(39 wines tasted so far)
I rented an apartment in the city. It is what you would call a pied-a-terre. Large living room with a couch that makes a
bed, small kitchen and bathroom. The
bathroom is large enough to comfortably fit a washing machine. Ceilings in the 180 year old apartment are
about 14 feet tall and the landlord has also added two single beds in the large
living room. My pallet for the sojourn
here is one of the single beds.
All in
all it is a great location, quite spacious, and the washing machine presents a
real bonus for travelers accustomed to doing laundry in bathroom sinks. Using the toaster and coffee maker turned out
to be interesting as you will see later on in this post.
So, five full days in a city with the possibility of
visiting lots of museums, galleries, monuments, boat rides on the Danube and on
and on. What’s a mother to do? (many are probably too young to remember that
TV commercial).
The answer is not much.
Morning ritual never varied. After a cup of coffee I stepped out of the
apartment building and made my way to the local market to buy fresh bread. Upon return I made toast and ate it with
butter jam and downed it with more coffee.
A little work on my blog, or researching where to go next, and how to
get there and voila, it was noon. Time
for a sandwich or some other concoction made up in the kitchen and then it was
time for an afternoon stroll.
It is a
great city for walking. Pick any
direction be it along the Danube, past historic churches or wending down
pedestrian only streets lined with outdoor cafes.
I did in fact manage to do some things. I went to the Ludwig Gallery of Contemporary
Art. Three floors of space that would
have been better utilized as a long term record storage center for Enron. Well, there was one very interesting thing, what
I would call functional work of art. I discovered
it as I was about to leave the museum and decided to use the men’s room before
the next leg of my journey.
Lo and behold, when you flush the toilet in the men’s room a
mechanism comes out from a niche in the tank.
It sprays water and squeegees as the toilet seat revolves 360
degrees. I kid you not.
Now for the coffee maker and toaster.
The coffee maker cord was too short to reach the kitchen
outlet. The solution was to appropriate
a chair from the living room, perch a kitchen stool on top of the chair and
voila. The cord would now reach the
outlet. However, the glass carafe was
missing. Another solution – put a
saucepan where the carafe should go.
Well, one additional improvisational step was involved. The top of the glass carafe is supposed to
push up against a spring loaded gizmo that lets the coffee run into the
carafe. No carafe to push in the spring?
No problem. Just press the handle of a
wooden spoon against the spring loaded gizmo and the coffee flows out!
The toaster, in addition to having a cord too short to reach
the outlet presented another surprising problem. I had already taken care of the short cord
issue by perching it atop the same ‘coffee maker platform’. I plugged in the toaster put in a piece of
bread, pushed down the handle and waited for my toast to pop up.
Apparently, the toaster company had subcontracted out the
spring mechanism to a catapult company. To
my surprise the toast was ejected high into the air and landed on the floor. No problem.
There were two wire bails on top of the toaster. I have no idea what their function was. But I put them to good use. I put in my bread, depressed the handle, and quickly
slid a teaspoon under the two wire bails.
When the toast popped up the spoon prevented it from flying into the
air. I pass along the photo for the
benefit of anyone else who stays in the apartment.
I am a bicycle nut. It
was a treat to go to the Museum of Applied Arts and look at their bicycle
exhibit. Eighteen very interesting
bicycles. A couple were one of a kind
works of art. I’ll post a few pictures
below. One frame made of bamboo.
Another one made of wood. You buy the bike parts. They come in a box.
Then you get out your trusty skill saw, make a wooden frame
and assemble the bike.
I plunked down 20 some odd bucks to go to a recital of
classical music in St. Anne’s Church.
Well, the church was nice.
As far as wine tasting, my two dinner companions for the
week were from the Koch vineyard. It was
named Hungary’s vineyard of the year in 2014.
One was a 2012 cabernet-pinot noir blend. It was especially serviceable with my pasta
dishes. The other was 2009 Snow
Wine. It was 100% chardonnay and
beginning to get a little long in the tooth.
The color had darkened a bit.
However, the flavor was very interesting. Think a slightly sweet peach. Interesting for a chardonnay, and quite a bit
of sugar too.
Well, on to Balatonfured located towards the eastern end of
Lake Balaton to taste primarily white wines.
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