A Beautiful Day For A Walk

EARLY CHERRY BLOSSOMS

It was one of those crisp cold days today. We had powder blue skies and big puffy clouds. We decided to take a walk through Valley Gardens and on through the woods over to Harlow Carr. The sun was shining for a change and it was wonderful feeling its warmth on our skin. In the shade however, the temperature dropped considerably. Along the way we saw some harbingers of spring...bulbs were sprouting up and some cherry blossoms had begun to open on a moss-covered tree. Our plan was to have lunch at the newly opened Bettys Cafe at Harlow Carr garden, but people were queueing up for tables and we didn't feel like waiting. We walked back into town and had lunch at another old favorite, the Old Bell Tavern.

Sunrise Over the Stray

Most mornings lately in northern England have been a cheerless dull gray. Every once in awhile we are treated with a glorious sunrise. I managed to catch this one the other day. I have not edited the colors one bit.

An Impromptu Celebration

Yesterday was Miho's 21st birthday and we felt honored to help her celebrate the happy occasion. We took her to a Thai restaurant nearby. Not only is their food really good, they have traditional Thai dance performances on Friday and Saturday nights. The owner of the restaurant is the one who performs the dances. She is an amazing woman who seems to have a non-stop reserve of energy. She performed five different dances during the two hours we were there and for each dance she changed into a different elaborate Thai folk costume. In between dances she would greet customers and wait on tables. She also has another business performing Thai massage. Whew, I get tired just thinking about her schedule.

After dinner we went back to our house and had dessert. I had baked some black-bottom cupcakes for Miho. I figured it would be easy for her to carry the left-over cupcakes back to her dorm room. We also broke open a bottle of champagne and drank a toast in her honor.

Can Spring Be On The Way?

FIRST CROCUS BLOOMS IN HARROGATE?

All over Harrogate, crocuses are just beginning to poke up through the soil. It's hard to believe by how cold and wintry it is outside, but soon the town will be awash in blooms. I spied these early bloomers on this crisp frosty morning near Christ Church on the Stray.

Another Low Front Moves In

We are still experiencing strong winds, gale force they say on the TV weather reports. That means they are blowing at up to 75 mph, making for dangerous driving conditions. Already, reports of downed trees and closed bridges are coming in. Our hike was cancelled today because of the wind. This is only the second time in several years that a hike has been cancelled due to weather. As for me, I am on edge listening to the constant whistling of the wind. The gloomy gray skies have crept into my mood, making me sad and listless.

A Brief Blizzard

We woke up to snow on the ground. The traffic reports coming in on the radio were alarming. They said cars were slip-sliding away on the roads and there were fender benders here and there. Yuck. And I had to go to base to get my new driver's permit, put a stop on my bank card and then pick Ginger up. Luckily, by the time I was ready to leave, the sun had come out and the snow was beginning to melt. Traffic moved at a very slow pace on the untreated roads but I arrived at base without incident. It was amazingly easy to get a replacement for the driver's permit that had been in my stolen wallet and there had been no attempt to use my stolen bank card. What a relief. But by the time I had taken care of those administrative details and was on the road to the cattery it had begun to snow again. The wind was raging and the snow was coming down thickly. I was nearly in white-out conditions and very scared. The wind was whipping across the moors. Wherever there was a break in the drystone walls next to the road, drifts of snow were blown onto the roadway. I saw a few sheep huddled in a field, all covered with snow. Even though I was white-knuckling my way down the road, I was really wishing I had my camera with me. The moors are quite lovely covered in snow and, truthfully, it doesn't snow that much here. I climbed the last steep hill near the cattery without much slippage and gathered Ginger up for the ride home. By the time we reached Harrogate the snow had turned to rain and the wind had died down. But for all I knew it could still have been blizzard conditions back up there on the moors.

