It's Wednesday again and I am writing my blog post. Time flies very fast when you are busy. The first thing I wanted to mention here, is something that those of you who regularly read this must have already noticed. I have started experimenting with new fonts and bigger sizes of text. The last couple of weeks I stayed with my old font, just put it up to 14 from 12. The interesting thing is that even though I set it to exactly same type and size font the last two weeks, last week had larger letters than the one before. Also, in last week's post there was one paragraph that suddenly went back to being tiny. Weird!!! This one is Verdana, which is a font I have never used before, but quite like it. See how it goes, I might stay with it.
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| Laci and Márti last summer |
The day after last day's post we came into town and will stay until the middle of December. So many programs and things to do plus they are scattered in a way that there is no point in going back to the country just for a couple of days before coming back again. We started giving some thought to what present to take to Laci and Márti when we'll spend a weekend with them, plus I really wanted to give some Christmas present to Bozsa and Árpi as well. As both couples live in Csobánka, perhaps we can combine the presentations somehow.
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| Our jams |
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| Selfie with Bozsa in the Opera |
In the evening I went to the Opera with Bozsa and we saw a fantastic performance of the Magic Flute from Mozart. As a change, this one had practically no foreign singers, but it was still of high quality indeed. As you know, I always choose a favourite, and it didn't take me long to decide who was the best in my view. Sándor Csaba, who sang and acted, I hasten to add, Papageno with such enthusiasm, beautiful voice and good acting talent, that I definitely give him my trophy.
You may also remember that some weeks ago I helped an English friend to get a ticket to Albion's match in Strasbourg. Well, the match was on the same evening as my Opera visit, and the sad news is that Crystal Palace lost 1:2. I'll have to write a letter to Ian to find out how much of a trauma that was for him?
On Friday I started to feel ill again. This dreadful lurgy this autumn, now spreading into winter, is in no way leaving me alone. I had hot flushes, bad sleep and my head was completely fuzzy. For the first time ever I had to cancel my discussion group, as my brain went on strike and there was no chance of comprehending the text I was trying to read. I agreed with the boys to postpone until I will be in better nick. The punchline of the lurgy came on Saturday. I had a really distressing sneezing fit for about 4 hours in the morning. I felt sick, dizzy and in no condition to do anything. The real worry was that I would not be able to go to the Hash on Sunday, which would have been most upsetting. It was a memorial hash to honour those hashers who have died in the last few years. My place was there, even if I was dying.
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| Memorial for displaced Germans in Biatorbágy |
Thankfully, I had a reasonable night's sleep and felt a lot better on Sunday morning. Roy and I decided, that we would go, but not take part in the run/walk, but make our way to the pub where the hash usually ends up at the end. Taking part in the circle was also out of the question, as it was held outdoors near 0 Celsius. And that is what we did. That made us miss the freshly compose hash hymn in memory of departed hashers of Budapest H3, abut overall, the whole day was a great success.
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| The many beers in the Serház |
We managed to get to the Southern Railway Station in good time, when we met up with many other hashers catching the same train. More hashers got on at the next stop, so it looked that the estimated participation of 20 bodies was quite close to the mark. Outside Biatorbágy railway station we hung around for the instructions, and then scarpered to get to the pub as slowly as it was safe for both of us and happily we covered the 2 km to get there in half an hour. That was enough for both of us to be out in the cold.
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| A summer photo of the Serház terrace in front |
The pub called Serház was an absolute delight. It sells its own artisan beers and the choice is endless. We would have to go back a dozen times to try all of them. The table reserved for us was still used by a previous group, so Roy and I sat down in two very comfortable armchairs in the bar and started drinking their beer. As I had no idea which one to get, I told the barmaid to give us the most bitter tasting one.
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| Roy in his comfort zone |
Unfortunately, a lot of beers, even artisan ones have cornmeal in them, which takes most of the bitterness off. Well, the one we got was called Sztahanov, after the Soviet prominent worker, who was to be followed by all workers in Soviet factories. Joke aside, it was gorgeous, with a taste very similar to my beloved Popcorn at the Rizmajer in the city near the flat. There were two differences between the two beers: 1. the one in the Serház was hazy; 2. and it was a great deal cheaper than the other one in the city. I know where I would rather go, although Biatorbágy is a bit too far to go just for a pint.
