A monumental difference.

Statue of Lenin.

I don't know if it was The Ham entry that did it or that we just needed a day to get used to each other, but day two of Dan in Europe went much better than the first. It could be the fact that we were in agreement of what we wanted to see. We headed outside of town to visit Statue Park, a graveyard of old communist monuments that used to decorate the city. Dan purchased a guide book of the place so he knew what he was looking at. And I could listen to his narration and frolic around these massive pieces of "art." We were both happy.

Later, we popped into this grocery store, Match, which was pretty much like going your shopping in the middle of a subway car. It was so tight and crowded.

"Guess shopping in Budapest is no better than in New York," Dan remarked.

I have been craving fruit and all I wanted was a banana. We waited out the mile-long line and watched the cashier being irritated with the old lady who had trouble with the credit card machine, yell at the girl in front of us--for reasons that Dan and I couldn't figure out--and then she shoved the bananas in my face because I didn't weigh them beforehand. Rather than wait in that line again, I said that I won't buy them, my fruit-craving stomach going Noooooo! The cashier was pissed. Dan got a two-liter bottle of Fanta which he plans to drink in the next two days. He also had Fanta for breakfast.

We went out for dinner at a really nice place called Firkasz--seriously one of the nicest meals that I have had on this trip--mostly because of the good company. It is fun to travel with someone like Dan who is here for the week, not months, who is happy to splurge and make the most of it, and I can reap the benefits of that. We shared a bottle of Hungarian wine from Villany (quite close to Pecs, where I had visited already), ate well, talked a lot and listened to the lovely, mellow piano playing. The pianist rocked out on everything from Simon & Garfunkel to The Phantom of the Opera.

Every time we walked down the streets or the subway, Dan wanted me close to him, to protect me and make sure nothing happened to me. It is funny because usually I am all alone but now that we're together, when I should be more safe, he is concerned.

We ended the night at Fat Mo's, a bar with live music. All I wanted was dessert (of course!), but it was late so Dan promised we'd go tomorrow. So when we went back to the hotel, I swigged some of the Fanta and that was good enough to hold me over.

Run, Yvonne, run!

I made Dan do that pose.


Dan and the giant bottle of Fanta.