Against the half-opened blind in the skylight
A predatory bird sails across the blue canvas.
The wild – framed by this room
Where my baby played music
By pulling on a string –
The garden birds running scared…
Category Archives: BLOG
I imagine
I imagine negativity
Places I have been,
Or imagine being.
I imagine I’m the victim
Picked on by the pack
While the Alpha dog kicks back.
I imagine people forcing me
To accept what they have said
Although I disagree.
I imagine I am judged
By those same people who have tried
To rob me of my dignity.
I imagine those called friends
Will let their fear our great bond end
I imagine friendships then.
I trust in very little
But that which I trust in –
I imagine it’s enough.
Untitled 5
The man’s music,
strung out,
resounded
across the square
across the tracks
And it may
even have reached
internally
for some stood staring,
perhaps wondering,
perhaps wagering
as to who’d
be first to crack…
The man or his audience.
‘No name’ cafe*
On Podmaniczky utca, near the corner with Teréz körút I’m perched facing West to South West as the road runs. I can make out from the street signs yonder that Jókai utca parellels the körút, but I already knew this. I just now, however, decided to write about this: Jókai utca to Jókai tér and Nagymező down farther being more than familiar to me on my late night excursions.
I find myself sitting street side at a cafe which I’ve been to before. The TV plays reruns of matches; I hate that, I always have, especially when the game was boring the first time round.
Cars pass up and down as do trolley buses. The tram runs to my back. I know it. I’ll not take it now. It’s the metro I’ll be needing in less than 5 minutes.
I finish my wine, a white – the only dry they had –, I peep over the shoulder of a man in front catching Zorba’s restaurant in my glance. Those are other stories.
This place, this cafe, has changed from what I knew. My favourite perch just inside the window, where I sat with Andi watching the snow, where I sat alone writing, has been altered. A low table, those knee high abominations, now sits in place of me. The chairs no doubt comfortable do little to lure me. I hate having to bend every time I want to take a drink. Abominations I tell you!!! The bar has also changed though admittedly moving the service entrance away from the front door is a good idea.
I scribble these last few words, pleased to have sat, and perhaps destined to have had the street experience. The rain threatens, the heat cools and I must run before I’m late. Good teaching!
*In all my time I’ve never noticed a name so the directions given here are the best clue to finding it that I can give.
To the beat of a different drum
This fits into the cosy bracket, perhaps a little too cosy. One could try swinging a cat in here but I’d recommend at least a kitten, and at that a Manx kitten!
Leading in the door one can avail of 3 tables along the wall, for two people really as three would block the passageway. Set high in the far left corner there’s a bench allowing customers the option to sit above the bar, it being at the lower rib level here, a clear view behind the bar and of the workings therein. Up the steps on your immediate left of entry sits another table barely managing to seat two but with stools provided nonetheless. This is a window seat extraordinaire allowing you the feel of the street from within relative comfort. Dob utca, being narrow, it amounts to an ambience rushing to the interior. Upstairs there is further seating but I didn’t dare, it seemed dark and lonely in those ascendant regions.
In truth I was first drawn to this place by a friend who, himself, has become somewhat of a regular, if not resident. Well known among the staff the banter among them flows allowing the place to grow in one’s heart even if the Manx kitten is still not getting much in return. To top it off the bar itself, provides fresh coffee – loyalty card included – and fresh croissants as well as a variety of other pastries and sandwiches. I know I’ll visit this place again and not just for the sit down stand-up comedian or the friendly staff. Those are just the bonuses one learns to take in one’s stride on the road to enlightenment.
A ‘road’ by any other name
Pitypang utca…on 29 bus line
Why this street in particular caught my attention has nothing to do with what’s nearby, not even that a famous writer took up residence here (if there was one I’d like to know), but that to an English speaker’s eye the actual street name could, in certain circles, and for reasons of mere hilarity, take on a whole other significance.
You see in English both the words ‘pity’ and ‘pang’ exist and to put it briefly they, in concert, would seem to suggest a physical discomfort caused by a rush of sorrow for somebody. What, if anything could this mean? Come with me!
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pity
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pang
In fact, placing these two words together in English can make a lot of sense and where a person is particularly sensitive this could even be considered a physical, emotional, or on a greater scale, a psychological condition. A pitypang could cause a physical manifestation with a display of fresh tears, not unlike women (me never! just dust in my eye) weeping to every romantic comedy ever made. The emotional reaching deeper could put one’s spirit off tilt for a period of time, one to an immeasurable number of days, not unlike…! However, the final disposition, itself entering the realm of madness could make certain people a lot of money even if the final prognosis is no more enlightening than it was some thousands of dollars, pounds, euros (remember them?) before.
We can of course have pangs of hunger, pangs of guilt and maybe having pangs of hunger on a medium income can cause pangs of guilt when we realise that we are, regardless of our immediate state, a lot better off than 90% of the world.
Anyway on a bus one evening coming home from work, looking up from my book, the sun nearly in my eyes, I managed to glimpse this sign and from that moment this moment ensued. “And that has made all the difference.”
P.S. Pitypang is the Hungarian word for Dandelion…by the way
Untitled 4
In time there would be nothing,
not of me not of anybody,
if that’s what life dared to promise us.
In truth I don’t care ’bout that,
the resigned state of pessimism,
call it reality of fact, I don’t care!
The great movement of living;
those Carpe Diem so few.
Poets, lovers, people all,
and forgotten.
Don’t label it irresponsiblity
because you’re afraid to experience.
Call it life, call it different,
just not yours.
