I woke up quite early in the morning, way before my alarm would have gone off. I got up and headed to the train station. Just for the feeling of it I bought an almond filled cookie at the AH to Go and a cappuccino at the Kiosk. It wasn't a very warm morning, so it was nice to hold on to my warm cup of cappuccino while waiting for the train. The train arrived on time and I was soon being flown to my destination: the Ede-Wageningen train station.
This was the day I was visiting Joram's family. I wrote to Anne (his mom) a couple of weeks before leaving for Utrecht and proposed that if Joram was not around, we could maybe meet up for a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Apparently, Jenthe got really excited when she heard the news that I was coming, so we agreed that I would drop by their home in Bennekom.
People were weirded out when I told them that I was going to see the family. Paul was telling me about this large elephant we were going to have in the room (= a topic that is blatantly there but no one talks about it). Others just thought it was a strange thing to do to visit the family of an ex. The Ex. (I actually had to prove my boyfriend that I was not meeting Joram by reading out loud a part of my e-mail in which I told Anne that I was only going if he was not there.) I wasn't really worried about how things would go - it's probably the most welcoming family I've ever met - but Paul's elephant idea made me slightly nervous. I wasn't there to talk about what had happened or to bitch about how unhappy I was earlier or to prove myself that I can return to a place that was once important to me. I was there to be with a group of wonderful people and to hear what they were up to. Without elephants.
The moment the green van appeared and I saw a smiling Jenthe and Jiddon through the window, my worries were gone. They were great. I was surprised how much Jenthe's English has improved; she understood almost everything and spoke nearly fluently. Jiddon hasn't changed a bit: he was full of energy and smiled a lot. I managed to arrive a bit earlier than I had thought (and they had thought) I would, so I caught everyone just out of the shower. Wet hair, quickly dressed up... :) Jenthe and Jiddon started baking a cake as soon as we got home and I had a nice conversation with Jannick. Jafeth and Jurrien were the last ones to come downstairs. Jafeth grew so much since the last time I saw him! He used to look like a young boy and now he looked almost like a young man. I'm sure he wouldn't be happy to hear this but I think he was really cute: tall and goodlooking but shy and answering very thoughtfully. At least in English.
Then Jurrien came down and the first thing he said was a comment on how much weight I had lost. I almost forgot that the last time I saw them was 2 years ago. Joram was in Pisa with Francesca while I packed up his things from my room, filling several boxes and bags as far as I can remember. Anne drove by campus to pick up his stuff and she took me home too. That day, once the children were in bed, Anne, Jurrien and I spent hours outside in the garden, drinking wine and talking. Yup, that day was 2 years ago and I was still 9-10 kg heavier than now. I also didn't have glasses at the time, which was something Jenthe noticed.
The day went by very quickly. I played kent-coupé with Jannick, Jiddon and Jenthe. Of course, Jenthe and I were one team and Jannick and Jiddon were the other team, and of course, we won :) This time I finally didn't have to use my minimal Dutch knowledge to agree on the signs because Jenthe and I could just speak English. It was much easier this way, although it used to be a lot of fun trying to explain what we meant using hands and some funny mixture of English and Dutch. Of course, Jannick wasn't too good at losing and quit the game :)
The cake turned out to be excetionally yummy and I talked quite a bit with Anne and Jurrien too. There definitely wasn't an elephant in the room. Maybe something more like the size of a guinea-pig. They mentioned that they were visiting in Oxford and that's it, I think. I certainly didn't want to talk about Joram or listen to others talking about him but we had plenty of other things to talk about, so the elephant didn't even have time to appear.
So, we ate and talked and drank tea and sure, wine also, and it all felt very gezellig. Then the time came I had to return to Utrecht because I had plans for the evening and Dutch weather finally showed its true nature... I was already thinking about how much fun it was going to be to bike to the center in the rain. I said goodbye to everyone. Jenthe looked at me with those big blue eyes and asked whether I was going to come back. I felt really touched.
