshire tea service with raisin scones, clotted cream, jam, and tea and then came around to take orders.

We did not pull into Sydney until 8:30 pm,. There was a long line for a taxi as they were only coming one at a time. After we acquired one, the driver was on the phone the whole time, took us about four blocks after circling the city and charged us $10.00.

We are at the Macquarie Boutique Hotel, situated above a bar in the central business district. Reception was closed by the time we arrived, so we had to check in at the bottle shop or liquor store associated with the bar. I had trepidation turning over $1,143.00 AUS to the cashier of the store. He did not have anything to give me as a receipt either. That was unnerving.

Our bed is extremely comfortable, but the room has no windows and is on the small side. The bathroom, the first private one we have had this trip, is cramped. Because the hotel took out the dining area, our continental breakfast is a breakfast in the box already on the desk waiting for us. We have a hot water heater to make coffee or tea, and in the box is a single servicing cereal, a box of milk, one of juice, a plastic bowl and spoon, and the bonus is a bite size granola bite.

After a walk about, we stopped at a Spanish Tapas restaurant, but each tapa started at $14.50 and went up from there. Deciding against a $100.00 dinner, we just had beer and then grabbed a slice of pizza on the way back to the hotel. From what we have seen in our short walk is that there are lots skyscrapers. Lots of skyscrapers. It almost causes a claustrophobic feeling, blotting out the sky at nighttime.

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Off to Trieste

The super efficient airport shuttle not only deposited us at the airport on time, but with plenty of time to spare. Our flight was due to leave at 10:30 and we were there by 8:00. Going through security was speedy and efficient, but we found ourselves immediately in the shopping area for duty free. There was no Passport Control to go through now that Hungary is part of the Schengren Agreement.

SkyEurope had us boarded and ready to go within minutes, though they had a flight come in from Trieste at 10:00. We arrived at our destination after 1 hour and 10 minutes. The airport is tiny, so there is no fear of getting lost. We bought bus tickets into town at the tourism office for 3.10 each and walked over to bus 51 to stow our suitcase.

More than once, I had a thought of “that is interesting, we should come back there to see that mosaic” or “an open café , we should check it out”, but the bus kept going and going. The other thought I had was, "Are we on the correct bus?" We have been known to get on the wrong trains and buses at times. While taking one hour to get into town, all of those places are closer to the airport than they are to Trieste. Let’s review - It took one hour-10 minutes to fly here; it took one hour to get from the airport.

Our hotel, is one whole floor of a building, there are three such hotels within one building. It was an easy 10 minute walk from the bus station. The room is extra large, but with a shared bathroom. This is not a problem as there are three of them, two equipped with showers. They were reviewed by Frommer’s in 2003, but has not been seen since with gives me pause.

After dumping our things, we walked around the city, noticing not much was open, but being Sunday, we did not think about it. The reception at the hotel suggested going closer to the waterfront to find a restaurant, or perhaps around the major square. There were a few open there, but not too crowded. Is this what Sundays are like? As often as we have been in Italy, I am not sure we have been here too many Sundays before.

Just a short walk from the hotel, we ran into the stature of James Joyce. Joyce had lived here twice during his life. First he lived here from 1904 to 1915, and then again from 1919 to 1920 when he finished The Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

The major square the Piazza Unita d’Italia is an umph experience with stunning architecture on three sides. Built in 1870, to the left is the Palazzo de Governo, Palazzo Stratti, Palazzo Modelo, the Town Hall, Palazzo Pitteri, and the Lloyd Triestion Palazzo. All of this overlooks the sea.

At the waterfront, people were milling up and down the cement walkway again certifying Europeans as strollers. As families, as couples, as groups of friends, people were walking up and down the walkway, taking in the soothing view of the Gulf of Trieste. Still, it was not crowded as one would expect for the end of summer. When we rode in on the bus, we noticed a number of people sunbathing on a concrete platform along the sea. Only one or two people were actually in the water at any given beach. There is not a beach to speak of, mostly rocks you climb down into the water. It certainly is not inducing to sunbathe if you cannot easily go for a dip to cool off, but the Italians are sunworshippers. I know from family history.

