Orienteering, hashing and a break-in

At the beginning of the week we got back to the village and I was going to go into town for a concert on my own to return to meet Roy somewhere en route to Miskolc for the orienteering long weekend.  Finally, he took pity on me, drove both of us into town and then we left from there to go East.

The first event was the Night Championships, but there are no photos of it as I didn't feel risking the camera in the awful weather.  The temperature dropped to 3 degrees in the evening and it was nearly snowing. The walk to the start was 1200 metres with 120 metres of climb, so it was almost as much as my course.  As it happens I was careful, went slowly and fell onto every control cleanly.  I came second to my friend Ildi. I don't have the map (more about why later!!), so you can't have a look, but the course was OK. While I was out in the forest at night, there was thankfully no rain.

Having got a silver medal for my placing in the Night Champs, I got another one on the following day, when my team came second in the first Sprint Relay Championships. Not bad going: two silver medals in two days! In fact the relay one should have been gold, but our second runner got somewhat discombubulated in the middle of his course and it took him 2 minutes to work out what he has done.  That put paid to the gold medal! :-(

Other than orienteering we were also doing some geocaching.  This machine, which was a digger down a mine extracting coal when it was in use, is hiding a small, flat metal box with a logbook and password in it. We had some adventures trying to get to it, initially without success due to the TomTom going barmy and sending us anywhere but were it was.  Finally we worked it out and got the cache easily. We also went up to the ZOO, where there was a virtual cache, so the total was 2.

In the evening we walked to a restaurant where the food, the service and the prices were excellent. And I'm afraid this is where the good news end.  From here on there was only grief, stress, trauma and unhappiness.  As we got back from dinner I noticed an open window and knew instantly that we were robbed.  There was a break-in and thusands of pounds worth of stuff was taken.  We lost about £1500 worth gear, our friends even more.  Funnily enough, my biggest source of stress was not the loss of electronics, but the personal things, like passports, diary, code and address books and all the chargers and cables that went.  It will take me weeks, if not months to recover all the codes and entry ID's, but at least now I am busy fixing it and that is therapy against delayed shock and depression.

And then Roy came up with a great idea and sent me to do today's hash.  If all went well, I could not have attended as we would have still been at the orienteering event today, but as we cut it short and came back early, I could go and have a good time, which I deserved after all the trauma of the last few days. We numbered 9, which is a good crowd and ended up doing a long hash up and down big hills and in forests for over 3 hours.  In the meantime - as the clocks had gone back today - it was getting darker and darker and also colder and colder. Still, it was fun and I am glad I went.

On the hash we had some lovely views, saw some pretty plants, trees and even a parapenter taking off and floating about right in front of our noses.

We went to one of our favourite restaurants for food and drink after the hash, this time without Roy, who decided to stay at home on account of being still quite exhausted after recent events and with the weather having turned really freezing.

And just to prove I have not forgotten, the reason why you cannot see any scanned maps in this post is because the Night Champs map was in the rucksack that was stolen and we left before they gave back the map from the second day.  :-(  However, once they appear on RouteGadget, I will cut and paste one or two here for those of you who are into these things. Now my job for the next week and probably a few more afterwards, is to replace, recover and reorganise a lot of the stuff that was taken, including all internet codes and ID's, so I should not be too bored for a while.

PS: Finally, the Routegadget maps were posted on the net, so I can include my Night Champs course map, but without my actual route.  Not that my route would have been particularly exciting, as I took the direct route virtually on the purple line most of the time.

The week of the perfect days

Having discovered a concert midweek that I have forgotten having bought tickets for, we decided to stay in town for an extra week.

