A
t the age of seven I
was left alone with my
sister, Emma, three years
my elder, in Budapest,
for an entire day – from before
dawn until after dusk. My parents'
destination was, back then, a four-
hour drive each way at the best of
times. So why would
parents abandon their
pre-pubescent children
early in the morning,
leaving them to fend for
themselves, until long
after dinner? And what
did we do with ourselves all day?
We were staying in a hotel across the
street from the Danube. rowing
stones in the river provided
As great a capital as Budapest is, with
its spectacular architecture and history,
Hungary is better known for its wines
Wine List
Wine expert Bartholomew Broadbent recalls some early travel
adventures, and his discovery of the wine regions flanking the Danube
entertainment for a while, but the
land-locked country, which did not
allow its citizens to travel beyond
borders at that time, had to provide
some other form of water-based
experience beyond the banks of
the Danube. We were fortunate
that the hotel was next to a massive
water park. It had a salt-filled
pool in which you could float as
if in the Dead Sea, a bubbling
warm pool like hot springs, and a
regular swimming pool and shallow
lounging pool. And it had a lot
of Hungarians who didn't speak a
word of English. I spent the better
part of the day enjoying splashing
around in these pools.
Dinner was another memory of my
adventures in Budapest. My sister
and I dined alone in the
very posh and romantic
hotel restaurant. We had
goulash, the traditional
Hungarian dish, heavily
meaty and usually spiced
with paprika, followed
by wonderful desserts including
delicious palacsinta, krémes and
dobos torta. We were serenaded by
musicians, a man with a violin who
probably didn't expect a tip from
44
VIKING
