2023-12-26 Bratislava Christmas Part 1

Lots have happened since I last posted. Stephen, Elian and Xander arrived on Friday and we all went to Bratislava on Saturday. Roy, Xander and me went by train, Stephen and Elian by Dusty with all the luggage, except our two suitcases, plus large amounts of food.

The weather was atrocious, snowing, raining and cold. We had to catch a taxi, while Stephen was unpacking and then showed off the villa. It is an amazing place, with 4 floors, many bedrooms, swimming pool, gym, panoramic views and a game room.

On Sunday Alex, Meaghan and Callum arrived, in 45 minutes from the airport, due a taxi driver thinking he was in an F1 race. This was all followed by Christmas Day, which was one endless whirlwind of, breakfast, opening presents, cooking, eating, drinking, playing games, watching TV etc., etc.

Today we are planning to go on a little hike in the forests behind the house, assuming the rest of the family gets up. It is nearly 10am and no sign of movement yet. Part 2 to follow next week.

Tits, Fáklya Marxmas and looking forward to a Bratislava Christmas

Last Thursday we went back to Bér, this time it didn't snow and we shopped for Bratislava with the non-perishables being the first lot. Tesco was not too full, so we were home in good time for late(ish) lunch. The poor birdies were very hungry, so I quickly filled their bowls, but it is so cold this winter, compared to the last 3 or 4 winters, that they are eating at a great rate of knots.

Lovely plump tits on the fat 14 years ago

I did three lots of washing with the whole house being full of drying clothes. Initially there was going to be an online Fáklya executive meeting on Thursday, but some people couldn't come, some overslept, others fell ill, so we put it off to Friday. That has never happened either for a variety of reasons, so we had a meeting finally on Saturday. We discussed all the main topics: the split of the branch into two, the AYAC campaign, the Marxmas party on Tuesday, our founding congress in the spring, the Palestine demo, only the IMT bulletin on the name change of the international was left off, as nobody, except me, have so far read it.

David and Márkó by the literature stall at the Marxmas party

My feeling right through this meeting was that it has been a very long time since I have seen a bunch of good folk taking on too much this much and then collapsing and not getting anywhere. Unfortunately, soon after this meeting, people started going down with all sorts of mysterious lurgies and feeling so unwell, that they could not attend to any of their tasks. This, unfortunately, included me too. I had a rough couple of days, when I simply had to stay in bed, while Zsófi and Hanna got something resembling flu or Covid. This resulted in a bit of a setback this week and three of us couldn't go to the Marxmas party and the branch meeting this evening had to be cancelled.

The crowd at the Marxmas party

I am quite concerned that not only me, with my 75 years, is finding the tempo of activity and duties a bit too much, but it includes the youngsters as well. Although they are decades younger than me, but they are under the pressure of a dying social and economic system, which is superexploiting them and many a meeting had to be cancelled or delayed, as one or more of them overslept. Not in the morning, but in the early evening. In spite of their youth, they are so exhausted, that they have to sleep as soon as they get home, and often, they oversleep the start of their meetings.

Fáklya comrades round the table

Hanna and Zsófi on top of the andesite columns

Well, I'm still very enthusiastic about Fáklya and all the comrades, as they are a marvellous and talented bunch. But with my decades of experience, I have seen a myriad of ways you can wear yourself out in revolutionary work, if you are not careful. So, I am also feeling quite rough, and with me the real worry is about our family Christmas in Bratislava. I mustn't be ill, otherwise the whole thing will be ruined. So, I am staying in bed mostly, and try to stay calm, eat healthy food, drink lots of water, read, sleep, watch Netflix and hopefully I will be 100% or close to it, by the time Stephen and the kids fly in on Friday.

Bratislava panorama

 

On Saturday Roy, I and Xander are scheduled to leave for Bratislava by train, while Stephen and Elian are driving up in Dusty, with all the luggage and food. The margins are pretty tight, but that shouldn't surprise anyone, as when Stephen is involved just the existence of margins, any margins, you should be thankful for. If I can work out how to attach Stephen's Grants' Holiday timetable, I will do it for illustrative purposes, as well as for your amusement.

