Majk

Fish pond just outside the compound








Faresco in the refrectory
Monks' quarters












Eszterházy chapel

A hattyű szene

1 Julius 2011

Kedves kollégák!

A nyár végén visszatérek az Amerikai Egyesült Államokba.

Már másfél éve vagyok itt.

Nem volt minden tökéletes.

Voltak nehezebb napjaim, de ezek kőzel sem voltak olyan nehezek,

mint amilyen nehézenek a magyar nyelvet találtam.

Természetesen a legtöbb napom igen kellemesen telt.

Sok tanuló volt hajlandó, hogy angolul beszélgesen velem

még az ostálytermen kívül is.

Ittlétem alatt rengeteg ember segítségére számíthattam,

s ezért külön köszönetemet szeretném kifejezni

Stockbauer Csillának,

Haris Hajnalkának,

és a teljes angol munkaközösségnek.

Tata egy gyönyörű város,

s nagyon hiányozni fog.

Eljött az idő, hogy visszatérjek a családomhoz,

a feleségemhez és a gyerekeimhez,

no és persze a barátaimhoz.

A legjobbakat kivánom Önöknek.

Remélem, hogy még találkozunk,

ha személyesen nem is,

akkor a Facebookon.

How not to travel from Esztergóm to Tata

7 July 2011

Everything went swimmingly for the first 12 hours. Péter and Dávid were at the train station in Tata well before our 6:21 departure, we got our tickets to Budapest Déli, and we got on the train. At Tatabánya both Eszter and Máté were ready, so we had no problems getting into Budpest.

Around 7:30 we head off on the city streets toward the Danube, Péter leading the way. Not much difficulty, and we soon are at Batthyányi tér, directly across from the parliament, getting our tickets to take the HEV (the suburban train) to Szentendre. We get there in due course, and spend a few minutes driving on the cobblestone streets, looking around, determining that nothing will be open before 10 AM, so we might as well hit the road to Visegrád. Except Dávid does make a foolish bet with me, placing more trust in his GPS system than he should, stating with an excess of confidence that the Danube (and thus the road to Visegrád is over THERE, whereupon I point out that the sun is THERE, and since it is still morning, the sun is off toward the EAST where the Danube is to be found. The Danube does not lie to the WEST, no matter what his POS GPS device says. He believes steadfastly in technology. I believe in the sun.. We bet a beer, and I think Dávid had finally conceded that he lost.

On to Visegrád, about an hour and 45 minutes to go 22 kilometers, we did not rush it, took several breaks, but there were times when we had to leave a bike path and share the highway, and there were times when there were people (families, small children, campers) sharing the bike path, so we could not mantain a steady pace.

Visegrád was just getting ready for a 4-day festival commemorating its medieval heritage. There were craft booths out, people camping out in multicolored tents that looked like they came from the film of Narnia, ladies in flowing period dresses, men in white shirts with drawstrings insted of buttons, and a bunch of folks in ordinary vacation dress. We located the restaurant we were headed for later, locked our bikes, went to a cukrázda for coffee-soft drinks and a sweet treat, then it was noon and time to go to the restaurant.

We got there just as Gordon and Morag Lyall were getting out of their taxi. After introductions of the four students, we sat at a table on the edge of the sidewalk, did a little exploratory conversation, then proceeded to order our pizzas and drinks. The Lyalls have been coming to this area for summer vacations for many years, are well known to the staffs of the hotel and of several restaurants. They are friends of Feke Erzsebét, a good colleague at the gimnázium, and she had introduced me to them last summer. During this week Erzsebét has been on vacation in Croatia, and was not able to visit with her friends, so I was happy to combine my bike trip with a lunch visit in Visegrád.

Our lunch lasted from noon till about two pm, during which time various persons in costume walked on the street past our table, all in preparation for the parade which was to start at two. And it did start not long thereafter, with trumpets and flags and a marching of the nobles, the peers, the ladies, the attendants, the spearmen, the knights in armor, the pageboys in red-blue outfits with wooden swords, the townfolk, the horses, the donkeys, the children, the ladies, the tradesmen, the archers, nomadic herder-warriors, the Turkish prisoner, the bagpipers and the drummers, a stately train under a brilliant and hot sun.

