Friends, caching and a brilliant play

You may recall that I finished the last post with not knowing how this weekend just gone would pan out.  Well, it was an all round, resounding success! But before I go onto that, let me outline what happened on Friday, 10th June. Roy came geocaching with me to the Matra mountains, which was really nice of him.  Still, I suppose he also wanted to go to the DIY store and Tesco near there, but he drove me quite a long way to catch a moving cache and two others. The moving cache was by a lovely chateau, the other two in a pretty  park by a lake and by some ancient big boulders.  I did bring home the moving one, so I will have to place it this week somewhere near another chateau.  I know where it is going: to a village which boasts 3 chateaux and 5 manor houses and it is only about half an hour by car from here.

The chateau at Parádsasvár in the Mátra

Anyway, now for our weekend. Finally, we downgraded it to just a simple friends' weekend gathering with food, drink, chats, hikes and a bit of culture thrown in. The reason why it was such a fantastic weekend, is entirely due to our guests. May I introduce them to you one by one, please:

Pityu

Pityu is a lovely man, of whom I still don't know much. I met him last October, which is when I saw him last before this weekend, at my hashing friend David's 60th birthday party.  The party was actually taking place at Pityu's house in the country and that weekend was also fantastic with lots of activity and tremendous hospitality on his part.  This is, basically, why I invited him, we both really wanted to return the compliment. He has lost his beloved wife of many years 4 years ago and is living a solitary life. He is a good cook and turned up with a large pan of fish soup, which was absolutely delicious. We loved his company and he had already invited us to his place again together with the others.

Agi on the left, Erzsi on the right

Erzsi is a nice lady of about Roy's age who is an excellent photographer and whom I also met for the first, and until last weekend the last, time at David's 60th. We chatted a lot and I did say that I would love to see her again.  She also lives in the country and she already suggested that I go to Transylvania on a hiking trip with her next summer.  We'll see! She also invited the whole group to her house in the country for a weekend, so we have definitely made two new good friends the weekend gone.

David

David is a fellow hasher, who hails from Guildford originally. He travels a lot for his job, but when he is around he is an absolute delight.  He is the epitome of the English gentleman: calm, quiet, with great sense of humour, very kind, helpful and nice to have around.  He knows how to have a good time, as I will never forget his face last time he was out here and the colour of his face after a night of hard drinking.

Agi

Finally, last, but not least, Agi, David's partner, who is one of the nicest women I have ever met. She is also a hasher and Scottish dancer. In fact, that is how her and David met - in Vienna on a Scottish dancing outing. She has two grown up sons and she is just really nice to have around.

Dishing out the curry on Friday night

The program included a large chicken and veg curry that Roy made, a fantastic fish soup that Pityu made, lots of cakes, beer, wine and palinka, plus a meal out at the our own Mill Court in the village for a delicious lunch on Sunday. Activities included a guided tour of our garden, barn, 2 cellars and 3 houses, a walk round the village visiting the church and meeting the vicar's new wife, which was a treat. On Saturday we went for a lovely long hike to an abandoned quarry through an ancient forest and on the way back visited a World Heritage site village and castle. On Sunday we walked to the andesite outcrop above the village, returning via the ridge behind it which included a fight with some serious jungle. We should have taken machetes, or at least some secateurs. We made it home and I even got a lift from Agi and David into town at the end.

On the hill above Hollókő Castle

They even managed to get Roy play bridge, which I didn't want to believe. On Saturday night I wasn't feeling well, so went to bed early, but Roy stayed and apparently played very good bridge. The alternative hash, that those that didn't come held in town has gone down well also, and they ended up at a beer fest. We haven't missed them one bit and to be honest, I am going to stick to small, informal gatherings of good friends and nice people from now on.

On a fallen log en route down from the andesite outcrop

On Monday I had a theatre ticket together with a good friend to see Jeffrey Lane and David Yazbek's play, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.  This is an adaptation of Pedro Almodovar's film from the 1980's and it was absolutely superb. The adaptation, the staging, the acting, the singing, the direction and anything and everything that went on was fantastic.  You couldn't fault it.  Well, perhaps occasionally the music was too loud, but I wrote that down to getting old and not liking noise any more. I loved the fact that all the principals, bar one, were women. That the conclusion at the end was, that you don't have to have a man at any cost. Very 1980's I know, but I was young then, so that is what I like. I must admit, I had probably the best night out in a theatre for a very long time last night.

The Women on the Verge of a Nevous Breakdown

And one more lovely thing happened on Sunday, admittedly a very long way away, but it made me happy: Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian Grand Prix. Yipppeeeee!!

Lewis en route to victory!!

Must go now, be good and I might talk to you again next week!