The hundred and fiftyfifth week of the pandemic

We are in BP at the moment, but most of the last week since I posted was spent in Bér. Having discovered Channel 4's ER, I must admit I watched quite a lot of that. By the time we left for BP, I was about half way through Season 2 and enjoying it a lot. It definitely has not aged and it is as fresh and relevant today as it was in its own day.

Noah Wyle, aka Dr. Carter

I did a fair amount of admin too: paid our yearly car tax by BACS, paid my Trustcard bill online and read a fair amount of Guardian and New York Times articles. I came up with the idea of doing some geocaching en route into BP, so I had to prepare the cache list for that as well.

Trixie's wedding day

BBC's Call the Midwife has finished its current season of 8 programs on Monday and finally poor old Trixie got married. Having said that, I have never ever seen an episode of anything, least of all one with a wedding in it, that had so many disasters within a one hour episode. Still, all's well that ends well, and even the fate of Nonatus House has been secured for a few more years yet.

Thursday and Morse

 The one and only very, very good news on the television front, was the return, albeit for a final season, of Endeavour. It is so utterly perfect in every respect, that it gives me a great deal of pleasure to just sit and watch it. I forgot since last year that Morse had to go off to get sober, but Shaun Evans really did look fantastic on the character's return from his break. Still, sobriety did not last too long with him, as the news of Joan's engagement put him back on the juice in a few minutes.

The derelict comms towers up in the hills

On Tuesday we took off for town, finding three interesting new caches en route. The first one was at an old abandoned Russian era comms station up in the hills and forests. Roy parked up at the "Forestry only" sign, even though the gate was open. He, quite rightly, did not want to risk a hefty fine for driving in, so muggins had to do a lovely 5km walk. It was steadily uphill, but manageable. It took me about an hour to get up there, a quarter of an hour to find the cache, log it and take my photos, and just over half an hour to get back down.

Roy's happy with his gypsy roast

 

Then we went to Aszód for lunch. We used to eat at a restaurant there some years back, but gave up after a particularly unpleasant experience there. After this many years, we thought we might risk it again, just in case they have improved. And they did. The waiter was a delightful young man, the food was very good and arrived quickly and while due to the cost of living crisis, the prices were pretty horrific, we had a good time there.

The little lake by the Szilas stream

The two remaining caches were all in Budapest, the first by a lovely old little lake by the stream Szilas, the second by the Danube, where the Szilas stream flew into the river. Both required some walking, the first about 1km, the second about 2km. I enjoyed both and later on logged them with pleasure. Unfortunately the sun didn't shine too often, and then not for long, but the weather in general was pleasant and suitable for photography.

En route to the cache by the Danube

And then this morning I made the Somlói Galuska for our visit to Csobánka and the chocolate sauce to go with it, before leaving for our doctor's appointments. Dr. Dános was really lovely. It is not particularly surprising, as I have always liked her, but today she really did us several favours. First of all, she had written the list of Roy's ailments for the insurance company, who are dragging their feet and are not paying up. It is a real maffia business, travel insurance, and I strongly suspect they will keep finding reasons why they shouldn't pay. The other favour was to me, as she has managed to talk Roy into coming back for a check-up after the cruise. We'll see if he keeps his word!!??

Bridge over the Szilas stream

After the doctor's we went to hunt down some luggage, which we have been planning to buy for ages. All our suitcases are almost as old as we are and we needed modern, hardy and practical luggage, that has 4 wheels and is easy to maneuvre while travelling. We had a look at one place, found something that was probably OK, but the next one was a lot stronger and nicer. So we bought two there, for the princely figure of about £120. Let us hope they'll do their business!

Big tree with information boards

We went to the pub after shopping and I managed to drink two large spritzers, I was that thirsty. Tomorrow morning we are off to Csobánka to visit Bozsa and Árpi's for a couple of days. The Somlói Galuska was for them, as I offered to make the sweet for our dinners. I hope they'll like it. Next post on Wednesday, by which time we should be back in Bér.

