Thursday, 17 May

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="044d4c00dduajq.gif"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <A HREF="id150.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wednesday, 16 May"><U><IMG SRC="0450b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>   <A HREF="id152.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Friday, 18 May"><U><IMG SRC="0460b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>       <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="11" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11">   <A HREF="id133.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May"><U><IMG SRC="0480b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="21faf9a0.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="154" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Budapest, Hungarian Parliament Building viewed from the Buda side of the Danube</div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Gastropod's Trail</B></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Gastropods Trail"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> Thursday, 17 May</div> <div> Budapest, Hungary</div> <bR> <div> At ten in the morning we met with Michelle at the central subway station and she was our guide for a tour on foot through central Budapest. We started at the old covered market (les halles); a huge market where everything from basic foods to crafts and crystal ware is for sale. From there we walked along tree lined streets with new stores in venerable old buildings to the beautifully restored Synagogue and the Holocaust memorial which serves as a reminder of the hardships and injustices suffered by the Jewish community in Hungary. After lunch we visited the impressive St. Stephen Basilica and its fabulous treasury. The monumental neo-Renaissance church was designed by two well-known masters of the Hungarian architecture of the turn of the century, József Hild and Miklós Ybl, and was built between 1851 and 1905. The area of the church, a Greek cross with a dome and two steeples, is 86 by 55 m (285 by 183 ft.). </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="25052db0.jpg" border=0 width="338" height="219" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="6" VSPACE="6">Nicole and Michelle also took a guided tour of the world famous State Opera House which has seating for 1300 people. It was built between 1875 and 1884 to the designs of Miklós Ybl in Italian neo-Renaissance style and features a 43-metre (140 ft.) deep stage which can be lifted or lowered 4 meters (13 ft.) by means of a hydraulic mechanism to convert the opera to a gigantic ballroom.</div> <bR> <div> Nicole was particularly impressed by the fresco in centre of the ceiling of the three-story high, horseshoe-shaped auditorium representing a serene Olympus with Apollo in the centre and the loge of Sissi, the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. </div> <bR> <div> The highlight of my day was to attend a meeting of Deác Lodge. Lodge meetings are held at 6 o'clock here in Budapest. Although the entire meeting was conducted in Hungarian, it never fails to impress me how the familiar surroundings and procedures convey the essential which unites its members regardless of origin or language. The shared meal after the meeting gave us a chance to socialize.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>