remembering 20 years ago today...

the fall of the berlin wall on 9 november 1989 was a profound moment in time. as i traveled this past summer behind the old iron curtain, i did so with disbelief...i never thought that journey possible as a teenager & yet there i was. i kept telling myself, 'never, ever forget.'


my time in romania & hungary was spent with a deep sense of gratitude. when i would catch glimpses of old barricades & watchtowers, i would shudder at the thought of what those now-abandoned structures used to mean. we all need to jog our memories from time to time, because as the years pass, it is so easy to fall into complacency, especially when life is good & trials are few.


in remembrance today i offer more 'snapshots on the journey'~~ this time from budapest, hungary, which is my very favorite european city, for me second only to venice, italy. our border crossing was met with friendly guards who took our passports & offered us americans condolences on the passing of michael jackson...we were welcomed with such kindness & fields of sunflowers...& a sunset over the danube in budapest...this is a city of great beauty~ even the subway stops are gorgeous...we decided to start our first day with some persective for the younger folk traveling with us who were not old enough to remember the cold war...a visit to the terror museum was a sobering event...every face on the walls in the atrium represents a victim...we moved from this tragic reminder of the past into the beauty of now...wandering first around pest, visiting sights like heroes' square...enjoying something a bit lighter~ the zoo...before deciding to brave the climb of buda & see the city from a different angle...we crossed the szechenyi chain bridge...hopped the castle hill funicular (vertigo, anyone?!?)...to enjoy the view from the top of castle hill...& after walking many, many miles that day, an awesome meal (hungarian goulash...ohhhhh, those noodles. carb-loading perfection!.), some of the best food on our entire 5 week trip!!...the next morning we dashed to the train; our short weekend in budapest had come to an end...it was time to head back into western europe~~ next stop vienna, austria...moving on, but not forgetting...