We Are Going Back to Budapest in the Spring!

Here is the long and the short of it:

We have been fruitless (so far) searching for a condo to buy, probably because our requirements are so specific.  We will start renovations on our house, to get it ready for the market in January. We are hopeful that the season will pick up post-holidays and that we will find something.

We had thought that we would have to just stay in Louisville til we bought condo and sold house.  So we had reluctantly put aside plans to go to Budapest in February.  But then Tony thought March!  House repairs should be done then.  Which means that if we buy something in January or February, we could leave with our house up for sale.  If we haven't bought something by March, then we will just take the risk of missing the a possible purchase.  The truth is, we aren't under the gun to move, and the worst that could happen is that we go into another summer.  But if we do, this time the house is ready to go on the market directly after the condo sale.  Probably not the most efficient plan, but it makes us happy.

We immediately contacted our wonderful friend and landlord, John Farago.  He told us what was available, quoted us a reasonable price, and put us on the schedule.  He will let us have the best apartment available; it probably won't be the same place we sayed last year, Apartment Andrei, but wherever it is, it will be wonderful, As soon as we made the decision and John confirmed availability in our price range, I immediately became happy in the way that only an anticipated trip can make one,  I looked up what operas will be playing in March (Manon, Die Walkure, Faust, Banc Ban), what concerts, etc.

Our long-range plan is to try to go to Europe once each spring.  Ideally, we would like to stay a month in Budapest (we just love the city and feel so at home there), then do a week or so somewhere else, e.g. Vienna, Munich, small Italian cities, etc.  Whether we do the add-on or not this year is yet to be determined.

One other small item.  I have decided to write a book on Hungarian architecture and self-publish it on Amazon.  I realized I really needed another writing project in retirement, and I had no desire to go back to the kind of scholarship I did as an academic.  I have just about drafted the first chapter (part of which I will post on the blog soon, hoping to get some feedback).  So I really NEED to go back to Budapest to take more pictures.  (Insert smily face here.)

 #Budapest #RetirementProject