How I yearn for those halcyon days of yore when tourists traveled to and fro via luxurious ocean liners rather than by airborne omnibuses with insufficent leg room. It would take eight weeks to get anywhere; eight leisurely weeks of playing slightly refined, on-deck versions of popular pub games such as skittles and backgammon while being introduced to ostrich-feathered Lady Witherington-Sniff who subsequently snubs you at dinner. And why were you never invited to the Captain's table? No doubt your valet packed the wrong color tie in your massive oaken travel-trunk when it was winched aboard. He'll have to walk the plank for that faux pas.
Whatever, I am Budapest bound on the wings of Malev Airlines. I shall being sightseeing for a week or so: Castle; Parliament; Opera; Citadel; Hungarian National Gallery and Museum; on the Danube to Szentendre; and then relaxing in the mineral baths. Maybe I'll post something here during my visit, maybe I won't. It really depends on whether I'm inspired or not.
While you are in the Budapest area, AmFez, do visit the ruins of Solomon's Tower. It was the site of Prince Vlad Dracula's imprisonment by the King of Hungary. Vlad use to pass the time of day there by impaling rats on little stakes. As someone who probably tortured small animals as a child, you will surely get teary-eyed with nostalgia.
Posted by: non de guerre | September 19, 2008 at 23:13