The ninetyfourth week of the pandemic

 

The story of the 2021 brew

The great event of the last week was the arrival of Roy's pálinka. Admittedly, we have sent 450 litres this time, but back came 40 litres, which is the largest quantity we have ever had. A couple of days later we have bottled them into 61 bottles and now they are settling down to be drinkable in about 4 months. The collage shows our plums, the bought plums and the grapes that went into the mash, and the transport of both the plums from Galgaguta and the mash to the still. We can't wait to taste it, probably around April 2022.

61 bottles of the heavenly nectar

Another event was that having agreed to have a Vodafone telephone line, cable TV and internet, which is going to be installed on the 10th January, we started rethinking the house. Initially we thought we would go back up into our bedroom to sleep, but Roy is still feeling so cosy in the lounge, that the move upstairs has been scrapped, but some rearrangement is still required. We moved my bed closer to the radiator, pulled the armchair out and the new TV will go on the wall by the iron stove and we will watch it from the bed and the armchair.

BB dry for about £2 a bottle

Roy's Christmas dinner

 

On Christmas day we had a lovely meal and champagne. Roy had his usual fillet steak, while I had my usual salmon. The champagne was a dry BB which is so cheap and delicious, that we ought to drink it more often than just once a year at Christmas, or possibly again at New Year's Eve.

Elian and Xander on Christmas day

The family called on Christmas Day, which was lovely. Stephen started the day with Elian and Xander opening the presents we sent them. You should have seen Xander opening it and finding his iPad. He screeched from joy and was jumping up and down. Unfortunately, Lucy was coming for them in about 5 minutes, so we didn't have long, but it was a lovely beginning to the day. In the afternoon, (6 hours difference), it was the Canadians' turn. They were all at Heather and Lyle's, so we not only saw Callum opening his present from us (subscription to a gaming platform), but had a chance to chat to Heather too. She has been ill, but is OK now. We exchanged medical histories, as it's usual on such occasions, and then let them get on with their Christmas breakfast.

Callum by the Horseshoe Falls

On Saturday, half way round the world, the Turners and the Grants - aka our Canadian family - went to show Niagara Falls to Callum, as he hasn't yet been. He looked so lovely photographed in the usual spot we all have pictures by the Falls taken, I can't believe he is this big already. 12 year old is not very old, but he looks and behaves quite mature for his years.

Alex, Callum, Meaghan and Lyle

One further development of an earlier story is that I have started to get aquainted with the ins and outs of applying for Hungarian citizenship and a passport for Roy. The form is a bit aggravating, as it explains nothing, it is ambiguous and vague often, but at least I am only going to have to fill in about 5 or 6 pages out of the 16. I am trying to find out further details from people I know that have been through the process.  A few of them are not particularly helpful, simply because they did it so long ago that they have forgotten. One guy, however, who has only just got it at the end of summer and his swearing in is still to come in February, should be a better adviser. He must be away for the holidays, as he has not yet answered my e-mail, but I am living in hope. I have already asked the Mayor of the village if he would be able to do Roy's swearing in and he said yes. Mind you, I am being a bit previous here, because even if we get it in during the next month or so and even if he gets it, the ceremony probably will not be for at least another year or close to it.

The moderator election results

Today I have heard that I was elected to be a moderator for another year in the geocaching club. I was convinced that I would not get in, as this year 19 people went for the 12 places, I have not been too active in the club due to the pandemic and I haven't even done my usual lobbying. Of 340 eligible to vote, 199 did so and of these 114 voted for me. That gave me the 9th place out of the available 12. 

Manet and Heino at their last visit

On Monday, Heino and Manet have arrived and we were really looking forward to seeing them. Unfortunately, they couldn't buy a pre-paid SIM card, as planned, at the airport and then when on Tuesday they went to Pásztó, they couldn't get one there either. The problem seems to be that you have to have an address card, which, of course, they haven't. Bureacracy is totally insane in Hungary, and they can't understand why. My reasoning is that a semi-dictatorship, like ours, has insecurity built into its fundations. Its starting point is that everybody is a criminal, and everybody is out to get them. Therefore, you have to prove all sorts of things about yourself that they will need when they have to catch you for something. Insane!!! 