Grant family holiday schedule

Budapest-Bratislava train timetable

 

 

Must go now as Roy arrived back from the pub, but does not look like his usual happy self. I think all the hassle around this trip is getting to him. Let us hope that seeing the whole family together will cheer him up. And the trip with Xander on the train is something that I look forward to. I know Xander is a bit difficult at times and can be quite hyper, but with us he has always been on his best behaviour and apparently he is as good as gold at school too, so perhaps the problem is not with him, but with  somebody else. Enough said. I am off for a nap and will write next week, if the family lets me. If not, the next post it going to be a bit late.

Guests for the weekend, lots of cooking and an unexpected Christmas bonus

Last Thursday I took the half past 1 bus back home and got in just before it got dark. It was nice to be home, although there was a lot of work awaiting both of us. Several very good friends of ours were coming out for the weekend. We really loved the idea when Ági pitched it a few months ago, as we haven't seen any of them for at least a year, and some of them for several years.

Pityu, Ági, David, Marika, Zsiga, Orsi and Roy round the table

Friday was somewhat busy with preparing the Bunkhouse, although most of them brought their own bedding, we only provided the pillows and the duvets. I made my Somlói Galuska, which looked great in the fridge in its enormous big bowl. We have just eaten the last two portions today, so it was not only delicious, but it kept extremely well.

The curry

 

Our guests were coming in two cars, one of which was supposed to leave BP by 4 pm, the other one by 8 pm. Well, nothing worked out as expected, with the first car only leaving around quarter to 6, while the other one must have left a lot earlier than 8 pm, as its passangers were happily getting out of their car only about 20 minutes after the first one arrived. The one great disappointment, however, was that Pálma injured her back and could not come.

Marika, Zsiga and Orsi eating curry

The program for the weekend was roughly like this: on Friday night dinner was Roy's curry, both chicken and veg, with the usual rice, chutney, dhal and pappadoms. It went down like nobody had eaten for a week. We had some bought-in cakes for afters, had beer, pálinka, wine and a few other types of booze and went to bed quite happily, looking forward to Saturday.

Ági, Marika and the rest of them in the forest

Saturday's plan included a hike, which I was asked to make no longer than 3.5 to 4 kilometres. As it happened, it measured 3.6 km after we arrived back, so I was spot on with the planning. The weather was still quite snowy,  and although it didn't snow much overnight, there was still about 3 to 4 inches on the hills around Bér. 

View through the trees

We climbed up to the other side of the valley to my favourite oak tree, which I tried to do with Alex in the summer, but the undergrowth, under the effect of a lot of rain and a lot of heat, grew up so much that we had to give it up about 50 metres from the tree. So, this time I decided to try to stick to the path up there, hoping that it 'll lead us up to the tree without having to deal with the jungle in between.

Large andesite boulders

Well, the plan was sort of OK, although lots of storms and precipitation, caused some of the path get so overgrown, that I couldn't find it in places. Some in our party was convinced that we are already totally lost and will not get out of there easily. Oh, you of little faith, I thought, I know this hillside like the back of my hand, and I was right. We climbed a bit further, by some lovely big andesite boulders and we were up on the path leading to the tree.

Pityu, David, Ági, Orsi, Zsiga and Marika

En route down we had to make a detour, as the path I wanted to use was seriously overgrown. We went further, then dropped down the other side of the hill into a valley, followed by a dodgy crossing of a big stream and soon we were just above the Mill in Bér. Once we got home, Roy advised us that we can have a little rest, but soon after that, he served our dinner of roast pork, with all the trimmings, followed by my Somlói Galuska.

A large bowl of Somlói Galuska from above

All of it went down great, we then proceeded to play some card game, name of which escapes me, but it was fun. The hole company was so delightful, that even though this was a lot of work for Roy and me, I would do it in a jiffy again and again. Talking of which, we are already having a provisional date for the next gettogether at Pityu's place on the weekend of the 16th, 17th and 18th February 2024.