Return From Budapest

KAVEHAZ CENTRAL


CAFE MELANGE AND DOBOSTORTA

On our last day in Budapest we only had a few hours to kill before leaving our hotel for the airport. Our flight was due to depart at 1 p.m. We'd arranged for a shuttle bus to pick us up at 11 a.m. We got up early and headed over to the large covered market we had visited a couple of days ago. I wanted to purchase some authentic Hungarian paprika. We had seen it at the covered market but thought we might find it at a better price in a supermarket. Problem One: we could only find one supermarket and it only carried paprika in plastic bags. I wanted a decorative tin. Problem Two: The stores closed at noon on Saturday and all day Sunday. So Monday morning was our last chance to do a bit of shopping. I purchased my paprika and Brad picked up a bottle of Tokaj, a Hungarian dessert wine. After our purchases we had time for a visit to one more coffee shop. This time we went to Central Kavehaz, a legendary 19th century coffee house that has recently been renovated. It was warm and inviting. The coffee was delicious and we just had to sample one more Dobostorta (luscious layer cake) before leaving Budapest. It was probably the best Dobos we'd had.

Back to the hotel and the minibus picked us up right on time. Our flight departed about a half hour late, but we arrived at Manchester on time. As we stepped off the plane we were greeted by a cold rain shower. Yeah, we were definitely back in England. We got back too late to pick Ginger up, so I will have to pick him up tomorrow morning.

Budapest: Day Four

MUSEUM OF APPLIED ARTS

The day couldn't have gotten off to a worse start. We were on our way to visit the Museum of Applied Arts. Somewhere, sometime along the way, I got pickpocketed. Arrrghhh. What anger and anguish I went through when I discovered I'd been robbed. I'm pretty sure it happened while we were changing trains at the Deak Ferenc Ter subway station. I was wearing a shoulder strap purse. I usually have it slung over my head across my shoulder and in front of me, but I had allowed the purse to sling behind me. The thief undid the latch and snitched my wallet. You don't want to know how much money I was foolishly carrying with me. As a seasoned traveler, I should know better. I've had such good luck for so long I guess I let my guard down. At least I keep my credit card and my I.D. card separate and they were safe.

I was in a bit of a haze as we went through the museum. I remember a huge Art Nouveau building. It was white and ornate as a wedding cake. The roof tiles were colorful. We saw some exquisite ceramics on one floor, mostly art nouveau style. On another floor was a temporary art exhibit of wooden sculptures with moving parts. Our guide books led us to believe the musuem's collection was much more extensive. There wasn't much of a gift shop or cafe either.

Later that day we took a tour of the Opera House. It was in a magnifcent neo-Renaissance building. Inside every surface was decorated with paint and gilt. The wood and marble were both from Italy. They used Sicilian oak as it is said to be strong and free of knots and other imperfections. (Isn't it good, Sicilian wood?) We saw the Royal Box where the Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth (aka Sissi) used to sit. What a magnificent view they had. The stage was all set for the evening's performance of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. We had hoped to get tickets, but they were all sold out.

Budapest: DayThree

HEROES' SQUARE


ICE SKATING RINK IN CITY PARK

We started the day off shopping at a little pottery shop near our hotel. It was listed in our guidebook as having the best prices on Hungarian Herend pottery. The potterz has a folksy feel to it with bright cheery handpainted designs. I found a pattern that I like but unfortunately they did not have many of the pieces I was interested in in stock. I ended up purchasing a large bowl and a small covered canister. The shopkeepers were very nice and friendly. We chatted with them for awhile. I asked them to recommend a good brand of Hungarian paprika. When we left the pottery shop we went straight to the Spar market to pick up the paprika, but they did not have the brand we were looking for and none of their paprika was sold in the colorful tins we had seen before, so we hope can find what we are looking for somewhere else. We picked up a few other items at the Spar, then dropped everything off at the hotel room.

