10 Random Cool Things that Happened in Budapest (In no particular order)

1. Watching current episode of Conan O'Brien on TV at hotel. (Only knew it was current because of the Mel Gibson joke).

2. Hearing English spoken often between two people engrossed in conversation, when English obviously was neither their first language.

3. Dare devel plane stunts over Danube and Chain Bridge that we could watch perfectly from our hotel window.

4. Street festival closed down traffic on Chain Bridge and brought out various craft people selling some wares and food.

5. Running into two really nice and attractive recent Harvard Law graduates at the baths. (I know, I know, Eric, don't start with me, the next one is for you.)

6. Seeing an advertisement for Sting in concert, only to find out that it had been earlier in July! (Also saw ones for Robbie Williams and Depeche Mode.)

7. Going to a "Hungarian" restaurant only to find out that the entire staff (and part of the menu) is Russian. (Actually, this was not cool.)

8. Walking into souvenir shop to see how much a kitchy t-shirt was and seeing the old man behind the counter watching V-H1 and humming Madonna's "Material Girl."

9. Shopping at H&M and learning that Ukrainian stores aren't so far behind fashion as we had suspected...

10. Ending up in an elevator at St. Stephan's Basillica with a Hungarian guide who was speaking Russian to an older couple--none of whom seemed to speak Russian as a first language.