continued...
It�s late now, I�m drunk, but I�m on vacation so who cares. I�m worried about my mom because she has been used to hearing from me every day on this trip so far and I haven�t had internet access since Thursday night! Plus, the bartender said that he heard on the news HERE in friggin Hungary that loads of people have died in accidents due to an ice storm in Cleveland. HELLO. Wrong person to tell this to!! Now I have to worry about this. We are getting up at 7:00 A.M. tomorrow for the baths again and then off to my father�s birthplace by 10:00. Hopefully we�ll get a lot of cool video footage along the way (it�s about 2 hours drive from here). Maybe I can get on the internet in the business office in the lobby before we go. If so, I guess you�ll know!
Click
here
for Photos from Saturday
Monday, January 10, 2005, 10:25 P.M. We�re back in Sierre. Needless to say, I didn�t have internet access over the weekend, so I couldn�t update sooner. Sorry Mom! Yesterday we went to my father�s birthplace. I had a very strange and unexpected reaction. I wanted to cry several times but held it back because I had no explanation for it and felt weird about it. Most of the emotions came from wishing my brothers were there with me. It seemed so strange to be there without them. I had not expected at all to travel to Yaszapati, so I did not ask any questions about my family beforehand. (My mother just answered a few questions for me on instant messenger as I write this and I was way off on a few things.) I really wish I had been better prepared. I definitely want to go back someday with my brothers though. I think it�s something they should do. I am so excited about their gifts by the way. Yaszapati is not as small of a village as I imagined. There seems to be a lot of poverty there but it�s hard to tell because there is graffiti everywhere even in Budapest and the buildings are so old. There are a lot of farms and horse drawn carriages. Many people were traveling on bicycles, most of them quite old, maybe 70 plus years. We visited a church which dates back to the 14th century but the building as it stands was built in 1754. We went to a cemetery to see if we could find my grandfather�s grave, but as it turns out he died in America, not in Hungary as I had thought. I doubt we could have found it anyway, but the cemetery was very cool. Some of the stones were dated in the 1700�s. We had coffee before leaving but no one spoke one word of English (or German or French which my travel companions speak) so it was difficult to communicate with the waitress. I wished we could stay longer, but it was wonderful and I know for sure that I will be back there one day. When we arrived back at the hotel we were informed that the Wagner concert was sold out, so we went to a different concert, a trio, which unfortunately was not at the old Opera House. The building that it was held in was old and interesting too though. The music was good but we all took turns nodding off during it at different times. It was a long day. We found an Italian restaurant in walking distance after the concert and were all so tired, but I wanted to go out for at least one more drink with it being our last day. Francoise and Jacques went to bed, but I dragged David kicking and screaming to a place called �For Sale� where they have business cards covering all of the walls and the ceiling. He ran out of forints and luckily the bartender accepted American cash. Our flights to and from Budapest went perfectly with no delays, turbulence or lost bags. On the drive home today we took the scenic route through Geneva and visited one of the towns Francoise lived in as a small child. Her family moved often, but she had happy, fun memories of this place. We walked through the castle where she attended two years of pre-school (can you imagine?) and then had a glass of wine. David is jonesin� to play his video game so I�ll sign off for now. I believe that tomorrow we are off to the South of France. It is unlikely that we�ll have internet access and we aren�t sure if we�ll be back on Thursday or Friday, so don�t be concerned if there is another delay! I love that you guys are emailing and asking where the heck the journal and photos are if I�m late. I�m glad you�re enjoying it!
Click
here
for photos from Yaszapati and the rest of our trip to Budapest
Back
to previous page
Continue
with journal...
