beetrock

Today I had to go to the U.S. Embassy to add pages to my worn out passport. The star-stripe-spangled building is promiscuously located right across from Budapest’s controversial Soviet War Memorial in Szabadság ter also known to English speakers as Liberation square. If I were ever kicked out of my apartment, this is where I would set camp – in between the statues to my two homelands so inclined to liberate…

But the real point of my story is in that lighthearted feeling that every American citizen is entitled to having abroad. Tightly guarded and blocked off with metal separators, the embassy carries signs of warning for all those seeking a visa –“line up here,” “do not enter without permission” etc. Read more…

1051 Arany János utca 13.
Budapest
Map

D and I went here last night to discover one of the testiest restaurants in Pest. After a brief “we are too broke to order fancy items” fight and “we are too starved to look through the 20 page menu” hold up we both ordered saag dishes – me with potatoes and Don with chicken. Yum! If only Kashmir offered rice with their main courses, in the style of New York Indian restaurants, the place would be both wallet and taste bud friendly. Our waiter was sweet but slightly baffled by our resistance to splurging. Kashmir will definitely see us back, come paycheck time.

The last two months have been full of travel and visits. I have enjoyed all of them fully but had little time to write. And more awaits… Mom, Fisch and D get points for being the most self-sufficient guests ever. Mom gets extra points for cleaning house, and Fisch gets his mug up here for heroically ridding my balcony of pesty weeds. My visits to South Africa and Tajikistan are worth a mention, and so are my guests. I will try to recall everything that happened to ensure that history flows smoothly through the muddy waters of beetrockdom.