The hundred and fiftyfourth week of the pandemic

The main event of the last week was the 75th birthday of our friend, László Lázár, aka Laci. It was a full 15 years ago that he celebrated his birthday with us in Bér. He was 60 years old then and we were both fit enough to orienteer together. Nowadays he doesn’t take part in any sports, while I am still hiking, though a lot slower than before. He came up with the idea that we should repeat the event again, and both Roy and I were delighted. 

Szundi's Pork fillet in bacon

Muggins next to the birthday boy

 

Nine people arrived on Friday, one on Saturday, plus Roy and me, made for a happy dozen for the weekend. Friday was spent mostly chatting, eating and drinking. Some of us did a lot of all three, others favoured either chatting, eating or drinking. I must admit, I had only a fraction of the booze available, and it still made me having to abstain for at least a fortnight, in order to maintain my average intake. 

Chopped up pork fillet with bacon

Peti patiently waiting for his dinner

 

Saturday night we all stuffed ourselves silly with Szundi’s fillet of pork, wrapped in bacon and all the trimmings. Aperitifs, wine, champagne, pálinka, port, liqueurs and a few other ways of getting drunk made the whole affair quite jolly. I went to bed quite late, although many others did the same even later. Consequently, I was expecting the pack waking late, but they did surprise me by being up, dressed, breakfasted and ready to tear off on our customary Saturday hike by 9 am.

Roy enjoying his food

The birthday crowd round the table

We left around 9:15 am and finished the day around 2:00 pm, having covered 10 km with about 300 metres of climb. Talking of which, the last one up to the world famous wavy andesite columns had nearly killed me, but I finally made it. The first stop out of the village was at the Mill, which until recently was a very pleasant restaurant and watering hole of ours. Unfortunately, they have recently decided to put it on the market, therefore it was closed. Luckily, the door to the Mill itself was unlocked, so we could sneak in and have a look. We walked up the hill, I checked my geocache, which was OK, and carried on up the hill.

The birthday boy

Rita hunting cobwebs

Once in Virágos, approximately a mile away, we found 2 or 3 chaps who were packing up from an event the day before. They seemed to have had some gallon flagons of wine left, so we helped ourselves to some of it and were very happy to find, that they didn’t accept our offer of paying for it. Having met the donkeys and the camel, we took our leave and pushed forward through the heavenly winter forest around Virágos, en route to the andesite columns about 6 or 7 km away. 

The millstream

Wildlife at Virágos

I lead, as I know those hills like the back of my hand, although Laci helped with his Google map on his phone. While I know the forest there very well, he managed to find a route I have never taken before, which was fun. The andesite columns resembling waves are unique in the world. There are only two places in Europe and not too many even worldwide where these columns bend. Unfortunately, most of the bottom end has been quarried for gravestones a 100 years ago, but they are still quite a special sight, making it worth the hike. 

King Matthias and the church

Gyurika, Szundi, Peti and Balázs on the free wine

The views from the top of the columns are spectacular, even though the sun did not shine by the time we got there. On a clear day you can see way into Slovakia in the North and way down South towards Budapest too. The route home was through my favourite, rough jungle, which makes this little known area in the Cserhát a real joy. Soon after we arrived back from the hike, our last guest, Ancsa arrived, thus making the party complete. 

Waymarker en route to the andesite columns

Nemesházi Laci and Márti up front

Saturday evening was the Birthday Dinner, with champagne, cake and STUFFED CABBAGE, a real speciality prepared by the celebrated birthday boy. Roy and I are not unduly fond of this dish, but the way Laci makes it was so delicious that we had some. Obviously, the home made version is in a different league from commercially made ones. The presents were opened, which made everybody happy to see the joy on Laci’s face. 

Nemesházi Laci by the andesite columns

The compulsory group photo from the top

 

In fact, presents were given and received all weekend, as Zsuzsi and I celebrated our name days recently. I got some chocolates, a glass jar of nuts, a lovely orchid, several bottles of booze, some flower bulbs and a lovely bunch of roses. Roy mostly got booze, some 12-year-old whisky, some homemade pear pálinka and a few others. Finally, Sunday came and our guests departed just before midday. I hope they’ll come again, as we have really enjoyed their company.

