Applied Arts Museum, Budapest

Applied Arts Museum Interior Court Yard

While we were in Budapest we had a chance to stop by the Applied Arts Museum. This was the home of a collection of everyday objects like furniture, vases, clocks, etc. The displays were focused on the decorative arts. Something that I think we are really losing in today's mass production based society.

The exhibits themselves were interesting and enjoyable. These was a special exhibit on decorative glass. There were some final examples of Tiffany work as well as some other famous art glass makers from Europe.

In addition to the exhibits, the building itself was also something to see. The building was done in an Art Nouveau style and was just really amazing. There were arches and decorative plaster work through out the entire exhibition area.


The outside of the building was amazing as well. In the front foyer there was a also an impressive decorative stained glass window built into a domed ceiling.

If you visit Budapest I can highly recommend this museum it is just big enough to cover in about 1.5 hours, and the building itself is just as amazing as the collection.

The Pants

The shopping season has started. Today was Super Samstag at the department store across the street. A perfect excuse to yet again try to find a pair of pants that fit.

To date I think I have spent a more than a full day shopping for pants and have not found a single pair of dress pants that I was happy with. Today things were different. After all, it is Super Samstag.

I managed to find a pair of dress pants at a reasonable price (Size 26) so I picked them up knowing full well that I would have to get them shortened somewhere. At home I had another pair of casual pants that I had also wanted to get shortened so I headed home to pick those up before I went to the tailor down the street.

Once I got to the small tailor shop there was a line! Everyone was buying pants today because it is the sale season (and of course all the pants come in a single length). I decided to postpone my tailor trip and head over to another clothing store I frequent for dress shirts. I hit the jackpot on the third try. Another nice pair of dress pants (Size 52) for about 32 USD that fit the way they should.

Back to the tailor where the line was still way to long, so I stopped at home for a little lunch and then made a third trip to the tailor. This time there was only one guy so I decided to wait. I got measured, left my three pairs of pants. And should have my items back in about a week.

What gets me is the sizing thing. Why not have a single sizing system. I get a 26 at one store, and a 52 at another. What is that? Those sizes aren't even close. I could understand if at one place I was a 52 and the next a 50, but 52 to 26? Sometimes I think some of these Europeans just have their pants on backwards.

Budapest

I haven't posted for a while because we took another weekend trip. This time it was 3 nights in Budapest.

We flew in to Budapest on Friday arriving mid-afternoon and returned to Zurich on a late flight on Monday evening. I think that 3 nights was just about enough time to see all the important sights. Although I probably could have used a half a day more to explore one more public bath.

We saw almost everything on our list. The Parliament building, the palace, one of the many public baths (swimming pools with various heated pools). We had some traditional Hungarian food, although we found ourselves in quite a few burger kings. Not for the food, but for the large drinks with ice. On Monday it was 38 C (around 100 F) and we really needed extra liquids. The BKs seemed like a perfect place to stop for a half liter of ice cold drink with a few ice cubes to munch on.

This may sound bizarre, but one of the highlights of the trip was actually the hotel room. Its not that the room was special or anything. It was just, well, the room had AC. It was the first time in over a year I had actually slept in a room with AC. The combination of an entire day of walking and the ice cold AC put me into 3 days of deep sleep. I couldn't believe how wonderful the chill of the cold air felt. After going cold turkey on AC for a year and getting a 3 night binge I don't know how I am going to survive the next 2 months in our top floor, hotter than heck apartment.

I have more pictures to share, but as always, I'm still off-loading some of my photos from my iPod, guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to post anymore.

Something Stinks

It is starting to stink again. Now that I'm entering year two I know what to expect. And right now I am entering a phase of the year here in Switzerland that is not exactly my favorite. Summer.

I love summer......but.....with no air conditioning in the office or at home it can get unbearable. It was so hot last night that I broke a sweat brushing my teeth (at 10:30 at night). How pathetic.

The office isn't much better. Small conference rooms, with no windows, and guys in shirts and ties. It can really get disgusting at times.

I came home from work today and was waiting for the elevator. When the doors opened there were four guys and 1 young woman on the elevator. There were all probably in their late teens, just coming from the driving school that is in our building. I got on the elevator right after them and it smelled like a gym. I really felt sorry for the young woman, having to deal with those dudes on the ride down.

My fear is that I know we haven't even hit the hot season yet.

Its All Easy

Today is an important day. One year ago we arrived in Zürich aboard an international flight from the US. Getting off the plane with a few suitcases but no return ticket.

I can't believe it has been a year. My wife and I have been saying for a while that after a year everything will be simple. There will be no more problems. Life will be easy, simple, with no confusion, no misunderstandings. I think at times we told ourselves this just to keep us going. To keep moving forward. Creating in a sense a milestone that would indicate success and achievement.

