Slovakia day 3- redemption

oh Lordy.... I was out till 330am and today I didnt get up until 1pm I dont know how I slept though all the noise the Austrian boys made. They are so inconsiderate!!! I have seen most of the city and was not impressed because it's too much like America and felt the Solvakians have lost their sense of identity thorugh their massive westernization (minus the old town district).

I took one of the afternoon buses to castle Devin just 20 mins outside of the city and within 10 mins the urban presence is long gone. The trees, river, adorable houses, and the hills are beautiful and very different than Hungary. The Hungarian nature landscape is flatwith grassland but the Solvakian lanscape is dramtic and wonderful.

I arrived at the hill top castle and it was built in the 13 century but with much longer human history in the area and the castle had been attacted numerous time but only Neopolian
managed to destoryed it. the castle only reminds in parts and it's built into the hill and I am sure it was once amazing. The views of the surrounding valleys, rivers, and the mountains are simply breathtaking. Slovakia had redeem herself.

Day 44 Budapest - Day 1 Solvakia :wonderful highlights you can create your own experience by useing my keywords

pic: looking out at the hostel entrance: actual hostel is not as bad but not good!
pic: tourist and oldtown

I left Budapest in the morning and it was sad o say goodbye because it felt like leaving home. Bratislava is about the same distance as Vienna from Budapest and Bratislava is only 30 miles or less from Vienna so The city markets itself as the TwinCity of Vienna. I havent heard of it but it's always the evil twin that wants all the attention.

The arrival was a bit of a shock because the trainstaion and the surrounding is a bit rundown and I got on the street car and went to the hostel. Another huge shock, the hostel is really scary and run down but it's completely full. It's hidden behind a busy street and in the back of the courtyard; the buildings around are in various stages of deconstruction by nature. The room smells bad and the bathroom is moldy and has holes on the ceiling.

For the most part the city both modern and traditional unlike Budapest's city center. The building styles here are not as grand or ornate and much lower in high. I got a sense of how rich and the wealth Hungarians must have been at one point in history. The main street is a bit rundown and seem seedy. There are very little cars around and some streets are closed off to cars and only for street cars. At 5 pm there is no rush hour traffic just people walking, I wonder if North Korea is like this. I have necer been in Vietnam but this is what I have pictured it would be.

Old town is the center of the city is also the tourist center. Most buildings in this historic part of the city have been renovated and streets and alleys are florished with sidewalk cafes, restaurants, retail stores. It's a huge area with many hidden gems in every curved alley ways and public plazas. It was a total different experience from the outside and it's packed with tourist; I wonder if locals ever come. It's the size of maybe 10 Old Town Pasadena.

I also saw many locals are Asian and China seem to have a big presences here. Poster of the Sumemr Game everywhere and Chinese Restaurant on every 3-4 blocks. I ventured over to the Danube and in Bratislava it's just anotehr river and the romance does not exist. The riverbank is lined with modern mid rises and modern bridges and this could have been anywhere America.

Special edition: I almost gave my clothes to a male Hustler; not really..

pic: Benjamin Page is not a Hustler

This is special edition of my blog that is dedicated to the hard working men and woman of Budapest.

I didn't come to Budapest to meet hustlers, nor was I interested in talking to them but for some strange reasons I find them fascinating!

If you have read my earlier blog you know that I had encountered a male hustler while walking on the bank of the Danube. He had some interesting conversations about his life and why he is doing this for work. (see day 13). I never saw him again.

This is the second time Andreas and I went to the the river for the spectacular sunset and the city light that will follow the dramatic sunset. We sat quietly for about 30 mins and young man come over to us and started a conversation. He is 20 and well dressed and nothing strange came to mind but as soon as he told us he is an escort things changed. His name is Steve and he is savvy, boyish and good looking hustler. He asked us for 100 euros each for sex and we refused and it was discounted for 2 of us together for 100 euros. We laughed and told him we just do not do this. He than tried to con us to buy him a beer and said no. We talked a bit more and he went away to look for other possible clients. At 20 he was slick and worldly and his innocence was long lost.

The next evening I had an unexpected trip to Deak Frenec area and just a 2 blocks from the Danube and I said why not. I went for another sunset at my favorite spot of the corso. I meditated and did some yoga and Steve appeared. This time he was more pleasant and less pushy, we had a long conversation about his life in the orphanage and how he got sucked into this business of hustling. He is not gay nor bisexual and just doing this for the money. He told me he had met a 17 year old girl walking her dog just a few mins before he saw me and they are going on a date tomorrow.

He than started to ask me about my life but I didn't feel like revealing myself very much. He than ask me if I would ever have sex with a girl and I told him no. He was shocked and didn't understand why I would say that... He than said what if someone has a gun on your head, would you than? I said maybe than I will think about it!

Our conversation covered many aspects of our lives and He compartmented on the quality of my clothes and ask me if he can have some. He wanted to us to go to the hotel and pick them up immediately. I said no because I needed them....but for a moment I did feel bad enough to want to help out. A few moments later he brought up hiring him for another discounted price of 50 USD my sympathy dissipated once again.