Laci's orange cream birthday cake

The weekend has been pretty exhausting, so we had to rest for several days and are just now feeling sufficiently recovered to start thinking of going anywhere. The weather has gone very spring-like, so if it's still sunny tomorrow, I might drag Roy out of the house.

George Clooney aka Dr. Ross

 

Indoors we have been mostly watching TV, working on the computer, reading books and watching some old TV online. I have discovered that Channel 4 is actually streaming the entire 15 series of ER, so I set about watching the first series. I am absolutely positive that all those years ago, when I started watching it, I definitely missed the first and possibly both first and second series. So this has been quite enjoyable, especially that I like all the actors in it, and it gave me a chance to see an incredibly young George Clooney as Dr. Ross. By the time I started watching ER 15+ years ago, he was no longer in it.

George Clarke

Having rediscovered the joys of Channel 4, I also watched a few programs with George Clarke, whom I am still very fond of and of whom I have just read that he is quite ill. His Remarkable Renovations series, having watched both 1st and 2nd one, I loved very much. Let us hope that they manage to slow his muscular dystrophy down sufficiently to have him around for a good while yet. It is quite tragic that this condition is incurable, I really love his programs and will miss him. We have almost a week still to stay in the village and will have to go into town next Tuesday. We both have appointments with Dr. Dános next Wednesday and a few bits of shopping to do. Next post after that.

The hundred and fiftythird week of the pandemic

The past 8 days have been quite eventful, some good way, some not so. Last Thursday was our last day in the village before coming into town. I have discovered Amanda and Alan's Italian Job on BBC and watched the entire 1st series in one go. I was fun. Alan Carr is a tad too camp for me, but I still enjoyed all episodes. The two flats that they knocked into one and then done up room by room, was fascinating, so were the little excursions out into various bits of Western Sicily.

Amanda Holden and Alan Carr

On Friday we travelled in, so that we can go and do a bit of geocaching on Saturday, the first time in 2023. There was an organised scrub clearance on the Tétényi Plateau on the outskirts of the city. I have discovered that I must have aged quite considerably since I last did one of these, as I could hardly do 3 or 4 loads before I had to have a sit down. Later, the ladies doing the sandwiches invited me to join them, which was a life saver, as I could do that sitting down.

The mulcher in action at the scrub clearance

Roy came with me, but decided to sit it out in the car. It was quite cold and he didn't feel like freezing his bits that early in the morning. Once we finished that, logged the GCCITO moving cache, that visits sites that need either picking up rubbish or clearing, we went on our way to do a bit more geocaching together. I looked on the map and discovered that there were 3 new(ish) caches in the area that I haven't yet found, so that seemed a good plan for the rest of the day.

The Fruit and Ornamental Plants' Research Institute

 

We first went to a rose garden, which was in the grounds of the Fruit and Ornamental Plants' Research Institute. Being February, obviously there were no blooms, but the site was impressive all the same. The cache was fairly easy to find, which I did alone, as Roy was minding the car in the multi-storey car park. I am sure I'll be back in June to see all the roses in bloom. I did see their little name plates, and read many, many names of roses that I have never heard of before.

The abandoned limestone quarry

The next cache was in an abandoned quarry, which apparently provided all the stone for the Hungarian Houses of Parliament over a 100 years ago. Limestone is quite pretty and this quarry was still full of it. Interesting angles for photography were very enjoyable, although the light was not always optimal. Roy waited for me by the road, where he parked, and I came back very quickly, as we were both hungry by then.

Interior of the Rókusfalvy Inn

The garden at the Rókusfalvy Inn

The Rókusfalvy Fogadó is an absolutely brilliant restaurant, which we visit on average once or maximum twice a year, so eating there is still very much a treat. It is quite a drive outside the city in the commuting village of Etyek, but the main attrection is their chef. He produces superb gourmet cuisine, which is not cheap, but it is worth every penny, it's that good. The Rókusfalvy family first had vineyards all round Etyek, with the corresponding cellars. Then they bought two old long houses and renovated them. The restaurant and B&B is in those houses, but as we left I saw some building works next to them in progress, so perhaps they are extending their operations.

