A birthday party and the heatwave

This is going to be an extremely short post. Not a lot happened since last Wednesday, which is actually very good, as we have had very little rest lately. The reason we are now in Budapest, is that a last minute invitation came from friends to join them at one of our mutual friend's 70th birthday party. We were going to go to our 4-day geocaching trip straight from Bér, as we were going East. However, now that we came in we decided to stay until Wednesday morning and go from BP.

The birthday boy wth his present

We had two strange days last Saturday and Sunday. In fact, Saturday was a bit hard, but we laughed at it eventually. It was seriously annoying on several fronts, starting with the traffic jam that we sat in for over half hour on our way into BP. Then when we got to the flat, we found that Stephen left the TV in a setting we couldn't change and I had to ring the help line at Vodafone to sort it. Thankfully, the lovely young lady at the end of the phone was so helpful that I fixed it with her help in about 2 minutes.

After a little rest and watching TV, we departed to the suburbs where the birthday party was held. We parked the car in our usual spot where parking is still free in the city, so we had to use public transport. It took a lot longer than we thought, but there were other annoyances as well. First I forgot my phone and left it behind on the charger. The heat was in the mid to high 30’s Celsius and most trams only came every 15 minutes. Once on the last leg of our journey, I got side tracked by a chatty lady, forgot to push the exit button, so the tram whizzed past the restaurant. In the near 40 degree heat we had to walk back about half a mile, but finally we were there.

Some of the guests

Except nobody else was. We asked the waiter, he didn’t know. Not having my phone, I couldn’t’ ring anyone, and additionally, as this friend was an orienteering friend, and since I gave up orienteering, I only saw him once a year or less. And my memory is not very good any more, all I could remember was his nickname, not his proper name. We waited a bit, but then realised that if nobody is there, the problem is us. Finally, looking again in my diary, I realised that I am the idiot. It was in the diary for Sunday, but I was totally convinced that it should be Saturday.

En route home we had a jolly giggle, how ridiculous getting old makes you, plus add to it the heat, and we both ended up totally brainless. We celebrated this fact with a pint back at Roy’s favourite pub and got home rather knackered. However, on the following day we not only managed to get there with no hassle, but every single trolleybus, tram and metro came at once and we arrived about half an hour early.

Roy having a good time

We were celebrating an old orienteering friend, Ferenc Olajos, aka Szundi. Latter word means Sleepy, as in the 7 dwarfs. We had a good time, after our disastrous traipsing around the day before. The food was lovely, the drinks were plentiful and the cake was super delicious. The company was also really good, I had some lovely chats with old friends I have not seen for years and years.My old rival, Vera, brought her daughter along and she was really great chatting to. I am sure the last time I saw her last was at least 10 years ago, if not more. Her kids are as good as grown up by now, which made me feel awfully old.

Szundi cutting the cake

Szundi was the perfect host, he circulated, had a good natter with most people there and was very happy with the smart watch we, his old orienteering friends, bought for him. This little restaurant is one of very few left, which do really old fashioned, traditional Hungarian food, and it was so tasty, I really enjoyed it.

A puszta is not yet this bad, but close

The heat wave is awful again, and yesterday we had to go shopping which made me quite sick. I am taking a long time adjusting to this heat, and of course, I worry about it adversely affecting my heart. Today, on the other hand it is rather cool and while we had to go out again to fetch the baffle for the Duster that apparently arrived, I was really happy. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that it is just as cool on the 13th July, my birthday, when we are all going to Bugac, in the Hungarian puszta for a bit of a ride on a narrow gauge railway and where there is no shade whatsoever.

Szalajka Valley narrow gauge railway

Today I have still the packing to do and go to bed early, as we are leaving quite early in the morning on a little 4-day jaunt geocaching in the Bükk Mountains and the flatlands, while gathering the caches by 4 other little trains. Speak to you next week, which should be extremely busy, with my comrade Jack arriving from London, after which we are off to Bugac on Friday.