So… I think today was a banger. And it started off strong. Looking for a little excitement, I booked a “thrilling” river motor boat ride for this morning. I got the idea after seeing the motor boats shooting by on my dinner cruise!!

I was not disappointed. I took a bus to the Red Jet dock (a remote area on the more industrial Buda side of the river), and soon I was in my life jacket and boarding. Once I was in, the boat skidded at extreme speeds down the Danube. Squinting through the wind, I could see all the gorgeous architecture flying by.

At one point, we rocketed towards the Parliament building, making a sharp turn away at what felt like the last minute! Then we went south to more remote waters for some tricks. The captain gave us a hand signal to warn us, and then the boat would whip around like a car doing doughnuts, sending a wave of water over the passengers and slamming us to one side. I should soon be getting an email with pictures from the ride (should be great).

Next I headed back up to the Fisherman’s Wharf area on the Buda side, for the first in a series of small museums.

Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-American magician. He was born in Budapest to Jewish parents, with the birth name Erik Weisz.

The family soon immigrated to the American Midwest. After being inspired by a magic act (the classic “woman get cuts in half” routine — done, terrifyingly, by a man in a Butcher costume and a prop knife!) Houdini later moved to New York and changed his name to follow the dream of being a performer.

Houdini was famous for performing magic tricks, but mostly for being an “escape artist” — he challenged audience members to bring their own handcuffs for him to escape from. The handsome illusionist escaped straightjackets, water-filled chambers, and even being buried alive.

Houdini wasn’t just a performer, though. He was also the first iconic “magician-skeptic.” Houdini published pamphlets where he analyzed and exposed mediums (plus other tricksters) in meticulous detail. He once said: “It takes a flimflammer to catch a flimflammer.”

The issue of mediums was not frivolous, either. After WWI, the “spiritualism” movement was growing in America. In short, many respectable people genuinely believed that ghosts may be real. (I’m not sure why I’m using past tense, actually, when celebrities like The Long Island Medium are still popular. Hell… in the 90s, the FBI sometimes used psychics.) Certain people claimed they could talk to the dead, and science treated the possibility seriously. Scientific American even promised a cash prize to any medium who could prove a genuine connection to the supernatural.

Houdini, deeply grieving the death of his mother, initially turned to mediums for help. But he was quickly offended when he recognized that the mediums were using simple magic tricks. So he devoted his life to exposing as much supernatural fakery as he could!

My favorite magician, Penn Gillette, once said: “All I wanted when I was in junior high and high school was to be Jewish, gay, and live in New York City.” I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Houdini checks 2/3 of those boxes. He inspired many successors. Magicians Penn & Teller would go to on create the TV show “Bullshit!”, where they debunk psychics, among other things… and “Fool Us”, where they try to figure out how other magician’s tricks are done — following Houdini’s footsteps. Intelligent, dashing, skeptical, and just a little bit crazy… I think Harry Houdini may be one of my favorite historical figures.

The museum itself had two parts — a performance and a tour. First, we watched a very soft-spoken magician do amazing sleight-of-hand tricks. He performed some classic routines with rings, coins, rope, and cards. Next was the museum itself, which showed off some artifacts from Houdini’s life such as his birth certificate, custom handcuffs, posters, and his Bible. Our guide (a charming woman in a pink GUESS bodycon dress) told us that the owner of the museum is himself an escape artist. He was even an advisor on the 2014 Houdini movie with Adrian Brody! So, the museum had some props from the movie on display.

Next was the Chocolate Museum. This small exhibition, hidden above a café, is basically a collection of chocolate-related antiques from the 1800s onward.

Hot chocolate used to be sipped from teacups, in a similar way to coffee — retaining more of a bitter taste.

If you’re interested in how hot chocolate used to be prepared 100 years ago, check out this excellent video from Ann Reardon:

The museum is also partly an advertisement for Szamos, a small Hungarian confectionery. Some of their specialties include chocolate drops and roses made from marzipan.

Next was the Budapest Retro museum. This place promised to be a sort of interactive experience — and it delivered, beyond my expectations! I’d describe it as a “museum of Communist nostalgia.” Here, I found many artifacts from Hungary’s time under Soviet rule (50s-90s).

Next I had planned to check out the Dohány Street Synagogue, the most spectacular of its kind in Budapest. But I decided to skip it for a few reasons. First, the ticket price is expensive, and while it does certainly seem worth it (the ticket includes several Jewish sites / museums), it was getting pretty late in the day. Also, the synagogue does have modesty requirements that I didn’t meet today — men must cover their heads, and women’s skirts must go below the knee. It all seemed like a hassle, and I was getting hungry! But if I could turn back time and plan accordingly, I would have toured this place for sure.

For dinner I ate at Mozel Tov in the Jewish Quarter — another spot recommended to me by an Omahan who used to live in Hungary. I arrived early and by the time I left, there was a big line forming outside.

God willing, tomorrow I fly to Amsterdam. The plan is to spend one day there and then, finally, return to Omaha! Will update soon.