Roy's duck breast at the Rókusfalvy Inn

My fogash at the Rókusfalvy Inn

 

That was a lovely lunch, after which we went for the last cache in a vineyard few hundred yards from the road. The cache was near a sculpture made of metal, consisting two figures and called LOVE. A bit on the weird side, but interesting with it. The cache was in a scrappy bit of forest, quite a way from the sculpture, which I didn't like. I agree with several of my moderator friends, who believe that the actual box should be near or at least within sight of the object you want people to see. Still, it was all OK, and we pootled home slowly but surely through the city in Saturday rush hour.

LOVE around the vineyard

On Sunday we drove to the People's Park in the Southern part of Pest. The cache had 6 parts and the whole thing added up to a gentle walk of 2 and half kilometres in a lovely old park. The weather was lovely and sunny, although later on it got a bit cold, once the clouds arrived. By Sunday evening the enjoyable part of our week was pretty much over and the not so enjoyable one started.

The old water tower in the People's Park

Trees in the People's Park

 

Monday I had to have a mammogram taken, which is always a bit uncomfortable, but thankfully is quickly over. The doctor had a good look and told me that while there are some irregularities in both of my tits, they do not point to anything malignant. I must admit, they do sometimes feel a bit sore, but as long as nothing is too frightening, I'm sure I'll cope. Once at home I started watching TV online, starting with ITV's Vera and finishing with BBC's Call the Midwife. In the evening I had my last meal before starving for nearly 48 hours, as the gastroscopy/colonoscopy need to be done on a completely empty stomach and bowels. Brrrrrr!!

Call the Midwife cast in 2023

Tuesday I had an appointment with my family doctor in the city, who is a delightful lady, long may she last!!! She is working three days a week, as she has retired some time ago. She is an excellent doctor, as well as a friendly, chatty, very experienced and knowleadable person who even speaks good English. She acknowledged that by now we ought to do something about my water retaining lower legs, so I am now on yet another set of pills, hopefully able to fix the problem soon.

Dr Dános, my favourite doctor

I watched another couple of CBS procedurals, which are getting so all the samey that I might not carry on with them. Still, for a bit of mindless switching off, they serve me extremely well. This was the first day of starving myself, and to avoid another disaster, like last time, I was drinking like there was no tomorrow and managed to vary what liquid I was taking in. Along with the usual water and tea, I had sweet, home made lemonade, clear soup and bought and sucked several grape sugar tablets. Apparently, those help considerably with keeping up your blood sugar levels.

NCIS caste of 2023

At 6 pm I took the first dose of the laxative and I'm happy to report, things went much better than last time and I even managed a bit of sleep, which was great. And then, finally, the dreaded Wednesday came around. I was feeling fine, so I talked Roy into not coming. There is no point of him sitting around on his own in a hospital for hours, unable to talk to anyone, possibly catching something etc., etc. and he finally gave in. I went by public transport and was there quite early. Which was good, because they had you filling out a thousand forms, most of which is so annoying, for the simple reason that whatever data you have to fill out time and time again, is totally on record in their computer system.

NCIS Hawai'i in 2023

I am also glad to report that that procedure went absolutely fine, nothing hurt, before, during or after, and Dr. Demeter told me that practically nothing changed since 2 and half years ago, if anything the inside of my stomach looked even better than then. Unfortunately, I am a silly idiot and forgot to go down to the basement for the CD of my innards, so I will have to go back when we next in BP and pick it up. I caught a taxi home and got one of those really nice, chatty, but still pleasant drivers, who cheer you up. Roy awaited me with a prawn stir fry, which went down without touching the sides, considering it was the first meal I had in very close to 48 hours. 

Glorious prawns frying in a wok

And then, en route home today, we went to Tesco and Lidl to do a week's food shopping, followed by cooking ourselves a pasta dish, which was an innovation necessitated by not having a bottle of pesto at home. We could have bought some in Lidl, but never thought of it at the time.

