Vanilla Black

On Thanksgiving Day I had a great lunch meeting with a colleague at Vanilla Black. Tucked away on a side street off a side street, but just a few steps from Chancery Lane tube stop on the Central Line, it's small - but not tiny - , crisp and welcoming.

All the food is vegetarian, but of a calibre that reminded me of the vegetarian tasting menu at Cityzen at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, DC. Everything was incredibly creative, beatifully presented and the kind of food that makes you want to savor every bite. The wine list is substantial and the service was with a bright smile. It's all linens and silver.

I can't wait to go back. The only thing that disappointed me is that they aren't open on weekends, just lunch and dinner, Monday through Friday.

Fat Pig

It was a play, though I'm not so sure it deserved to be. Sammy had a chance to take in a few theater moments and I joined him for this new comedy. It did, as billed, explore our attitudes and relationships toward overweight people and it did offer a laugh or two, though not at the expense of fat people.

The acting was excellent, I blame the script. The play starts a bit slow and then just as you are getting to know the characters and begin to think the play is going somewhere, it abruptly ends.

Based on the accents and the actual words, I think this is a new American play. All I can really say is that I was greatly relieved that we had got the tickets at official London Tkts for half price.

Canterbury

My friend Sammy was here from the States for my birthday. We took one day to day trip to Canterbury. It's an easy day trip from London. About £20 and 90 minutes on the train out of Victoria station, which offers plenty of departures and returns. You can easily cover the key sites of Canterbury and still have time for tea in a day.

There is of course is the Cathedral itself, which can easily take a couple of hours to stroll through and experience. Standing at the spot where Thomas Becket was murdered almost 850 years ago was an incredible experience. The architecture is amazing and the grounds are just beautiful, make sure you leave plenty of time.

From the train station, you walk along city walls first built by the Romans and pass an ancient mound. From there it's off to the center of town where a stroll down St. George's Street can help you imagine what it might have been like to be in Victorian or even Medieval England. Some amazingly old architecture, cobblestone streets all conspire to give a real sense of romance.

Our train conductor had suggested we make a point to get all the way to the West Gate - it's that the end of St. George's Street, which turns into St. Peter's Street about halfway down - for the views of the city. It was good advice.

We wrapped up the day with high tea at Tiny Tim's Tearoom. Not nearly as fancy as a London high tea - and not nearly as expensive - but very nice and the pastries were amazing. We looked at several tea rooms before deciding on this historic venue, a well-made decision.

Hungarian Roots

After I had about 48 hours in London, Joe and I headed to Budapest for a long weekend in late October. The focus of the trip was to meet up with my parents, my Uncle Albert and my cousins Betty Ann and Eileen for a trip to the Lake Balaton region in search of our family roots.

Before we met up with the family, we had a chance to really relax in Budapest. This was our first time to return to a vacation spot, having done the tourist highlights, leaving us to simply enjoy the city and the people.

Our first full day we did some off the beaten path museuming. Our first stop was the Vasarely Museum, named for Victor Vasarely, who founded the Op-art movement in Paris in the 1930s. It was fun to see things one might associate more with the 1960s than the 1930s. The museum building itself is worth the price of admission. An amazing ancient building of giant wood beams and soaring ceilings.

From there we headed over to the Szepmuveszeti Muzeum (the Fine Arts Museum) to tour the permanent collection. We also took in the temporary exhibit featuring Ferdinand Hodler, one of the leaders of European Secessionism. I'm really enjoying getting to know and understand Secessionist art, a school of art I didn't even know existed until I moved to Europe.

After the museum we had a really nice meal at a restaurant with a big deck on a little pond called Robinsons. It's just steps from the museum. Good Hungarian food and very nice service. The perfect place to sip some soup, have some wine and rest your feet.

Our other big, chill-out highlight was the spontaneous stop at "The Bar" at the Four Season's Gresham Palace. A wonderful jazz quartet was playing with a singer. Our quick cocktail turned into muchies and a bottle of wine. Given the value of the Forint these days, it was a bargain.

Zirci & Balaton
The family headed first to Zirci, the town where my Grandmother - my Father's mother - was born. It was a very successful first step. We found what we believe is the house where she was born, met a distant relative and toured the church, the Zirc Abbey, where my Grandmother was most likely baptized.

For me, the highlight moment in Zirci was in the cemetary, where I got to stand with my Dad, at the grave of my Great-Grandfather, our namesake.

From Zirci we headed over to Lake Balaton, which is a very large lake and a summer tourist spot. At a little restaurant we met up with my Dad's first cousin Magdi. You could feel the hesitancy of the question in the air, "are we really family" and then a sense of confirmation. After lunch, Magdi graciously took us (and our tour guide and driver) to see the lake and then to her house for a glass of Hungarian sparkling wine. It was magical, especially for Magdi, my Uncle Albert and my Dad.

Anniversary Celebration
In a couple of weeks my parents will be celebrating their 47th wedding anniversary. Since we'll be about 3,000 miles apart when it happens, Joe and I took them out for a wonderful dinner at Pava at the Gresham Palace.

It was a beautiful evening of many courses, incredible Hungarian wines and Hungarian influenced Italian food. The perfect way to wrap up a great weekend for us and a European tour for my parents.

Beyond Belief

Last week I finished reading Beyond Belief by V. S. Naipaul. This was an amazing read that taught me about a part of the world and a culture I really have very little knowledge of.

It is a follow up to his book Among the Believers. The premise is simple. In 1979 he spent significant amounts of time in Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia exploring Islam and the relationship people of these countries have with this religion and, at times, its accompanying politics.

In Beyond Belief, he repeats the journey in 1998 and speaks to many of the same people. This juxtaposition of time really helps one to see the evolution of Islam in these cultures and gives a refreshing human perspective to this important force in our contemporary world.

If you are looking to learn more about Islam or any of these countries, this is a great place to start. Don't expect a page-turner, but do expect to find yourself deep in thought.