We by chance decided on a restaurant where the waitress working was from California up until nine years ago, she lives here now. She suggested we go to a bar “where there are other people like you”. We were not quite sure what that meant. What kind of people? We had just told her we lived in Hungary, where there other ex-pats living in Hungary there? Where there other Americans as bar guest? She once again reiterated that there would be people we would like at this particular bar and than added there are lots of "those" types of bars around the city. Interesting. She discovered all this from two orders of eggplant Parmesan and a few questions about where the best pastry shop in town happened to be. By the way, the eggplant was good, but the sauce needed to cook more. Even Ron, a non-Italian could tell it was not ready yet. As it turned out the pastry shop was the most highly rated by the tourism board as being historic, but it is closed for the month of August.

We gave in to our early hour start of the day, and went back for a nap. We had to get rid of that jet lag from that hour long flight. Within minutes, I was out and stayed out for three hours. After I revived from that drugged feeling I get when I oversleep, we took off to explore the city on a Sunday night.

After wandering for an hour, looking at menus, we decided on one for pizzas. I had the thrill of years when I found a pizza with sausage, sweet peppers, cheese, and tomatoes. The highlight was the sausage, though not enough, it was real Italian sausage, something I had been hunting for the last four trips to different Italian cities and have not found. The peppers were sweet peppers like I have grown accustomed to in the US, but never find in Hungary.

Ice cream, an Italian tradition, is not to be by-passed. As we were wandering back to the hotel, we by chance passed a large parlor of frozen delights. The pistachio screamed out to me and then there was this other flavor bufala, which was intriguing. I had both in a cup. Pistachios were more abundant than the ice cream itself, but I did not complain.

My mission this trip is not to leave with any regrets. It will be tough, but I will have to have ice cream, pasta, and pizza as often as possible.

We could not find any WiFi cafes or Internet cafes in the city. At the hotel, the young crew did not know of any either. What gives Italy?

Some pictures will be added by the weekend.

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Reader Comment

From reader Paul: I've heard similar stories, a Hungarian friend used to work as a Hostess at a downtown BP restaurant, the US customers were always the ones who would eat everything off their plate, then complain and not want to pay when the bill came. In regard to the above comment, it behooves me to add that after almost seven years, I still find that the evil ethnocentrism creeps into my life like a weed in a freshly designed garden. Thoughts still rise to the surface asking "Why can't they (Hungarians) realize that they would be better off if they did it this way?". However, I have eradicated the sub-text of "in America, we do it this way and it is better", but it has been substituted for "in Denmark, or in Germany, or in Finland, or ..." replacing what used to be America as the golden standard for a European country that achieved success in ways we have never embraced.

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Menu Decoders - Budget Travel

Menu Decoders - Budget Travel: "Don't know tourte from tartine, or harira from harissa? Before your next trip, print out one of these handy decoders with translations of food terms and popular dishes." Menu decoder BARCELONA • Eat Like a Local: Barcelona www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/misc/0709_BarcelonaDecoder/barcelona_menu_decoder.pdf FRANCE • Picky and Proud of It: Paris's Top Baguettes http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/misc/0806_FranceDecoder/france_menu_decoder.pdf MOROCCO • My Marrakech Is Better Than Yours www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/misc/0804_MoroccoDecoder/morocco_menu_decoder.pdf PORTUGAL • Alentejo, Portugal: The Next Tuscany? http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/misc/0802_PortugalDecoder/portugal_menu_decoder.pdf PRAGUE • Eat Like a Local: Prague http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/images/0604_prague.pdf CHINA http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/misc/0808_ChinaDecoder/index.html Do it yourself travel to China http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2008/04/china_doityourself_travel.html?wpisrc=newsletter To get the language 'cheat sheets' go to the link under each country above. For more information about eating 'like a local' go to Budget Travel at: www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2008/06/16/AR2008061601101.html?wpisrc=newsletter

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The Business Traveler

After writing the first article for Gayout Publications, I was hired to write a second article for the business traveler to Budapest. After the introductory information, the guidelines were to include five hotels, five restaurants, and five off the clock activities. Each review could not be more than 150 words. After writing up the first two hotels and restaurants, I realized I had hit 150 words exactly. Then it became a challenge to write all fifteen reviews with exactly 150 words. It may sound easy, but it was not. Challenging for sure, but I did it. My deadline for the article was April 14th, but I sent it in today. As pleased as I was with it, my only hope was that my editor would be equally as pleased. Fingers are crossed.

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