Pityu, our next host in February

Sunday morning I cooked everybody a full English breakfast, which also went down well. Amazingly, some complained that this was too much and too rich for breakfast, but I did warn them beforehand. In the meantime, Zsiga, Marika's son, found out the joys of geocaching from me and sounded enthusiastic to try it. So after breakfast, we walked up to the Mill to look around, as we didn't have time the day before. We even managed to go into the Mill, which has now been converted to a chapel, followed by Zsiga and Orsi finding the geocache under a rock above the Mill.

The millwheel in Bér

On the way home we also managed to see inside the village church, which has medieaval walls, and which was very simple and pretty all at the same time. Once we were back at the house, people started preparing to leave. Zsiga and Orsi went first, as they had a lot of things on in the afternoon. Ági, David, Marika and Pityu stayed for lunch and then went. It was a fantastic weekend, it was so nice to see them again after such a long hiatus, and we should keep up a system of having at least four of these each year in future.

Bér's beautiful Lutheran church

Monday was spent in bed. We were both totally exhausted. This is now quite commonplace, that we cannot do lots of things one after another, as it is beyond our strength. Still, it was worth it, our hermit-like lifestyle in Bér is only satisfactory up to a point. It was also really nice to meet Marika's son and daughter-in-law.

Beigli

One of the cakes they brought was really lovely. It was a traditional Christmas "beigli". It is rolled pastry with either a walnut or a poppy seed filling. Unlike most of these that I recently tasted, the ones Zsiga and Orsi brought had thin pastry with tons of delicious filling and not at all dry, but very moist and moreish.

Zsófi chairing the meeting for the launch of Fáklya

Then yesterday we came in to town. I went to see Zsófi, one of the leading comrades, with whom I had a misunderstanding some weeks back, and it was good to spend a couple of hours in a pub, eating, drinking and clearing the air. Yesterday there was also a reading group meeting: we are still going through Engels's - The origin of the family, private property and the state. I am enjoying myself and learning a lot at the same time. Yesterday we didn't have any contacts there, so a group of about 8 or 10 comrades asked lots of questions and had a very good discussion between themselves.

Fillet of beef, 1kg walnuts, large turkey breast, etc.

And then today we went out in the rain to do some shopping and came back really happy. Public transport decided to like us, as everything came just as we got to various stops. We managed to buy some cards, which eluded us for weeks. Following this, we went to the council, where Roy, being a resident of the 7th district, plus an elderly pensioner, received his 20,000 ft Christmas bonus. This amount is about £45, which puts the UK to shame, with its pitiful £10 Xmas bonus.

 

BP, 7th district council building

After this happy event, we hopped on a tram and visited Decathlon for some swimware for our Christmas trip to a luxury villa in Bratislava with a swimming pool. The next visit was to C&A in the West End Centre, where Roy bought his nice fluffy winter pyjamas, followed by our last visit, this time
to the Market, where we surprised ourselves with 3 kg of turkey breast, a whole beef fillet, and a kilo of walnuts. All to be taken to Bratislava for our Christmas dinner. Very successful morning's shopping and we were back before 12:30 for lunch. I had smoked salmon with dill and garlic mayonnaise, 2 fried eggs, chips, mushrooms and a bowl of salad; Roy had ham, chips, a fried egg, mushrooms and a small amount of salad. It was all absolutely delicious.

Fáklya comrades at a demo in BP

In a couple of hours we will have another Fáklya branch meeting in the flat, so I am off to have a nap, which I need if I don't want to drop off to sleep in the middle of the meeting.

A mysterious malaise, reading the Engels book and the Pásztó fiasco

Before I write anything, I must mention that the date on my previous post is 4 to 5 days out. For some unfathomable reason I was making some changes to that post, (spelling, typing, spacing and a few grammatical errors), on my phone and then when asked, I agreed to update and save the changes. What I haven't realised, was that doing that would change the date of publication. I have never experienced that before, even though I have corrected stuff in my posts days after I published them, in the past. Obviously, this is yet another bloody stupid feature, which only the phone version of Blogger has. Brrrrrr!!!!!

                    A seriously funny poster online, that reminded me of a member of my family.

