Budapest

 Again blogger is becoming harder to use over time I see that my photos are in reverse order that I took them. We are back after 9 days away. Overall a very good trip with good weather, not 5 days of rain as forecasted. It sprinkled on us once.

We were tested for Covid every day, had to wear masks of varying grades everywhere. Viking took care of all the considerable paperwork with different requirements for 5 different countries. It would have been impossible to do this on our own. The ship was half full and we never felt crowded. The dining room was nearly empty most of the time and served very good food. They also served us unlimited amount of wine and beer.  There was a cappuccino machine with varying degrees of fancy coffee strengths and sparkling and still mineral water plus a variety of snacks we had access to 24 hours/day.

Our room was small and below deck so not much view. But they had fancy linens, toiletries, and even a heated floor. We had internet most of the time except sometimes when we were moving and in Linz for some reason.  I wake up early so I would go up to the lounge watching the world go by, sip my cappuccino and load photos which I took lots of  Steve would join me after an hour and we would have a really nice breakfast  We had one excursion a day, more if we paid extra, but plenty of time to go out on our own.  If we were moving during the day, they would have special events such as wine tasting, strudel making, history lessons, high tea, music. If I didn't get enough exercise on our walks, I could walk on a small track which I did once. There were usually paved paths along the river which I could have used more than the one time I did if I ran out of interesting things to see.

We took Lufthansa to Frankfort to Budapest leaving Detroit from a terminal in which this is the only international flight. It used to be considered a luxury airline but it was very much not and we got off starving.  Air France, which we took from Munich to Paris to Detroit, was much nicer though not as nice as it had been before covid. Viking reps met as immediately upon clearing customs which consisted of us walking through an unmanned gate. No one around to show our considerable paperwork we were told was mandatory to enter the country. We had to wait for this silly couple who was on our flight but waited on the wrong side of the gate until it occured to them to come to us. They must not have travelled much as they thought keeping a passport in their suitcase was a good idea. We met a nice couple while waiting that we would hang around for part of the cruise.

Although Buda, old hilly section, and Pest flat newer section are beautiful Hungary is becoming a dictatorship that Trump and his asshat followers admire. No dissent allowed, very anti immigrant, anti anyone not Christian, voting controlled, no gays or anything antifamily. We had a guide who told us amazing things: no fish in the Danube(the cormorants will be disappointed with that) Hungarians were victims of the Nazis, not collaborators,  they invented the word Hello which sounds like can you hear me in Hungarian, invented do-Re-Mi, have no Covid so no one need wear a mask, highest vaccination rate in Europe,  and have the 2nd oldest subway system in Europe.  Only the last thing she said was true.  I initially was pissed at her but then she was forced to say what she did. Telling the truth isn't allowed.     Only in Austria did they owe up to the responsibility  of serving Hitler. It was not discussed in Germany. The Slovaks and Hungarians insist that they hated Nazis but the truth is they didn't do badly under them especially compared to being under the Soviets for45 years did. 

We were in Budapest two whole days and then sailing away at night under a full moon drinking too much pear schnapps

Parliament building and one of their fancy brigdes Their biggest attraction, the chain bridge was covered with scaffolding

Beautiful fountains all over

St Stephans in Pest

Rubik cube trees in honor of its Budapest inventor

  Budapest has the largest synagogue in Europe. Some Jews returned but given the current political situation probably their situation isn't good. This is the Tree of Life. Each leaf, there are many, has the name of a victim. The Hungarians were so helpful in rounding up Jews, some survivors  said they never saw a German until they got to the camp. Raoul Wallenburg, A Swedish architect and diplomat educated at the University of Michigan managed to save thousands of Jews by calling them Swedish subjects keeping them in Swedish safe houses. Although the Nazis were not

 amused, it was the Soviets who ultimately killed him 

interesting market near our ship. No one wore masks inside except us  Lots of paprika stands

residential area of Buda

I assume Wallenburg lived here in Buda Can't read Hungarian

Details inside St. Mathias

Interesting Pest building

House of Terror where dissidents of the Soviet regime would be tortured

The synagoge

Lit up Liberty statue across from boat put up by the Soviets to celebrate the Hungarians being liberated from the Germans  It was surrounded by soviet notables since removed

