The hundred and fortysixth week of the pandemic

The last week has been good in parts and not so good in others. Let's not bother with the crappy bits, so let me tell you about all the good stuff. I have last been to geocache with Viktor more than 3 weeks ago. I really missed it, but sometimes the weather wasn't good, at other times we had other things to do, and finally, being in the village there are no caches left within 1 hour of travel in any direction, which seems Roy's limit nowadays.

Our Christmas decoration

But!! The festive season was approaching and I got him agree to accompany me to the Geochristmas tree nearest to Bér. This year, it was in Abasár, which was about an hour's drive from the village. On Saturday 24th, off we went in weather not particularly bright, but reasonably mild and rain-free. Much to my surprise, when we got there, there was not a soul to be seen. The reason was mostly two-fold: 1. We were far too early, both in terms of the time since the cache was put out, as well as in terms of within the day. 2. This area does not organise any communal get-together associated with the tree, so it is pot luck, like 2 years ago, when the tree was not a million miles from Abasár, and without any organisation, I met at least a dozen people by and near the cache.

Roy by the Geochristmas tree

Never mind, Roy and I found the cache, logged it and drove home. Needless to say, the weather got even milder and there was sparkling bright sunshine all over the place on Sunday. We could have waited a day, but at least it was dry. At home we are not normally festive: no tree, no sparkles and definitely no cards. However, we had good food, even better drink and as a token homage to the event, we hung up two Father Christmas booties and an electrically lit up tiny christmas tree, which Linda sent us last year.

Our Christmas selfie by the tree

I also spent some time filling out the three missing forms that Stephen and I had forgotten to fill out originally. Initially, I had to wait for some dates, but with the exception of Lucy's parents' wedding dates, we are now all good. I updated the forms and if Helen can't remember her own wedding date, what can we do? Talking of the family, Stephen had finally got round to getting some really good Christmas presents for himself, Hannah and the kids from the £500 I sent them for the purpose. I even received some photos, which I am publishing here.

Hannah in her new leggings

 

Xander with his Hungary football top

Xander with his Xmas present

Elian with his Xmas present

 

Daniel Craigin Knives Out

I spent some time also on Netflix, and watched Knives Out and its follow-up The Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Initially I found Daniel Craig's ludicrous accent aggravating, but after a while I got used to it, and while I am still at a loss, what sort of accent that was, and moreover what on earth was its point, the actual movies were enjoyable.

Christmas breakfast

Last week I ordered some of my homeopathic food supplements and vitamins from two different outfits online, and amazingly, they both came on the same GLS van just as we returned from town. Now I am set up for 3 months with all my medications, potions, drops, vitamins and probiotics, which will of course, be running out just before we are off on the cruise, so I will have to make sure I'm up to speed with ordering them then.

Óhegy park in the sunshine

And then today, Wednesday, 28th December 2022, we journeyed in to town to spend New Year's Eve amongst a bit more life, than is available in the village. We spent a few hours geocaching en route, taking in three new(ish) caches in various bits of Budapest. The first was absolutely lovely. A cute little park in one of the Southern suburbs, beautifully renovated, rebuilt and kept immaculate ever since. It had space for runners, space for children, dogs, chess players, table tennis players, playgrounds etc., etc. Roy stayed in the car and I went to find the cache and take some photos. The sun still shone and all was well.

Big tree with bird nesting box

The next cache had three parts and I had a lot more bother with that one. Still, it took me to interesting places, while I was scratching my head and it had beaten even Roy at one point, which is rare. Still, the theme of it was the history of Ferencváros, one of the oldest and most famous Hungarian football teams and its most famous and successful player, Florián Albert. We went to the housing estate where he lived, to the brand new fancy football stadium that is now home to Fradi and to a nicely restored 19th century/early 20th century square, with a lovely church and nice majestic buildings, one of which housed the inaugural meeting of the team when it was founded.

Flórián Albert's memorial plaque

The third one we didnt have time for, so the exhibition will have to be visited later, perhaps when Stephen is visiting next month. I only found the alternative cache, just for the password. I am really interested in the exhibition of memorabilia from the communist era, which runs under the name of Retro Adventure Centre.

The current Fradi stadium

Now we are back at the flat, Roy threw together a late lunch of eggs, chips, beans and a salad, which was lovely, He had a little nap and I have been catching up on the computer. If the weather is good, we are going caching again tomorrow, this time out of the city in a SW direction. If the weather is bad, we'll stay at home and perhaps visit Roy's pub once it is not raining.

Bakáts Square church

On Friday, I am off to Lajosforrás, a hiking spot North of the city, where the geocachers are having a party celebrating the end of the year and looking forward to the next. There is an event cache there, plus lots of friends to chat with and some food and drink, if I'm lucky. Roy is not coming, especially if the weather is bad. No bother, I have wellies, raincoats and a big brolly. Next post is now going to be next year, so have a good New Year's Eve, and I'll talk to you in 2023 next.

Budapest Retro Adventure Centre