She is Japanese/Swedish and is in her eighties.  She played beautifully, I was glad I didn't forget to go. The next interesting, possibly even perfect day was on Thursday. As I have not been to the baths for at least 18 months, I decided to go, now that we were in town.  The weather was lovely and I was looking forward to it. Medicinal thermal waters are ever so good for a variety of ailments, of which I have many, arthritis being the main one.  After changing I felt a bit disappointed when I saw my favourite pool totally empty.  Of all the weeks, I had to pick on the one when they are doing maintenance on the adventure pool where I normally use the powerjets of water coming out of the side of the basin to massage my lower back.  Never mind, I thought, I go inside and see if any of my old friends are around.  And guess what? Imre, my absolute best mate, who took me into their group and is always such a lovely guy to chat to, was sitting quietly in the usual corner all on his own.  He was really pleased to see me and I was delighted to spend a good two hours with him catching up.

Far left corner where I soaked up the water while chatting to Imre

As I was leaving the baths I phoned Roy and we met up in one of our favourite restaurants where I have not been for at least as long as I haven't been to the baths. And something really magical happened there as well: Roy's favourite waitress, who frequently asked after me, Roy said, in the last year or so, spotted me and went into raptures. She stayed at our table for at least a quarter of an hour and we chatted and caught up, like I did earlier with Imre.  This day was really shaping up to be a memorable one, not only for catching up with old friends, but for the pleasure they gave me for being so happy to see me.

The Flintstones style decor belies the quality of the food and service here.

Friday was the day of my thyroid ultrasound, which, as far as I can tell, was also OK.  I haven't yet been to the doctors to discuss it, as we are back in the village, but will do so next week. Straight from the baths I went to another restaurant where Roy awaited and we had a lovely meal there as well.  There is some staff turnover there, we noticed, but the new boys and girls are as delightful as the old lot was.  It must be managerial policy to only employ sweet, friendly and very efficient staff.  I can't tell you whether I go there because of their delicious and very reasonably priced food or for the chatty, friendly staff.  Probably both!

Roy in the hills at the top of a steep climb

Glorious view looking NW

And then came the weekend.  The weather was positively summer-like. Sunny, warm and with a light breeze.  Perfect! Roy and I went to the Buda hills to mark out the route for Sunday's hash run and I noticed that there were a couple of geocaches near our route, so I attempted those as well. The main event on Saturday was the fact that Roy came with me, helped me and walked the entire route with me up steep hills, down steep dales, totalling at least 4 or possibly a bit more kilometres.

The "Lion Rock"

While I climbed up a massive rockface to the second cache, he sat comfortably on a bench right next to the "Lion Rock" below. This cache hunt was a bit hairy.  Basically, the problem was that I approached it from below. As I found out later (on my return trip), from above it would have been a lot less strenuous and positively less dangerous.  However, I always liked scrambling and while at my age my joints complain bitterly, I still loved every minute of it.  The view from the cache was breathtaking.  Unfortunately I was photographing into the sun, so the pictures ended up a bit hazy.

Sándor Jávorkai

Ádám Jávorkai

In the evening I went to a concert, which finished this perfect of all perfect days in superb fashion.  The soloists were two brothers  Sándor and Ádám Jávorkai. Sándor plays the violin, Ádám the cello.  They are both virtuoso players, for whom nothing is too hard. But, the magnificence of their technique was nothing to their personality, which brimmed with vitality, enthusiasm and reckless fun. It is a shame that they live in Vienna and are so much in demand the world over that they do not give performances at home too often.

On Sunday I had two main events planned: 1. an orienteering run; 2. the hash. As I volunteered to do some haring for the hash sometime, it was the details of the orienteering event that gave me the idea to offer to hare the hash run at the same place on the same day. On Saturday we put the signs out and on Sunday I was keeping my fingers crossed that they should still be there. Fallen leaves, naughty children and hundreds of feet that walk, run, walk the dog etc., etc. in that lovely suburb of the city, they are all enemies of fragile signs made of flour.  Still, both the orienteering and the hash went off very well.

2.3 km, 140 m climb = 50 min

 In the orienteering event I chose the shortest technical course, which was 2.3km but with 140 metres of climb. I totally missed the best route to control 2 and ended up climbing a massive hill, which I could have gone round at its bottom.  Other than that I think I chose good routes, but due to the steepness and roughness of the ground I did more than 20 min k's.  It took me 50 minutes and I wasn't last. My course was shared with the guys of the same age group and I managed to beat all but three of them!

