From Budapest

After an uneventful day of travel (if you discount Dianne attempting to travel under a name that did not match her passport and almost being detained in Romania) we arrived in Budapest and settled in at our hotel. The Hotel Meridien is beautiful and very centrally located, close to the Danube in the Pest side of Budapest. The view from our window allows us to see a church, not sure which one or its denomination, and an absolute icon of American entrepreneurship, Starbucks where I treated Dianne to a very extravagant lunch that set me back 1,650 Forints. When we travel, cost is no obstacle for us and we believe in living the high life because,after all, you only live once and you may as well grab all the gusto you can. At our hotel last night, there was a buffet featuring traditional Hungarian dishes (probably with much less spiciness to accommodate the mostly American audience) and Hungarian and Gypsy music and dancing. The food was delicious, the music sublime (a four piece orchestra made up of one bass, one dulcimer, and two violins), and the dancing intricate and energetic. We went with the Leightons and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were quite pleased we did not need to trundle into a taxi to get there.
What we have seen of Budapest is beautiful and charming. We have not seen much yet, but we will see more this afternoon as we have a half day tour of Pest with the Leightons, the Bianchis, and the Frosts. I did a little exploring on my own with my camera earlier this morning before lots of people were up and about as I like to get scenic shots with as few people as possible in them. We have been told one activity we should do is an evening Danube sightseeing cruise so we can see Budapest lit up. As we near the end of our trip, we begin to long to be home; but please, Bay Area folks, turn off the hot weather before we return.