We caught the metro out to Heroes Square again, in search of a flea market that is held in the nearby City Park. The park was large and well manicured but a bit desolate looking owing to the winter weather. On the way to the flea market we passed the huge hour glass that was erected last year. It is turned over at the end of the year and the sands take exactlz one zear to sift from the top to the bottom. The flea market was a mixed bag. Lots of junky stuff, but some interesting collectables as well. We browsed but did not buy anything. We hopped back on the metro and emerged at the Octogon station (named for an eight sided squsre, or plaza, cuz I guess you cannot call it a square). Near octogon is Franz Liszt Square, a pretty square lined with cafes. We had lunch at Cafe Vian. Delicious. Brad had Hungarian mushroom soup and a greek salad, while I had goulash soup and a mixed green salad. We were both bad and had dessert. I had cheesecake and Brad had the Hungarian spongecake. It was sooooo good. Much better than the one I had had at the duck restaurant. After lunch we strolled down Andrassy Ut, a broad tree lined boulevard with many grand buildings. We passed the Opera house and found out to our disappointment that the Moyart Opera we considered seeing is onlz shown tomorrow at 11 a.m., not convenient for our schedule. We continued down Andrassy ut and found our way to the Museum of Ethnography where we saw a fascinating exhibit on Hungarian peasant life with wonderful folk and handcrafted items on display. Dinner tonight was a small neighborhood tavern recommended by our hotel staff. It appeared to be a seafood restaurant, judging by the fishnets and other nautical motifs adorning the walls and ceiling, but Brads turkey dish was much better than my fried catfish. Everything else was very good, though and finally we were in a place patronized by locals, however there was a large table full of Brits who we figured were expats living over here.

Budapest: Day Two

FREEDOM BRIDGE


PAPRIKA AND GARLIC FOR SALE

Our hotel is situated near one of the major metro stations. We walked over there to buy a book of tickets for the public transport system. You can use the same tickets on trams, subwazs, buses and commuter trains. Itás all on the honor system. You must cancel your ticket before hopping on the transport. We caught a tram which took us for a very bumpy ride along the Danube from Chain Bridge over to Liberty Bridge. thez are Budapestás prettiest bridges. At Chain Bridge the tram takes a sharp turn and then enters a grafitti covered tunnel under the foot of the bridge. At Libertz Bridge we got a great view of the side of Castle Hill and of HOtel Gellert, an Art Nouveau building. The hotel is world renouwned for its thermal baths and spa treatments. We walked across Freedom Bridge, a beautiful structure of green wrought iron. On the other side of the river we entered one of the citzás biggest covered markets. We saw manz stalls selling salamis and sausages, others sold veggies, still others specialiyed in paprika and garlic. Paprika is sold in its natural form as clusters of small red peppers or in the powedred form in colorfullz decorated tins. The market is at one end of Vaci Utca, the citzás pedestrianized shopping street. we took a stroll down Vaci Utca, but were not much tempted inside any of the shops. They were all a bit touristz looking. We wandered all over Pest past St. Stephens Basilica and other impressive monumental buildings. We happened upon Cafe Gerbeaud, one of the premier cafes in Budapest and stopped in for some lunch. I ordered tuna on a baguette and was served the strangest tuna sandwich I have ever seen. There was a big clump of tuna salad with olives and onions. Sitting next to the tuna was a small green salad and four slices of toasted baguette. Strange though it was, it was tasty. Brad had a salami sandwich, more on the normal sandwich side. He had Esterhazy cake for desert, another Hungarian specialty made with walnuts. Weary from wandering we went back to the hotel to rest up.

In the evening we caught the metro over to Heroes Square. Near there is a great restaurant that serves up homestyle Hungarian food. I got the chicken paprika and Brad got a pork dish. His started was goulash soup, while I started off with a delicious green salad with slices of orange and a cream dressing. The goulash soup is not as thick as we expected, but quite tasty.