Zita and Árpi on arrival at Hero's Square

I remember when my friends Árpi and Zita cycled round the world between 2011 and 2015, they bought a pre-paid SIM card in practically every country, so that they could access the internet and stay in touch with home. In no country en route did they have to provide proof of address. We were wondering what to do and as they are coming over tomorrow morning to see us, I hope we will stick our heads together and come up with a solution.

Lucille in Call the Midwife

I have done a fair amount of TV watching online, Netflix and with the VPN, which does work occasionally, but still not very well. I watched the Call the Midwife Christmas Special, which was just like it has ever been, but I enjoyed it. Anything that could go wrong, did, but all came out perfectly happy at the end. Ahhhhh!! The BBC's A Very British Scandal was also superb. I love Claire Foy, she was fantastic in The Crown 3-4 years ago and she did a perfect Duchess of Argyll too. 

Claire Foy as the Duchess of Argyll

The only possibly negative aspect of the last week was that I caught some lurgy again, and am furiously coughing, sneezing etc. I am sure that it is one of my usual winter colds, but with the Omicron variant having almost completely the same symptoms, I must admit I was a bit concerned. I am now better, but as it had an effect on my digestion too, I have been a bit wobbly.

Our favourite pizza

Must go now, Roy sounds as if he is waking up and I need to see to the fire. Today was a very active and useful day, during which we did three lots of washing, went food shopping in Palotás, then cooked a lovely pizza for lunch and now I am doing the blog. The pizza was yet another of our "doctored" pizzas. Shopping in the Coop in Palotás, I spotted our favourite Dr. Oetker's Feliciana quattro Fromaggi. We usually put extra cheese on it, thus making it a Cinque Fromaggi, plus mushrooms, red onions, cocktail tomatoes, garlic and corn. It really did go down like a treat. Next, after seeing to the fire I will have to start making a surprise for Heino and Manet for tomorrow's visit, which will also be fun.

The family collage

Next week we are due to spend 2 or 3 days in BP. I am having a visit to my cardiologist, and we also have to try and buy a television set, as big stores in BP have bigger choices. Next post sometime next week! :)

The ninetythird week of the pandemic

In the last 8 days quite a few of the things I moaned about in my last post have been resolved. I had a discussion over e-mail with Heino in Holland about internet speeds and equipment prior to their arrival next Monday. They have solved their own problem by planning to buy a Vodafone SIM card once they landed and also buying half a gigabyte of data. That way they should have net access until they go home about 2 weeks later. I also decided to change from Digi to Vodafone, as several people in the village told me that they have it and it is quite fast and reliable.

This, of course, caused us quite a lot of headaches in how to connect the TV up, what's going to happen to the Sky box, etc. The final decision is as this: we are going to keep the Sky box where it is, attached to the old TV, which is staying in the lounge. We are going to move back upstairs to sleep, starting with my bed, which will create space in the Office/Library for placing a new TV set. We will also bring down one of the double beds, which is really a sofa in the top front room, and place it at the opposite wall from the TV. I have ordered the Vodafone package by telephone and they will install it on 10th January. By then we will have had to do all the moving of furniture, removing clutter etc., etc. for the cable to come in and things get connected up.

Another good bit of news was that the three things we have been awaiting for, have all turned up. Immediately after I posted last week, the post brought an envelope from the heart hospital in BP with the CD of my coronary CT and the evaluation. My Latin is not too good, but I don't think they have found anything too drastic. I have an appointment with the cardiologist in BP on 4th January, so all will be revealed then.

My cardiologist

Roy's dental CT we already have had a CD for, as they have given it to us while still there, but we were awaiting a  call from Roy's dentist to tell us what the CT found and when we need to make an appointment to go and see him for carrying on with the works. I had to call the surgery twice before I had any joy, confirming my displeasure at his new dentist and, to be honest, with the entire outfit. Somehow, since Vivien left, nothing is the same any more. Well, finally yesterday he called back, (needless to say at the most inconvenient time, while we were in the government offices dealing with the issue of Roy's ID card, (more about this later!), and  confirmed that Roy's jaw bone has healed perfectly and the two implants can go in. His appointment is for the 11th, as unforunately he has no more free appointments left the previous week, when we could have combined it with my visit to the cardiologist. Do you get where my feelings of unease with this new dentist come from? Somehow nothing is straightforward, convenient or timely with him.

