nawl

We took the train to Esztergom, about an hour and a half north of Budapest on the Slovakian border.

There is, um, a basilica and a castle in Esztergom. This is just about the only thing to see in the city, and it's where all the tourists go. It's famous because this is where Christianity was brought to Hungary a thousand years ago, and the castle is where the first Pope-approved kings lived.

There was a museum in the castle, but when asked what was in it, the woman guarding the door responded "Oh, normal museum things. Just buy a ticket." So we passed.

From the hill with the castle and basilica, you can look across the Danube into Slovakia.

Across from the basilica-castle hill is a section of old town on another hill. The area around the path up at the bottom was inexplicably labeled "art square" in Hungarian. At the top we encountered a troop of Hungarian scouts, picked wildflowers, and looked down into the town.

From Esztergom you can take a bus to Visegrad, in the bend of the Danube. Visegrad is famous because the Czech, Polish, and Hungarian kings came together there in the middle ages to do diplomatic things. There are the ruins of yet another castle on the hill overlooking the river.

But really, you don't go there to look at yet another castle with tacky wax figures, another exhibit on the barbaric torture procedures in the middle ages, and long explanations in German and Hungarian about regional politics. You go because the weather was absolutely stunning, and you could climb the path up the hillside and appreciate the green and the wildflowers as the countryside explodes into spring.

At the top you actually have to pay for the touristy stuff to see the view, but it is nice.

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Back in Budapest, there was a Hungarian house-party with actual Hungarian people, a combination of dancers and physics students at the technical university. I met a French guy who spoke Turkish and Russian in addition to Hungarian and fluent English, and told me about bribing officials in Azerbaijan to gain access to forbidden areas that had been occupied by the army. We danced rueda, a form of salsa danced in a circle with lots of partner passing that I'd never seen before coming here. Imagine moves being called out in Spanish with explanations in Hungarian and the occasional concession in English to me.