Lost and Found in Budapest

 I have been putting off writing about Budapest for a few weeks because, honestly, I am still trying to process it, even a month later (that and the fact that every spare second of my life has been filled with job applications--if you have any sweet connections, please let me know!!).  For me, it was a delightfully paradoxical city: ridiculously manageable for a traveler yet impossible to fully comprehend.  The streets are just breathing with a history that's as complex as that of any city I've ever visited.  You might see the remnants of a once powerful monarchy, Art Nouveau elegance and totally modern buildings all within the same block.  The food is simple, but the flavors complex (did I mention that I had sour cream on pretty much everything?  No complaints here!).  The opulent wealth of times gone by coexists with a former Soviet austerity which mingles with a forward-and-outward-looking present.  And the result is startling, eclectic, cosmopolitan and wonderful.

Somehow, this picture perfectly sums up my sense of Budapest as a city.
Beautiful architecture adorns what is now the Gucci store,
but notice the bus that it is probably older than I am.

Goulash!  It's so yummy!  Simple ingredients, but with a little kick!

And did I mention the language?  What a lovely puzzle to be solved!  According to my tour guide, it's one of the five hardest languages in the world to learn, yet the second most logical, after Latin! (although some people might argue that ranking languages based on difficulty is a worthless, subjective idea and I tend to agree).

As a lover of all things linguistic (and moreover a total nerd) I couldn't really ask for a more fascinating language than Hungarian.  There are up to eighteen different noun cases (How many of you stumbled through Latin's five?) and compound words that can go forever.  Better yet, Hungarian is related only to Estonian and Finnish and even those two languages are more like third cousins a couple times removed than close family!!  Consider that Hungarian is not an Indo-European language, which means that Hindi, Persian, Italian and English are more closely related to each other than any of them is to Hungarian!

Franz Liszt, one of many famous Hungarians.  The "sz" sounds in
Hungarian is like the "s" sound in English, thus we say his name
like "List."

So how did the Hungarians wind up with such a completely bizarre language?  They are descendants of a group of people that migrated to the area that is now Hungary from today's Mongolia, the Magyar people.  (Mistakenly thought to be the Huns by some of their neighbors, hence we have the name "Hungary" in English).  In fact, that is only the beginning of a history that would see the Hungarians mix with Slavic people from the surrounding countries and conquered by the Turks and then incorporated into the empire of the Hapsburgs. (Obviously, this is the history of an entire country and their linguistics in two paragraphs and should therefore be taken with a grain of salt, I'm not claiming to have covered everything here!)

The many cafes around Budapest make it feel like a very "European" capital.
This elegant cafe is on the top floor of the Alexandra bookstore!

Perhaps the highlight of my time there, was seeing Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the opera house.  Advised by friends who had visited Budapest before, I went to the box office an hour before the show to see if I could get some cheap tickets.  After a confused conversation with a woman at the ticket office, I paid for my ticket, having absolutely no idea what I had just purchased.  

To my surprise, I returned an hour later, ascended the stair case, and opened a door, as indicated by my ticket, to a beautiful private box that was almost in the center of the theater!!  

Hastily and much embarrassed, I closed the door...surely my 13 Euro ticket was not for one of the best seats in the house.  

So imagine my surprise when I asked the attendant, only to have her lead me back to the very same door!!!

I met a lovely student and fellow traveler from China and was delighted to enjoy the opera with him from our own private box.

This is my "ecstatic" face.

To recap, I stumbled into Puccini, a beautiful opera house, an accidental private box and a perfect glass of Hungarian red wine on the terrace at intermission.  This was one of those beautiful, magical moments (sometimes, I like to stop and hug them as they pass by) when I realized that of all the places in the universe I might have been, I was finding myself exactly where I was supposed to be.

Sometimes we forget how awkward and painful learning and living and travelling can be.  There are some moments that are less romantic than others.  Travelling alone in particular can be stressful and a bit scary, even in a big, safe, cosmopolitan city in Europe.  There are plenty of opportunities to make mistakes, get really lost, get frustrated, ask obvious questions, make yourself look like the stupidest person ever and feel lonely.  But, in retrospect, I see that these are also the moments when I was getting smarter, learning how to travel better and more gracefully and learning about myself.  And somehow, it was that stumbling around the city of Budapest (and, let's be honest, the entire continent of Europe) that led me to that seat in that opera house during that show.

And so I am issuing a challenge to myself, and to you, to make some mistakes, to get a little lost and to stumble around a bit, whether it is in a language with eighteen noun cases, a new place you've never visited or even in your own mind.

To quote my nineteenth-century soul mate, Henry David Thoreau (ten points if you saw that coming!): "Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves..." 

Buon viaggio!

The Opera House at night!

The Last Minute of Intermission

The Parliament Building by night.

Rawwr!!

Stained glass in St. Matthias Church

I just really liked this painting.

#NoFilterRequired

For a long time, I have thought that Mother Nature and a solid camera could outdo the obsession with putting filters on every photograph.  Tuscany has seen a lot of rain these past few weeks and the beautiful Spring greens are more vibrant than I've ever seen.  Against the blue sky, it all just looks too good to be true, perfect!!  Filter that!! 

A Toast for Mom!

I'm proposing a toast

Chianti raised in hand

Across this great ocean

To sea and beach and sand

Where a lady I know

Is in her favorite place

Drinking margaritas 

A smile on her face

And I haven't said thank you

Not nearly enough

For loving and caring

Even when it was tough

She watched my first steps

Helped the first fall

And if I'm now crossing continents

It's to her I owe all.

With patience and love

She helped us to grow 

And the lessons in forgiveness

More than we'll ever know.

So here's to you, Mom

On this day of you

I could never say thanks 

For all the you do.

These words are my hugs

From so far away

I'm sending my love,

Happy Mother's Day!!

How can you thank the person who gave you the greatest gift of all, that is, the gift of life?  I'm so grateful to have the greatest Mom, someone who has always loved me, supported me and believed in me.  I miss you, Mom and I just wish that I could be sipping margaritas beach-side with you on this day, your day!

Cheers to all the Moms this Mother's Day!

At the Opera in Budapest