Arrival in Budapest

FISHERMAN'S BASTION


PARLIAMENT BUILDING AND CHAIN BRIDGE   Photo by Brad

Everything went like clockwork zesterday. Took us 9ö minutes to drive to Manchester. Parked the car, caught the shuttlebus to the airport, checked in (no line!!), had a terrible breakfast at the onlz restaurant in the airport. The plane left and arrived on time in Budapest. Caught the shuttlebus from the Budapest airport and bz 1:3ö we were checking into our hotel. To get our bearings, we took a long walk in the neighborhood of our htel which is in Buda, then crossed Chain Bridge into Pest and walked around a bit there as well. It was very foggy in Budpest zesterday and it rained off and on all afternoon. Budapest has a more careworn appearance than Prague. There are manz ugly concrete boxlike buildings from the Communist era as well as some majestic buildings from earlier times. Manz of the buildings are in sad need of repair and a paintjob. There is a lot of graffiti all over the citz. There are manz trams and there is also a metro szstem which we have not checked out yet. We popped into Angelika, a nice little cafe near our hotel. We had some tasty cappucino and I sampled a poppzseed strudel, a local specialtz. After wandering around all afternoon we went back to the hotel to rest up. The nice man in our hotel recommended a restaurant for dinner last night, within walking distance of our hotel. It was called Kacsa, which means duck in Hungarian, and duck is their specialitz. There was a whole page with nothing but duck meals. We each selected one and thez were both delicious. Best duck either of us has ever had. Brads came with a sweet apple chutnez while mine came with a tomato-onion sauce with lots of spicz paprika. It was quite a fancz restaurant with superb service and no snootiness at all. We were serenaded bz a violin and piano duet. Both musicians were quite talented.

Todaz it is clear but verz cold and windz. We caught the funicular up to castle hill, a plateau that overlooks the citz. The Rozal Palace at one end of castle hill is a reconstruction of the site that was demolished to rubble bz the Russians after WWI. It is now a cultural center with several museums. We walked to the other end of the district, stopped into Matthias Church and hung out at Fishermans Bastion for a wonderful view of the citz. We also stopped into a quirkz little museum, the museum of the Telephone. They had an amaying array of telephone equipment from the earlz 19öös till modern times. I am in a little internet cafe near our hotel now. The kezboard is all screwed up again, just like in Prague and I don-t know the magic kezstrokes to get me an English keyboard. The connection is reallllz slow and mz blog looks funny on this monitor. All the colors are off and everything looks a little squeeyed. well, I better sign off or else I wonát have enough monez to pay for this session.

Ginger Blur

I've been studying the manuals for my new camera, but judging by the results above, I still have a lot to learn. Actually, I find it very difficult to get a decent shot of Ginger in our house. It's so dark and dim most of the time; there is never enough good available light. I hate taking his picture with the flash cuz then I get the green-eye effect on him (the equivalent of the red-eye effect in humans). The shot above was taken with my camera's "improved" red-eye effect flash which caused Ginger to squint giving him an exotic look.

Even though it's blurry, it's nice to have this shot of Ginger to look at. He is spending the night at Padside Cattery, because we leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow for our flight to Budapest. The flight leaves Manchester Airport at 8:25 a.m., which means we need to leave the house at 5 a.m. Egad! I hope we wake up in time. But it will be great to explore Budapest. I've been reading up on it all week and am impressed on what there is to see and do (and eat, of course!). We will be staying at The Victoria Hotel. It's on the Buda side of the Danube and all rooms have a view of the Pest side, right across from the Parliament building. The hotel has a website with a webcam. I've been checking it all week, looking for signs of snow. Yesterday I checked and saw a white haze. I got excited till I found out it was dense fog and not snow. I've also been watching the boat traffic down the Danube. Can't wait to see it in person.

My New Toy

photo courtesy of Steve's Digicams website

There it is. Arrived in the mail today. Charging the battery right now. It's a complicated little bugger with several manuals and all kinds of attachments and wires. Will have to start studying quickly cuz we leave for Budapest on Thursday!! Cannot wait to put this baby into action.

