Monday 13 July 1998

Slideshow Pictures

Arrived at around 5:00 p.m. Didn’t have any problem finding Minke and Pali’s house. They have a small cottage on the hillside with a small vineyard beside it, just large enough to supply their family’s needs with wine. Minke helped Rita to do the laundry in a small washer and a centrifuge (there aren’t many dryers in Europe).

We had dinner and walked down to Lake Balaton, at sunset with Pali and his grand daughters. Stopped for refreshments at a row of outdoor restaurants on the lakefront, and then headed back to the cottage. Had another round of refreshments (don’t want to call it booze), then went to bed.

Tuesday 14 July 1998

Woke up early in the morning and had breakfast.

Minke and Pali’s neighbor, whose parents they had bought the lot from, is a lawyer in Budapest, and is quite well off. He has a large winery next to their place and some other vineyards further up the hillside. He had the old homestead renovated, attractive rustic buildings with thatched roofs.

He also kept a menagerie of animals in a corral next to the cottage.

According to Pali, the neighbor had hired some illegal Romanians to work his farm, and came only once in a while to look over the place. Nice hobby. I was dying of jealousy. Minke had started preparing lunch as soon as we finished breakfast. As soon as it was ready we ate again.

After lunch we said our goodbyes (Helo Szija) and headed off to Visegrád.