Fruit Salad.jpg

As a palette cleanser before dessert.

Wang Steak.jpg

The signature dish. The owner thought his wife made the best steak and wanted others to enjoy it. They use her original recipe. It tastes like brisket.

Salad.jpg

Dinner on Thursday was at Wangsteak. The restaurant was built by the richest man in Taiwan.

Dragon Fountain.jpg

Next to the temple is a fountain and park.

Temple.jpg

On a break a few of us stepped out for some sun and air and visited a local temple across the street from the hotel. The cones you see hanging are all incense.

Beef Four Country.jpg

My dinner was Beef Four Country. Thinly sliced beef with four different things cooked in the middle. The closest we could figure is that they represented the 4 seasons. There was kiwi (spring), tomato and mozzarella (summer), mushroom (fall), roe (winter). All were good but the tomato and mozzarella were my favorite.

Tampanyaki Dinner.jpg

Wednesday's dinner was traditional Japanese tampanyaki style.

Our retro sinks

While Beck is jetsetting the world I'm working on our 50's house. Have to love these retro sinks with the crazy tile.

Octopus Balls.jpg

The tentacles of octopi breaded and cooked into balls. A local treat. Some of our more adventurous members tried it.

Random Meat.jpg

A street vendor was selling this pressed into random shapes (like a pistol or elephant).

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Went to the night market after dinner. Local college kids work here after class to earn spending money. It's a combination of food, cheap clothing, and souveniers.

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Our hotel at night.

Mmmm...Beer.jpg

Ate at a pasta place but at least got the local beer.

Somebody didn't prime before they painted.

And I get to clean up the mess. All the trim was a butter cream semi gloss that they tried to paint over.

Asian Spongebob!.jpg

He's everywhere!

The 37th Floor.jpg

Staying at One Hotel in Taichung. Wishing it were sunnier but still a pretty good view.

What's behind that old mirrored wall?

Original brick!

I love our house

This is why I wanted it. Surrounded by woods, so peaceful.

Now we're talking

It was a heck of a drive but this thing is sweet. Can you believe I bought this from the wife of a state senator?

Retrotastic!

From the gloss walnut to the gold satin/mirrored shelf this thing is the epitome of yesteryear.

Today's retro haul

Today's Vintage Find

Two great old large globe lights and a fun little vintage lamp. Total: $11.00. The local habitat for humanity is a great place for retro stuff.

Check out the amazing view out of the back of the house.

Our original house plan

Who knew we would be living in the house of tomorrow!

Our Taxi.jpg

Got to love European taxis!

Traditional Tapestry.jpg

It's done in the colors of Hungary.

Handmade Lace.jpg

Just love this one!

Goulash.jpg

Goulash for dinner tonight!

Buda Castle at Night.jpg

New view from the hotel tonight.

St. Stephen's Basillica.jpg

We dined in the shadow of the Basillica.

Italian Tonight.jpg

In Hungary eating Italian. TG Italiano was lovely and we dined al fresco. Tiramisu on its way for dessert.

And then there was light!.jpg

After the sun set, all the lights came on. Buda castle is on the left, St. Matthius Cathedral is rising up on the the right, and the Chain Bridge is crossing the Danube.

Hotel View at Sunset.jpg

As the sun was setting on Buda this evening. Found out we are staying on the Pest side with the great views of Buda out the window.

Tapestry.jpg

Found a simple crochet and ribbon tapestry tonight. We'll be shopping for more tomorrow!

Landmark.jpg

Not sure what landmark building this is but so many of the buildings have this lind of detailed architecture.

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This giant bed of pansies is planted in front of our hotel.

The Little Queenie.jpg

This copper sculpture is of a little boy wearing what looks like a Native American headdress. People were constantly getting their pictures tken with it. Not sure of the historical significance...there seems to be a lot of modern art sprinkled in with the historical stuff.

Vaci Utca Shopping.jpg

After we ate, we took the back way to the hotel and discovered the shopping district. Had to get some gelato for dessert...yum!

Statue 2.jpg

Another statue, this as more of a square in the midst of the shopping district rather than off to the side like others.

Statue.jpg

There are a ton of statues around town. They are all described in Hungarian with no translation so just have to assume the are monuments to past great Hungarians.

Goulash Soup.jpg

Dinner! Traditional Hungarian goulash has a ton of onion in it. There is also Goulash soup which isn't what we would consider goulash at all...but it's delicious! Like a stew, with potatoes, carrots, and beef, it gets it's red color from all the paprika they put in it!

Details.jpg

All the buildings here are really old and have tons of great architectural detail.

Hotel View.jpg

The view from my hotel in Budapest. The River Danube which bisects the two towns of Buda and Pest. 8th floor...not too shabby!

Flower Mart @ Amsterdam Airport.jpg

Mini trees

I decided to do containers so these little guys wouldn't get lost. The tree behind them is a flowering Quince which is pretty much full grown.

Mini trees Tom Emily and I went to a garden center that had all kinds of these little trees and bushes. We had a wonderful day!

Tom Wahls Ice Cream

Our Steuben haul

A good friend of ours invited us to a special sale this week and this is what we ended up with for the new house.

We went to the Circus!

We went to the Shriners Circus tonight and had a great time.

Our little bunny rabbit