our days are numbered

Pinch and a Punch..

fark.. it's December.

Having not found any place to stay while in Sorpon, I’m still in Budapest and it looks like a direct train to Austria is on the cards. Which is a shame, as Frankenbike and I are coming to the end of our time together and I wouldn’t mind getting another trip in before saying goodbye. Plus, Sopron is supposed to be really nice and is an easy day’s ride to Berndorf. But what to do with Frankenbike once I leave for London? I’ve been offered a storage place in Vienna, so you never know, I might just come back to him next year sometime. Frozen fingers crossed I can get my hands on a bike in London.

Andy and Laurie had some peeps from Montana (I'm Rick Steves, Bitch!!), stay for a couple of nights. They were laid back folk with chilled out attitudes and for me it was great being in a group of people where everyone understood one another. Aside from almost everyone in Montana owning a gun (for hunting), with its wide open spaces and snow covered mountains sounds like my kind of place. After meeting a few more Americans, I’m beginning to get a feeling to visit the US and disprove all the stereotypes which have built up in my head. Although, one American I’ve met on this trip said that all the good ones aren’t in America anymore, so I shouldn’t hold my breath.

On Wednesday, I met up with Mizik and his photography mates at Café Szimpla (not to mistaken with the Szimpla pub around the corner). Mizik had just picked up his new machine, a Canon 30D, along with some fairly nice lenses and a big fuckoff flash unit. Hmm.. camera tech. After Szimpla, we went to a gallery/pub place full of arty types, met a few more of Mizik’s friends and discovered where Robert Menzies' eyebrows went after his death. Andy met up with us around 11 and Pálinka Nick made an appearance later in the evening. When Mizik and his mates left, they gave me a really nice farewell and I feel I will always have some good friends here in Hungary.

On the subject of good Hungarian friends, I caught up with Su from Vesprem last night. She has now moved to Budapest and she is enjoying the challenge of her new job, but was really tired. She joined me and the gaggle of Americans for dinner, afterwards making our way to Kuplung for a few beers. There was a band playing and Andy spotted the sound tech using a soldering iron to fix stuff with, and I borrowed it while he went off to grab a sandwich and coke. The soldering irons here are weird and rather than finishing in a point, they have a loop of wire with a different alloy at the bend which heats up when current is passed through it. Not that great for repairing small electronics and it didn’t do the job, but still the first time I’ve watched a Hungarian Ska band and attempted to solder things. Afterwards I met up with Vera, who finished work at 12:30 and we caught up on the week’s events. It looks like Canada is no longer on the cards for her and will give Ireland a shot next May sometime.

This weekend Andy has gone to Amsterdam, Laurie’s off to Vienna and Vera is headed to Szombathely, so I’ve got two apartments to myself. Nice. I’ve offered to keep Vera’s cat Maci (Little Bear), company and Andy & Laurie’s internet connection busy.

Having just replaced my hot drink of choice to tea, I haven’t had coffee for a few days now and surprise, surprise.. I’m sleeping better, I have more energy and am looking healthier. When I go out at night, I don’t fade into a delirious mess around 11pm and can actually have fun without booze.

In short:

I’ve learnt some more Hungarian and now I can say some fairly authentic sounding insults to people. I think I’m going through a Johnny Cash phase. I’ve cheered up over the last few days. I found myself in the rail yards of one of the stations here in Budapest. I saw an old school typographer doing his work in a workshop surrounded by thousands of Hungarian metal font boxes. After a series of tests, the RAM in my laptop looks like it's casuing the freezing up and crashing. Arse. I'm still unsure what the third ingredient in Vera's 3-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner is, but I'm going to find out.

Tonight, Su and I meet up and go outdoor ice-skating near the museum district. Hope I don’t need stitches like I did last time I went ice-skating. Wee haa..