Nora and I met through a lifelong learning program that provides courses and presentations for adults with insatiable curiosities or a strong desire to just get out of the house without having to go to the doctor.
One of the classes is Wordwide Travel, with the catchy name coming from the fact that it is about worldwide travel. Each week presenters come with a PowerPoint presentation and a description of a trip they have recently been on. For many who attend, it’s a way to experience vicarious travel. For others, it’s a way to get ideas. For a few, it’s probably an opportunity to critique people’s PowerPoint presentations.
Some of the presenters travel so much you have to wonder who they are running away from. One couple, presenting about their recent trip to Greenland, had been on the road and in the air for about nine months last year. Another has been to about 120 countries, which surprised those who didn’t know there were that many.
Last January someone talked about a river cruise through Europe, Amsterdam to Budapest. Nora and I looked at each other and decided that although we had no interest in cruises, we were interested in this one. One thing led to another and in August there we were, cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest. It was amazing, and the city that intrigued us the most was the last: Budapest. Pronounced, we were firmly told, “Budapesht.” I’m guessing somewhere along the way someone decided they didn’t like being associated with pests. Maybe it was Buddha. We also learned that it is an amalgum of two cities: Buda and Pesht, divided by the Danube.
This fall, after listening to a presentation about a guided tour, it occurred to me that it would be interesting to plan our own completely unguided trip back to Budapest. Pronounced -pesht. Instead of going with someone who would choreograph our every move, we would go with no script at all, an approach that has far more appeal to my personality type than to Nora’s. But Nora was equally enthusiastic, most likely because I oversold the approach.
So we are planning a trip to Budapest. Our knowledge of Budapest pretty much boils down to its pronunciation, its favorite food probably being goulash, and its favorite cathedral maybe being St. Stephen’s. We found an AirBnB overlooking the Danube and we found airline flights that would provide a couple good meals before we have to fend for ourselves and I have ordered a Lonely Planet guide to Budapest.
For the life of me I can’t think of anything else we might need. Nora, on the other hand, has quite a list of other things we might need. Stay tuned.