Like the night wind sweeping the river he got up arbropetly and disappeared into the night, I thought maybe he saw another possible client.

I watched the lights for another 30 mins and decided to go check out a club he had mentioned just 4 blocks away. Half way there he emerged from the darkness once more...

He said he saw a really beautiful woman so he ran over to talk to her and he had just walk her home. I was amazed how he he can maximized his time working as a male hustler and finding dates with women at the same.

I told him he can come with me to the club and I offered to buy him 2 drinks in exchanged for the time we spent together. We really had a good time together!

I didn't come to Budapest to write about hustlers and I have never encountered people like this in the States. Budapest forced people of all classes together, tourist or not; the hustlers exist quietly under the shadow of the Danube and the international tourist that came to the river for it's beautiful sunset. On the other hand American hustlers live parallel lives on the Internet and erotic services ads on the back pages of the weekly paper.

I hope Steve's date with the girl went well today and he will finally find happiness.

Day 25- June 19th- Life without Rudee

photo: in silence we stood.

After Vienna I was exhausted and slept till 2pm. I finally got myself up and moving and went to the cell phone store and recharged purchased more air time. Waled around mindlessly and came back to the residency for an Art opening! The work was interesting and it's by an children's book artist who lived till the age of 95. It's amazing how he painted with such innocence and child like at such old age.

Andrea (my new roommate) and I went for a long walk around the city, I tried to find the Artist Club where the last residency had dinner one night but was unsuccessful. So we end up getting a little lost but we did spend some great time on the Danube's bank and watched the rights across the water. It was a wonderful and peaceful experience. Later we went for a drink and chatted a little more.

We didn't talk the whole time, sometimes there is just silence between us but we did not feel uncomfortable or had the need to fill the space with sounds; at those moments we understood each other clearly.

Break For Art and maybe for Vienna too...

New art work by Benjamin Page: Art opening Aug 2ed, Budapest, Hungary.
additional photos and art work detail can be found on my flickr site.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25548816@N07/


Dialog of a Modern Landscape


Stately classical buildings in the city, and beautiful historical houses in the country--Hungary is rich in architectural history and styles. The city does lack good cutting-edge modern architecture; and in villages outside of Budapest, modernism doesn't even seem to exist. This work sparks a dialog between geometries, and brings basic conceptual modern architecture elements like folding planes, translucency, and colors, inserting them into any Hungarian landscape.
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The Dolls of Hungary

Where does the water of the Danube came from? Where do the once beloved dolls of Hungarian children go after they have fallen out of favor? This piece provides a dramatized answer and interpretation for these questions. The disregarded dolls of Hungarian children rise from the garbage bins and forgotten toy boxes, and transform themselves into the romantic water of the Danube, thus becoming part of Budapest's organic landscape.

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Baby-kebabs; Deliciously, yummie!!!


In Hungary, puppetry is an important culture identity, and dolls are staples of people's daily lives. Some dolls are elaborately decorated and child-like in every way. They are collected by and played with by people around the world. This art piece is a attempt to dissimulate our feeling of seeing dolls as child-like, and disconnect our emotional attachments with lifeless dolls. The energy and attention is then shifted to the "real" and deprived children of under-privileged countries.

Day 19- june 6th: sort of uneventful

We had meetings on our residency for over 4 hours and went over our art work and statements as well as bio and pricing. Things are coming to an end in less than a week and i am still working on my last piece of art work, i hope i can make it in time before i got to Vienna.

I have talked to my boyfriend and decided to stay in Budapest for another month so it should be very interesting. I cant wait to do everything here in town and venture into other countries...

I work on my art for a few hours today and thought I would go down to the Danube for another wonderful sunset. It was sure amazing!!!! I didnt see the rent boy i winder what had happened to him. Later, I ventured into a bar and now sitting here .. why cant American bars have free internet access at the bars. it just make sense when they are no one but older men here... i guess I would pour myself another drink.

Day 4 - May 21s: Prep and drunk

As the presentation gets close I started to feel the pressure to preform. So I decided to review and work on getting ready for the presentation in the morning and early afternoon.
After lunch I realized for the last few days my stomach haven't been agreeing with me but the food eaten seem clean enough. As long as it's not too unhealthy I hope to loose some weight through this could be harmful event.

I later went to the Danube's bank for a relaxing and even did a little yoga practice. I arrived around 630pm and patiently waiting for the sun to set, waiting, waiting and waiting... hours had past and it was 9pm and sun still up and the chill forced me to gave up. Dinner was delicious at a restaurant called Veritas for 35 USD; I had, a smoked tuna salad, a glass of Rose wine and Csirke Brassoi Maskepa (garlic marinated chicken pieces with pan- fried potato) and the evening ended with me in a very 'friendly' bar and 5 drinks down my belly.

Note to myself: Never have Hungary wine/ shot called Unicum, it's disgusting.