Day 32- June 26th: The island at night and lost.

This morning I finalized bookings for my travels to Bratislava, Prague and Vienna trip and I feel a great sense of relief. I can't wait to travel to these places but this also saddens me because I know by the time I am done with this I must return home. I already feel a sense of lost...

I decided I wanted to go to People's Park and it is one of the biggest parks in Budapest. I felt like Central Park in NYC and a wondeful and peaceful setting. As I was walking on the path some guy thought I was 'working'! I was deeply offended.. here i am walking in the park and he wanted to do 'sex bussiness' as he put it. What is wrong here? it like being apporched by the Mormens...maybe i shouldn't be so uptight about it.

All of us went to the art exhibit from the Artists in Residency last year and the works were very good and the gallery space was very nice. I can't believe how many people showed up and I hope they purchased some art work. After the reception we had a wonderful little wine and desert gathering at a nice restaurant and everyone had a good time.


Andrea and I went to Margit island for a night walk, the entrance of the island was packed with people on this hot Thursday evening. We walked all the way acrossed the island and realized it's a lot larger then we thought. It 22 city blocks long and about 8 blocks at the widest point. It was dark but I do think we saw some people having sex in the bushes and on the park bench. It was very dark so we didn't see very much of the island. I think I will rent a bicycle next time.

Day 27- June 21th: Art Night, my poor feet!

There are many moments in life when pain is deeply entangled with pleasure and tonight a rare event will bring both of of them together and make them a enjoyable as a pair.

Every year Budapest throws a party for the Art- lovers. The Museums and Galleries in the city are open all day and night until 4am with a low one time entry fee at 1,200 HUF and it's good for all museum and galleries. A great bargain because that is the price for one Museum entry. The town became more alive than ever, people young and old, lovers and old friends are all around the city for this major event. Big parties, special events, and performances are scheduled at most museums.

I met up with my roommate Andreas at 8pm at the Ludwig Museum- Budapest and we started there and 5 museum and galleries later it was already 2 am and we were exhausted. The city transportation hours was extended but all lines were jammed pack with passengers. It was a wonderful city-wide event but I wish it would have longer hours or the entire week ended like The Pasadena Art weekend.

My highlights are the wonderful interior space at the Applied Arts Museum. The white classic interior and it's large Hungarian antique collection is contrasted with video displays and ultra modern art installations. It worked seamlessly and wonderfully! The electronic music echo through the space where modern and classic blends much like the attendees of the event; punks, metrosexuals and century old people.

The Contemporary museum's Roman exterior is impressive and the interior is massive. I wish LA could have similar places for modern art. MOCA is nice and the shows are good but having 3 different small to mid-size galleries just doesn't work as well as MOMA or the Hungarian Contemporary museum did for me. The art there is mostly good but with some weak pieces but it was a enjoyable experience.

We finally got back to the hotel around 2:30am and tired as hell but we slept happily after seeing so many wonderful work.