Hulk, Run by Batteries and Genital Man waiting for lost souls

Parapenters on the other side of the airstrip

After I changed, had my sandwiches and my drink, the hash group arrived.  There were 7 of them, which nowadays counts as a well attended hash run. What, however, was very unusual, that the runners outnumbered the walkers.  Only 2 of them plus me walked at the back and the other 5 were runners.  Some of them got rather lost, but finally we got together for our circle time, which was hilarious, as usual, and was accompanied by the singing of ribald songs, much to the amusement of passers by. One or two (presumably the ones that understood our songs) looked expecially amused.

Baldrick, Titi Tata and Rabies waiting for their lunch

The final pleasure of an already seriously fun weekend, was spent in yet another one of our favourite restaurants, where all, but 2 of the hash group plus lazy bugger Roy had a delicious lunch and a few beers.

Roy and Hulk

This morning we departed into the countryside, via Tesco, where I have discovered a 50% discount on red tuna. I couldn't resist that delicacy, which even with 50% off was not cheap. This time the phone didn't ring, like last time I was cooking tuna, so it did end up nice and rare. Roy had a nice big chunk of pork fillet and we both had boiled potatoes, sprouts, while Roy had mushrooms and I a bowl of salad as well to accompany the feast.

My big chunk of red tuna looking gloriously pink in the middle

The weather is turning cold again, although it is still beautifully warm during the day. The sprout plants are getting quite large in the garden, although there is still no sign of sprouts on them; the cefre is still quietly bubbling away and the potted basil survived the 10 days we weren't here. On Thursday we are off for a very long weekend of orienteering in the hills, I'll post after we're back.

The Last Week

Last week was busy as usual.  We managed to organise a get together with Joop and Margreet, our Dutch neighbours, after their guest went. Lovely couple, I wish they came more often and stayed longer. Then I started organising my vote, which would have to be cast away from the village as we realised that we would not get back by 7pm to vote.  Unfortunately, the voting away from your usual abode facility has been abolished, so that was that.  As it happens, the FIDESZ candidate didn't win, so I'm happy.  On Tuesday I rang my doctor and my bloodtest was negative, everything is OK.  What makes me cough a lot and my joints hurt like hell, is another question which they haven't quite found the answer to yet!

The clothes and equipment tents

The main event of the week was the weekend when on Sunday I had the Orienteering Championship and the day before Roy and I spent geocaching, which for once was very enjoyable and relaxing.  The weather was absolutely amazing and the villages, towns and countryside we visited, looking for the caches, were very pleasant. On Saturday we found 6 and on Sunday en route home another 2.

The lake by our first cache

The Hindu temple where our fifth cache was

Due to my dodgy health this year and my total lack of training, I didn't make the podium, but I wasn't far off.  My class, W65, is the hardest one to win or end up on the podium in, due to the fact that all the fit old girls are between 65 and 70. This post war generation seems quite tough. I was about a minute and a few seconds from 3rd, but as my good friend Bozsa later in the evening said, considering my current state of health and strength, that was not a bad result.

W65 course at the Championships

On Sunday evening I went to a concert with Bozsa and had a spectacularly enjoyable time.  László Fenyő is a superb cellist, currently head of music at a musical high school in Karlsruhe, Germany.  He is not only a superb musician, but a fun, delightful human being as well.  This subscription ticket I got quite late is for the 2nd row, so I had a real close proximity to the stage, so watching him playing was an absolute delight.

László Fenyő with a serious face

My new hashing T-shirt with my hash name

Still back at the orienteering I managed to pick up the two T-shirts I ordered some time ago from a friend and they look great. One of them was for Roy, a belated birthday present, the other for me for the Hash.  It has my hashing name on, so I will proudly wear it this Sunday when I am the hare.