The above mentioned mysterious malaise has hit me, immediately after I last posted. It lasted for  3 or 4 days, although I am still not 100%, but feel a little bit better. I had serious digestive problems, headaches, buzz in my ears, joint pains and couldn't sleep much. Hopfeully, this is only one of the currently circulating lurgies that seems to lay low many people, and not something more serious. I was also shaking, but that could just be the weakness it caused.

                             A really beautiful couple of toucans to cheer me up on my screen.

On Monday we have travelled into Pásztó to get some EHIC cards. Well, I got one, but Roy didn't and the reason for it was just so silly that I will not bore you with it. Hopefully, we would never need them, but even if we will, just take the financial hit as follows. Bureaucracy is a deadly animal. One has to learn to take it in one's stride, or you could easily go round the bend. The staff at the office, though, were impeccably polite, kind and efficient, so I can't blame them.

                         Venice, on my screen. I have spent some lovely time there in the past.

We also used the fact that we were about half way there already, to bomb down the dual carriageway to Hatvan and visit Tesco. We bought all the food for this weekend, as we are expecting 7 guests to stay between Friday and Sunday. It is amazing that they are coming, but like my mother used to say, I will believe it when I see it. The weather forecast is abysmal, but I made them promise to come by bus, if the roads are inpassable and/or too dangerous by car.

A week ago yesterday, when we braved the uncleared roads and when Dusty with his good winter tyres and 4-wheel drive saved our lives, this was the view.

And then I came in on my own to BP on Wednersday by bus, as Roy didn't feel like travelling in this weather. I don't blame him, I didn't feel too hapy about it either, but I had a Fáklya meeting in the flat, so I had no choice. The meeting itself was very good indeed, with Bence leading off on Marxism and Art, which was quite interesting. I did learn quite a few things about French art, that Bence is quite an expert of, and not a hell of a lot of new stuff on art's relation to Marxism, but it was still very useful and entertaining.

                           One of Feri's drone photos, this time it is Robert's Révfülöp estate.

In the morning, straight from the bus I came in on, I shlepped it to the hotel where Stephen forgot his coat, the silly twerp, and picked it up. I also bought some Naan bread to go with the curry at the weekend and as for looking for stuff we can't find in Bér in the flat, I was successful in 2 out of 3. I discovered the Bratislava tickets I couldn't remember what I did with, as well as found the chocolate sauce in the fridge, which we will need for the Somlói Galuska. The one object that still eludes us is a couple of packs of playing cards, which Roy swore he knew where he put, but there was no sign of.

                             I love having short hair and Timi, my hairdresser is pretty good.

Just in the last hour, I also managed to get a last minute appointment with my hairdresser, whose salon is in the actual building where our flat is, so now I am nicely shorn, like a little lamb, which means that I will have to ruin my lovely new hairdo with a wooly hat, on account of the freezing weather. Amazing, how warm long hair keeps your head, neck and ears, as I discovered on my way (all of 10 metres), home from the hairdressers.

                             My current screensaver, taken by Alex one morning in Toronto.

Next post next week, which is already full of stuff. I don't know how I am getting through December in one piece, that's for sure. 😏

New (old) phone, New book to read at reading group and winter arrived

You will be pleased the hear that finally, after two whole weeks, I got my phone back. While on the day when I took it to Samsung to have it repaired I spoke to a  lovely guy, this time I got the biggest, rudest and most ignorant moron on the planet. To cut a long and frustrating story short, the phone was OK, but I still had to go back to Yettel, my service provider, to have everything sorted with the SIM cards and a few allied problems.

Beautiful red sunset

The Yettel guy was a gem. Patient, helpful and very efficient. Obviously, I will have lots of work with the phone yet, as it came back totally cleared to how it came out of the factory. I am slowly setting it up, today I got as far as putting a lovely screen saver on it. I pinched it from one of Alex's FB posts, where he photographed a setting sun sinking into a red Lake Ontario. It is very nice and I love it.

