Recurrences

Certain things have been omnipresent in one locale but not in others.

In Prague: tourists, internet cafes.

In Poland: nuns. Never seen so many nuns in my life before. More internet cafes.

Budapest: statues of men with giant mustaches, dirt.

Budapest is like a bad combination of Vienna and Athens. I am off to Bucharest tonight, which should be even less charming, but my second day there will be consumed by a trip to a monastery outside the city.

Note: if there is a local holiday no one outside of the nation celebrates, I will pick that day to be in the relevant country. It is either St. Stefan´s Day or Constitution Day today, depending on if I believe the man at the basilica or my guidebook, and of course everything is closed. I gave in and went to an "American" restaurant in search of some greens, but their idea of a salad involved yellowish iceberg lettuce and chopped up tomatoes. Ugh.

No further extortion attempts, but just wait until I get to Romania. Two words: taxi mafia.