Roy's dentist

And finally we resolved the issue of the ID as well. The lady, who was dealing with us a few weeks back said that it will take about one week. Unfortunately I forgot to ask how we are going to receive it? Will it be delivered to their office in Pásztó and we will have to go in to fetch it, or by post? If the latter, where? In BP or in Bér? So when more than 2 weeks went past, I rang the office. I could only do that, because the lovely lady rang us about this once and I made sure that I saved her phone number. I even knew her name, because she also sent me an e-mail once, which she signed, so I could ask for her personally. Unfortunately, she was on holiday, but the lady answering the phone was equally lovely and she asked for the reference number which I gave her. It turned out that the ID card has been there for some time now, I suppose the reason for not receiving either a phone call or an e-mail about that was caused by the other lady being on holiday. I told her that we would go in and fetch it the following day.

Hawfinch

Hawfinch and great tit

So, for the reason of having to fetch the ID card, as well as the need to do some more food shopping before Christmas, we went to Pásztó yesterday. Roy seems to think that once we go somewhere, we have to do all sorts of things as if to justify going there. I, on the other hand, would have been perfectly happy just to go to the Government Window for his ID card and to SPAR for groceries. Still, it was useful to shop elsewhere as well, although that household equipment shop must by now think we are making it all up and will never shop there anyway. I think it would be nice to buy the new cooker and TV there, partly because of the closeness keeping down the delivery charge, partly because I like to support local businesses. So a numbered list of where we went and what we did is available to read here:

Pásztó Council building

Item no. 1: buy another large sack of sunflower seeds for the wild birds – shop closed

Item no. 2: visit the Government Window to fetch Roy’s ID card – SUCCESS!! Once there, I met up with yet another delightful, helpful and kind lady on the other side of the counter, who then advised us on a variety of other matters:

a) She put my BP address onto my address card, as it has expired

b) She told us the ins and outs of applying for Hungarian nationality and getting a passport, which Roy is thinking about doing. I am not so sure, we have just had a bellyful of bureaucracy to fight with, perhaps after a rest from them. She did print all the information and application forms for us though, so we have it, should we go for it.

Item no. 3: hardware shop for chainsaw lubricating oil – tick

Item no. 4: Pharmacy for ear drops – tick

Item no. 5: computer shop for another adapter for my headphones – tick

Item no. 6: household electrical goods shop to look at TVs and cookers: - tick

Still no sign of cooker, but we had a good look at TVs. We’ll be back in January.

It was a reasonably successful trip, but I will not go shopping 4 days before Christmas again in a hurry.

 

Other than our trip into Pásztó we didn't go anywhere else in the last 8 days. Time, as usual, was mostly spent either reading or on the computer. I am a great fan of Lynda la Plante, but I thought that I read all of the books I have from her on my shelves. Well, that might not be the case, although the fact that I have no memory of having ever read Entwined is no proof of that. Nowadays I have memory troubles, so perhaps I have, just having no recollection of it. Anyway, it is a weird story. Totally different from anything I have ever read from her. Two women, one a lion tamer in a circus, another married to a baron and going insane, have something in common, which hasn't turned up in the book yet, but I have a good idea what it is. Quite criminal, hard, dangerous and insane the atmosphere in it, but I am enjoying it, so I will let you know once I finished it, what I really think of it.

 

Charlotte Le Bon as Marguerite

Television was mostly Netflix, other than my usual stuff. I also came across a picture, The Hundred-Foot Journey, that I saw some years back, but was worth watching again. It was heartwarming, but still with some social comment and reality with a happy ending, which in my current state of psyche is most welcome. For some weird reason Roy can watch the BBC on his computer, so he is now heavily into catching up on the last 2 or 3 seasons of Who Do You Think You Are. He even learnt how to get the VPN up and then iPlayer and then pleasure follows.

