Have I mentioned my internet is slow?

P.S. - Brigham wanted this post to be about him. He's slow too, I guess.

Apologies

Remember how I keep promising to show you pictures from Africa? Yeah, about that...

The plan was to spend my break going through them, making up for my photographic ineptitude with Photoshop and post them here. In retrospect, it was a great plan, especially considering the white stuff that won't stop falling from the sky. Too bad someone decide to make their Christmas merrier by stealing my laptop. So, the long and short of it is, it's going to be a bit longer until I get those photos up. Sorry. In the meantime, Happy Holidays to you all!

Change of Plans

Bet you thought I was going to write about Africa, right? Sorry dudes. For the moment I'm in Chicago, enjoying the hospitality of JayMoo and Skates, and thought I might as well tell you about it now. Plus their internet is way faster than mine.

So, here's the story so far. Chicago rocks. Wrigleyville has this little place that rocks.

Ate lunch at Murphy's Red Hots. I like their philosophy...
... and their dogs. Memo to NYC hot dogs: you suck.
We finally ended up at the Field Museum, where we saw Sue and celebrated La Dia de la Virgen by going to the Aztec World exhibt (no photos allowed).
The gems exhibit was kinda weak, but this stone was cool.
Jeff did his best slave impression but couldn't move this stone block. I'm guessing his Egyptian Overloards would be pissed.
Sorry aquarium. You look cool, but not cool enough.
Chicago, you are an amazingly clean city. Your skyline is cool too.

Roar!
Giordano's for dinner. NY pizza, I love you, but I'm letting you know right now that I've been unfaithful, and I feel no remorse. She is my out of town mistress, and you'd better get used to that.
More adventures today, so stay tuned.

La Jolla

Every so often I get to go to La Jolla for training near the Scripps Institute. As far as places for training go, I feel pretty lucky. Who wouldn't with views like these?


Next up: South Africa.

Budapest: Day 7 - The final hours...

My last day in Budapest was spent mostly alone, trying to explore a few areas of town I hadn't been to yet. So, after a good night's sleep, I grabbed my camera bag, a map, and headed off for adventure. The first sign I was on the right track was this massive Mythbusters ad.
After wandering through several neighborhoods full of that old world communist charm, I ended up back at the river.
Here's my take on the Elizabeth bridge.
Once I had crossed into Buda, I decided to take a hike up Gellert hill to check out the view. Turns out it was pretty nice.

Loved these spigots!
Here's Bishop Gellert himself, looking down on Budapest and keeping her safe.

Finally! Here it is, the outside of St. Stephens.

During my wanderings I came across a Crumpler store. I have to admit that I copied this guy and bought myself one of their camera bags before my trip to Europe, so imagine my surprise to find their store here. The bag is fantastic, way better than my previous one.
OK, you got me, this one is actually for rent, but I did go past their new location, but forgot to get a photo.

Remember the show from the night before? Well, apparently it carried on to this night as well. When I got there, this band was playing. I managed to figure out that they were called RU, and that they are some kind of Hungarian pop band. Their version of the Mission Impossible theme was easily the best one I've heard that incorporated a balalyka.

Later that evening, I was supposed to meet back up with Alpna for dinner. During the day I had seen numerous police in this funny, nerf-like riot gear. I had overheard someone mention there was to be some kind of rally that day, and decided to steer clear of as many police as possible. After checking out RU, I returned to the hotel to put my feet up for a few minutes before heading down to the river for dinner. As I left, I began to walk against a steadily increasing stream of Hungarians with signs and flags. At first I thought these were people returning from the protests, but after a young man used his giant wrench to open up a fire hydrant, I relized they were merely the color guard. I decided to steer clear and headed down a sidestreet, hoping to still make it to the river. A few others did the same, and at one point, after a few loud bangs and some shouting, they began to run. Figuring they knew better than me what was going on, I followed suit, finally ducking down a street parallel to my original path. As I was wondering where to go next, I caught sight of a column of police officers marching down the main cross street and began to realize I might get penned in to all this mess. Figuring that Alpna was already down by the river, and would be fine down there amongst the shops and restaurants, I decided to head back to the hotel while I could. The side streets I used were quiet, but there was one more major road that I had to cross to get back. As I arrived at the road, I could see another column of police in riot gear marching from my right, about to close off the side street I needed to use to get back. So, in my infinite wisdom, I decided my best bet was to run in front of them, like I was trying to squeeze past some sliding door. I made the dash, and only barely missed hitting a few of the guards along the way, but made it safely across, and back to the hotel, where I learned that there were three simultaneous protests being staged, one against Russia, one against prejudice and one against the government. On my way to my room, I decided to check and see if Alpna happened to be at the hotel. Turns out she was and thought I was coming by to pick her up. I explained and we tried in vain to find a safe way around the protests, but discretion became the better part of valor and we ended up eating at a Subway near the hotel. Fun story, right?

As for the hotel itself, it was clean and comfortable, if not large. But really, for the price (cheap) it was more than I expected. The place was an easyHotel, same company as easyJet, and they basically charge you for any "extras" like having the sheets changed or watching the TV. I guess it would probably start to add up, but for 2 nights, it wasn't bad.

Budapest: Day 6

OK, ready for more? After spending all our time in Pest, we figured it was time to cross the Danube into Buda. We were greeted by this sign. Not sure what it says, but I think I still get the message.
As you may have noticed in my earlier pictures, Buda is set on a hill. Instead of climbing up that hill, we decided to take a ride on the funicular!
Here's what the Chain Bridge looks like from said funicular.
Probably the biggest attraction in Buda is the castle. Luckily, the funicular stops right at the entrance, which looks a little something like this:
During our time in Budapest, these two portraits were displayed outside the castle. The King and Queen perhaps? As much as I'd like to believe that, I'm guessing that Playboy bunny earrings aren't proper attire for royalty. So, either these two are the real estate agents for the place or they have something to do with the art exhibit that was going on inside.

By this point, I was getting a little tired of taking travel shots and tried my hand at something more "artsy" with differing degrees of success. I'll let you be the judge. In case you are wondering, the large building in the background of this shot is St. Stephens, but I've got even better shots of it later, so stay tuned.
If I remember correctly, this is St. Stephen. They sure love this guy there.
OK, pop quiz. What's the name of this building?
Here's one of Steve with the Matthias Church...
...which has an amazing roof.
These guys are apparently guarding the place.
Beyond the church lies the rest of Buda. Mostly this means really old homes, though the odd church or public building breaks the monotony. I have to admit I fell in love with this part of Buda. It's amazingly picturesque and it feels like life just moves a bit slower there. I think I could handle that.



We decided (or perhaps I decided) to not make the trip down on the funicular. We stumbled across this path that not only was beautiful, but provided us with a nice view of parliament.

Here's the Opera House from the outside. I'm not sure why I decided not to take shots of the outsides of buildings at the same time I took the insides. Sorry.
That night I began to wander on my own and came across this street performance. Turns out I was in Budapest's version of the Theater District, and I'm guessing with the season opening, this was some kind of sampler show. Either way, it was quite funny to see throngs of 14-year-old girls screaming at the top of their lungs for Broadway singers and Opera stars. What a difference, right?
That evening, on our way back to our new hotel (pictures tomorrow), I made Alpna stop in at this burrito place we had been walking past all week. Who could resist the opportunity to try Hungarian-style Mexican? Turns out this was probably their version of Chipotle. I was hoping for some sort of memorable story here, but the best I could get was this photo of a mural in the restaurant that I wholly agree with.