I enjoyed the journey back home. I was staring out the window and felt very peaceful. Getting closer to Utrecht a nice excitement started to spread in me. I was going to dance salsa in the Winkel van Sinkel. I got home, changed and borrowed Kevin's bike. It's worth knowing that Kevin is a very tall guy so I had quite some exciting moments with his bike. I really had to jump off whenever the traffic lights turned red - well, unless I just biked through the juction anyway. The rain stopped and I was unstoppable till I reached the WvS.
Everybody was there. Enrique, Eduardo, Kees-Jan, Anthony and people I used to dance with but whose name I always forgot... I hardly had a couple of minutes of break; I was dancing the whole night. Eventually, I left slightly before the end of the party and enjoyed the ride home. I've always liked that: the cool air, seeing drunk guys singing and shouting in front of the bars, letting the bike run down the slope and biking through the Wilhelmina park in the dark. It gives you time to quietly enjoy that post-dancing state of mind and happiness. It was the perfect ending of a perfect weekend.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Summer weekends 2 - Utrecht II.
I didn't plan too many things for the second day of my stay and I ended up walking around in the city the whole day. I should have met Joren (also ex-BarCo) in the morning, but he overslept. I entered Café Belgie, ordered a cappuccino and sat down at a table by the window. It was a beautiful morning and people were walking, cycling, jogging along the Oude Gracht (the Old Canal), shopping, walking the dog, enjoying the weather. Joren didn't pick up his phone, so I sat there for a bit, drank my cappuccino slowly and left to re-explore the centre of Utrecht.
I entered every single cool shop. I didn't feel compelled to buy things (except for the sex dice for a friend :) but I was amazed by the number of funky things you see and would like to have but know that you don't need any of them. EXPO and the kitchen accessory stores are the best places to come across these things. For example, penis shaped ice cubes are funky... But, no, you don't need them. I tried on a couple of things at H&M and once again realized that they don't sell the same clothes in Hungary and in the Netherlands, and strangely, Dutch H&Ms are cheaper than the Hungarian ones. I even checked out a BDSM store. It just looked like an alternative clothes store but once I was inside, looking at some skirts, the owner said that the "toys" were downstairs. So, why not, I thought and took a look at the toys. I have to admit that I didn't know what some of the things were meant for... In my mind the term "medical play" doesn't really mean more than the girl dressing up as a nurse. Staring at the toys on one of the shelves the expression "medical play" gained entirely new dimensions.
There was one thing I haven't done throughout the 3 years that I had wanted to do and that was eating pizza at the little stand standing right where the Oude Gracht meets the road leading to the central station. I think it was Jess, my first roommate, who told me they had the best pizza ever there... I was sure I was going to try it one day but it somehow never happened. So, I bought a slice and it was truly delicious! It had very thick tomato paste, anchovis, olives and cheese on - so much topping that I could hardly fit it in my mouth. I also wondered why people eat this on the go - not that they had any other choice - firstly, because it was so delicious that it would have deserved to be eaten at a table, and secondly, because I thought I would drop a piece of topping on my blouse any second.
My first date overslept, but I had a second one, Sjoerd. We met at the train station, walked around the city, drank a coffe and a glass of wine and walked around a bit more. It was nice to get and give an update on our lives. I almost forgot how much he can talk, but we haven't really talked much since last September, so there was much to talk about.
Then, I went to the Albert Hein and bought tomatos, a bag of "Italian vegetable mix", onions, olives (yes, more olives!) and pasta. Laurens came over for dinner and he showed up with two huge helmets in his hand. "Who's going to ride on a bike today, who, who?", and I just stood there, blank. "You!" So, we made and ate dinner in the living room, which was actually quite lively because Zoe and Kevin and co were also having something to eat while they were watching some weird show on TV. Of course, it was a real UC living room and kitchen with unwashed dishes everywhere, one bag of rubbish next to the trashcan and the trashcan also overflowing with trash... Home, sweet home, I could say, but I was happy I didn't have to live like that anymore.
