9 We REALLY went to see Dave and Sheila and the Kids

Friday, July 8th




We woke up after 9 am and realized that we hadn't heard yelling or seen any light all night; we had actually slept all the way through! What a difference darkness and quiet make to getting a good night's sleep. Embassy metal window blinds are more than just a fashion or security statement; they really work!


Speaking of...theirs is a very nice house with a very amusing gardener/landlord. He doesn't mean to be amusing, but the expressions on his face make me chuckle, and the stories about the unwitting curmudgeon fit perfectly with the Hungarian vibe of the place. But the grounds are beautiful, there is no denying.

 

 Jake was kind enough to let us sleep in his room and suffer in the basement with the X-Box and other consolations, so we were able to really unpack and settle in for a few days.






Dave fixed us some eggs--the most orange yolks I have ever seen!--and bacon--yum! Then I got the laundry going.  Andy had said, "I'm down to my last pair!", so there was no delaying... Of course I had brought like four extra pairs myself, so I was a little surprised at the thought of not packing enough underwear. But he was the wiser because it was enough to get him through to laundry day!






After we were all dressed and ready, we went for a ride downtown to see the Basilica of St. Stephen and the Synagogue. It was fun to see the mix of old and new--statues of centuries past and also of Ronald Reagan.

So many ethnic restaurants! We went to a different coffee place--a happier vibe than the Starbucks which was nearby.
We approached the basilica as a newly married couple was emerging from the front entrance.

We moved to the side to let them pass and then went through the doorway into the nave proper.


 It was so upliftingly beautiful, Psalm 24 came to mind--

"Lift up your heads, O gates!

    And lift them up, O ancient doors,

    that the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰ Who is this King of glory?

    The Lord of hosts,

    he is the King of glory!"

The Synagogue was something we enjoyed from the outside; apparently the inside is beautiful but we couldn't go in at the time for one reason or another...anyway, there were courtyards and stained glass stars of David and tombstones and a beautiful steel willow tree sculpture that reminded me of Psalm 137, "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept for Zion; by the moping willows in our midst, we sadly hung there our harps. Our captors said, 'Come sing a song of joy, but how can we sing when joy is gone?"










It was a memorial to lives lost in the Holocaust. My heart wept with them but sensed the hope that springs from tragedy that God is still God and will prevail, maybe just not in ways we expect.

 











cultural diversity on a bun--and see the curly potato
on a stick in the background

All that introspection (and walking) can whet an appetite! So we hunted down the HotDog/ColdBeer hole-in-the-wall carry-out that was on the docket for the day. Ah, the multicultural hot dog--you could get American, German, Italian, Mexican, and Asian, too, if I recall correctly! Very good--but they had a couple neat features. One, their French fry option is actually a spiral cut potato on a stick, deep fried until crispy and then served as potato chips--really good! I shared my hot dog bun with a very friendly pigeon who had only two toes on his left foot; he was almost brave enough to take pieces from my hand, but discretion won over confidence and he kept a little bit of space between us though he was by no means intimidated.





The other item I wanted and would have normally resisted but this day opted to try ("I'll share; it'll be fine!") was the deep fried Bounty (kind of like Mounds bar) bar. It looked like a corn dog, but in no way was it a corn dog! One bite was all I needed because it was so rich, but it was amazing. YAY, junk food!!!






We strolled back to the car and briefly lost the kids because they had walked out of our line of sight, but there was no harm; they were waiting for us when we got there.

When we got back to the house, I helped Sheila sort travel/trial sized shampoo, etc., bottles, then finished our laundry. Sheila is packing, too, well, and so is Jake; he is leaving Sunday morning for Switzerland and a basketball camp, and Sheila is leaving on Monday, a couple hours after we do, for Zimbabwe. Crazy times! But it's all good; everything is under control. Getting ready to go out for dinner--watching Brooklyn 99--sigh...just like home...

We went to an official Hungarian restaurant on the top of one of the many hills.

We tried their version of hummus, which was actually quite good (made of chick peas and lentils, I recall), for an appetizer, then chose a lot of different entrees; I had the roast duck and little fruity fritters along with roasted vegetables. I tried a "brownie" with peach and ginger. It was tasty but not a brownie--kind of eggy, bread pudding texture, not very sweet. The vanilla sauce is a lot like English custard, very thin pudding--can be cloyingly sweet, so I asked for it on the side.

Along with the great diversity in foods, it's interesting to see all the different juices available here. I don't know which I have enjoyed more: the black currant juice in Munich or this Cappy, a peach nectar-type drink--it would have been great with a little spritzwater in it. Of course the ubiquitous beer...Hungary also has its favorite wines, a prominent one of which is Tokaji, a very sweet white.

 

 

Anyway, the food was fine, the company was great, and then after dinner we went out back of the restaurant to a path that gave a great view down to the city; we spent a bit of time there and chatted as we walked back to the car. Sheila was mentioning about it being one of the places she runs; I can't begin to imagine walking these hills much less running! Good for her! I will admire from a distance.

 

Sheila and I had a nice chat in the back yard at dusk as we watched the bats zooming back and forth chasing their dinner of mosquitoes and other batsnacks.

At one point Harley made a brief escape and had his own adventure in the front yard foliage, which to him was likely akin to a jungle. No harm done that a vigorous brushing didn't remedy...

And, after a goodbye hug from Jake, another restful repose...