YES!!! There he is. I walk out of customs and shake Louis hand, glad he is there to meet me. W eget int his huge BMW 4WD and head away from the airport. You know I dont actually live in Budapest, he says. No, I didnt know that. Where do you live? A little town about 40km out. No problem, I prefer little towns. He drives through Budapest ont he way pointing out the amaZing buildings, castle, river and bridges. We also stop about half way at a town called Szentendre (Saint Andrew) which reminds me of Berry in NSW - a quaint little town that has been taken over by artists where evry store is either a cafe or art gallery. We have a coffee and continue to Visegrad where he lives with his partner Elizabeth with one more stop ont he way to look at where his boat is moored. Louis was quite successful in Australia and has transferred that into a comfortable life in his native Hungary. He and Elizabteh welcome me like family and we talk about rhe 23 years I have known his family. Elizabeth mothers me and starts her habit of feeding me at every opportunity. After a traditional beef soup and chicken main she serves up one of the most delicious desserts I have ever had. They call it birds milk. It is egg whites beaten with sugar and cooked in warm milk. Then the egg yolks and sugara re added to the warm milk until it becomes a custard and the egg white merangues are floated in it and served. Even though I was already full I had 2 servings. They drive me to the castle at the top of the hill above their magnificent house overlooking the Danube (see photo attached for view from their balcony) where we have a coffe and watch people going down the hill on a sled track or flying fox. The town has a lovely feel about it. Later that afternoon we go back to Louis boat and I help him chabge the alternator and batteries and we take it for a run on the river. Another family with a boat moored where Louis is have amade a traditonal fish soup and dark bread cooked in cabbage leaves and share it with us. Like almost all the meals I am to have in Hungary it is delicious. Elizabeth has made a lovely tuna sald for dinner which we cant resist. I can see why Louis has put on a bit of weight since hes come back to Hungary. We stay up late talking and catching up and I eventually have a shower and sleep after a long day.
The next morning Elizabeth tempts us with bacon and eggs while we sit ont he balcony and watch the amazing view – the river and the barges carrying people from Austria and Slovakia to Budapest and back, the hills ont he other side of the Dabube, the lovely country side. Elizabeth gives me a lift to Budapest where she is meeting a friend and for the next 7 hours I walk open mouthed amongst a city rivalling Paris and Prague for the most beautiful city in Europe. What is has over Paris is that it is without the 3 things I didnt like about Paris – the tourists, the tourism and the French. Walking along its main boulevard, looking down the side streets in both directions, there just wasnt a single street I didnt want to walk down to look at the amazing architecture. Every building had a style of its own. Wonderful. At 6.30pm I catch the bus back to Visegrad and relax at Louis lovely home and another great Elizabeth meal. The next day I spend at the house reading, eating and resting while Louis and Elizabeth go 1hour up the road to go shopping. It just happens to be in Slovakia. Thats the thing that gets me about Europe, the convenience of getting to a completely different culture. For example, as I type this, they have gone to Vienna for the day to exchange the propeeller on his boat. In a few hours you can be what takes half the world to get to from Australia. They (not just Louis and Elizabeth but many Europeans) think nothing of hopping to Italy, France or the Eastern countries for along weekend. The day after I am in Budapest again, this time exporing the castle side which is lovely however not as impressive as most European or Asian palace/castle districts, perhaps because the castle itslef is inaccessible. The streetscape on this, the Buda side, howvere has the same lovely feel as the Pest side ont he other side of the river. The one exception is Margaret Island int he middle of the Danube and the fountain that performs along to classical music like fireworks on New Years eve. I stay an hour watching and could have stayed all day if there werent other things I wnated to see. That night I meet and stay with the family I met at the beach bar ont he little island in Craotia. They make a traditional Transylvanian dienner and keep us all entertained with their family stories of leaving Romania and settling in Hungary and the USA. The next morning we alll go to a thermal hot spring in the to wn after Visegrad where Louis lives which makes it easy to get back there. 5 wonderful hours spent in warm pools and under hot waterfalls. Feel so relaxed when I get back to the house I almost dont eat one of Elizabeth meals – almost.
On July 7 I catch the bus to Budapest and the train for 4 hours south to the lakeside town of Ksthely after being well educated on all there is to do int he lake area by Louis and Elizabeth. I have 7 wonderful days swimming int he lake and visiting the nearby towns of Tihany and its monastery cathedral, Balatonfureds developed coast and Heviz thermal springs as well as Kethelys Festetics Palace which is impressive for the number of rooms though not so much the furnishings. A highlight was getting to watch piano lessons being given to professional pianists int he palaces music room. Sitting surrounded by golden columns listening to classical symphonies in a 100 year old palaces music room felt like going back in time.. I then travel 7 hours by train almost to the other side of the country to Eger, Hungarys equivalent of the Hunter Valley, or the Barrossa, where have three glorious days of lunches int he wine caverns (duhúg into the sides of cliffs for temperature to remain constant to store the wine and trying variuos reads with various dishes. Heaven. Ont he last night I see an ad for a concert by the Toronto Childrens Choir int he Cathedral. Once again I am privileged tol isten to angelic music and voices ina n unforgettable setting. I am moved to tears by the experience and also the thought of how the woman who has been running the choir for 28 years has given the children a start to their lives that many of their friends will enevr have had in receiving the support and belief in them to explore their takents and believe in themselves, and I think about all the children int he East, in Asia who will nver even have that opportunity and am moved more clearly to do work int hat field when we return home.
I return to Visegrad and have 2 days of eating Elizabeths food, watching the river, calling Qantas to fix Jetts flights and ours so we all meet in Miami ina month and indulging in my last few days in Hungary before heading to Spain and practising the Spanish I have been teaching myself on some natives. Hungary is and has been for me a magnificent experience. All the elegance of Europe with the old style and lack of tourists that I love. It would only have been half as magnificent though if not for the love and hospitality of Louis and Elizabeth.
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