The BudaPost

This morning I took the 105 bus.  It was supposed to take me to Hero's Square a large memorial in the middle of the city honoring the founders and great warriors of Hungary. I planned to walk to the huge Saturday morning flea market not far from there.  The 105 takes me across the old Chain Bridge into the heart of Pest.  As the bus approached the bridge - it continued around a circle and took an entirely different direction.  I noticed the fellow sitting across from turn around and look at the driver.  Then he muttered something in Hungarian and got up and tapped on the bus driver's window.  (The bus drivers sit in an enclosed box for protection from bus riders.)  The bus driver said something back in Hungarian and continued down the wrong path.  At the next stop, my fellow passenger got off.  As the ride continued - person after person tapped on the driver's window and conversed with him, and time after time, shortly after their conversation - they got off the 105.

You're probably wondering why I didn't get off the 105.  Well, unfortunately, I left my handy little iphone at home which has a sweet little app with a map of Budapest and a blinking blue dot (which represents me).  Those of you who know me well, know that my sense of direction is simply not there.  (I get lost in Greenville - even though I've lived there for at least 30 years - and its not that big.)  We were traveling on streets that I had never seen before.  Finally - when I was the last person on the bus - I tapped on the bus driver's window and said, "Hero's Square?"  He had already pulled away from the bus stop and immediately stopped the bus in the middle of the street and pointed down the road.  There it was...Here's Square.  Thankfully, he opened the doors and set me free!

So what was the problem?  Why had he taken this crazy route?

Here's Square had been transformed into a horse racing track.  No kidding - in the middle of Budapest - they had laid down tons of sand and bleachers and tents for a day of horse racing.  It would be like putting a race track around the Washington Monument or the Reflection Pool of the Lincoln Memorial.  In between the Hungarian Museum of Modern Art and the Fine Art Museum of Budapest was a horse race.  Take that Heritage Green!

I eventually made it to the Flea Market and had a great time.  One lady thought I was Polish and kept speaking to me in polish - one man chased after me with a gorgeous gold frame that I refused to buy because he was asking too much, and all I purchased were these delicious, freshly-cut potato chips.  YUM - where's my woodchuck?

Please forgive my lack of blog posts this week.  I've been working hard on a few new projects and will hopefully show them to you in the next few days!