 

The gorgeous Bradley Cooper in Burnt

My recent pleasures included Burnt and Father Christmas is Back on Netflix. Both films were very enjoyable. The first had Gordon Ramsey amongst the adviser/producers, so you can imagine what it was about. A rude chef. The second was a typical piece of Christmas schmaltz, but enjoyable all the same. I also managed to catch the last two episodes of Jack Whitehall travelling with his father, this time in the UK on account of the pandemic and his 81 years of age. Absolutely brilliant that grumpy old man, he was just such a fantastic stooge for Jack Whitehall, shame they haven't discovered this double act until about 10 years ago, but at least we did get that much fun out of them since.

 

Father Christmas is back

One of the moans last week was about the pálinka mash, but I am happy to report that it went to the still on Saturday. It is not back yet, but it is probably queueing at the distillers, as he is the best one in the area, for a large number of miles.

 

Alex and Meaghan 33rd and 34th in the queue

Family news included a report that Alex and Meaghan got their booster shots, albeit after several hours of queueing outside in the Canadian winter. Of all our family, I think they are the best vaccinated lot, although by now Roy and I both had 3 each, so we can't complain. It is an interesting topic whether Covid jabs will become like flu jabs, i. e. to be given yearly? And one or two doses? I read somewhere that Pfizer is already working on an Omicron version of its jab, which should be available by March. Are we going to get some of that too? In many ways I am glad that the pharmaceutical industry has been and still is this fast and good about producing the vaccines. On the other hand, I am outraged at the profiteering they do, by seriously overpricing it, even those that have had state and/or private sponsorship, and the fact that they are very reluctant to supply the Third World, precisely because they can't afford their prices. Russia and China have been better about the Third World, but Big Pharma has been appalling.

 

Flames in the stove

And the last item to let you know about is the big stove, which has been working now for a few weeks. You may recall that the inside of it is so laden with tar that the guy who came to clean and maintain it in the spring suggested a substance called KONIX to use to get the tar off. After some searching I managed to order 5 kilos of it and as I wanted to use it now that the fire is going, I read the instructions. Having read what chemicals are in it, I decided not to use it, as it might have poisoned poor Roy, who sleeps in the same room at the moment. Happily, once we are both upstairs in our own bedroom, hopefully I should be able to start using KONIX overnight.

By for now, hope your festive season is pleasant and sickness free, have a good one, and the next post is now going to be after Christmas.

The ninetysecond week of the pandemic

The last few days have not been the best on the whole. It is like the world is out to get me. My VPN fowled up again, so no TV, the internet in Bér has slowed down to such an extent, that it is unusable at times, the weather is either pouring or freezing rain, or so cold that it would be insane to go out, so there is absolutely no chance of achieveing my target of 2500 caches total by 31st, my arthritis is absolutely doing me in, it has not been this painful ever, and then some b....y race director robs Lewis of his championship, shall I carry on?

Mickey in 2021

So, as part of a campaign to try and forget all the things, events and people who have contributed to my stress levels being kept high, I am trying to concentrate on those people, animals, happenings and events, but most of all people who have cheered me up, who kept me going and helped me to appreciate the good side of life. Mickey, through his One O'clock photos has always been a source of delight. He is one hell of a bundle of fur and purr, even though he is half way round the world in Toronto. Merry Christmas to you Mickey with lots of love!       

Dont't worry Lewis, 2022'll be better!

Now, from the sublime to the ridiculous. The final race of the 2021 F1 season. I will copy here my post on FB that went with a share of an excellent Guardian article, as mentioned in the post: "Manipulation of the rules by race director Michael Masi leads to Max Verstappen victory which felt more bungled than buoyant." The first sentence of an excellent article by Giles Richards in the Guardian confirmed for me exactly what I guessed had happened, even though I did not watch the race. I admit, I am enraged precisely because I love Lewis Hamilton and I wanted him to win. Yes, nobody is 100% unbiased when it comes to something like the 2021 F1 season. But, I can assure you that I would have been almost as much enraged had this happened the other way round. But what is even more important, I fully believe that Lewis himself would not have wanted to win like this. It is a shame that someone as brilliant, talented and with a great future ahead of him as Max, would have to win his first World Championship under these shady, questionable and unacceptable circumstances. As for the motivation of Michael Masi, I am not considering accusations of corruption or racism, as I have no reason to believe him to be either corrupt or racist. What, however, I am not only suspecting, but am convinced of, is that Masi was proven to have a weak backbone and a personality of buckling under pressure. Pressure from the need to put the spectacle first, as against sporting fairness, as expressed by the rules. He has a tremendous amount of discretion, which, I believe, he abused on this occasion. Shame!!