The Moral Majority At Work In The UK

Last night, the BBC aired "Jerry Springer, The Opera" to great controversy. The Beeb received thousands of protests from Christians who complained the show had too many swear words and was blasphemous. With publicity like that it was hard for me to resist watching the show. But it didn't start till 10 p.m. and Brad and I decided to watch "The Purple Rose of Cairo" on another channel. After our movie, I switched over to BBC 2 to see what all the fuss was about. I mean, really, an opera based on "The Jerry Springer Show"? Starring David Soul as Jerry Springer? Like I said, hard to resist. But after about ten minutes I'd had enough. I had as much patience for it as I have for watching the real show. Which is zilch. The opera is supposed to be a satirical send-up of modern mores and perhaps if I hadn't been so tired I might have been able to last it out. But of course, the troubling thing is these protesters. If they don't want to watch the show, they don't have to. Why must they inflict their value system on everyone else? Political correctness is ruining our right of free speech.

The Sad Part of Christmas...

...is taking the tree down. That's what I did this morning. Our tree really dried out quickly this year and there were pine needles everywhere. Brad put the bare tree out onto our patio. We will chop it up, stuff it into a plastic bag and take it to the local recycle center where it will be turned into garden mulch. Sounds rather morbid, doesn't it?

Another 15 Minutes

Today my picture was in the local paper, The Harrogate Advertiser. Actually it is a bit difficult to pick me out of the group of people I am standing with. The article was about the birding/history hike I took a coupla weeks ago and the photo is of a few of the more than 50 people who took the hike.

So, after living here for a little more than a year and a half I've hit the local paper. After two and a half years in Tokyo I appeared on a morning news-magazine TV show. Just tryin' to make a good impression, wherever I go.

Wind Worn And Mud Tired

We woke up this morning to raging winds...again. Gale force winds have been in the weather forecast off and on these past couple of weeks. Thankfully the temps have been hovering in the low 50s, so it doesn't feel that cold, but the wind can be deafening at times and it can wear you out if you are walking in it.

Yesterday I went hiking with my hiking group and we walked the very same route, in reverse, that I had walked with another group two days after Christmas. So it was another plod out of the wind and down into the mud and muck and mire of Nidd Gorge and back up again.

I am so tired of this wind and mud and gray skies. Spring cannot arrive too soon.

After the hike we gathered at the house of one of the hikers for a post-holiday luncheon. There were more than 20 of us and we each brought a dish. Needless to say, it was a feast. There is such a lively camaraderie among my hiking buddies. Joining this group is probably the best thing I've done for my physical and spiritual well-being since moving to England. It sure helps take the gloom out of the English weather.

In Search of Gold . . . Yorkshire Gold, that is

I met up with Masumi-san and her two daughters this morning at 11. Miho told me her mother would like to go to Farrah's to pick up some Yorkshire Gold Tea. I told her we could buy it there...or get some at a lower price at the grocery store. Masumi-san lit up when I mentioned the grocery store. It seems she loves to visit foreign grocery stores as much as I do. I decided to take her to Waitrose, Harrogate's premier, gourmet grocery store. On our way to Waitrose Masumi-san spied an interior design store across the street and expressed an interest in going there. Miho said something about her mother looking for some kind of window covering. We went into Morris Interiors and began to browse. I really have no idea what kind of window covering Masumi-san was interested in, but she spotted a tea set on sale. They were delicate china with a pale pink design and gold accents. There were six cups and saucers, a platter, creamer and sugar bowl. Since the set was not new but used the teapot was missing. Morris Interiors was selling the lot for £10 -- such a deal! Masumi-san bought them and arranged to pick them up later in the day. And so we were back on our way to Waitrose. Again, on the way to the grocery store, we were sidetracked. This time it was Chisato who wanted to go to Sunwin department store. She must have a sixth sense for teen fashions; as we walked through Sunwin's doors we stepped into teen fashion heaven -- with a gargantuan sale on to boot. She bought two tops and an overcoat, all featuring the color pink, of course. While Masumi-san pondered how she was going to carry all this loot back to Japan, we once again headed for Waitrose. We struck Gold in the tea department and the girls picked up some cosmetics as well.