Volker and Robert, back in 2017

 

But, to get back to last week, We did have a really delightful lunch with Robert in the Regős. We liked the food, we had a really good chinwag and decided that we ought to meet a bit more often than once a year. He has done a lot of travelling last year, so it is no wonder that it was difficult to catch up with him. He told us about a lovely place in Portugal, up in the mountains, where he spent 2 months in the summer, and where the temperature was never above 25 degrees Celsius. While all that time Roy and I were melting in the 40+ degrees of heat that stopped us going anywhere in the hottest months.

The big birthday cake for the 5000th cache

On Friday we came home to Bér, as I had something to do in the Mátra again, but this time the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It came to pass that geocaching.hu had arrived at its 5000th geocache, which we got together to find and then have a little celebration. Viktor was there too and I drove up on my own from Bér. The sun shone, which was aggravating, considering that the two previous Saturdays, (one for the hike and the other for caching with Viktor in the Mátra), the weather was either torrential rain or freezing temperatures, followed by flooding.

Fazék, the President addresses the crowd

 

We all enjoyed ourselves. There were around 100 cachers there and by the end of the day we could log 4 geocaches, which was good going. There was the 5000th, then it was the event cache, and finally there were two moving ones, that people brought, so we could find and log them. Unfortunately, while hunting these, I managed to miss the cake, which was very large, but still not big enough to feed 100 people.

Samsung

 

Monday was spent with preparing for the week's reading group and branch meeting, as well as dealing with some stuff in the village. I finally managed to catch up with Pali, who told me that the cefre will not go to the still until mid-December the earliest. Phoning the Samsung sevice centre was a totally futile exercise, so we decided we must pop into BP, so that we could chase the phone, as well as then we can offer the flat for the week's branch meeting.

I also went to the reading group in person, and we had a good time starting to discuss Engels's The Origins of the family, private property and the state. Good discussions and a few interesting new people added to the meeting. The branch was back at the flat on Wednesday, the leadoff was on Marxism and Anarchism by Seba. We are also having problems with the Auróra, where we are holding the fortnightly reading group and were trying to get a room for a Marxmas Party in December. I don't know whether management is just absolutely chaotic and the right hand doesn't know what the left hand does, or there is a tendency in trying to get rid of us out of there, but we were pushed from pillar to post on Tuesday and told there were no free times in the cellar for our party at all.

Today, I heard from Zsófi that after all there are some free dates, and now it looks we'll be there on Tuesday on 19th December. I hope they will not suddenly have second thoughts, dressed up as a hiccup in the diary. Call me cynical, but I can't believe they are this badly organised. We'll see! - said the blind man.

The branch meeting went off quite well, Seba's leadoff was a bit tentative, but very good. The finances are a bit chaotic, but we have about £1500, which is thanks to the London Revolution Festival income out of T-shirts and badges, supplemented by donations as well. My next leadoff is scheduled for the first or second week of January, and is on the Permanent Revolution. I have already started on it, with the help of a Jordi video I found on the topic and which is absolutely brilliant, as he is usually that good.

Good old Dusty under snow

And finally, the main topic of the recent days is the arrival of the winter. It snowed, we had a really touch and go drive down to the village today, as the roads were quite full of snow, with not a snow plough anywhere in sight. We saw lots of cars in ditches, as the average Hungarian driver usually thinks he is Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen moulded into one. When you combine this foolish habit with summer and/or bald tyres, just a finish in the ditch is quite a successful result. Thankfully, most of the slipped cars seemed to have had their drivers and passangers still alive and moving around their vehicle.

The Bér road, looking like winter wonderland

We are supposed to go to Pásztó for EHIC cards tomorrow, but it is still subject to the weather and how clear the roads are by tomorrow morning. If it doesn't look right, we'll do it sometime next week. In the meantime Stephen had a lightning visit to BP to have an interview, or more like an audition, but didn't have time to come and see us. He panicked about road conditions and the taxi being held up so much that he misses his flight, so we didn't see him. I hope he gets the job, then I can go and visit him while he is making it in the Vajna Studios above the Rőkusfalvy Winery and Restaurant. I like that place and it is not only famous for its food and wine, but the possibility of seeing famous film stars eating there alongside your good self.