It might be time to readjust and put a new milestone on our project plan. I'm not sure what that will be. But for now I'm going to go to sleep telling myself starting right now everything will be easy.

Its been a good year. I've learned alot about myself, and others. I hope the next year will be just as fun and exciting, although I'd be quite happy if there was just a a little less stress.

Tchüss

Mobility

I have often found myself frustrated at times when shopping for larger items, like Christmas trees, rugs, or furniture. These items are often large, heavy and awkward to carry on public transportation. Delivery in some instances is available, but not all the time. So, what is the solution to this problem? Mobility.

Mobility is a car sharing service that lets you reserve vehicles parked at local train stations on an hourly basis. The rates are generally good. As an example I can rent a vehicle for a 3 hour shopping trip for under 20 USD. The trouble was how to sign up.

Enter traditional Swiss paperwork.

Correspondence 1

At first I signed up online to get things rolling quickly. I figured this would be much faster than filling out paper forms and mailing them in. Amazingly after about 3 days I received a response by mail.

Correspondence 2

In this second letter the company was asking for a copy of my residence permit and a copy of my drivers license. Understandable since they probably only want valid drivers using their vehicles. I hurried to work the next day to scan and print copies of the necessary documents and mailed them straight away.

Correspondence 3

In another few days I receive another letter, with copies of my contract. I was politely requested to sign and return these documents. They enclosed 3 contracts, 2 for them, and one for me. The Swiss always ask for the signature of 3 contracts. Now I'm beginning to wonder why they didn't sent this along with the last letter and request for information. Why are they wasting all of this postage? This process is really starting to drag out. Okay, so I'll sign the forms and send them back.

Correspondence 4

What I didn't mention is that in the third letter, they included a comment that they would send me a 4th letter with my PIN code. And only after I had received the 4th letter would I be able to reserve a car. I received the 4th later a day or two later and I was finally ready to try it out. Time to get online and make a reservation!

This back and forth through the mail seems like a common occurrence. I see it all the time for state documents, housing, general services and so on. For such an efficient culture this is one area I think the Swiss could improve on. A lot of wasted paper, wasted time, and wasted money if you ask me.

Gardening

I am really pleased with the way our balcony garden is turning out this year. It seems like every weekend we have been going to the weekend market in the street below our apartment and we always come back with a few new flowers to plant.

Now that the are well into summer our planters are full with blooming flowers. I really enjoy the weekend market. There is one garden vendor in particular that must sell over 50 different kinds of flowering plants. Each week I see something new, some different flower, or ornamental plant, or herb that I didn't notice the week before.

Many of the flowers are similar to what we had in the US, but some are different.

I am beginning to run out of room to plant new things so my days of experimentation may be coming to and end.

One big success has been our lettuce. We bought a couple of small plants and have been caring for them in a small window box. We have about four plants which seems to be just enough to provide us a steady supply for sandwiches, and a small salad every week. When we finish one plant, we buy another from the weekend market for about 30 cents and plant it, and in about 3 weeks we are ready to harvest the leaves.

Behind the Times

It has been almost a week since my last post. We have had visitors for some time so I have kind of gotten out of my standard routine. I've been very active doing all sorts of things, all sorts of things I normally don't do. A lot of sightseeing, and extra traveling on the weekends to local Swiss sights. We having been eating out quite a bit as well.

Having visitors can be a lot of work. And I don't mean that in a bad way, but it is work, and it will be nice to settle back into my routine in the next couple of days.

The Line

As they say there must be some truth in stereotypes, otherwise we wouldn't have them.

While getting off the ferry on Lake Como Italy we saw a large group of people standing at the ramp to get on. In most situations people boarding a ferry seem to wait until passengers disembark before they board. This was the status quo for our other ferry rides in both Italy and Greece.

However, this large group was different. As soon as the ramp hit the ground and the cars had driven off, the crowd began to surge forward consuming the entire ramp before the first departing passenger even took their first step on land. My wife mutter something under her breath that they were acting like Swiss. Unable to wait, unable to restrain their desire to be first and best despite the fact there there are others to consider in your surrounds.

As the front line of advancing and disembarking passengers merged in an almost Braveheart fashion I heard something strange. I was surrounded by something bizarrely familiar. It was the guttural tones of Swiss German! Oh my God, she was right! There must be some truth to Stereotypes.

Bellagio

We took a very quick weekend trip to Bellagio Italy this weekend. We stayed right by the lake front. The town was actually smaller than I thought. There were plenty of little restaurants and shops but not too much to do other than eat and stroll the streets.

It was beautiful, and I was glad we went, but I don't think it is necessarily a place I would go back to.

We had a couple of great dinners, and I had steak 2 nights in a row since I can't really get it in Switzerland. We also found a great little coffee shop right on the lake front. The place had great character and some very good deserts. We went there two nights in a a row for after dinner coffee and deserts.

Bellagio itself was packed with Americans. That was quite surprising to me.