Biking was amazing! I've never sat on a motorbike before (well, once, when I was 16, but that wasn't a very serious bike and this one was). We got slightly lost, but I saw parts of Utrecht and the surrounding areas that I haven't seen before, the places where the rich live in huge houses with big gardens (or rather parks?). We got on the motorway too, so we could increase our speed to 104 km/h, which was very cool. I could feel the wind blowing through my clothes :)
It was actually quite late by the time we got back on campus and I was exhausted. I was planning on going to the bar - even messaged Kim on facebook about meeting there. (Kim is a person I actually got to know via this blog.) But the bar was closed and I was so tired that I decided to go to bed and sleep. It was a long day. And I had an exciting day to look forward to...
(To be continued...)
I entered every single cool shop. I didn't feel compelled to buy things (except for the sex dice for a friend :) but I was amazed by the number of funky things you see and would like to have but know that you don't need any of them. EXPO and the kitchen accessory stores are the best places to come across these things. For example, penis shaped ice cubes are funky... But, no, you don't need them. I tried on a couple of things at H&M and once again realized that they don't sell the same clothes in Hungary and in the Netherlands, and strangely, Dutch H&Ms are cheaper than the Hungarian ones. I even checked out a BDSM store. It just looked like an alternative clothes store but once I was inside, looking at some skirts, the owner said that the "toys" were downstairs. So, why not, I thought and took a look at the toys. I have to admit that I didn't know what some of the things were meant for... In my mind the term "medical play" doesn't really mean more than the girl dressing up as a nurse. Staring at the toys on one of the shelves the expression "medical play" gained entirely new dimensions.
There was one thing I haven't done throughout the 3 years that I had wanted to do and that was eating pizza at the little stand standing right where the Oude Gracht meets the road leading to the central station. I think it was Jess, my first roommate, who told me they had the best pizza ever there... I was sure I was going to try it one day but it somehow never happened. So, I bought a slice and it was truly delicious! It had very thick tomato paste, anchovis, olives and cheese on - so much topping that I could hardly fit it in my mouth. I also wondered why people eat this on the go - not that they had any other choice - firstly, because it was so delicious that it would have deserved to be eaten at a table, and secondly, because I thought I would drop a piece of topping on my blouse any second.
My first date overslept, but I had a second one, Sjoerd. We met at the train station, walked around the city, drank a coffe and a glass of wine and walked around a bit more. It was nice to get and give an update on our lives. I almost forgot how much he can talk, but we haven't really talked much since last September, so there was much to talk about.
Then, I went to the Albert Hein and bought tomatos, a bag of "Italian vegetable mix", onions, olives (yes, more olives!) and pasta. Laurens came over for dinner and he showed up with two huge helmets in his hand. "Who's going to ride on a bike today, who, who?", and I just stood there, blank. "You!" So, we made and ate dinner in the living room, which was actually quite lively because Zoe and Kevin and co were also having something to eat while they were watching some weird show on TV. Of course, it was a real UC living room and kitchen with unwashed dishes everywhere, one bag of rubbish next to the trashcan and the trashcan also overflowing with trash... Home, sweet home, I could say, but I was happy I didn't have to live like that anymore.
Biking was amazing! I've never sat on a motorbike before (well, once, when I was 16, but that wasn't a very serious bike and this one was). We got slightly lost, but I saw parts of Utrecht and the surrounding areas that I haven't seen before, the places where the rich live in huge houses with big gardens (or rather parks?). We got on the motorway too, so we could increase our speed to 104 km/h, which was very cool. I could feel the wind blowing through my clothes :)
It was actually quite late by the time we got back on campus and I was exhausted. I was planning on going to the bar - even messaged Kim on facebook about meeting there. (Kim is a person I actually got to know via this blog.) But the bar was closed and I was so tired that I decided to go to bed and sleep. It was a long day. And I had an exciting day to look forward to...
(To be continued...)
Friday, 19 June 2009
The third driving exam
... was cancelled. My instructor had an accident and his car has been in the repair shop for 2 weeks now. Which means that I have to wait another 2 weeks at least to be able to take an exam. Argh.
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Summer weekends 2 - Utrecht I.
