Budapest

I went to Budapest for a couple of days. I stayed in an old fusty hotel called the Gellert. It had a 1920s-era wave pool in the back, though I didn't use it.

I stayed in the "Andrew Lloyd Weber" room. It had a funny framed picture of Weber looking pained, shaking the general manager's hand as he got into a car. He clearly wasn't as enamored with the hotel as the hotel was with him.

Next to the picture was a framed biography of Weber, which included a list of his ex-wives.

The room was musty but had a little balcony overlooking the Danube...

...and the yellow tram that runs from Buda to Pest.

I was there to see the city for a culture article I'll write. I walked through most of the old town. It's a lovely place.

I learned quite a bit about the city's 'golden age' during the forty years from when it became co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian empire to the break up of the empire following World War I.

I caught an early flight back so that I could have dinner with the family. It is True's birthday. When I got home, he presented me with a gift he had made. He does that sometimes.

They are always creative. Unexpected. He had made this one with "recyclable products." I thought it was a miniature basket...

...but he explained that it was a small army helmet.

Anna had made brownies for his class, which she decorated with colored icing - something of a tradition. There was colored icing left over, so True and I decorated our brownies. This is mine. It is sitting on a lily pad plate that True bought today during a class trip to the home of Claude Monet in Giverny.

Sky, being a purist, didn't decorate his.

This is True's.

He ate it with gusto.

hmmm...

Then I opened my gift to him - an oil painting I bought in Budapest. He was unimpressed, but I like it. Someday he will, too. It's called "the porter." It reminded me of a puppet I bought for the boys years ago that we called the 'stationmaster.' I like the red hat.