The infamous Michael Masi

Another thing that annoys me at the moment (sorry about all this whingeing!), is that we are awaiting three things which I was hoping that would arrive before Christmas. As it happens, I am beginning to give up on all three for that. First of all I was told that I would get the results of my coronary CT in three weeks. It is nearly four now and the days before Christmas are usually useless for anything important. I suppose I will have to ring my cardiologist and ask.

Not Roy, but typical cone-beam CT image

Second item is related to another CT, this time Roy's dental CT, which we were given on a CD, but I am not a dental surgeon, so I need his opinion to advise me when to make an appointment for further works with him. If Roy's jaw is not completely healed, there is no point in going for work he cannot yet do. When I rang the surgery, I was only able to speak to the receptionist, who promised to look up if the information on the CT had arrived at the surgery and also have a word with the dentist about it. That was a week ago, but no contact since. This new guy I am beginning to dislike intensely, especially, when I compare him to our absolute darling of a dentist, Vivienn, who left a few months ago. I don't think there is any point staying at that surgery, even though they are very good, because Dr. Németh is not user friendly and his hands are much more brutal than Vivenn's were. The trouble is that we are stuck there until Roy's lower bridge is done, as the work is in progress and it is also very difficult to find a good, gentle dentist anywhere in BP. The other advantage with this lot, is that they are one of very few dental surgeries where they do implants and they do them well, so I'm told. We will know once Roy had two of them, as that is the next stage of the current works on his teeth.

ID card, although foreigners have a different one

The third item is Roy's ID card, which we were told by the ladies in Pásztó should be with us by post, in a week. Well, we are nearing two weeks, so that will also be arriving, if ever, well after Christmas now, I suppose. As it happens, I am not that bothered, as that card is not essential currently to our operations, but the two CT's are, so those will have to be chased.

 

I mentioned that my VPN is not working again, but I suspect that the trouble is not with the VPN itself, but with the various television channels and/or with our internet provider. UK is fine, but US isn't. Also, the whole internet is extremely slow, which, I suppose is because the usage is ever increasing, while the service isn't. Digi, our internet provider, has only bought out the previous provider about 3 years ago. There were supposed to be grandiose developments, fibre optics installed etc., etc., and then the pandemic hit. Nothing has been done ever since, and if anything, it is getting worse. I have a friend who works for them and she tells me, that if there a choice, I should choose the other one. Regrettabley there is no choice in the village, which is precisely the reason why they have not done anything. No competition causes prices to rise and the service to deteriorate. Right through my life of by now quite considerable length, I have seen this happen many times. Nothing's changed, except for the worse.

The delicious "doctored" pizza

Now for pleasanter topics: After we got back from geocaching last week we had thrown together a pizza, which was delicious. I forgot to let you have its photo, so here it is. This was basically a frozen Quattro Fromaggi pizza, which we "doctored" with extra Dutch cheese, red onions, mushrooms and garlic. So, we made a Cinque Fromaggi delicacy, which will stay in the repertoire for the foreseeable future. 

Hyacinths in a row

In Lidl we bought some hyacinths the last time we shopped, and which are now on the windowsill in the bathroom. They are pink and blue ones, one's rather large, two are medium and one a little runt, which refused to grow up. However, whatever their size, their scent is sublime. Perfect air freshener for the bathroom/toilet, as Roy remarked, and he should know.

Father Christmas in Pásztó

The snow mentioned in the last post, unfortunately, disappeared. On the other hand, Christmas decorations have appeared everywhere, including Pásztó, so here are a couple of photos from there. Christmas is also dominating television and its programs. I have never watched more Xmas kitsch in my life than I did on Netflix in the last week. Sheer frustration from the VPN not working, you see?

Santa's sleigh in Pásztó

The weather, although currently without snow, has been going colder and colder. This morning it was -6 Celsius, but at least it wasn't windy, although that was not useful for lighting the fire. We finally fired up the big pottery stove, which was amazingly easy, compared to previous years. I think the reason is due to how late we left it. As long as you have a considerable temperature difference between indoors and outodoors, the chimney will pull, although a bit of wind is also useful. We are using the newly bought chopped firewood from Bercel, which burns well, leaves very little ash, but is lethal to pick up with bare hands. I had more splinters in my hands this last week, than in the last 10 years previously. Will have to start wearing gloves I'm afraid.