Roy, a.k.a. Daddy's Daddy

On Monday morning I watched the recorded Russian GP from Sochi. Needless to say that I was in seventh heaven when Lewis was on pole and won from the front all the way.  He is now 17 points clear of Rosberg, which is great, but no insurance. There are still three GPs left and the last one gives double points.  Still, we are keeping everything crossable crossed and hope he does it!

Lewis looking very serious

During the day I finally managed to drag Roy out for buying some shoes. Deichmann is a reasonably priced shoe shop, but Roy is not easy to please.  It can't be too expensive, it should be aesthetically pleasing and comfortable, plus nothing to way out and fancy. After this, I am amazed that we actually bought him two pairs.  And even I got a new pair of shoes, which has not even been scheduled.  After our return from shopping Callum called on Skype, which was a lovely surprise, as I haven't seen him to talk to for ages.  He is such a big boy, but he still likes his fart gun and his new pussycat, Mickey. Time flies and he is now in senior kindergarten (if that is not a contradiction in terms!). Next year he will start real school.

Callum with his ninja weapons

The fart gun

Mickey and Callum in a tender pose

Finally, we have changed our plans and are staying in town for this week, as I discovered a concert I forgot about and we also have a few other commitments too. I heard about Gone Girl with Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, so I'll go and see that if I can, as well as making a return to the thermal baths sometime this week. Talk to you next week!

A week and a half in town and village

Long time no posting (again), but this autumn seems to be totally hectic. So, to get back to last week, well, to a bit before in fact: Roy's birthday went off without a hitch.  We didn't do anything special, just veging out in Ber, relaxing, tending the garden and hanging out on the computer.

The garden is still producing beautiful blooms, especially the roses, so those are giving us a great deal of pleasure. My two new caches attracted quite a few visits and suggestions on how to describe them better. I did change one description slightly on one, but the comments are overwhelmingly positive. One other development might also come from these two caches and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it comes to pass. On two consecutive days I had a phonecall from somebody who wanted assistance with finding them.  I looked up her personal page and it looks like she is roughly my age (only 4 years younger than me) and is caching on her own.  So finally I suggested that we team up.  She sounded very enthusiastic, so this is only a project in the planning stage, but if it comes off, that would be great. Andor has abandoned me and doesn't seem to want to come anywhere near me or Roy any more and caching on one's own - while I have done it in the past - is not half as much fun as with at least one friend.  So, watch this space, I'll report back should it turn out well.

Now, you might ask what this Google Maps Street View picture of a block of flats is doing here? I might have mentioned a lovely British couple of friends on the blog before whom we know from the hashing crowd I sometimes run with and Roy sometimes drinks and dines with. This particular couple has just exchanged on an apartment in Bp and it is in a really nice downtown location not a million miles from us. It is on the first floor and their two windows are the one to the balcony immediately over the entrance door and the one with the semi/circular top to the right of it. It is 73 square metres with lounge, 2 bedrooms and all the usual other bits. Apparently, it is renovated to a high spec and they didn't think long once they saw it.  Isn't this funny, all good property buys are just like that: you get through the threshold and you immediately know it's for you.  They are currently touring the States, but will be back at the end of the month and then, hopefully I will have a chance to see it on the inside.

While all this was happening in town, Roy and I had a little outing in very good weather to my very first cache.  It needed a bit of maintenance, as a few comments were saying how wet it was inside. We drove to within 500 yards of it and then walked in the sparkling sunshine. As soon as I got there I knew that the main reason why it was wet and full of mildew is because some well meaning twit put the box into a plastic bag.  That is the death of every cache box.  It can still get wet, but can't dry out.  I cleaned and dried it, put a new logbook in, a few more little presents and changed its hiding place.  The co-ordinates stayed the same as it is at the bottom of the same tree, but on the other side, where I hope it will not get wet again. The new place is slightly more exposed and the box could drop out from behind the roots into the nearby path, but hopefully the cachers will put it back carefully and it should stay there for another 2 and half years before I have to go and do some more maintenance.  Before we got there we also went to fetch my next lot of artisan made goat's cheese from my friend who makes heavenly cheeses. This lot should last for a while and I put in an advance order for some more from her last batch, to be made later on in the autumn, after which she'll only start making some more next spring.

