The tussle

Got out of Vienna fairly easy.  Forgot to mention that  when we went the the schnitzel restaurant we were very lucky.  We got there around six and waited about ten minutes before getting a table by the door.  We were there an hour or so and during that time, about 20 groups were turned away.  "Reservations?"  "No."  Sorry, complete."   The reviews said that the waiters were rude and the wait was too long.  We were lucky!

Leaving Vienna was a piece of cake.  Emily helped us, but this time we really didn't need her to get us out of town.  We were on;y about a mile from the motorway.  Got on the motorway and Budapest was two hours and fifteen minutes away.  Cruised all the way to the Austrian border making good time.  Got to the border and were met with stop sticks.  Figured they were going to do another breathalyzer...........
Wrong................."License and registration."  Hand them over.  "Do you have an official Drive in Austria permit?"  "What?"  "An official drive in Austria permit you idiot."  "Nope"  "You have to have an official Drive in Austria permit."  Never heard of it or anything about it."  "There are signs at every border crossing."  "We came from Czech Republic."  "They have them also."  "Didn't see anything about that and we've been in Austria twice on this trip."  "Tough crap you ignorant tourist----it's gonna cost you 120 euros either on a credit card or in cash."  "W T F "  "Or you can go to jail."  Donna, agitated,  "Pay it on the Visa and we'll dispute the charge."  "I already gave him 120 euros."  "then hurry up and give him the card and get the cash back"  I did.  We'll dispute the card with a picture of our ten year old atlas that makes no reference to the Official drive in Austria permit, and I'm confident that Visa will see our side of the story..............

As soon as we got over the border, Emily took ill again.  Seems that Eastern Europe and her don't get along.  I doubt that she'll be able to join us again till we get to Italy, or some place that she knows.....
Our mapquest took us directly to the parking garage in Budapest, where I spent about fifteen minutes looking for our apartment........  As we had no Hungarian money, Donna had to sit in the car to make sure it wasn't towed.  A nice gentleman, (or a street bum) saw my troubles trying to put euros into the pay meter for a parking ticket.  He gave me about 200 Hrus ($1.00) to pay for parking in exhange for 4 euros ($5.00).  I was on cloud nine going back to the car to show Donna my kill............He could have charged me $10.00 and I would have given it to him.  Went to the internet cafe and got online, while Donna walked to the cash machine.  This duplicated my problems.  One.  Not knowing where the Apartment was.  And two.  Not knowing if Donna would find her way back.  Got part one taken care of and then stood on the street, for far too much time, looking in the direction Donna went.  A while later............................I see Donna crossing the street for a different direction that she set off in....................and I'm relieved.  Budapest is a big city and I can picture Donna saying "Do you know the internet cafe?"  So she comes back and has 5 twenty thousand Hru notes, each worth about a hundred bucks.  So I offer one to the girl at the internet cafe and she smiles and says, "I don't have change for that---------------next time."  We promise to return to pay her after we get some smaller cash.

Get to the apartment.  Wonderful.  Half a block form the Danube, with a view of the river and a bridge that crosses.  The cruise barges are parked on the river, about a hundred yards from our window.  The apartment is a studio, with a big kitchen, small eating area, large living room with a comfrtable murphy bed and a bathroom with a washing machine.  It's a block from the main pedestrian street, five minutes from the indoor market place and ten minutes from the original Eastern Bloc McDonalds and the center of town. Cost is $55.00 a day.  We don't understand why people would spend four times that to stay at a hotel, with out any amenities???????????  We have four times the space, washer, kitchen, and the only thing they have that we don't is room service.

Parked the car in the garage.............First stop was a pay lot in the back of the indoor market.  They wanted 400 hrus an hour to park there.  That worked out to $100 for two days...............ended up two blocks away in a garage that will cost $24 for the same time....Stopped back at the internet cafe and paid the girl, who seemed surprised, but happy.

Stopped for lunch at the For Sale Pub.  We both ordered soup.  Donna had the small serving of Goulash soup.  I had the full serving of Hungarian Bean soup.  Mine came in a tureen........had lunch and brought the rest home for dinner tonite.  We just finished and we had that with a couple of different breads, some cheese and smoked sausage.  Lunch and dinner today cost $18.00.

Went to the Jewish synagogue today, which is the second largest in the world.  Donna will post the pics on Facebook.  Spectacular is the description.  The ark has twenty three Torahs.  The synagouge holds three thousand, with the main floor for men holding 30 more seats than the upstairs.  The Holocaust Tree is something special.  NINETY percent of Hungarian Jews were exterminated or died of unreasonable conditions during the Nazi reign.... 

After that we went to the Heroes Square, where the monuments to the Magyars, who ruled the area way back when, are.  These are Giant monuments ot them, and the square is quite impressive, surrounded by the History museum and an art museum,.  Just past are the hot springs where you can go for a thermal dip.

We got on the train to return to town.  We're both standing and Donna's holding on to one of the high grab handles you hang onto when the train is moving.  Next stop, nurse cratchett gets on.  Donna moves aside, with out letting go of the handle and she passes under her arm, her hair touching Donnas arm...................She lets go with a rant and Donnas eyes go wide!  I take a look at Donna, then the woman, and start laughing.  (This strikes me as funny)  The woman is staring a hole through Donna and I'm cracking up.  First off.  The woman seems to be partially bald.  I know this.  Secondly, she seems to be a bit loony.  I know this too.  After one more stop we sit down on two empty seats, and I say to Donna, who's still a bit intrigued,  "Why did you tussle her hair like that?"
Donna says, "We're getting off at the stop after she does....................