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| Roy's pulled pork with onions and peppers |
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| My liver pate on bread with onions and peppers |
I was also worried that Roy was going to grumble about the haziness of the beer he was drinking, but miraculously he said nothing about it. I think he is still living by the old British prejudice, that if you can't see your fingers through the beer on the other side of the glass, something's wrong with it. Here, he seemed quite happy glugging it down and go for a quick second pint. Obviously, the taste was much more important than the looks of his beer, and I agreed with him that it was delicious.
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| Roy is having a good time |
After about 2 and half hours the hashers turned up with red cheeks from the cold. They quickly disappeared to hold the circle in the back garden of the pub, so Roy and I had some nachos and a pretzel to keep the wolf from the door. We also made friends with the staff behind the bar and with some customers, who were very friendly and chatty. We really loved the atmosphere of the place with was lively, friendly and very young.
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| Hulk and Colin in deep discussion |
Eventually, we could go through to the foodie part of the pub, as the group doing a sausage competition had finished, then ate all the sausages and left. While the interminable circle was still dragging on, Roy and I pushed together three tables, which eventually was exactly as big as the numbers needed. As the cold got worse, hasher after hasher reappeared, sneaking off half frozen. Finally, once all were in there, we ordered a latish lunch, which was delicious. Some had sausages, presumably left behind by the previous group, others had pulled pork and I had a large slice of bread covered in liver pate, red onions and hot peppers. Yum, yum!!!
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| The happy hashers round the table |
We all caught the 5:06 pm coach back to Budapest and in just over an hour we were indoors in the warm, with Roy sleeping like a baby within 10 minutes of our arrival. It was a fantastic event, we met old hashing friends we haven't seen in ages, and I managed not to cough or sneeze once, which made me think that happiness is the best cure for bad and lingering flu.
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| The happy hashers from the other end of the table |
Monday was pretty much spent indoors, in fact I was in bed most of the time to make sure I recover for the coming weekend, which I am really looking forward to. More about this later. Tuesday we had to go out as I have discovered a stationary shop quite close to the flat, where we needed to buy some stuff for the presents in the baskets. We also went to Lidl to buy some more food. It was after carrying the food home that I realised that neither Roy, nor I are really 100% fit yet, as it knocked him right out and I wasn't feeling to brilliant either. He is lucky to be able to sleep during the day, so he recovered a bit after a nap.
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| The brave winter camper with his tent behind him |
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| The boys having fun in Georgian Bay |
After shopping and having lunch I rang Alex to find out how did his winter camping trip with Virgil went. I did see some of the photographs he put up on FB and I reckoned it was a bit hairy towards the end. The weather suddenly got worse and they had to cut it short by quickly docking at a marina on the mainland. Very wise, I thought, big chunk of safety is knowing when to give up, and they were spot on. The hot tent, which was his birthday present from us, was christened and performed perfectly. They were very warm in the night and he told me that he had to go and have a wee, when he also put some more wood on the fire and they never felt the cold.
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| Virgil with a very long pole |
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| Helmets and dry suits for safety |
Now I am thinking of what else do I need for my long weekend coming up, so that I can go out and buy it in time. As we left my hiking poles in the car and it takes about 20 minutes by trolley bus to get out there, we decided that we'll do that plus the outstanding shopping tomorrow combined, so that we can stay indoors all day today.
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| Lots of caches on the map to get |
This weekend has been long planned and in a way I wouldn't mind if it was a bit later, as I am still quite dodgy health wise, but it is not my plan, so I'll just have to go with it. I am going geocaching to the South of the country, in Peter's car, with him driving, and the others are Henriett, Balázs, her boyfriend, and Iparivasutas, another geocacher. This latter guy seems very nice by all accounts, but I have never met him before, so hopefully I'll get to know him this weekend. We are leaving on Friday afternoon and returning on Sunday evening. Wish us good weather, please, I am fragile enough to suffer even in good weather, but storms, snow and other wintry delights, will probably defeat me. We'll see, said the blind man!!!
Wish me good luck, and the next post is due on Wednesday, as usual. 💖
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