 

As the dish required pesto, we improvised our own. The recipe goes like this:

1 small tin of polpo di pomidoro

Small bunch of chopped basil

4 cloves of garlic chopped small

10 olives chopped small

1 table spoon of olive oil

50 g Grana padano or similar hard cheese finely grated

All of the above was mixed together and used as a topping for our pasta. Any pasta will do, as long as the topping, once mixed in, manages to stick to it.

It was gorgeous. I don't think I'll buy any more pesto in future. My own tasted gorgeous and there was a lot more in quantity for a lot less in money. Yippeeee!!!!

 

Past with red pesto

 

Professor Gerlinger phoned today with some really good news, namely that the biopsy of the ulcer on my right tonsil has come back negative for anything nasty. However, he wants me to go back in six months to have another go, just to be safe. I like him, and he is a famous, very well thought of ENT consultant, but the suspicion of wanting me back only to keep his work ours up is never far from my mind. I will go, no question, but I am always sceptical about motives.

 

Prof. Imre Gerlinger ENT surgeon

 

This weekend we have a group of friends descending on us to celebrate the 75th birthday of one of them. These are all old friends from my active orienteering days, and Laci, whose birthday it is, is about 6 months older than I am. The last time they celebrated his birthday in Bér was 15 years ago. I think I still have a photo of him with his chocolate birthday cake with a very big 60 on it. In fact, if I recall, it wasn't one cake with a 60 on it, but two cakes, one in the shape of the number 6 and the other the 0. I doubt I can find it, but I'll have a go.

60th birthday cake (not Laci's, I couldn't find it)

 

Currently we are trying to clean and tidy up both houses, as they will stay in the other one from where we live. I put the central heating on in both as soon as we got back. In our building it had to warm up from 10 Celsius, but the other one was set at 5 Celsius. Roy told me when he locked up the other building that it was already on 15 Celsius, so hopefully the first ones, arriving tomorrow midday, should not freeze to death. I am planning to light the pottery stove over in the other building as well, let us hope that one doesn't do a smoking spectacular as our own one did a month or so ago. Next post next week, hopefully on time, (unlike this one), as we are staying for 12 days, before going back to BP next.

 

 

The hundred and fiftysecond week of the pandemic

This time round I will have quite a job trying to put together a blog entry, when the last week was so eventless, that honestly, not one thing that is worthy of a mention in a blog post happened. Thankfully, the weather was nice and sunny on most days, but always under, sometimes way under, 0 Celsius, so neither of us felt like going too much outdoors. I am still really cheesed off at the pottery stove giving up the ghost, just as the real cold spell arrived and when gas prices have more than doubled. We put the heat to 17 Celsius indoors, so we are not exactly warm, but managing.

Main characters in NCIS Hawai'i

So, my time was mostly spent with reading, (including reading in bed for warmth), TV watching, (this can also be done in bed, sitting up with the laptop on a low table), being online, doing administrative chores, including translating the Postás Kupa invitation into English for online publication. However, one day did have some action in it, but that turned out to be a disaster all over again. Well, I might have exaggerated a bit there, but it was on the whole a pointless exercise.

Buda Health Centre

With the postponed gastroscopy/colonoscopy needing another set of blood tests no more than a week/10 days before the procedures, I had to go into town on my own on Sunday afternoon, as I had to be in the hospital by 8am on Monday. I duly did that, and when I got in to the room where they take your blood, the really nice lady behind the desk said: "Why did you come for this? You had one just over 3 weeks ago, that is perfectly adequate." I nearly hit the ceiling, I was that furious. Driving about 100 miles, being away from home, and for what?

Funnily enough, even without any medical training, I did find strange when the lady on the phone, who was giving me the new date for the procedure, mentioned the bloodtest as well. I did point out to her that I have a recent one, but she insisted that I need to have a new one. This hospital I only attend because of my gastroenterologist, who works there, not because I trust the actual hospital. They have done various cockups over the years, which is why I now go the the Duna Medical Centre instead. But dr. Demeter is not available anywhere else but at that dreadful place, so I go there once every 2 or 3 years for this procedure. 

