Edrie

Travel Day 4 Budapest

Sunday:

The rain seems to have stopped but the clouds persist. I woke up with what could be a really bad sore throat but I tired not to think of it as I showered and got ready. I hear that others are up not out of their rooms. I got ready quickly hoping to do some homework before we leave. I chose a nice spot in the kitchen of the apartment to sit and write and stare out of the window. S showers and Sz and T go to get the van, which was, parked some distance away in a safer neighborhood.
The bell rings and there is a man at the door. T and Sz are still gone so S and I mime through a situation that tells him to come back later when T gets back and he can have the key to the apartment. I am still amazed at the capacity people have for understanding even with a language barrier. Lucky for us Sz and T get back as the man in leaving. He helps us load our stuff and we are off to the home of C and her family.
We find out on the way there that they have made us breakfast. Nothing we expected of course but considering the warm welcome and care we have received thus far we should have expected nothing left. By the time we get there my throat is in a terrible state. Luckily there seems to be a Hungarian tradition to drink a bit of plum cordial before eating breakfast. It has almost no taste it is so strong and after the first sip, which travels simultaneously up my nose and down to my belly, I can no longer feel anything in my throat.
Breakfast was amazing. More of the pastries from the day before were laid out for us to eat plus some eggs with mushrooms and some cold sausage. Also there is bread with a red pepper spread, which I would love to have the recipe for, as it was nothing like I have ever tasted. Later there is also bread with a thin brown spread, which turns out to be duck liver but none like I have ever tasted. The host also insists that we drink from his private stock of wine. Wine for breakfast is not something we are used to but it was so wonderful and fruity. It turns out it is their own wine and he will not let us leave without trying a few of the vintages. S, ever polite, drinks half a bottle at least. All of it in small �tastes� and all of it with a certain gusto. After breakfast C who works as a journalist interviews us. Most of the questions are not translated as Sz just handles them but a few are and we answer trying to be simple but profound (if there is such a thing) knowing some will be lost in translation.
We are shown memorabilia of the father�s art career and we discuss art and how in Hungary all artists drink at breakfast. There is much exciting hugging and kissing and goodbye punctuated by a 2-liter bottle of wine thrust at us as we leave. I know this will not get through customs in the US so we will have to find some time to drink more before we go.
Tired and more then a little drunk we pile into the van an T takes us out of Slovakia (no hassle at the boarder this time) and on into Hungary where we will stop at their relatives before going on to the World Hungary After Party to play our final Eastern Block gig.
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The drive was long. It did rain and all of us slept some, except T who drove and drove. We went to Sz and T�s cousin�s house, which was outside Budapest, where they were waiting with a late lunch. M was nice and speaks English very well. He has 3 beautiful children a 7 year old boy a 6 year old girl and a 1 month old baby. We stayed there a bit then drove on to another cousin where we were to spend the night. We basically dropped our stuff off, met everyone and went to the club.
The club was in the university district of Budapest. It was medium sized with a fairly large stage. We did not unload the equipment as it was only 6:30 and we didn�t plan on sticking around until 10 when our time slot was supposed to begin. We talked to the soundman in Hungarian and English and he told us our set up would work and be very easy for him (and for us). We went back to the van and M (the cousin) asked us what we would like to see. We went first to a beautiful (and huge) church. It was more impressive than Stephonsdome in Vienna not only because it was larger but because it was alive with people all worshiping. Next we went all around the city seeing all of the major sites all pointed out by M. It was pretty tiring but it was very nice to see the city. We tried to stop for coffee but the first place was closing so we went off to another. S had a few problems and was getting pretty tired, but we all were. Finally off to the club again. It was only 9:00pm and the first band was on. They were a pretty funky mix of a number of different instruments and sounded really good to me. The next band was a crazy threesome. The girl was a drummer and was Hungarian and the guitarist was American and took off pieces of clothing as he went along. They had a few songs that were really interesting but on the whole I was not a fan. The band on just before us went really long. And I was definitely not enjoying them. By this time I was really tired and worried about S because he had been feeling ill since just before we had coffee. We FINALLY went on at 11:45 (note that they told us we were supposed to be on at 10). S only wanted to play 4 songs but after the first couple we just kept going. The crowd (at least the ones that were left) really enjoyed it. We sold 1 CD, I gave 2 away and we were asked for an encore. Sz was GREAT her voice was very ON and she moved and danced quite a bit. I didn�t even seem to make any mistakes with the looping.
We drove back to the cousins� house and didn�t get to bed until 2am. S had to shower and I had to read a bit before we were both calm enough to sleep in our separate child sized beds.