The whole thing started out with the realization in the second year of UC that I was too late to return to visit AC. Everybody I knew left. At that point I told myself that I had to go back to UC the year after graduation so I could meet the people that really mattered. BarCo reunion would have been a great occasion to visit, even though I would have had to consume a lot less alcohol to remain the responsible girlfriend I am. But as my grandma would say: ember tervez, sors végez. Man proposes, fate disposes (freely after man proposes, God disposes.) To cut a long story short, I had to change my flight. But eventually, the day came and I was on my way to Utrecht.
We landed in Eindhoven. Everything seemed so easy and natural. You know the feeling of being at an airport, not really knowing which way to go, just following the signs, trying to figure out whether you should take a bus or a train to wherever your destination is. I had nothing like that. I had some leftover strippenkaarten (bus tickets) and took the bus to the train station. I had my Dutch bank card on me, so I bought my train ticket easily, without queuing. I walked to the right platform, waited for the train, got on, got off in Utrecht and took bus 4. It was amazing how little excitement accompanied these actions. I've done this so many times that it felt as if I did this every week in the past months. I looked at the crowd biking on the side of the street and there was nothing strange about it. In fact, just around the Neude, I spotted a guy I knew from the salsa parties. He was also biking. The first time I saw the bikes parked around the train station, it felt like being on a different planet. Endless heaps of bikes...
I entered the gates of campus. Yup, it was definitely summer term. There were only a few people around. I was welcomed by Paul and not much later Laurens arrived too, which was a nice surprise because I didn't expect to see him. That afternoon I had a very Dutch experience, one that I used to dislike quite a bit but the circumstances made me do it: riding on the back of a bike. I made dinner plans with Anne-Sjoerd and I thought it would be a nice idea to invite Laurens too. The only problem was that we had to get to the Uithof and Laurens had a bike but I didn't. Friday afternoon isn't the best time you could try to borrow a bike, but I tried still... and I failed. We almost agreed that he would bike and I would take the bus, but Laurens said that at least we could try biking there together.
Travelling on the back of a bike has always been scary and uncomfortable for me. Scary, probably because I can't imagine not falling over with someone on the back and I projected my inability onto everyone around me. And uncomfortable, because... well, just uncomfortable. If you sit with the bike between your legs, a short ride is a complete workout for your legs, having to keep them off the ground. If you sit with both legs on one side, your back gets stiff and painful. I'm sure I was doing it wrong; there must be a way to sit there pretty comfortably, but I never managed to find out how. Actually, I never really wanted to. And the worst part was getting on the bike. Every Dutch girl and boy knows how to jump on the bike in motion, and they do that elegantly, without a trace of difficulty. I don't. So, I concentrated really hard to get green lights till the Uithof - to avoid the trouble of getting on the bike again. I have to say the the excitement of the short bike ride made up for the lack of excitement of the long journey from Budapest to Utrecht.
Anne-Sjoerd lives is what seems the ugliest grey building from the outside. It looks better once you are in. We agreed that we would make pancakes and since I don't like the whole premade pancake powder thing (people, the beauty of pancakes lies in you mixing the perfect - or not so perfect - pancake batter yourself!) we went shopping for groceries. Then we went to the Spar again because we talked so much that we forgot to get milk :) The pancakes were heavenly! We had apple pancakes, bacon pancakes with stroop (it's a must!), pancakes with salad, pancakes with sour cream and cheese (that was for me...) and of course, pancakes with chocolate spread. We were stuffed. I like cooking, and I especially like the aspect of cooking that if you are the one who did the cooking, it will be someone else feeling the need to clean up.
Then we played Wii. Don't ask, it was fun :) And we went for a long walk in the forest close by. On the way, we raided a potager garden full of herbs, flowers and fruits and spent some time collecting tiny wild strawberries and red currant. They were yummy. Then, we walked in the forest - there was a really cool wooden path above ground level and that's what we walked on - and climbed over the electric fence and made friends with some cows. Okay, the fence didn't actually have voltage in it and it were the guys that made friends with the cows. We arrived to a large field and found a ball, so we played and headed back soon afterwards because it was getting dark.
