Shmule and Deepster

Happy nephew and uncle.


I am in Connecticut for my grandmother Minerva's 90th birthday party and it has been a wonderful opportunity for all the sibs to hang with our Aunt Patty and Uncle Nolan. The visit is a bit shorter than I had hoped because my flight was cancelled on Friday night in anticipation of the impending storm. However, JetBlue was fantastic and got me on the first flight out on Saturday morning.

It actually turned out to be so much better to fly in the morning instead of taking the redeye. Plus, one of the Project Runway season 7 constestants was on my flight, Amy from Oakland. Ironically, I had just watched her the evening before as I waited to find out if my flight would be cancelled. I am so proud of her work and that she's from Oakland. I had even been thinking, "would be so cool to run into her some day" and there she was!

Today I'm catching up with one of my best friends from childhood, Karen and hopefully tomorrow, if all works out well, I'll see my other best peep from growing up - Lori. I also have a coffee date with a photographer I use to work for, many summers ago, Peter Tepper.

To Herb With Love

A shop in Alameda that had my grandfather Herb Kweskin in mind. Made me think of my grandmother Minerva.

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Budapest Day 2

Mom and I started our day at Great Market Hall in search of Paprika. Thursday must be a good day to visit since it was nice and quiet and the vendors had tolerance for our photography, lack of Hungarian and many questions. The produce, meets and strudel were amazing as well as the handcrafts. Here's mom purchasing some handpainted pins to bring home as gifts.

Next we crossed a bridge over the Danube and visited Gellert Hotel which was clearly a destination in the soviet era. The architecture was over the top. It is best known for the thermal baths. However, we instead climbed the adjacent Gellert Hill and had this view of the Gellert hotel, Danube river and this sculpture.

From here we hiked up to the Minerva Statue of Liberty that stands triumphant over the city and commemorates the Soviet liberation of Hungary from Nazi occupation. It is strategically placed in front of the Citadel. Our climb was rewarded with great views of the city. Our Marriott is the one building that stands out as too modern looking, sitting between the two bridges. The glass facade gives it away.

Every upward climb has an equal decent and when we made it to the bottom our legs were shaking like jelly. However, being fearless tourists we trekked on to the Royal Palace of Budapest (following a break for lunch).

Dad needs to use the computer so I'll add more photos tomorrow.