Weekend touring

Well, not so much to say today. The three of us spent yesterday walking around Buda Castle and Old Town. Great views of Budapest (though it was overcast and I couldn't help thinking that "next time" I'll return at dawn or dusk.) Many interesting statues, cobblestone roads, churches, tourists, and locals selling their wares. We spent the evening in a great little find of a restaurant/bar, near Liszt square. It was in the basement of the building, with wooden panelling thoughout, old books on shelves, couches, chairs and booths. I had a delicious dinner of chicken stewed with apples and a not-to-sweet honey sauce and -of course- deep fried potatoe balls and wine. It was yummy. We got to our hotel, shamefully, before nine but stayed up talking for a while, trying to figure out just how we were going to survive our two weeks in India during its most humid and hot months.

This morning, after another slow breakfast (this really is vacation), we went to Margaret Island, a large park in between Buda and Pest. We walked the length of the park and back, though large fields, past play structures filled with yelling kids, a the little zoo with buzzards and roosters and peacocks, the ruins of a 13th century church and convent, waterparks and fountains, hotels and hot baths, numerous ball fields, and even a small Japanese(-like) Garden. In the Japanese Garden, there was Koi pond with many turtles in it, and we spent quite a while watching the turtles sunbathing on rocks while little kids giddily tried to pet them.

Today, I think we'll probably take the rest of the day easy. Some cafe time with our "research survey", maybe a short trip to the free museums accross the street from our hotel and maybe I'll finally go on my photo walk at dusk that I've been wanting to do. Tomorrow is the train trip to the city of Pesc in southern Hungary where we'll be staying in a hostel for the night and then a visit to a rehab hospital nearby the next day for the last bit of research. Nice.