Another long ride back to campus to arrive to a birthday party in David's unit, where I bumped into random people I know, like Luisa and Nicole and chatted a bit about post-UC life et cetera. The theme of the party was "something went wrong here" (or something like that) and UC it was, people made quite an effort to dress up accordingly, which was fun to see. The host made me drink some disgusting drink: it was pink, sweet and had pieces of cheese floating in it and it was all covered with whipped cream. That definitely matched the theme. And I drank it.
The party was nice but what I really longed for was the bar. The Bar. Paul, Laurens and I sat down at the BarCo Hoek, ordered our drinks and I wasn't sure whether I should tell the chief that the bartender was bad... (- A Martini Bianco, please. - What? - A Martini Bianco. - A Martini what? - (Paul) White Martini. - she staring at us blank - (me) Just give me a Martini, okay?) Let it go, you're not BarCo anymore and I kept my mouth shut and paid. Max, David Eekhof and Andrew came up to me to say hi - that was nice. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the bar, and recognizing that I was now ex-BarCo, I swung the lamp above my head: "We built this bar with our blood, sweat and tears." Then Paul did too. Some cocky first year Primus guy came up to us saying we shouldn't swing the lamps; that was hillarious. Baby, I had finished my thesis by the time you started preparing for your high school exams, so maybe I know more about UC traditions, I thought, and swung the lamp.
(To be continued...)
We landed in Eindhoven. Everything seemed so easy and natural. You know the feeling of being at an airport, not really knowing which way to go, just following the signs, trying to figure out whether you should take a bus or a train to wherever your destination is. I had nothing like that. I had some leftover strippenkaarten (bus tickets) and took the bus to the train station. I had my Dutch bank card on me, so I bought my train ticket easily, without queuing. I walked to the right platform, waited for the train, got on, got off in Utrecht and took bus 4. It was amazing how little excitement accompanied these actions. I've done this so many times that it felt as if I did this every week in the past months. I looked at the crowd biking on the side of the street and there was nothing strange about it. In fact, just around the Neude, I spotted a guy I knew from the salsa parties. He was also biking. The first time I saw the bikes parked around the train station, it felt like being on a different planet. Endless heaps of bikes...
I entered the gates of campus. Yup, it was definitely summer term. There were only a few people around. I was welcomed by Paul and not much later Laurens arrived too, which was a nice surprise because I didn't expect to see him. That afternoon I had a very Dutch experience, one that I used to dislike quite a bit but the circumstances made me do it: riding on the back of a bike. I made dinner plans with Anne-Sjoerd and I thought it would be a nice idea to invite Laurens too. The only problem was that we had to get to the Uithof and Laurens had a bike but I didn't. Friday afternoon isn't the best time you could try to borrow a bike, but I tried still... and I failed. We almost agreed that he would bike and I would take the bus, but Laurens said that at least we could try biking there together.
Travelling on the back of a bike has always been scary and uncomfortable for me. Scary, probably because I can't imagine not falling over with someone on the back and I projected my inability onto everyone around me. And uncomfortable, because... well, just uncomfortable. If you sit with the bike between your legs, a short ride is a complete workout for your legs, having to keep them off the ground. If you sit with both legs on one side, your back gets stiff and painful. I'm sure I was doing it wrong; there must be a way to sit there pretty comfortably, but I never managed to find out how. Actually, I never really wanted to. And the worst part was getting on the bike. Every Dutch girl and boy knows how to jump on the bike in motion, and they do that elegantly, without a trace of difficulty. I don't. So, I concentrated really hard to get green lights till the Uithof - to avoid the trouble of getting on the bike again. I have to say the the excitement of the short bike ride made up for the lack of excitement of the long journey from Budapest to Utrecht.
