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An Introduction to Budapest - Zsuzsa and Malcolm Style

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  Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco, but our hearts belong to Budapest!  Our first trip to Budapest was in the spring of 2001, exactly 25 years and 1 month ago. Hungary had come out from under communist control only 10 years earlier and was a fledgling country trying to find its way. Our train rolled in from Salzburg and stopped at the border-checkpoint to pick up some armed border patrol officers. They walked through the train checking passports and not showing any smiles. The train was an older multi-cabin car that had seen its better days. We arrived in Budapest knowing that the place was different than anywhere we had ever been. Susanne’s unique history with Hungary made it so. This was also our first trip outside to an emerging country. Traveling with our then 18-year-old son, our minds were open. In the intervening years, a lot has happened. We've gotten 25 years older. Hungary had drifted into an autocratic society and now Orban has just been voted o...
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Zagreb - Time to Chill

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The word of the day is organizing. We’ve been moving fast and just needed a day to slow down. Our original plans did not include Zagreb but as things changed along the way, we discovered that the best way to get to Budapest from Slovenia, was via Zagreb. So we added a full day in Zagreb. But these changes came on the road where we have been busy enjoying life and we didn't take our time to plan our stop. We just didn’t give Zagreb all the time she deserved. Some of the things we know we missed were: The Museum of Broken Relationships - doesn't that sound interesting - 50 ways to leave your lover Visit Mirogoj cemetery - I know it sounds morbid but it is one of the most beautiful in Europe Track down the Zagreb solar system - a replica of our solar system, with appropriately-sized planets across the the town. It would have been fun to chase them down. Watch the cannon fire at Lotrscak Tower We were never really able to get a good sense of direction about Zagreb. Our trip from th...
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Ljubljana - The Dragon City

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  We weren’t sure what to expect in Ljubljana. It is a town of about 300,000 people and 50,000 students. That’s about the size that Austin was when Malcolm went to University of Texas. Young people everywhere. We found that almost everyone we talked to spoke perfect English. An unbelievable 74% of Slovenians adults speak English.   The city is built around a big bend in the Ljubljanica River. As usual, there’s a castle on the top of the hill, built by the Hapsburgs during their reign over the city. Since no one from the family lived here, it was mostly for the Governors who managed the city and collected the taxes for the Hapsburgs.   We love cities with free walking tours. Well, they are not really free. You’re expected to tip the guide if they did good work and our guide was outstanding. During the tour she told us about the geology of the city, about key people in the architectural history, and even about legends.   She talked about the geology of their ‘disappear...
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