Dr. Paul Demeter

There is a saying, that one of the most dangerous combination of character traits are that of ignorance AND arrogance. Well, if you want a beautiful demonstration of how much harm that can do, try the Buda Health Centre! I know that there is a shortage of skilled labour everywhere in the world today, but when it comes to medical matters, they could spend some time to train those despatchers who apparently think they know everything, including total bollocks, that I have suffered from recently.

Xander's football shorts

 

Rant over, I have to admit that there were a few good aspects of going into town as well. I managed to pick up Xander's green football shorts and managed to buy some of my favourite bread at "Doctor and Baker". I also did some more food shopping en route home at Tesco, which enabled me to cash some of the vouchers I forgot the last time.

Dr. Baker's gorgeous sourdough bread

With some of the recent purchases, combined with some earlier ones, Roy and I spent some time to cook some lovely meals. He managed to have some gammon and pineapple, which was made of stuff that is not like it is done authentically, but it was still delicious. We finally got some Grana Padano, so we had some lovely Italian dishes that require a bit of grated cheese. These hard cheeses, matured over months are OK for me to eat. God knows why, but I can actually digest the lactose in those, that is assuming that the process of maturing hasn't got rid of it. Whichever way it goes I love them.

Italian cheeses

Since then I found a lovely map of Italian cheeses on FB. You can see how many are there and when I Googled most of them, I learnt a great deal. Grana Padano is a poor man's parmesan, but it is harder, so easier to grate it, cheaper and lasts longer. This week we had two Italian food days: first it was spaghetti with olive oil, garlic, chili and a bit of cheese. The next one was a lusher version, which I am sure the Italians don't eat, but I love it: tagliatelle with pesto, grated Grana Padano, black pepper, olive oil, ham (Roy) or smoked salmon (me) and peas. Yum, yum!

Gammon and pineapple with chips and mushrooms

Today we had curry, which nowadays gets made with a bottled Tesco curry sauce, not because we are lazy, but because we have run out of quality curry powder and cannot source it over here. Buying it online, which we have tried in the past, is now a no-no, on account customs duty, VAT and a handling charge. Also, when we once did it, the cost was 3 times as much as we used to get it in Brighton, and it had half the strength. Needless to say that at most times I forget to photograph my food, as I am falling on it starving. A few got made though this week, namely the gammon and pineapple and the curry.

Chicken curry, rice, pappadoms, chutney and dhal

On Monday we had Sheila's 90th birthday. She rang on Messenger and got me just as I put away my shopping in Tesco's car park. Good job I was there, either before, inside the shop or after on the motorway I could not have answered it. She looked absolutely brilliant. As the years go she looks younger and younger. She had many presents: she got ours, which was 10 bars of hand-made artisanal chocolate from the factory about 2 miles down the road from her house.  We did this once before and I seemed to recall she liked them.

Kernow Confectionary Ltd. products

 

The family got her an iPad and a new air fryer. The problem with the telephone line not accepting calls from here is still there. Apparently Carmella called from France and Pam from Canada, and they got through. I will have to try again and work out if I am doing something wrong. Who knows?

Xander and Elian last summer in BP Zoo

Today I got an e-mail from Lucy, attaching two sound recordings of the parent's evening Lucy went to see Elian and Xander's teachers. I am glowing with extreme pride, at what those teachers said about them. Like Xander is so popular in his class that every kid wants to be on his table, that he is an extremely brilliant and loveable child and a joy to teach. Then the other teacher said about Elian that he "shot himself in the foot" with getting 100% on his maths test, as you cannot improve from that. I loved it. 

Sally Wainwright and Sarah Lancashire

Happy Valley came to an end, and I absolutely loved it. Sally Wainwright is a genius and Sarah Lancashire a superb actor. I can't wait for the next thing they produce with these mind-blowing two women. Whatever the setting, the story, the characters or period, if it was written by one of them and acted as the central character by the other one, it'll be brilliant.

Considering that not much happened this week, I still managed to write a lot. I am a graphomaniac according to my sister, which is probably true. Next post next week, by which time we should be back in town, more doctors, plus the ominous procedure, which I would like to see the back of by now. Taraaaa!!!