And I thought it was my idea. No, really. Someone already on the continent who is keen to see some well-known capitals of Europe that are not the usual London, Paris, Berlin, et al. Let’s get out a map … Hey, wait! Budapest, Vienna and Prague are arranged more or less on a straight line […]

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It wasn’t only because we found meals in Vienna to be expensive, compared to nearby cut-rate European capital cities Prague and Budapest, that we avoided Vienna’s restaurants for most of our stay in the Austrian capital. Though that was much of it. Another major factor? A chance to binge on American-made movies in VO (version […]

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A canal separates the monument-rich “inner city” of old Vienna, Austria, from the newer neighborhoods to the east. Behind those housing districts is a sprawling park named the Augarten, where citizens and tourists can frolic or exercise or relax. However, the Augarten has two squat, ugly towers that look out of place. In fact, they […]

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Living in France, one comes to appreciate the daily niceties, at least in the country’s small towns. It is considered declasse’, bordering on overtly rude, to pass someone — anyone — in the street without saying hello. The encounter can be with young or old or snarky teen, and still social conventions call for a […]

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Not making this up. The three words in the headline are an actual bit of explanation for an item entitled “Tewa’s cheesecake” on the menu of the comfy bio-bistro where we had dinner, in Vienna. It reinforced what I have been learning, here in Austria: I may be able to conjugate common verbs and translate […]

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If you hope to dine like a local, in central Europe, you start by accepting one condition: You must order a beer with your meal. Or else you are an even bigger poseur than most of the rest of the tourists visiting the region. Which has led me to drink beer for nine consecutive days […]

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We liked Budapest. Quite a bit. We wish we were staying longer. But a couple of basic issues pertaining to Hungary and its capital city threatened to trip us up every time we left the apartment. Talking about money … and talking about talk.

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I get it. Some might consider it silly, ridiculous even, to be headed for a sports bar on a Wednesday night while visiting an exotic capital city. But keep in mind that 1) the sports bar is about 50 yards away from where we are staying; 2) the bar serves food as well as beer […]

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I was in Budapest for a few days, in March of 1990, to cover the U.S. national soccer team in a pre-World Cup friendly loss, 2-0, to Hungary. (A few days later I covered the Yanks in East Berlin; East Germany won 3-0.) So this was all just the other day. Back then, Hungary already […]

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We spent most of the day on a train. From Prague to Brno (in the Czech Republic) to Bratislava (in Slovakia) to the marvelously named Szob (in Hungary) to Vac to Budapest. It was fairly direct. Not a “crow flies” kinda straight line but one that takes into account that people might actually want to […]

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