Us on the first day  I apologize for the mess this post is. For some reason I can't even see what I am typing

So much garden clean up to do here

Walnuts keep falling on my head

 

my mother in law right before she was diagnosed with covid

we went out to dinner for Allie.s 8th birthday on a beautiful fall night

Hannah enjoying her ice cream

beautiful fall sunrises  Probably nice sunsets too but by then I am too tired to get up to look at them

our house

puppy and granddaughter are getting bigger

Every year Grand Rapids used to have a big art fair They changed it to every two years but last year was Covid so I went back after 3 years Much smaller

Steve amid suspended rocks

iconic blue bridge

gerald ford museum

collection of primitive Presidential paintings each featuring one aspect of their term

hmmmmm

fountain of lights

I liked the dragon

repurposed instruments

I liked the gorilla

We are having Indian summer which extends my gardens and exercising outside For whatever reason, our area has a bumper crop of black walnuts. Even when it is calm I am showered with them falling when I run through the woods here. They are heavy  Also no fun to bike or run on top of their piles. Free food but very difficult to extract the meat. First the shell needs to be cracked with a hammer and the meat is embedded in black bitter goo.  I did this as a kid and my fingers were stained badly

We still have covid no thanks to the selfish, ignorant people who refuse to be vaccinated.  I did get my booster approved for us geezers on the first possible day  Steve's vaccine is not approved yet but presumably lasts longer than mine. We are travelling to Hungary in less than 2 weeks and muct show a PCR negative test that is less than 72 hours old. Must be a hard copy so timing will be tricky as it takes a day to travel and test results can take 2 days  We have to schedule this well in advance  Around the time I got my first va ccine, there were free testing facilities all over Not anymore  Maya's class was quarantined for a week since a classmate had it so back to zoom school, a pain for working parents especially single ones like Naomi who has gone back to school.

 Turned out impossible to find one in 48 hours but she ended up buying a test kit  Again, tough given her circumstances. Fortunately they accepted it. My childhood friend who was hospitalized with Covid did survive but was too tired to tell anyone  I had assumed she died but she is alive. Her Trump poisoned sister kept trying to stop her from being treated as she thought the hospital had an interest increasing the Covid death rate. Again no logic.  I did find out that FEMA will reimburse us for part of my mother in law's funeral expenses as she died ofCovid  We will see in a couple months.

The country is becoming more and more divided. What I found in my Facebook feed today

"No society ever thrived because it had a large and growing class of parasites living off those who produce" Thomas Sewell

At least nobody like it but I am thinking of defriending her

as I believe pretty much the opposite. Really sounds like something Hitler would say and we know how he defined parasites.

Fall

 

View from my backsteps

fall brings nice sunrises

foosball tournament I found this table in the trash. Just needed balls Kids like it Will take down to basement

half my kohlrabi crop. Roasted it with garlic

Found this wavy petunia basket in trash Nursed it back to health

peacocks on my bike ride

Kids first day of school All the grandkids need masks and not many fights about them in their district. However, crazy asshole parents in Trump uneducated surrounding districts urge kids to rip them off and scream at kids who wear masks. How I hate these people!!! Bus drivers and in some districts, teachers are quitting rather than be screamed at all the time, threatened with guns etc. So in many districts, no more buses.

A good friend living in the South was hospitalized for ten days with Covid. She is an activity director in a nursing home so I assumed she was vaccinated but her covid was so severe, I wonder. As she was battling for her life, I didn't ask. I did talk to her although between her crying and the high flow oxygen mask, I couldn't understand her other than she was very much afraid of dying.

Yeah I know. I said if you get Covid and didn't get vaccinated, tough luck to you. Furthermore, all your medical expenses shouldn't be comped. But did I want my friend to die if she refused vaccination? No. But if she was vaccinated and got such a severe case, that's very scary. Other than being somewhat overweight, she was healthy. She is recovering.

I want that third shot now. Just being old isn't good enough here. I will have to stretch the truth a bit I see.

Fall is pretty but it makes me sad as the days get shorter and shorter and I know winter that I hate so much, is coming.