Anne-Sjoerd lives is what seems the ugliest grey building from the outside. It looks better once you are in. We agreed that we would make pancakes and since I don't like the whole premade pancake powder thing (people, the beauty of pancakes lies in you mixing the perfect - or not so perfect - pancake batter yourself!) we went shopping for groceries. Then we went to the Spar again because we talked so much that we forgot to get milk :) The pancakes were heavenly! We had apple pancakes, bacon pancakes with stroop (it's a must!), pancakes with salad, pancakes with sour cream and cheese (that was for me...) and of course, pancakes with chocolate spread. We were stuffed. I like cooking, and I especially like the aspect of cooking that if you are the one who did the cooking, it will be someone else feeling the need to clean up.
Then we played Wii. Don't ask, it was fun :) And we went for a long walk in the forest close by. On the way, we raided a potager garden full of herbs, flowers and fruits and spent some time collecting tiny wild strawberries and red currant. They were yummy. Then, we walked in the forest - there was a really cool wooden path above ground level and that's what we walked on - and climbed over the electric fence and made friends with some cows. Okay, the fence didn't actually have voltage in it and it were the guys that made friends with the cows. We arrived to a large field and found a ball, so we played and headed back soon afterwards because it was getting dark.
Another long ride back to campus to arrive to a birthday party in David's unit, where I bumped into random people I know, like Luisa and Nicole and chatted a bit about post-UC life et cetera. The theme of the party was "something went wrong here" (or something like that) and UC it was, people made quite an effort to dress up accordingly, which was fun to see. The host made me drink some disgusting drink: it was pink, sweet and had pieces of cheese floating in it and it was all covered with whipped cream. That definitely matched the theme. And I drank it.
The party was nice but what I really longed for was the bar. The Bar. Paul, Laurens and I sat down at the BarCo Hoek, ordered our drinks and I wasn't sure whether I should tell the chief that the bartender was bad... (- A Martini Bianco, please. - What? - A Martini Bianco. - A Martini what? - (Paul) White Martini. - she staring at us blank - (me) Just give me a Martini, okay?) Let it go, you're not BarCo anymore and I kept my mouth shut and paid. Max, David Eekhof and Andrew came up to me to say hi - that was nice. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the bar, and recognizing that I was now ex-BarCo, I swung the lamp above my head: "We built this bar with our blood, sweat and tears." Then Paul did too. Some cocky first year Primus guy came up to us saying we shouldn't swing the lamps; that was hillarious. Baby, I had finished my thesis by the time you started preparing for your high school exams, so maybe I know more about UC traditions, I thought, and swung the lamp.
(To be continued...)
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Summer weekends 1 - Tihany
When I think of the Balaton I think of a hot summer day, a blanket in the grass right in front of the lake, the gorgeous colors of the water, little white sails in the distance, lángos (probably it's easiest to describe as salty and flat olieballen with garlic, sour cream and cheese topping - yummy) and fried fish. Childhood memories of vacations also come to mind - weeks I spend in Lelle with my mother. That time the ministry gave rooms to its workers in its building by the Balaton so that they could spend some time there with their families. Well, that was another era. I also remember summer camps by the Balaton - swimming, playing in the lake. It was in Zánka (I think) when I got stung by a wasp on my finger and my arm was swollen up to my elbow. I think that was a class excursion. That was when I realized that it's better to stay away from those little beasts. And short vacations with my father's family and my sister. Those days she was all "play with me, play with me" (how lucky she is growing up now) and we spent hours in the water.
This time I was preparing for a similar experience, but with friends. I pictured the lake, the beach, planned on taking my bikinis and thought of how nice it would be to get into the water as soon as we arrived. And then the weather turned bad. We had two weeks of sunshine, the temperature was between 25-30 degrees and the lake was 20 degrees warm and a day before we left we had to find our warm pullovers somewhere deep in our closets. But hey, its all about friends and having fun and not the weather.
And we had plenty of fun. It was 10 of us, the people from the salsa scene that Zsuzsa - a friend also dancing salsa - felt close eanough to invite to her place in Tihany. To start with, it was a fantastic place! We were about 20 m far from the lake with a great view from the garden. Then she showed us her other houses on top of the hill, basically right next to the abbey with an amazing view on the lake. I can't really describe the style and elegance in her houses and the garden... you have to see that for yourself.
