Budapest - 1

The high point of my stay in Hungary was with the family at Lake Balaton. I gave a brief report a few posts ago and added a few photos of the family, and one of me with Opa sipping his home made Palinka! I also spent a couple of days in the capital city of Hungary.

There I saw aspects I had not seen before. One was a cafe with an incredible ceiling. It was worthy of a palace in France. The coffee and cakes were also good! I went there with Sandor and Ilonka, who as most of you know are Marcel's parents. He was busy with a driving lesson in Miscolc.

We went to the cafe after spending a couple of hours in the 'House of Terror' at Andrassy ut 60 which is now a museum. 'This tree lined street connects the centre to Heroes' Square and was full of lavish residences and stately apartment buildings'. I am quoting from the guide book.  It was named after Count Gyula Andrassy, who was a Hungarian statesman, and the 'Neo-Renaissance building was designed by Adolf Feszty in 1880'.

It was home to both the Nazi and Communist secret services and served as the headquarters of their executioners. What a ghastly claim to fame!

 The cells in the cellar are a testament to how humans could inflict inhuman punishment on fellow humans. The guide says, "it has become a sculpture in the shape of a building, which is a monument to the victims." I couldn't have put it better!  It is worth a visit when you are next in Budapest.

Canal walk

I told you earlier that I stayed longer in Silsden than I had for years. This allowed me to wander more during the second week. While discovering what remained of Bluebell Wood, I discovered a track marked for wanderers/walkers and returned to it.

It led to the canal which runs near the bottom of the valley. The canal was dug to transport raw materials to Leeds and finished goods to Liverpool. Now a few canal boats take tourists to places unknown. The days of industrial production are over but the canal remains.

I walked along one bank towards the bridge leading to the centre of Silsden. Here you can see some photos of the canal and sights along the valley.

Many people say it looks very nice, quiet, rural. Yes, but not the place for me at 16 when I was happy to pack my bag and escape!

Peering in

Last Monday afternoon I went to Köpenick for coffee and cakes with some Oldies. They wanted to hear about my stay in St Petersburg for they had been there "in the GDR time". I think they wanted to see if it had changed since 'former times'! I showed them the photos I had taken.

In return they relived their time there and then moved onto visits to Moscow. It got darker and suddenly supper appeared on the table to support more conversation. I arrived home at 9:00pm  to find a group of men peering into a hole near my front door.

On the door was a message from Berliner Water Company that there would be no water from 6.00pm that evening until...........and that was left blank. The reason was given as a break in a water (mains) pipe. I imagined going to bed without a wash and not cleaning my teeth and nothing to drink for breakfast tomorrow. I think you would have thought the same.

I peered at the men peering into the hole and tried to understand what they were saying. It was not easy over the noise of the generator for the light, and engine to power a small excavator. This was made more difficult because they talked in 'Berlinisch' of the kind used on building sites. Jan can understand but I really have to strain my ears and brain.

I decided the show was better than anything on TV, so remained peering at the peerers (I've just created a new word!)  After much digging and intensive peering, the man with the white T-Shirt pointed with his left hand towards the building site opposite and asked another peerer to check something there.

The second peerer did as requested and said the first one was right. They all stopped peering and started to smile. One even lit a cigarette! They went to the building site and started peering at a spot near the fence. What this all meant was that the problem was not at the bottom of the hole they had been peered into, but on the building site.

Apparently the big excavator had damaged a pipe that afternoon. Mr White-Shirt appeared to be The Boss for he gave all the orders. He told the others to fill in the hole and open the water pipe so we could all wash our faces before going to bed. He called someone to give news of their find and that was it.

At 11:00pm they had finished their work and drove away leaving a dark, silent street - but at least we had water! How daily life is enlivened by such small adventures :-)

Adele

During the second week of my time in the UK I decided to stay in the local area.  I contacted Adele who lives in Addinghan. What a surprise! We agreed a day/time to visit. She is the ex-partner of my nephew Andrew.

I have always liked meeting/talking to her and her parents. They live not far away in Ilkley.  I arrived as arranged and was warmly greeted by both Adele and daughters Olivia and Scarlett. The latter is Andrew's daughter.

