From today's walk: The East Budapest Train Station at midday.

By the way.... some of you may not know that you can see a larger view of the picture by clicking on it. Lots of cool little details in this one....

Spent the entire day walking semi-aimlessly around Budapest. Saw lots of interesting things. Here's one of them.

Spent all day today in City Park.... in the company of native Hungarians and far from tourists. Met the family of this little girl (and her twin sister) and they were kind enough to let me photograph her.

And have I mentioned that Budapest is romantic city too? We were saying tonight over dinner that public displays of affection (read: conspicuous smooching in public) is WAY more common here than it is in the States. But no smooching pictures. Here's a different kind of romantic....

First full day in Budapest. It's a sprawling city of more than 1.5 million, so I have only scratched the surface. Lots of people out and about... even on Sunday... and there seems to be a very healthy and vibrant cafe lifestyle.

More diversity than Prague. More beggars too. And hustlers.

Lots of people have dogs (sorry.... there will be no dog pictures from me).

Lots of kids around. Most are happy to be photographed.

Day 6. Spent the entire day on the train from Prague to Budapest. What was supposed to be a 7 hour trip became a 9 hour trip-- make your own jokes about Eastern Europe trains not running on time here-- due to (depending on which story you believe) mechanical failure, a highway accident, or the train striking a pedestrian. We arrived late, but safely.

First impressions of Budapest is that it is a more hip city. The people look really good. Many fewer tourists.

No pictures from today. Instead, here is a picture shot last night in Prague. These "fast food" sausage stands dot the pedestrian areas. For those whose Czech is a little rusty, Menu 1 is a pork cutlet, menu 3 is fried cheese on a bun, and menu 2 is a Vaclek sausage (think natural casing hot dog, twice as big around, sharply spicy, and with a great "snap" when you bite into it). God only know what gets ground up into these, but they were REALLY good and I will miss eating them.

Day 5.... Last day in Prague. Went to see the 2007 World Press Photo show. The winning photo is a strong picture but has been somewhat controversial. Further info here: www.worldpressphoto.org

We leave on an early morning train to Budapest. I will miss the beautiful city and the extremely friendly people. I will not miss the masses of tourists which I'm told are absent in Budapest.

Here is another record shot which gives the flavor of the Prague neighborhoods and streets. This was taken just outside the Cafe Slavia, a historic focal point of the Prague art/photo scene.

Day 4. Trying to capture some of the must-see sites without making picture postcards. This is the statue of St. Wenceslas at the end of Wenceslas Square, just in front of the National Museum. Most of important Czech history happened on this spot, including the founding of the Czech Republik in 1918, the Soviet invasion in1968, and the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Now, there's a McDonalds on the corner.

Tomorrow is my last day in Prague.... then on to Budapest

Days remain full and jam-packed with activities. Met another wonderful Czech photographer named Marketa Luskacova. See her work at www.marketaluskacova.com .

Despite the language barrier, I am becoming more comfortable approaching people to ask to photograph them. Most are surprisingly agreeable. Shooting a lot. More than 400 frames today. Who could have imagined doing this with film.

Although there both a subway and bus system, transportation in Prague is largely by tram. Many photo opportunities like this one.

Prague is a city of contrasts. In some ways, it is very dark, gritty, and fits the “Eastern Europe” stereotype in every conceivable way. In other ways, Prague is beautiful, cosmopolitan, modern, liberal, and seems to be a place that lots of Europeans are delighted to visit.

Spent most of the day today shooting. Here’s a sense of what the city looks like….

First full day in Prague. The day was surprisingly full: Workshop class, then a visit and portfolio by a [wonderful] Czech photographer named Karel Cudlin, then a long afternoon of shooting, then dinner, and now lastly, a late night of post-processing so that I will have some work to show the group tomorrow. Prague is a beautiful city, but teeming with tourists (at least in the parts I have visited so far). I’ll explore a wider circle tomorrow.

All my fears about the communicating were for naught…. It IS true that the Czech language is seemingly unrelated to any language I have ever spoken or heard before, and simple words like “thank you” involve trying to pronounce long strings of consonants strung together in ways that are unpronounceable. But, contrary to what I was led to believe, EVERYONE (including all of the kids that I photographed) speaks at least some English, so no worries.

I’ll try to include a record shot of the city skyline in the next day or two. In the meantime, here is something I shot today.