By now it had gotten about 3:00 PM, and even though we did not have to rush to Esztergóm, we wanted to make sure there were no gaffes, so we headed off after saying our farewells to Gordon and Morag, with sincere thanks for the kind invitation to meet them at the restaurant and experience the parade.

The bike trip to Esztergóm was a bit more strenuous, more hilly sections on the road, less dedicated bike path, more exposure to the sun, more wind in our face. We got to one little village where we found a public water pump and spent several minutes cooling down and tanking up. I was so thirsty that i drank a liter of water in about one minute flat.

Just before Esztergóm we took a little stop along the river to just look at the water, skip stones,a and just stand in the shade for a bit. Once we hit the town, we made a straight line for the train station, to make sure that everything was kosher for our return trip. We got our tickets, including our bike tickets, and had about an hour before the train left at 6:30. Back into town for a refresher, a round of milk shakes (not "real" shakes, but a Hungarian version which is less thick, but with a scoop of icecream in the glass). Back to the train station, ready to board, and this is where the whole day falls apart.

Oh no, we cannot board the train with our bikes. Never mind what the webpage says, a maximum of three bicycles are allowed on board (who cares that the train is basically empty) and there are already two on board, so only one person can go. No exceptions, these are rules, the conductor is a total bureaucrat, he follows his orders, that is that.

I tell Eszter, you go, you will be fine, you will get home with no problems. We will punt.

And punt we did. First it took us about 25 minutes to get money back for the tickets we now could not use (but only 80% refund), then we bought new tickets to go to Budapest. But in Budapest we would have to ride our bikes about 5 km through city traffic to get to the o t h e r train station, so we could get home.

We have about 15 min before the train leaves, we get a good draft beer. Ok, fine. We board, now it it about 7 10 pm, the trip is only 52 km, so we should be in Budapest by around 8 10 pm, which means we won't catch the 8 20 train home, but the 9 20, and then we will be home around 10 15.

While dickering with the ticket lady, we had exchanged a few words with two Brits who were waiting in line. Once the train starts moving, Máté and Dávid and I start a long involved conversation about international politics, the players in WW III (which I maintain will be started by Iran), the future dominance of India and China, and so on. Péter has disappeared. After about 30 minutes he returns. On his own he had gone to find the Brits and engage them in conversation, testing and improving his own language skills. Damn I am proud of that boy!

B U T, the train takes almost two hours to go just 52 km, we don't get into Budapest until 8 50, which leaves us 30 minutes to get to the other train station. And we don't really know the best route to take, and it is dusk, and there is traffic, and there are pedestrians, and we weave in and out, and we are caught by red lights, and it is now 9 10 and we still have not bought tickets, so I say to Máté, who has to go to Tatabánya and then leave the bike with his uncle and then travel home to Vertessomló, you go on ahead, you can make the train, so he and Péter dash ahead, Dávid and I are a bit behind, I am slower because I am just being more careful with traffic, and when Dávid and I get to the ticket office, Máté does have his ticket and he rushes off. But he leaves his bike behind. So Péter then dashes after him. Then I go to the ticket office and buy tickets for Dávid and Péter and myself, have them, and then back come Péter and Máté, he missed the train by about 5 seconds, so now we are all stuck in the train station for another hour and will have to take the 10 20 train, putting us home and 11 30 and wiping out Máté's chance to get home and sleep in his own bed, he will now have to spend the night at his grandmother's.

Oh, Péter had already bought his tickets, so now we have to take those tickets back for a refund, (with a 20% penalty) and I have just about had it. But there is a redeeming feature. Across the street from the station is a branch of Erste Bank (with ATM) and just 50 meters from it is a fast food Chinese restaurant still open, so I say to the guys, let's go have something to eat , which we do. Máté has garlic chicken, which he likes (his first Chinese food), Dávid does a repeat of sesame chicken which he had tried earlier at a Tesco buffet, and I have a chicken-mushroom-veg combo. Péter, to my amazement and horror, chooses the liver, and since it is late at night and the lady knows that we are probably her last customers, she positively loads up his plate with the stuff. Máté has a ginger ale, the other two and i split two beers, and we get to the train and head back home.

By this time we are no longer fit for conversation. It has been a long day, a good day indeed for most of it, but a very frustrating last 4 1/2 hours. This time when Dávid and Péter and I get out at Tata, there is little conversation. We just get on our bikes and ride home.