I also met Adele's new gentleman friend. They have known each other for more than 20 years but only recently got together. He has a military background as has Adele. He was very polite, friendly and gave a good impression, including good humour!

Then the doorbell rang and Adele's parents arrived. It was as if we had only met a week ago. They settled in and started to talk to all of us. It was a surprise how quickly the evening went. Scarlet was clearly tired and went to bed while the rest of us continued to talk and sip another glass of G 'n T!

Thanks Adele for your Gastfreundlichkeit and hope to see you, daughters and parents in summer 2015.

Bluebell Wood

On my return to Silsden from CasVegas, I took time to relax and just walk around the place. I met David C. who was in my class at school and I had not seen for 55 years. Cousin Barbara organised the meeting by getting his address and telling him I was coming over.

I had a really pleasant time with him over a coffee in a local cafe. This meeting took me back to other things in my pre-teenage years. One was of Bluebell Wood. It is to the west of Silsden as you walk up the hill(s) towards Kildwick.


I decided to find Bluebell Wood. My grandmother always took me there on my birthday. She died when I was 16 and was not able to take me there when I was that age so the last visit must have been with her on my 15th.

I have little detailed memory of the day. I can only remember the general and not the specific. My birthday is in early May. In England this is the period linking Spring to early Summer. At that time flowers called Bluebells spring out of the ground under trees and instead of seeing green you see only blue.

I always went to my grandmother's house for my birthday. In the afternoon she took me by the hand and we walked slowly to Bluebell Wood. She said my birth would always be linked to this flower symbolising the arrival of Spring and a new season of life.

Later we had a special tea at her house. I always remember fine bone china tea cups, saucers, plates, silver tongues, cakes on three tier display plates filled with cream and fruits. She told me never to accept any drink which did not come with/from an appropriate glass. It is interesting that all my life I have observed this rule no matter were I have been.

I set out to find Bluebell Wood with these memories in mind. I soon discovered that all the fields leading to the wood had been sold to build new houses. Even so I continued my search. Locals told me to go a farm house on the 'top road' and I would find signs. I did just that and found the way to Bluebell Wood.

I found it but only a small part survives. I remembered that there was a small ravine with a steep entry way to the bottom where there was a small stream. I found this. The rest of the wood was gone. I sat and watched the small gash in the earth and thought about a very special lady. You can see her on this blog when you look at the top of the left column.

 I enjoyed discovering Bluebell Wood and revisiting the long gone walks with her.

Wakefield

Wakefield is the administrative centre of West Yorkshire. I am not aware that it has any other claim to fame. In an attempt to reinvent itself in the post 90s, it presented itself as a centre of regional culture. This includes the relatively new Barbara Hepworth Centre of Art.

She was an artist famous for her large sculptures a few decades ago. The newish gallery also includes works of art by other artists. One is a German and most exhibits come from the 1960s or 70s. A very interesting experience, and one I can recommend.

Alan and Lynne took me there on Friday 8 August just after I arrived in Casland. Mixed weather greeted us as we drove to the town. I liked the gallery instantly. The people greeting us and offering guidance and information were very friendly.

The exhibitions were clearly laid out and well sign-posted about their origin and what their artists wanted to represent. Some of them seemed a little dated looking at them 40/50 years later and clearly had lost their original 'shock' quality.

I liked Hepworth's work and it was the first time I had seen them live. I had seen many before in newspaper reports and articles but they were even better in the original.  On the way back we hit a real torrential storm.

We had to slow down to deal with the blocked drains and collection of water forming ponds on the road. Here is my piece of 'Kunst' showing a car overtaking us as we slowly drove through the flood. I wonder if anyone will put my photo in a gallery in 60 years time?

Casland

The town of Castleford is known to family and friends as Casland or Casvegas. It is the home of Alan and Lynne who are my oldest and dearest friends. Their three youngest children are Daniel, Peter and Paul. I sent Jan to them when he was ten to learn English and so he is an adopted son.

