Jó estét - good evening (hungarian)

we begin another (rainy) adventure amidst the spires of budapest.

day 1: "i hope that's a costume..."

it's friday afternoon. dan worked a half day, i went to class, and then before we know it, we're on a plane bound for budapest. a special deal on hotel prices (as well as 2 planes and a taxi) landed us at one of the top hotels in budapest. but dan realized that tip wasn't included in the cab fare only after the taxi drives off, so he's feeling crappy. it's raining and 13 degrees, because everywhere we travel in europe it rains, and is 13 degrees, february, june, doesn't matter. conveniently, our hotel is hosting the towns "hungarian night" in the restaurant, so we don't even have to put on our coats again until tomorrow. we mosey down to the stained-glass domed rotunda restaurant where a gypsy band is gathered around their giant cymbalom (like a hammered dulcimer) bopping cheerfully in sync with a fairly mournful tune played on a 5 tone diatonic scale. dan decides it's just like klezmer music, happy and sad at the same time.

the hungarians are known for their wine, so we start with that. we had a sweet white "chardonnay" that won't be winning any medals anytime soon, and a pinot noir that more accurately represents the good reputation of hungarian wine, though i was still not impressed. i made a note to myself here to do some more research on hungarian wines so i know what to ask for in the future.

next comes the goulash, well, for me anyway. we head to the buffet table and see a ton of variations on stew. dan doesn't like stew and he's visually disappointed. he stands, pouting with his plate pressed to his chest, staring at chicken paprika stew, goulash, and pike-perch, the traditional hungarian favorites. i try all of them. dan helps himself to two servings of potatoes with boiled egg and paprika, a salad and a roll. turns out he had the right idea, the potatoes were the best, with the chicken a close second. lesson learned: when wanting to try authentic, good hungarian food, or any food for that matter, the hotel buffet should not be your first stop.

so, if the wine and food don't impress you, should you really stay for the show? before we could answer that question, a man in really tight pants stands right in front of us. dan leans over and expresses his deep hope that this is someone participating in the dance portion of the show, and not a hotel guest dressed to impress. he is, in fact, a dancer, and dan is relieved. the three male and three female dancers would go through 3-4 costume changes by the end of the show. it was interesting to see moves and music we recognized from various jewish weddings, and fiddler on the roof, being identified as truly hungarian. i'm not sure how similar or different a ukrainian show would be, or a klezmer show. i couldn't tell what was pan-eastern-european (from all the conquering) and what was particular to hungary. i enjoyed all of it, especially the part where they danced with wine in beakers on their heads.

after the dancers were done, dessert came out. i had read about a particular cake made in hungary called the dobostorta. it is a chocolate and white cake layered in thin slices with chocolate cream and topped with a mocha or caralmelized sugar glaze. i was helping myself to a sliver of that, and a couple of slivers of other things, when an american man, maybe 70 years old, came up behind me and said, "you know, that's not on your diet." i said, "i'm not on a diet, i'm on vacation." dan started to say something about how our diets go out the window when on vacation and he said to dan simply, "it doesn't matter for you - just for her." then he gave me a look up and down. i said, i thought the dobos cake would be a particularly good addition to my diet and walked away. it was. i relished every bite!

as we ate dessert the band leader went from table to table taking requests and selling CDs. we bought a CD for an extortionate amount, and when he asked for a request i jokingly said, "do you know 'the girl from impanema'?" what hungarian tune am i going to request? he had already played everything i knew by bartók and liszt. he frowned and played "yesterday." when dan didn't tip him, cause he didn't ask for the song, the band leader got mad and asked if it wasn't ok. we said, yes, lovely, and felt really crappy - again. as soon as he turned to another table we left.

back in the room we reflected on what we had learned about hungary in our 3 hours so far: tip everyone (hard coming from germany where it isn't common at all), name your wine, enjoy the dobostorta, and leave before the band takes requests.

stay tuned for day 2, when dan takes matters into his own hands - confronting fraud in the morning and extreme boredom at night.