Our big pottery stove

 

My little birds are still eating the sunflower seeds like there was no tomorrow. The cold and lack of alternative food must be the reason behind it, but it does mean that when we go to Pásztó next, we'll have to buy another 40kg sack of seed.

One little lonely great tit on the feeding bowl

The pálinka mash is still in the courtyard, I will have to ring Pali to ask what is the situation. It is getting very late, I'm afraid that it will lose its alcohol content if it is not distilled soon. I think Pali deliberately left it late, to make sure that his mash has matured fully, and then found that the distillers are fully booked until after Christmas. I am only guessing, but I bet that is what has happened.

Talking of booze, I have another problem. My beloved port - Cockburn's Special Reserve - is almost finished and it would be a miserable Christmas without it. So, Roy came up with a solution. He was tidying up the booze cupboard and found another bottle of port, which we totally forgot about. It's a W. & J. Graham's and the vintage is 2012, so it might have been a present from long ago, from someone, that we no longer remember, but bless him, he or she is going to help me over a crisis. While I have never before heard of this brand, I am currently drinking it, so that I can have my favourite at Christmas. To be honest, it is almost as good as the Cockburns, perhaps a bit weaker and sweeter, but it is great all the same.

Another food related naughtiness you might be interested in, is about biscuits. Roy and I have two absolutely favourite English biscuits, one of which we can occasionally buy here, McVitie's Dark Chocolate Digestives, but the other one has never been available. Both were brought as presents by Elian and Xander, when they came over for Half Term. We put them aside for Christmas, to be enjoyed in the festive season. And then, Roy could not help himself and opened a packet of the other one, McVitie's Fruit Shortcake biscuits. He loves to eat that with Cheddar. He swears by the contrast between the savoury cheese and the sweet biscuit. Sounds a bit strange, but I guarantee you would love it, so try it by all means, with Roy's recommendations!

Must go now, as it is well past morning coffee time and his master's voice form above is demanding his special treat, which consists of a medium sized cup of Ristretto coffee from Nespresso with a couple of chocolate wafers, as usual. His biscuits have now been hidden, so that they are still around at Christmas. :)

The ninetyfirst week of the pandemic

After many weeks of not much activity, this last week has been pretty busy again. The day after I last posted, we had a phone call from one of the ladies at the Pásztó government office that everything is ready for Roy to come in and have his biometrics taken for his ID card. Biometrics is basically his photograph, his fingerprints and his iris scan. As we were away from Sunday until Thursday, I thought we’d better go on Friday and have it done with.

The lovely Viennetta

I decided to buy some cakes for the ladies in that office, as they were really nice, patient, and helpful well beyond the call of duty to us. Unfortunately, the patisserie was closed, as we went quite early, so I popped into SPAR and bought two frozen desserts, (1 Viennetta and 1 Tiramisu, and a big box of biscuits). The biometric went off fine, the various bits of form filling and signing went off OK as well, and the sweets were received with slight embarrassment but a lot of pleasure as well.

We are getting fond of SPAR in Pásztó

 

We went to shop at SPAR for food, popped into the white goods store, only to see that practically all the gas cookers that we fancied last time have been sold. Never mind, we were only going to buy one after Christmas anyway.

Lewis passing Max

Sunday was the day when Saudi Arabia held its first F1 race. I didn’t watch it live, due to my wish to see Lewis win, but when I did watch it later, it turned out to be an epic event. Many safety car sessions, some penalties, and a good few accidents plus many funny negotiatons with the race director and the stewards. I don’t think I have ever seen anything like it, and that went for most of the spectators as well.

Lewis in winning mode

Lewis won, and Max was penalised. I must admit, I was really pleased that this time it wasn’t Lewis that got the penalty, as they seem to pick on him usually, but not this time.  Although, as it happens, he would have won even without Max’s penalty. The entire season of 21 races could not separate Max and Lewis. The championship will be decided on the last race in Abu Dhabi next Sunday, which I will also not watch, until it is over.  On Sunday, the first snow of the winter arrived. It was about 5cm laying, but as soon as the sun was out, it melted. For a while, though, it was spectacular.

