a good night spoiled

well, let's start with the good parts

first was the best ever attempt with freeciv, getting mz spaceship to land on alpha centauri by the year 1648.

then there was the trip to tesco, a kind of watered down wallmart. did some decent shopping, bought credible food, a not quite so credible cap (but only $3.50, so who cares), and some vinegar (necessary for doing the wash to counteract the heavy lime in the local water).

then there was the decent cup of coffee at tesco while i was waiting for the bus back to town.

then there was the nice guy who struck up a conversation while we were waiting and who merged his 100 word english vocabulary with my 200 word hungarian, so we got along well enough... i told him where i lived in the us and that i had a daughter in school in LA, and he has some relative or other also in LA and has three (14 down to 6) daughters and was at tesco to buy some drywall patch, ostensibly to fix a wall in his place, and i joked that tomorrow being easter was going to be a workday for him. my first joke in hungarian.

btw, his name is Lajos, = Louis/Lewis in hungarian.

so i get home and unpack and it is now about 6 pm and full daylight still, so i say to myself, ok, easter service wont start till dark, so i get cleaned up and shirt and tie and coat and off to the church about 1/2 mile away and there are folks outside so i think great they are just now lighting the fire,[but no it was the stupid end of the stupid service, the bozos started at 6 pm for godsake, in full goddam daylight, what total unimaginable heresy, how the hell can you strike light in the darkness you know the whole lux lucet in tenebris schtick while the sun is still in the dimdam sky you magyarpoops, but hey, it's not my church, i'm only an observer, so i should shut up} and clustering at the entrance to the church, which is full so there is a crowd around the entrance door, and then there is a hymn, and people outside chime in, and then a short pause, and i see the priest sort of waving something golden around (it could have been a monstrance, cant swear, if so it is the first time in 40 years i have had one waved at me, last time was in Germany when I was in the Army), and then there was the start up of the organ again and i said to myself, i know this one, and sure enough, it was the national anthem (Isten meg all az Magyart= God grant the Magyar people.... all sorts of stuff, mostly peace and quiet, lord knows they have suffered endlessly at the hands of the younameits the turks the huns the austrians and by god they are just ground down to the earth so pleeeeeeeeeeye god, etc etc), which of course everyone sang, the men outside standing just a little bit taller and a little bit straighter as it began, and then the crowd started to give a little and here came the processional cross heading down the aisle outside toward us and i thought (because i still did not yet realize that the service had started a full 90+ minutes earlier) that this was all the prelude to the lighting of the pascal fire, but no here came the altar party and two little altargirls dressed in traditional Magyar costume, complete with the little red tiaras and the dirndlesque outfits (how can i create such a word, dirndlesque, the worst of both german and french, i should hide my keyboard in shame) and poof they disappeared into a side door and then i could tell it was over because everyone was coming outside and all the honchos were gone, vamoosed so to speak, so i said to my self:
the road to hell
and i am on it

next up.. i just walked around a bit, headed south for about 1/4 mile, then turned west toward the lake, and then at the edge of the lake i could see all lit up
A the gimnazium on the hill, glowing and serene,
B the Esterhazy palace,
C the fortress, and off in the northwest sky still a lingering of light, here, even at 8 pm, and it is only the very first of april. the first stars were just coming out, there was no moon, but he lights from the illuminated buildings reflected on the water and i remembered all the time i spent on the boat in the mediterranean, the lights on the water at night.

walking back to the apt i said to myself, well, if La casa restaurant is still open i will go have dinner there, my very first restaurant meal on my own in hungary, and it was so i went in.

Very nice inside, two medium=sized parties there, i was the only solo diner, the waiter addressed me in English (was it the coat, the haircut, the shoes, the glasses, my initial hesitancy), but ok, and i sat down and soon found myself enjoying a very decent cabernet, then an excellent spanish lamb dish, and to top it off a very good cup of coffee and a wonderful dessert==almost a lowfat cheesecake, not at all sweet or rich but very satisfyhing.

so here is the hard part. i think i was overcharged. Damn. the lamb was 1900, the coffee 300, the dessert 300, that makes 2700. I dont know what the wine was, but it couldnt have been much more than 800 for a glass, which is 3500-3600. but the final tab (including tip) was 6000. I did not argue, but I am wondering what i should do now. The food was quite good, and I would like to go back, but not if I was stiffed.

I honestly think I will go back sometime next week and ask them point blank if they overcharged me. If not, then fine, and I will return. If so, then I will tell then why I wont be back and why i will be telling my colleagues at the Gimnazium how i was treated.