In time I’ll be gone
With the rest of them too,
A collected bundle of bones, dust and ashes.
In truth I have loved
but of them very few
would I dare to summon-
to my bed at the end.
The great contender
Where there is Pest there is Buda and vice versa and well let me explain. Recently I posted an article and a bit on the Best Burger place near Nyugati and on my Facebook page even chose to tempt people into suggesting alternatives. I knew only this place and of course it was dear to my heart, not least because it opened up next to a bar I used to frequent.
Well since moving to Buda I have had my work cut out for me cos like many other things Pest v Buda related burger places too were not jumping out to greet me. I say this but you must take into account that having lived in the 6th district where every corner offers promise, from pubs to shops to bakeries to gyros places, I was feeling all at sea to begin with out in the 2nd. A nice area for a family but as a young father still struggling with the idea of that other life and a realisation that fatherhood is only a word not a sentence(!) I was in need of local entertainment of occasion, even if it was only to catch a Premiership game the odd weekend.
My exploration I must admit has been wavering, not on all cylinders as it once was. Maybe it can be accounted for by the lack of sleep or maybe it’s just because I don’t get the same thrills out of little pokey places as much as I used to. There was a period in my life when the dirtier the better was my basic selection criteria. I know that that flies in the face of quality at times but beer from a bottle tastes the same everywhere, even if the draught beer can have its inconveniences. Perhaps in this lies a clue because in recent times I’ve made the daring transition from beer to wine, half out of support for my girlfriend as she went about her paleolithic diet (my reasoning was that where others had to give up bread and potatoes and all things carbohydrate-y I would improvise in the alcohol department) and half out of a need to change some of my habits. I had become somewhat disconcerted by the continuous feeling of being bloated which is the drawback of any normal dietary intake coupled with beer, and given Hungarian portions this is multiplied.
But…what about a decent burger? I’m sure that in the wings there are people crying out (can you hear them?) that their restaurant has just that but I’m not looking for a fancy place to take the mother-in-law, to sit and peruse a menu, to order a bottle of wine! God no! That’s only Sundays and then only rarely! I’m looking for the basic fare but tasty. I’m talking speed but not overdone. I’m talking price and not losing quality. Could there be such a place?
Try this out!
http://burger.blog.hu/2011/09/29/sult_fogas_bufe
https://www.facebook.com/sultfogas?ref=ts
When in…
Café Cream Hattyú and Batthyány corner
A nice nook of a cafe, it has six tables with enough seating for a stretch to 16 maybe 18, with room for 2 more at the bar. In the fine weather it pushes out onto the street and this is possibly its greatest feature. You see the outdoor seating is arranged in the little garden-esque surrounds allowing one the hum of the street but the pleasantness of the shrubbery abounding. About halfway between Moszkva tér and Batthyány tér metro it is in a good location to walk to from either hub and with the castle district perched above it, stairways nearby leading that way, it could be the perfect reprieve, especially when slightly lost but still within striking dsitance of everything.
It’s pokey, especially in the winter, and there’s a tv in constant motion, and a radio playing but these are not the default methinks. The day or mood may lend to silence and blank tv screens.
It’s not to be recommended as a place to serve you off the beaten track, there are plenty more, but it is slightly. Nor is it for the hungry traveller or particularly for the peckish free hour wanderer but it is a place for pause when the opportunity presents itself and if you are someone who finds it difficult to like a place it’s probably not for you, but for everybody else, don’t despair if once you are presented with the choice. A quick coffee and a sample of the flavour is not such a bad thing.
Making connections
There are places where you can go to use the internet for free. In fact, most of the American chain fast food and coffee shops provide it but with a twist, a half hour limit with a code on your receipt. In some places the sockets don’t function, deliberately or otherwise (maybe there’s a code for them too). Those places, however, which cater to both needs, i.e. really free internet (unlimited) and a charge-up for you battery, are worth mentioning.
Okay so the great offender concerning the sockets is our all too popular Ronald the Clown gaff but to lump others such as the Coffee Chains in here was probably unfair. However, I have another purpose. These big places are already thriving so why not bring some attention to the little man.
Fasor Espresszó, where I am now typing this is one of those little diamonds in the rough. It’s situated Buda side and has all the studenty appeal, old vinyls decorate the ceiling and cassettes serve as curtains, strung together as they are in a cascade of memory! Bottle tops comprise the chain for flushing in the toilet. So if this is quirky enough, and, hey, the drink is cheap, then come on along.
https://www.facebook.com/fasoreszpresszo
Another spot Pest side is the Izabella Kávézó on Izabella utca. On the corner of Szondi utca, and in the heart of the 6th district it’s a good spot not only for a bit of surfing but also for the football and other sports events.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Izabella-K%C3%A1v%C3%A9z%C3%B3/198351146855808
Now the Cafe Cream*, or Corner Cafe, on the corner of Hattyú and Batthyány utca in the 1st district is only worth a mention here in terms of location. It has no WIFI but it does have available sockets if that’s all you require.
Ostrom*, also in the 1st district, is one of those places that provides WIFI from opening, late afternoon, till, well, whenever. It also boasts two screens for the football.
As I’m at it I’ll put a word in for an ex-pat place deeper into the heart of the 6th district, on Mozsár utca. It’s the Caledonia ( Kaledonia) by name and is run by a Scottish man and Hungarian woman. A perfect partnership in business? Seemingly so.
While there are plenty more and I will keep you updated take these as a sampler to the greater good of the smaller, but cosier spots to kick back and while away a few hours in the company of the World Wide Web.
* See review section