Today Steve and I will take a little trip for fun, first in a long time

A quick sad trip to New York

 

A candle for my mother-in-law

After funeral lunch on Long Island

The coffin There is no body display in Jewish funerals though a relative can look in the coffin to make sure it is her Given all the hassle to get her across country, an empty coffin would have been no surprise

Verrazano Bridge 

Early morning turkeys

my nail

My colorful crop

nasturtium blossoms 

round ice cubes containing blossoms. Also made them with cherries

granddaughters with Snickers

Early morning nearby lake on my bike ride

My mother in law 2 days before she died Here she is alert, breathing well and seemed to be on the mend

As usual none of these photos are in order. The past few weeks had been taken up with my mother-in-law's covid. She had been vaccinated but she was almost 97. Presumably all the staff had been vaccinated which I find hard to believe, as nationwide only 60% nursing home workers are. They should be as they work with vulnerable people but many of them have swallowed the koolaid (and now horse de-worming medicine)

She had been in and out of the hospital. Some days, she would struggle to breathe and then the next day appear to be getting better. Many discussions what to do, what measures to take, etc. In the end, she quietly faded away not appearing to be in pain or distress.

She died in Seattle; she was to be buried in New York which meant two funeral homes. Jewish people generally are buried within 24 hours but that was impossible. Fun stuff like the physician in charge not signing the death certificate and going on vacation not to be reached. And a flight couldn't be scheduled without a death certificate. Plus my sister in law in Seattle couldn't get a flight without knowing if her mom's body was going to be in New York. Lots of phone calls and stress.

Steve, Shanna and I drove to NY. Josh was away on vacation with Naomi taking care of his dog, Maya and Naomi were both starting school so going to the funeral was impossible.

Our first stop was to get gas in Ohio, 80 cents/gallon cheaper than Michigan. We went to the nearby doughnut shop that gives free doughnuts to those who are vaccinated. There assembly line was fully operational with dozens of doughnuts being cranked out, just no customers except us. They gave us a half dozen warm squishy ones.

Michigan, among its many charms, is a non-toll state but it surrounded completely by toll states so anyone who travels frequently should have an EZ pass. Furthermore, to get to Staten Island and then to Brooklyn, they demolished the tollbooths so  an EZ pass is a necessity. True they will try to take a photo of your plate and hunt you down with a big fee attached. Michigan's other quirk is we don't have front plates, so good luck with that.

Right off the bat, the gates wouldn't open when we tried to get on the Ohio Turnpike. We had to back up and get a ticket like the old days. The rest stops had no EZ pass personnel and the  phone info was closed on Sunday. We were thinking we would have to enter Manhattan at the end of a weekend and then go to Brooklyn, which is shorter as the crow flies but ten times the traffic. Could the battery be dead in our completely sealed transponder? They last 8 to 15 years; ours was 10 or 11 years old. We hadn't used it in almost 2 years thanks to covid. The exit tollbooth lady checked it, it was fine though I was still nervous until the New Jersey Turnpike entrance flashed the Go EZ pass! sign

Still lots of traffic due to an accident in the Poconos. And the Italian restaurant we like to stop at halfway in Pennsylvania must have been a covid victim. We found another that might be even better.

My sister in law with a negative covid test in hand (she had been with her mother) arrived an hour after us.

Before we left, Michigan had been in a hot humid holding pattern for the past week. Running is very difficult for me in the heat, NYC was no different but I couldn't bike there. So I ran for the two mornings I was there dripping with sweat. The  predicted rain didn't happen for the funeral Ida hit a day after we left.

The city had quickly exhausted its burial sites so most people are buried quite aways away in Suffolk county, Long Island, an hour drive if there is no traffic but there is always, always traffic. Cemetery after cemetery after cemetery. The funeral home was less than a mile away, how convenient.

There was only 12 of us plus maybe 20 zoom dial-ins. She was the last of 7 siblings. Two of her three children, my sister-in-law, and Shanna gave heart rending tributes. Steve couldn't speak.

We all met up at  an Italian restaurant 15 minutes away. The next morning, we were on our way back to Michigan