Roy is clearing a path to Nelly's gate

 

On Sunday, after lunch we went to BP. We hade to go, as I had a check-up with my dermatologist, Roy had a dental CT and his booster jab and finally we also fixed up a get-together with Ros and Ian. We were only staying for 3, then quickly home. Well, that was the plan, but we changed it as you will see in a minute.

The two lovely ladies in the hospital reception

 

On Monday we decided that, if we can squeeze it in before my doctor’s appointment, we will try to go to the nearby hospital and get Roy his booster jab without an appointment. A good friend of mine had his there last week, and said that it would be silly not to try it. Well, we did and it worked. The doctor was really nice, he spoke English and we were in and out in less than an hour. The only bit of delay was caused by all staff having their Christmas group photo taken. See the photo of two of the angels at reception!

My grumpy dermatologist

My dermatologist lady was pleased with my ultrasound, had a look at my back and said I would have to come back in six months. I may have been mistaken, but she was not nearly as lovely as I remember her from last time. Then she was so reassuring etc., this time she was business like, not a smile to be seen and distant. I suppose even doctors are human and she might have had a bad day.

Ros and Ian in a BP park in August 2020

As Roy had his jab on Monday, we could squeeze in a couple of hours of catching up and chatting with Ros and Ian on Tuesday, in the early afternoon. We agreed that we will take the cakes and they will supply the drinks, alcoholic as well as tea. We got some strudel and chocolate gateau, the tea was Green Tea with Lemon and the booze was Isla whisky. I finished their Caol Ila, Roy had some of it too, followed by Laphroaig.  Hopefully, they should be back some time and when the good weather comes we shall get together more often.

One of Endocenter's promotional photos

Roy’s CT was taken and I must admit I am much impressed by the Endocenter, where it was done. I went there about 3 years ago, and the CT only went up in price by about 10%. That is unheard of in Hungary. Six months and it goes up by more than that in most places. I saw some of the staff and they are all young as well as predominantly female. I am thinking of changing dentists and will see whether they would have me or not. Apparently, there are some codes of practice that do not look upon very kindly if one surgery pinches other surgeries' patients. We’ll see.

Fillet steak

After the CT we went to shop at what we call the “Crazy Market”. The name comes from the building they are in, although we love it now, but at first look we took it to be a bit way out and like a pirate ship. Crazy indeed. The main purchase was getting Roy’s fillet steak, which we buy only once a year, at Christmas, and we normally have it from that market. The guy selling it was very nice, got me exactly the one I wanted and gave me a bit of a discount. It finally cost 13000Ft, which is about £30. Not bad. We cut up half and froze it in BP, the other half came to the village and got frozen here.

Sülysáp church

Egret

And then on Wednesday we came home, but not straight away. Roy and I looked up an area South of Pest, where there are some caches I haven’t found yet. So we left about 8am and spent the day caching. We had some interesting ones, like a bloke who owns a big inn by the side of a main road, but also several hundred old cars, trucks, bikes etc. all exhibited outside. The cache was in the boot of a Trabant, which was funny. We even had a word with him and he seemed a classical mad collector. Roy enjoyed himself too.

One of his racing cars

Half bike, half trailer - for deliveries

 

Some of the flatlands of the Great Plain were fascinating. Some bogs, lakes, lookout towers, long grass, cantilever wells, cattle with long horns etc., etc. We also saw an interesting church, 2 caches in a bigger town, called Jászberény, and the memorial house of a painter. We also went to do a big food shop in Lidl and Tesco. Hopefully we will not have to go out again before Christmas, but if we do, it should not be a big shop. By the time we got home we were both totally exhausted. But it was fun. Dinner was a frozen pizza doctored by me. We put extra Danish cheese on an already rather cheesy Quattro Fromaggi pizza, plus red onions, mushrooms and cocktail tomatoes. It was superb. Oh, and does that make it a Cinque Fromaggi pizza?

The lookout tower by a lovely lake

The little lake by the lookout tower

Next post next Wednesday, hopefully. Let us also hope that by then our pálinka mash would have gone to the still, as Pali promised it will go this week.