Day 13 not hungry in Hungary the day of Viennese greats

1pm. Wow, I have so much to write. So yesterday, after I wrote on here, I got an e-mail from Michi (because I don't have a phone) inviting me to go to Hungary with her, her hubby Guy and her Dad. We went to the border town of Sopron. It is like 1 hr away from Wien. Sopron is right near Helga, so we stopped in there. (By the way Burgenland, mean lands of many castles- or something to that effect). Helga was talking about how there was going to be a second indigenous decade, until 2014, and she said Canada was opposed to it, I asked her why and she told me it is because Canada is afraid to go against the states for economic. Which I told her flat out is B.S. But she kept on insisting. She has also told me to pronounce Guys name the french way even though he is not French and doesn't pronounce it that way.
Guy told me later that he was thinking shut up already lady. Michi and her family are SO nice. She is 20, Guy is older than my Dad! He has already been divorced twice, and has a 22 year old daughter, but they are good people. They are going to come visit me in Paris, and want to come visit me whereever I am in Canada. They better come in summer or they could freeze. We may go to the Czeck Republic before I go to France.
So entering Hungary I was a geek and asked to have my passport stamped. (Which on the way back I promptly forgot to grab back from everyone elses when we came back into Austria, but I have called Michi, although she is not home.) The passport stamps have the intial of the country you are going into, the date and time, as well as the method of entry (the one for sopron has a car!, and the one from Frankfurt has a plane).
Hungary was really neat. I saw medievil walls, another statue about the plague, one about the iron curtain. I took several pictures. Although it was kind of freaky too though because kids were throwing fire crackers, and they sound like gun shots. Michi's dad is a good guy to travel with because he knows alot of the history. Plus they are all understand my needs to take lots of pictures. Aparently Guy and Michi have 700-800 pics from their honeymoon in Spain.
We went to a mall, boy did I feel at home, not having been to one over here yet. Stuff is cheaper there- the don't use the € though. They use the Forint. It is 250ft to 1 €.
I have learned the hungarian names for the zodiac:bak: capricorn, vizonto: aquarius, halak: pisces, kos: aries, bika: taurus, ikrek: gemini, rak: cancer, orozlan: leo, szuz: virgo, merleg: libra, skorpio: scorpio, nylias: sagitarius. Over here they are more likely to refer to the animal, like the german word for pisces means fish, and gemini twins, etc.
We went for dinner at the Rosegarten Restaurant. Michi's dad treated me it was really good. I had turkey, shocking I know! It was breaded turkey schnitzel stuffed with a maroni (chestnut) filling. I still want a traditional Christmas feast when I get home though. They had tons of places selling maroni heisse here in Vienna (roasted chestnuts). They are not bad. THis restaurant had an english menu, although I am doing okay at reading from German menus, I practice well I wait for my food, and figure out what's what. After that we came back to Austria.
Going over the border is so different from going to the states, they don't ask you anyquestions, about destinations, stay, purpose, etc.
So today, I got a really early start, after carefully writing out the address of places I wanted to go to , and several ways to get there, trams etc. I am finding it is really helpful to do that. People some times do not what they are talking about, like my guide book, says I could take tram D, to a particular musuem, but the driver was wrong when he told me it doesn't go to where I want to go (as I found out later taking tram D, back, after walking I don't even know how far to where I was going. I have never walked this much in my life, but I don't mind it, maybe because there is so much to see. Another tip I don't think I have said, that I have found, if you need directions, the best places to go are hotels, and travel agencies, because they usually speak some English.
So the first place I went to was ...... BEETHOVEN'S APARTMENT! (Well one of his many). It was neat. It is a fouth floor spiral walk up with tons and tons of stairs, I was quite winded when I got there. It was neat, although I think would have enjoyed it more if I had a German speaker with me. It was still very omg! This is where he composed his 5th symphony among others. Even walking down his street, was like omg, I am walking in the footsteps of greatness! I love Fur Elise and Ode to Joy, as my ring tones on my cellphone will attest. And Cailean to as I have switched his ringtone to Fur Elise. Anyways. they had a life mask which was apparently done when he was alive. So it wasn't that different from images we see of him. The apartment was pretty, it belonged to a friend of his who let Beethoven stay there as long as he needed. Apparently this is the apartment building where the play Beethoven lives up stairs. I may have to check this out though, because I don't know if the guy entirely understood my question. What is amazing is that people are still living in this building, god, could you imagine? That would be SO cool! I wish I lived there.
So after unknowlingly taking pictures I shouldn't have (they didn't say anything, but I don't know if they knew) I left Beethoven's apartment, and walked to the Sigmund Freud museum.
That was ok, but not as exciting for me, although it is the place where modern psychology was born. I got to go into his old office, and study. There is a mirror hanging on the window, where his desk once stood. I saw some of the private home. His bedroom is now part of a library so I didn't go in.
One thing that sucked about both Beethoven's apt, and Freud's house and practice, is that it is not the same as when they lived there. There have been other tenants. Beethoven because he moved around, but they had his piano, which I touched, or I think it was, I can't it imagine it not being his. Freud being Jewish fled to England in 1938 with the whole Nazi occupation of
Austria. So that is why.
In Freud's place there are some artifacts, like his travelling trunk, photo copies of documents. There are pictures in the consulting room and study from when he lived there. The waiting room has been restored to what it looked like, which is neat. There is also a Freud museum in London, England which I will have to check out. I think the couch is there. The private home is also not like it was when they lived there, just being there was cool though. Interestingly enough, both Freud and Beethoven were not born in Vienna.
All this exploring and reading travel guides has got me thinking how cool it would be to write for Lonely Planet for a living, get paid to travel, and to do what I am doing now. Something to think about. Anyways I am heading out, Lisa and I are going to the Nutcracker tonight.
Quick note Abba is still popular here, I hear it like everyday, but some of the lesser known songs.
UPDATE: Heard back from Michi, she is also coming tonight to Nusscracker, and will be bringing me my passport. SIGH OF RELIEF.
Also I just read on IMDB.com Jerry Orbach from Law and Order, also the voice of the candlestick in Beauty and the Beast, and the dad in Dirty Dancing died last night. I thought he was cool. He also originated a role in Chicago.