Miho still wanted to take her mother to Farrah's so we walked back through town with a brief stop at the post office so Masumi-san could cash some travler's checks. We finally made it to Farrah's around 1 p.m. Masumi-san bought a couple of tins of candy. All this shopping made us hungry. I suggested we pop into the Old Bell Tavern so they could enjoy lunch in an English pub. We sneaked 17-year-old Chisato in -- the pub has a sign on the door saying you must be over 18 years of age to enter, but noone questioned her. For lunch we sampled quite a few of the specials of the day: potato cake topped with melted goat's cheese, parsnip/parmesan soup, spring rolls with wild mushrooms and blue cheese, mussels in a creamy garlic sauce, caesar salad with chicken and potato leek soup. Chisato had tea while the rest of us each sampled one of the Bell's ales on tap. Everything was delicious, as usual at the Old Bell.

Fully sated, we headed back to Morris Interiors to pick up Masumi-san's tea set. It had been packaged up quite nicely, each piece wrapped in bubble wrap and then all packed into a sturdy cardboard box. I sure hope she makes it back to Japan with all pieces of her tea set intact. A few minutes later I was bidding them good-bye as they headed back to their B&B to pick up their luggage and catch a taxi to the train station. They are probably on the train now to York where they will stay the night. Tomorrow they leave York for London. On Thursday they leave London for Rome where they will stay for three days. Then Miho returns to Leeds while her mother and sister return to Tokyo.

Whew! Their visit went by so quickly. I had hoped to have them over to our place for tea and sweets but their schedule was so hectic it never worked out that way. Still, it was great to meet Miho's mom and sister. They were quite impressed with Harrogate and say they wish to visit our town again.

Visitors from Japan

Me and Miho Last November At Bolton Abbey

Recently Brad and I became acquainted with a young girl from Japan who is doing a course of study this year at Leeds University. Her name is Miho and her mother is a friend of my friend Michiko. Miho's mother was concerned about her daughter adjusting to life in the UK and asked if Miho could stay with us during her winter break. By the time we had responded in the affirmative it became apparent that Miho was adjusting quite well and we were asked to simply be a local emergency contact for her. We invited Miho to Harrogate, showed her the town and had her over for dinner a couple of times and one overnight stay. She is a charming intelligent girl, has made many new friends at university and is enjoying her studies in the performing arts field.

As it turns out, Miho spent her winter break traveling in Europe. She returned to England a few days ago, in time for the arrival of her mother and younger sister from Japan. The three of them made arrangements to come to Harrogate so that we could all get together. They arrived in Harrogate last night and Brad and I joined them for dinner at Bettys Cafe. Our visitors from Japan were duly impressed by the homey atmosphere of this cozy quintessential English cafe and, of course, by the delectable baked goods on display. Giggles and exclamations of "kawaiiii!" (how cuuuute!) heralded our arrival at Bettys. There were marzipan reindeer and snowmen and other fanciful pastries. Dinner was delicious -- Bettys is just as adept with savoury foods as they are with desserts. Chisato, Miho's sister, excitedly waved at the little baby seated with his parents at a table near ours. Masumi-san, Miho's mother, told me that Chisato loves little babies. Waves of the hand soon turned into cuddles as Oscar's parents agreed to let him be held by Chisato. Digital cameras were soon engaged to record the event. Alas, my digital camera is still broken, so it will be awhile before my photos, taken with a film camera will be available for scanning.

After dinner we took a scenic stroll back to their B&B. We walked past the Pump Room Museum, the Royal Baths building, the newly renovated Turkish Baths and took a peek at Wetherspoons, a bar housed in what used to be an elegant ballroom during Victorian times. At the B&B (chosen by Miho because it had a pink room. It seems Chisato loves the color pink and her bedroom at home is done entirely in that color.) Masumi-san showered Brad and I with some wonderful gifts from Japan: a gorgeous at haori, lovely placemats, a beautifully decorated lacquerware box and a drawstring bag handmade by Masumi-san out of kimono silk. I was overwhelmed by these thoughtful and generous gifts. I presented each of them with some modest gifts of my own: perfumed drawer sachets and English toffee.

We made plans to meet up today in Harrogate and I may head into York with them. Brad won't be able to join us as he is back at work today.