Hungary Day 2

On Monday, we had the entire day to sightsee. We started by heading into Buda and walking up to Matyas Church, which was once the church used for coronations of the kings and queens of Hungary. After walking around that and the Fisherman's Bastion, we walked back down the hill and across the Chain Bridge to Pest. We found a fantastic Cafe for lunch, where we had pretty traditional Hungarian food. The waiter surprised Maya with a free piece of Sour Cherry Pie. She loved it. (It was, I hear, as good as mac and cheese.) After lunch, we went into St. Stephen's Basilica. The church has a somewhat... interesting ... relic: the intact right hand of St. Stephen. We went up the tower of it for a look out over the city, and we could see the separation between the interior dome and the exterior dome, which was fantastically cool. We also took a quick look at the treasury in the church before wandering over to catch a glimpse of the outside of the opera house. We were lucky to happen upon a tour of the opera about to start, so we jumped in for that, which included a mini opera concert at the end. We wandered back to our hotel via Parlament and the Margaret Bridge, joining Sara and Jamie for a delicious dinner back in Buda.

Hungary: Day 1

After quite the slog of travel, we arrived. Maya did a great job on the airplane, including *trying* (and succeeding) to sleep even though she insisted she wasn't tired. We finally landed in Budapest at around noon on Sunday. Passport control took a good while, but when we got to the hotel, our rooms were ready, so we got in, cleaned up, and headed out to see a little bit of Budapest with our friend Jamie and her cousin/friend Sarah. We were so exhausted, though, and then it started raining and the wind started blowing, so we ducked into a lovely restaurant Jamie had picked out for dinner. After a delicious meal of goulash (that's not how it's written on the menu, but I forget how to spell it and am sure I don't have all of the characters anyway) and some grilled or stewed veal and boar, we wandered back to the hotel in the drizzle. We fell pretty promptly asleep, but are now ready to see more today!

This is special

My grandmother is very suddenly very ill. She has changed so much just over the past few weeks that my mother has recommended (and I believe, rightly so) that Maya not visit her in the nursing home where she's staying. She's insistent that she wants her grandchildren to remember this GG:

And that's just it. That's my grandma. She's barely changed in many senses, since I was Maya's age. When her grandchildren (and now great-grandchildren) walk into a room, she becomes the most engaged, playful, happy, and just plain FUN person.

So this weekend, I left Maya at home and went to visit grandma. For convenience more than anything else, I took Cora with me. When we arrived, I admit, the changes in my grandmother were pretty shocking. It's only been a couple of weeks since I saw her, but it's very difficult for her to communicate now. After staying for about an hour, it was clear that she's still pretty engaged in the conversations going on around her, but she can't participate. Even the single word phrases that she utters after much thought and struggle are difficult for the hearer to understand.

When we first walked in, we handed her a picture that Maya had drawn for her of hearts, rainbows, and teddy bears ("because I couldn't figure out what GG would like the best"). Grandma held that in her hand for the first several minutes we were there. When she spotted Cora, she said, completely clearly, "Hi Cora!" with a smile in her voice. The group of family chatted around grandma for several minutes before I sat down next to the bed with Cora on my lap.

Shortly, grandma reached out her hand to us. I held her hand. She squeezed. Then she let go. And held out her hand again. Clearly, she wanted Cora's hand. I encouraged Cora to hold her GG's hand. She was shy, but eventually she did. And GG squeezed her hand. And Cora giggled. Then GG squeezed again. And Cora giggled. Then they played, in the most basic, fundamental way that humans can play. This game was simple. GG would hold out her hand. Cora would put her hand inside GG's hand. GG would squeeze. Then let go. Then move her hand (always nearby, always tempting). And Cora would put her hand inside GG's hand again. And it would continue. They played for a few minutes. Then Cora would (as toddlers will) wander off to explore something else. If she wandered back nearby, GG would reach out to her in an offer of play. They would vary the game (Cora would offer her wrist or her arm; they played briefly with Cora's toy sword). But always play.

I thought to myself, "this is special." No one took a picture. No one took a video. No one needed to. This moment was etched on my brain from this instant it happened. My lesson (which my grandmother has been teaching me my entire life):

This moment, this seemingly ordinary most basic moment -- it's special. Be here. Be present. And play.

Luxembourg Day 3 (Brussels)

On Wednesday, Tim went to Brussels by train. It was an about 3 hour train ride, but because he left early and returned just in time for dinner, he managed about six hours to explore Brussels. There were churches and squares, and, apparently, a delicious lunch.

Luxembourg Day 2

Today we took the train first thing to Vianden. It's so close to Germany that our cell phones actually switched over to German cell towers. The main thing to see here is the (almost completely restored) Vianden Castle. Also the town itself is quite lovely. We wandered around for the morning, then headed back to Luxembourg city. We grabbed a deliciously simple lunch, then followed the Luxembourg City Promenade, which basically took us on a highlight reel of Luxembourg. There were a lot of ups and downs in this one (in the end, 10+ miles today). We had tapas for dinner (sure, we're not in Spain, but this restaurant was recommended, and it was delicious).

Luxembourg Day 1

Tim and I are in Luxembourg this week. It's late here. I'm tired. We walked something like 15 miles today. We took a train to the city of Clervaux. There is a world famous photography exhibit here (called "The Family of Man"). Unfortunately, it's closed during the months of January and February. So we took a walk in the rain (and mud) instead. It was nice, if a bit chilly.

Tim is actually in this last photo, attempting to scramble through the brambles...