Those Darned Croatians

I've wanted to see the inside of the magnificent Parliament building here. They have daily tours -- we had tried once to get tickets a few weeks ago but arrived too late. So, as we only have a couple of days left, we tried to get in yesterday. I rushed back from dropping Devin at school (her last day!) to meet Margaret at Parliament and when I emerged from the Metro, she told me that Croatian officials were visiting today and, so, no tours!

So, it wasn't meant to be -- just one more reason to come back her some day.

Here's a photo I took from across the river the other day of Parliament and there even more to each side of the building than is in this frame, believe it or not. For a country that has struggled so hard with its despots, monarchs and dictators, it has probably the most impressive temples of democracy in Europe. Consider less than 20 years ago, perched on top of the central dome was a red star representing the Communists.


The disappointment with the tickets was actually the beginning of one of our most relaxing, enjoyable days here. We bought the International Herald Tribute (which is published by the NY Times) found an outdoor cafe on a main square nearby (where the American embassy is), ate srambled eggs, and granola with yougurt. We divided up the paper and read like 6 articles each, stopping occasionally to read each other a snippet of the latest world outrage (like the US trying to strongarm the Poles into letting us put a deeply flawed missile defense system on their sole -- luckily the Poles are driving a hard bargain, wanting billions to modernize their air force in return). The air was crisp but almost warm, the sky was blue and it was just what the doctor ordered.

Then we decided to go to the Palace of Arts, a relatively new museum here with modern art, some of which Margaret had seen the other day. There was this interesting exhibit on Fluxus, an anti-art art movement of the 60s -- the "happenings" you've probably heard of were a part of this.

Then it was off to have coffee with Michael Simmons, a dynamic American human rights worker who has made Budapest his home the last five years. We had met up with him about a month ago at a documentary about the Roma (gypsies) and we had a really nice long conversation with him about his human rights work and politics in general. We really enjoyed our time with him and only wish that we had met up with him earlier in our stay here. If we have one regret on this trip, it's that we didn't more intentionally make contact with people we had been referred to by friends much earlier in our stay. Here's a photo of Margaret and Michael.


After our visit with Michael, we headed up one last time to Buda to pick up Devin from school. She was in the playground with all the other kids, and we all said our goodbyes. Her best pal, Mallika gave her 9 Indian bangle bracelets as a going away present. Here are Devin's three teachers -- Robert, Rita and Kevin (holding Devin).


And that evening we had dinner over Jodi Jensen's house. She's the one who invited Margaret to give a lecture on the American election at her institute last month in Kosseg, on the Austrian border. I never did post photos of that trip but it was really one of the highlights of our time here. We had a lovely leisurely dinner at Jodi's and Devin left with an armful of books and toys that Jodi gave to Devin from her teenage children's stash.

Here's a photo of Jodi, Devin and Margaret ...


So, maybe we have the Croatians to thank after all for setting on our day on such an enjoyable trajectory.