I'm appreciating my B&B, more and more. Superbly located 1 block from the major transit hub for an endless streaming parade of buses and the M2 Metro station, a fresh food market, some outdoor cafes and a few basic restaurants.
Monday, I decided to nap after breakfast, but couldn't go to sleep so instead bounded out of bed and headed to Parliament. I wanted to get there in the morning to take pictures with the morning sun shining on the sides in shade during my last visit.
In the afternoon I took my first Budapest bus ride, finding my way to Matthias Church, a 14th century gothic church named for King Matthias. The bus was old and I had to change seats as the first one I was sitting in as it was shaking so much from vibration from the engine. Most of the buses here appear very modern but this line is the exception.
I got some nice pictures of the interior and exterior of the church.
And great view of Parliament from this vantage point across the Danube River below.
After a cup of coffee at a nearby cafe, I bused back to my B&B. Here you can see it is the second level of this building with 9 "attic" rooms with skylight windows you open with a pole.
I then went to a modest buffet cafeteria nearby. Not knowing the language or exactly recognizing the food choices I watched a woman who seemed sophisticated with likely good taste and signified I'd have what she was having much to her amusement and that of the server. As it turned out - a good choice of soup and a nice meat and potato dish.
I then ambled back to my B&B. As I approached I realized the road in front of my B&B was cordoned off with police everywhere. The officer told me that a "bomba" was found in the main transit square just a block away. (Where you see the big crane). A "beeg" one, he says. Fortunately, it had not exploded. Well not yet. No vehicles were moving in the square, normally inundated by buses, bumper to bumper, heading in all directions. A major dislocation for travelers, especially, now, at rush hour.In answer to my question he said he guessed it would be an hour of two before I could reenter the B&B. While,very polite, helpful, and friendly, the officer's broken English made it difficult to understand what was really going on. I stood there watching then asked him again and learned that the bomb squad was up in the square defusing, the bomb. Hopefully.
Needless to say I was concerned about what this all meant in terms of my safety and the concerns of my family and friends as I would report this on my Blog. This was counterbalanced, but only slightly, by the prospect of a interesting story to tell.
A number of thoughts ran through my mind: Should I move to another location? Or with all the police presence, might this now be the safest location in town? And, indeed, lightning never strikes twice in the same place. Except, of course, when it does.
I decided to look for a cafe to have a cup of coffee and kill an hour or two until I could return and hopefully get back in my room.
Two hours later I returned to my street and was relieved to see that traffic was flowing. Upstairs the B&B manager told me the police had told him to get the guests and leave the area. Much to my relief, the bomb was not a terrorist act but rather it was an old World War II bomb, discovered with the heavy digging for the big construction project going on in the square.
The manager then invited me to have a beer with him and we had a fascinating discussion about the complicated history and current political situation in Hungary and its interesting language and alphabet like no other.
From him, I heard a world view quite different from my own. And, much to my surprise, perhaps because of the intensity of his discourse and his greater knowledge of this part of the world, I began to question some of my own beliefs, as we talked into the night.
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