see you soon, budapest.

all packed up and breakfasted, almost ready to leave budapest for the western hungarian town on sopron (pronounced SHOH-pron). a couple of hours on a train and we'll be shoulder-to-shoulder with bordering austria.

they've had sporadic rain showers over the past two days - first we got caught in a fast and furious storm as soon as we paid entry into Statue Park, a permanent resting place for all the propagandistic statuary extolling the power of communism. seemed a fitting atmosphere for the activity. nate and i tried to take a few appropriately off-kilter angled photos while dodging the rain drops, with some success. as we exited and waited for the bus back to budapest, the rains ended again. that was after a gloriously sunny early part of the day on the buda side of town, enjoying the novelty of a train ride up the hills, the system entirely run by children. nate has a link up.

yesterday we stayed in the central part of pest and checked out the jewish museum in the synagogue which is the largest in europe, and the second largest after emmanuel in nyc. they have a somewhat interesting museum and a striking monument to the many lives lost in the holocaust, and close to a $20 entry fee. we spent only slightly more on lunch. we traipsed off to the downtown area - banks and consulates and governmental buildings - and then walked along the pest side of the danube to approach the parliament building, and get a really nice view back over our shoulders of the castle on the buda side. after a bathroom and gelatto break, we bought our train tickets and took a nap. dinner was at the "hummous cafe" - our cheapest, most satisfying and tasty dinner to date. to burn off some of the falafel, we walked from octagon square down andrassy street (old palacial homes now mainly embassys, museums, and doctor offices) to hero's square (statues of hungarian heroes) and back. then the rains started in earnest, lulling us to sleep, and making it very difficult to wake up.

still raining, and we're leaving unity hostel. we'll be back in budapest in three days for more exploring here.