On Wednesday we returned to town and to a concert that was way above the average.  A young string quartet was playing with someone much older than themselves and the combination of the Kelemen Quartet and Miklós Perényi was magical. After three Purcell fantasies and Beethoven's "Razumovsky" String Quarter in C major, the highlight of the evening was Schubert's String Quintet also in C major where Miklós Perényi added a second chello and transported us all into heaven.  That quintet is one of my absolute favourite pieces of music, so I definitely was in seventh heaven.

On Thursday morning I went and saw my doctor for the results of my bloodtests and she seemed quite happy.  The only problem was an elevated level of white blood cells, which needs further investigation.  So I had to produce another sample the following morning and take it myself to the lab in the nearby hospital. Results are due next Tuesday.

On Friday we thought of going to the Sausage and Schnapps Festival in the Castle District, but both of us felt a bit lazy, so most of the day was spent at home, on the computer or watching TV. We timed our meals, so that we could go for a late lunch to one of our favourite restaurants and then walk to the Erkel Opera House, where I had an interesting evening ahead of me. The Merry Widow is a world famous Lehár operetta, but this time it was a ballet. Apparently, it was created in Australia and the ballet mistress and other staff of the Australian production assisted with this one.  It was superb, the music was great, the costumes were excellent and the dancing very good indeed. Andor didn't turn up and he never contacted anyone why not, but the rest of us, Klári, Kati and me had a really enjoyable evening.

On Saturday I went to a morning conference organised by the Karl Marx Society, which was a revelation.  I didn't expect the people to be as friendly and welcoming and the short speeches being as interesting and valuable as they were. I made the acquaintance of quite a few people there and joined the society. In the afternoon Roy and I went to see Richard Linklater's "Boyhood", which was an unusual film, in that it was filmed over a span of 12 years. Looking at the life of a boy from the age of 6 to 18 provided many insights into the life of people, of families, human relationships, politics and a whole host of other dynamics.  I loved it and even Roy admitted that it was interesting. Ellar Coltrane is a really good young actor and I'm sure we'll see him in many other films in the future.

Sunday started with the Japanese Grand Prix. I suspected it would be an exciting one due to bad weather and it was.  Originally they thought that the typhoon approaching would necessitate a cancellation, but it eventually went ahead.  With several Safety Car sessions, lots of rain and a few accidents it went as far as Lap 46 and, what's much more important, Lewis Hamilton won.  Unfortunately Jules Bianchi suffered a really nasty injury when he hit the JCB trying to remove the car from an earlier accident by the side of the track. The last I heard he was having brain surgery, let's hope he recovers.

 After the Grand Prix I went hashing, but unfortunately there was only three of us there. So, Stiff Nipples, Paprika Smiley and my good self (Red Haring) went for a walk in the Buda hills. We climbed the Hárshegy and finally ended up at the buffet at  Szépjuhászné, where Roy had joined us later. The sun shone beautifully, we had a good few beers and all had a really good time.

Sunday evening I went to yet another concert, which was also excellent, albeit that had also had a story of an accident about it.  One of the two pianists had slipped and broken his leg in his hotel, but thankfully the other pianist offered to play the other piece too, so they didn't have to cancel it. So, Tamás Vásáry entertained us with a perfect rendering of one of Mozart's piano Concertos as well as playing the one he prepared for after the interval, this time from Chopin. And all that at the age of 81.

And this takes us to today, Monday, when we came back to the village via the organic supermarket and Tesco. Oh, and a quick nip back to the flat, as I left my phones behind.  Oops!!

Joop and Margreet, our Dutch friends, are back, so hopefully we will see them sometime this week. There are no particular plans for this week, but there is some orienteering at the weekend.