Caching, visiting with Pityu and his crowd + more Fáklya

The main event of the last week was our trip to do some geocaching as well as visit our friends in Monoszló. We only realised once we were there how long it was that we have not been. It is somewhere between 4 and 5 years since we last had been at Pityu's place. Perhaps we were there to harvest some grapes or just visiting.

St. Stephen's crown on a tall column

Roy by the Kőröshegyi viaduct

The trip itself was probably the least successful of all our visits there, for a variety of reasons. Some of them had nothing to do with our host, like finding that we can no longer enjoy sleeping in any other bed
than our own, getting old, aches and pains etc., etc. However, the main reason, unfortunately, was that somehow we couldn't enjoy ourselves like we used to in the past. Ági was missing, due to her father's frail state and the fact that the host himself was a lot older and less mobile and less willing to go out into the fresh air for some excercise had a lot to do with it. 

Pityu and David playing cards

The final, and probably the main reason, was the dominance of playing cards literally all the time. I do not play cards, and managed over the years to get out of it with the excuse (and true as well) that I do not play bridge. However, having arrived very early, I was pressed into learning to play bridge, otherwise the other three could not play. I allowed them to make me play, and up to a certain point even enjoyed the fact that I was picking it up very easily.

Me, David, Szabi, Pityu, Richard and Mary

 

However, when in every 24 hours I had to play for at least 10 of it, that got too much. I have no idea whether it was the booze or the sitting in one position for all those hours, but at the end of the first day I ended up with severe arthritic pain in practically all my joints. Having to stay up until 1am didn't help either. I was really ill the following day, and I saw that Roy started getting tetchy too. Finally, he went on strike and explained that he had enough. That was very true, and then I joined him. Later they changed away from bridge and I joined them for a short while, having quite good luck at cards.

Richard, Pálma and Mary at dinner

The Somlói Galuska, that I made and took down, was quite popular, we made closer friendship with Richard and Szabi, his wife, and amused ourselves with his grumpiness at being last at all different card games. Awfully Hungarian, getting uptight about something you play voluntarily. Still, I cannot complain as he turned out to be a watch maker, with a shop in BP, so yesterday we went and got Roy's watch strap adjusted, so he can wear it now, and we can finally wear both our Christmas presents.

Roy's and my Xmas presents, now fucntional

 

En route down on Thursday we had a good day geocaching. The sun shone beautifully, the caches were quite interesting and photogenic and we even took a trip on the Balaton ferry across to Tihany, which we haven't done for donkeys' years. On our way back we did some more caching. Found the parts of a multicache around Zánka, as well found the outstanding parts of a very long bike multi, which we started on the way down.

The view of the Balaton from our cache

 

On the Friday of our stay at Monoszló David and I, both suffering from cabin fever, got away to do a bit of a hike, while finding two caches as well. We drove to Balatoncsicsó and walked from there. The higher we got, the views got better and better. The sun was shining brilliantly and all in all it was a great time out. I love being with David, he is calm, a very good listener and it is easy to be relaxed in his company. We found one part of a multicache which I might find the rest of the points of later, placed the moving cache I found earlier in the week and did a study route with a nice spring for one of the points, which was enjoyable.

The 4-trunked tree where we hid the moving cache

En route back from the hike Alex phoned and told me that his wild camping in the snow for 5 days was great and awful all at the same time. Apparently, this is a religious and aesoteric group, who seem to use the fact that all their clients are in total isolation and in no position to just walk out, for exercises in some sort of self exposure that Alex found distasteful and most aggravating being forced to do. He didn't want to be to strident about his feelings, as they might have ostrasized him from then on, and after all he went to learn wilderness skills, which he then would have missed. The most dishonest action on the part of the organisers of this trip was hiding these aspects of the trip. Had Alex known about it, he would never have gone on it, that's for sure. Mind you, the main reason why they hid that must have been that they would have lost their  government grant, which forbids any religion on state funded  events.

Alex's trailer in winter

Thankfully, his bit of misery on these 5 days was followed by a good weekend at the trailer with his  kayaking friends, which more than made up for the previous 5 days. His recent job applications are still in the system, but I heard last week that he didn't get a job that he really would have loved. There were several hundred applications and as it had something to do with trade unions, I think his politics would have scuppered his chances anyway. Still, he is quite upbeat, active and happy, so I can keep my fingers crossed for him to get a job by the autumn latest. The summer will be spent with the kayak courses he will be running, but I really want him to settle down to something solid by the end of the year.

David Roper - a striking miner in 1984

I have watched the Miners' Strike: The Frontline Story on BBC iPlayer and it was both heartbreaking and soul lifting. I am now in process to try to sort out how to download it, so I can show it, perhaps at the Auróra, to the comrades and anyone else who might be interested. I am seriously behind with my US serials, but life is so full of stuff nowadays that I just didn't get to them for over a week.

Roy, Arne and Heike from Norway

 

Yesterday we met up with a family history contact of Roy in a cafe and had a really lovely hour and half long chat, listening to each other's stories about our family history. Arne lives in Norway, but had a Hungarian Jewish mother, whose past he is now trying to find out. I enjoyed his company and that of the young woman who is actually writing his story.

After our pleasant interlude we went shopping and sorted a few things that have been hanging over our heads for a while. We did everything, including a lovely new red checkered tablecloth to covere the full length of the table when we have to extend it to take all my comrades for the branch meetings. The one thing we didn't do, is me going to the doctors, which is today at midday. Let's hope that Dr. Dános will have some idea why I cannot shake this awful cold/flu/Covid or anything else that I have had for nearly 2 months.

The lovely new tablecloth for the flat

Last night we also had a Reading Group meeting, (chapters 7 and 8 of Engels' The History of the Family, Private Property and the State), which was thoroughly enjoyable. We had a new guy Balthazar attending, who seemed very nice and bright. I hope he comes again. There is only one more session on this book, after which the Reading Group will also split and will be run by the two separate  branches. No idea what we are reading yet, but it looks as if it will have something to do with Marx's Capital, which I both fear and welcome in equal measure.

Rober's house from the air

 

Finally, today I fixed up with Robert, that we will go and visit him in April, as his house, not a million miles from Pityu's, we have not been even longer than to Monoszló. I hope that will not be a disappointment, like the other one was, but I suppose that the last visit, which was Volker's wake, can probably be easily improved upon.

Must go now, next post hopefully Wednesday next week.