Instead of enjoying the lake, we went for the second best option: eating. There was plenty of food around, 13 kg of meat, to start with... Jani, Zoli, Orsi and I arrived early afternoon and the rest of our group has already been preparing the barbecue in the garden. I can't remember the last time I ate so much. And we hardly stopped eating. As soon as we finished breakfast the second day, we started preparing lunch. Drinking showed a pretty similar pattern: we started drinking in the morning (morning, that is when we got up, so around 11-12) and increased our blood alcohol level till late at night. Debauchery.
The first evening we played games that I made the students at the EVIME selection play and emptied the helium balloons that Zoli and Orsi brought. They asked me in advance to take my mother's videocamera because they wanted to film something - well, this was it. I haven't yet transferred the recordings to my computer, but they must be hillarious. The ones of the games also. Those games are funny to start with, but when you play them drunk they are extra funny. Poor Taki, for some reason a lot of people kept on hitting him on the head with a plastic bottle...
The second evening was somewhat calmer. We made our way to the top of the hill and took some "shadow pictures" on the wall of the abbey. The abbey is very nicely lit in the evening and we made use of the strong light: we took on several positions in front of the building and then photographed only our shadows. The pictures looked really cool on the camera (salsa moves, sex positions etc.) and I can't wait to see them on the computer. We also spent hours in Zsuzsa's garden, drinking Tokaji, staring at the lake, arguing about politics and whether the leader of their dance school is competent enough. Then we headed to the other two houses on the lakeside and Jani, Zoli, Orsi and I talked for about another two hours. It was lovely.
This time I was preparing for a similar experience, but with friends. I pictured the lake, the beach, planned on taking my bikinis and thought of how nice it would be to get into the water as soon as we arrived. And then the weather turned bad. We had two weeks of sunshine, the temperature was between 25-30 degrees and the lake was 20 degrees warm and a day before we left we had to find our warm pullovers somewhere deep in our closets. But hey, its all about friends and having fun and not the weather.
And we had plenty of fun. It was 10 of us, the people from the salsa scene that Zsuzsa - a friend also dancing salsa - felt close eanough to invite to her place in Tihany. To start with, it was a fantastic place! We were about 20 m far from the lake with a great view from the garden. Then she showed us her other houses on top of the hill, basically right next to the abbey with an amazing view on the lake. I can't really describe the style and elegance in her houses and the garden... you have to see that for yourself.
Instead of enjoying the lake, we went for the second best option: eating. There was plenty of food around, 13 kg of meat, to start with... Jani, Zoli, Orsi and I arrived early afternoon and the rest of our group has already been preparing the barbecue in the garden. I can't remember the last time I ate so much. And we hardly stopped eating. As soon as we finished breakfast the second day, we started preparing lunch. Drinking showed a pretty similar pattern: we started drinking in the morning (morning, that is when we got up, so around 11-12) and increased our blood alcohol level till late at night. Debauchery.
The first evening we played games that I made the students at the EVIME selection play and emptied the helium balloons that Zoli and Orsi brought. They asked me in advance to take my mother's videocamera because they wanted to film something - well, this was it. I haven't yet transferred the recordings to my computer, but they must be hillarious. The ones of the games also. Those games are funny to start with, but when you play them drunk they are extra funny. Poor Taki, for some reason a lot of people kept on hitting him on the head with a plastic bottle...
The second evening was somewhat calmer. We made our way to the top of the hill and took some "shadow pictures" on the wall of the abbey. The abbey is very nicely lit in the evening and we made use of the strong light: we took on several positions in front of the building and then photographed only our shadows. The pictures looked really cool on the camera (salsa moves, sex positions etc.) and I can't wait to see them on the computer. We also spent hours in Zsuzsa's garden, drinking Tokaji, staring at the lake, arguing about politics and whether the leader of their dance school is competent enough. Then we headed to the other two houses on the lakeside and Jani, Zoli, Orsi and I talked for about another two hours. It was lovely.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
