Walking Tour of Budapest and the Buda Borfesztivál Blues: Thursday: September 5th!

If he does not fight, it is not because he rejects all fighting as futile, but because he has finished his fights. He has overcome all dissensions between himself and the world and is now at rest... We shall have wars and soldiers so long as the brute in us is untamed. -Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, philosopher and second president of India (5 Sep 1888-1975) 

Budapest by night

Lazy sleep-in until 7:00 am and decided not to start my shouldares until I'd sent a few messages. Into the kitchen to brew my java and used one capsule to make three shots of espresso. Owner was supposed to bring more capsules yesterday but never showed up so our supply is dwindling and I didn't want Flamin' to go without. Using one three times worked well as brew was plenty strong enough for my jump-start! 

Also have a bit more time this morning as we will not head out to join a walking tour at 11:00 am. Not sure what we plan after that but imagine we will head up to Buda Castle on the Big Bus towards 2:00 pm as we have tickets for the Borfesztivál. Should be fun as over 200 wine and food booths, along with three stages featuring musicians, from jazz to who knows what. Must away as need to do a few shoulders before breakfast. 

As it turned out, the walking tour was more than wonderful and our lovely, informed guide, Dharma, introduced us to some wonderful parts of the city that we probably would not have found on our own, from the gorgeous, shady streets leading to St Stephen's Basilica, Freedom Square and the Ronald Regan Statue, on to the Hungarian Parliament, modeled after Britain's Houses of Parliament, and then along the banks of the Danube to see The Shoes on the Danube Bank", conceived by film director Can Togay. He created it on the east bank of the Danube River with sculptor Gyula Pauer to honour the Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank.

The tour ended at the Chain Bridge and after a spot of lunch we walked over the bridge to catch a shuttle to the Royal Place where we had tickets for the Hungarian Wine Festival. What a scene with over 200 wine booths and food kiosks. One buys a card, [500 Forints, (Ft)=$2.20 CDN, refundable deposit], and then adds whatever amount one decides upon to pay for each tasting. Suffice it to say, by the end of the evening, we topped up our two cards for a total of 30,000 Ft=$132 CDN, but we certainly enjoyed ourselves. Tickets to the event cost about $21 per person so not a cheap outing but it enabled us to taste a wide variety of wines. By and large, we were all most impressed with the quality of the wine, particularly since we really had no idea, at all, about the wine produced here. 

By chance I started chatting with two couples when I asked them about what they were drinking and they were very happy to suggest a number of their favourites. Thanking them we carried on, wandering the castle grounds and taking in the spectacular views of the city, afforded from the various outlooks. After a bit I wanted to sit and enjoy the people passing by so I asked a couple, already seated at a small table, if I might join them. They welcomed me and I soon discovered that Mary Lynne and Eugene, from Seattle, had relocated themselves to Hungary about six years ago. It was fascinating to hear their story and when the rest of the gang strolled by I hailed them to meet the Browns. 

In fact, we spent the rest of the time in their company as they are regular festival goers and had quite a few friends among the wine-makers present. We toddled from booth to booth and either Mary Lynn or Eugene would suggest something. Ended up at the booth belonging to a friend whose specialty was
Tokaji, [or Tokay], wines so we rounded off our tasting spree with dessert! Wonderful, wonderful stuff so a treat indeed. Thanking our generous tour guides, we bid them goodnight, [It was 8:00 pm by then but we had to pack as we were leaving the next morning.], and hailed a cab at the Castle gates and were whisked home very quickly. I hit the hay as soon as I brushed and flossed but the rest stayed up to watch CNN and polish off any open bottles of hootch so that we wouldn't have to mule them on the morrow! [At least that is the story I heard next morning, Dear Reader!]