Alan and Lynne love children and they are also very active in their local Baptist Church and practice what is preached by doing lots of things in their community. This includes prison visits and helping teachers in a local school to teach small kids to read and write. If I could I would make them saints immediately!

And so I took a train to Casland on Friday 8 August. They met me at the station. It was as if we had met only yesterday rather than a year ago. I love entering their house. It is packed full of memories going back more years than I want to write here. It really is like going home.

I visited Lynne's mother. She is in a home and has a hearing problem but even so her humour and comments are invaluable. Happy memories of seeing a remarkable elderly lady again and hope I can do so next year.

Later we drove north to Chester-le-Field. The aim was to visit Peter and Freda. Peter is part of the gang I met when I was 16 and left home for college in Leeds - the same as Alan. He recently had a heart operation and is recovering. We wanted to spend some time together. I know it has been said a million times before but such things are important when you are 'getting older'.

They took us to a local restaurant and we had good food and interesting conversation. We later went to their house to enjoy more conversation over coffee and later enjoy a glass of two! A happy farewell and promise to continue to keep in touch followed as we got into the car and drove back to Casland.

I had a lazy Sunday with Alan and Lynne before they took me to the station for my train back to Silsden via Leeds. I cannot imagine flying to the UK without seeing them.

Keighley

I visited Keighley a number of times. On the first Monday I arrived in the town centre to see a full military and church ceremony around the statue in the town centre. Keighley is the poor relation in the three towns forming a triangle of places around Silsden. The other two are Skipton and Ilkley.

The latter are identified with middle class white British history/values. Keighley is an old industrial town based on weaving, metal and electrical industries. They were closed and I have no idea how the people of Keighley make a living. Perhaps pushing papers across a desk as so many others do.

In the dying days of its industrial history in the late 1950s/60s it attracted immigrant workers from Pakistan. Their children and grandchildren are clear to see in the town as are the mosques, clothes, shops, restaurants. I noted how many speak Urdu with a Keighley regional accent! And vice versa.

On the first Wednesday of my visit I went to meet Mrs M. Green from my bank. I have got to know here well over the years and she is one reason I stay with the bank. She is now approaching retirement and loves France. She speaks very good French and her German ist auch nicht schlecht!

I really like my annual meetings with her. We spent as much time in personal conversation as we do in official meetings. She and her husband are planning their retirement and have just bought a property in the middle of France. We talked about it a lot. I hope to be invited there one day!

She helped me sort out a few necessary things following the British Governments order to split the bank and launch both onto the Stock Exchange. I won't bore you with the details but it was a necessary meeting and signing of documents. We said goodbye as I gave her a bottle of French red wine which she said she and her husband did not know.

Always a pleasure to introduce something good and unknown to a Francophile! After that I wandered around the centre taking in the atmosphere and landed in the centre where a ceremony was taking place to mark the start/end of WW 1.

Lots of elderly people, uniforms, medals, blowing of trumpets. How very English thought I! Even lots of old gentlemen in Pakistani dress joined in. Days of Empire revisited? Or/And how we re-brand a certain idea of being English? What do you think?

Fish 'n Chips

Only eat fish 'n chips when you are in West Yorkshire. The ability to produce the best has something to do with the Industrial Revolution in the area, Catholic Church promotion of fish on Friday and not meat, plus having a number of ports on the east and west coast to deliver fresh cod from the north Atlantic.

Being able to make crispy batter is also the difference between going bankrupt or having a profitable fish 'n chip shop. They have the best batter in West Yorkshire with recipes passed from generation to generation.

Fran, Geoff and Warren took me to the most famous fish 'n chip shop in Yorkshire. It was my thank you for their hospitality.

It was called Harry Ramsden's but is now known as the Wetherby Whaler. Even so, the new company has returned to the old style of the 1930's which made the Ramsden company famous --- and rich!

The food was delicious. What a pity I have to wait a year for such a culinary delight. Some places offer fish 'n chips in Berlin but my advice is keep well away from them. The name is the same but has little to do with the quality of what is on the plate.

Alan and Lynne later took me to the local branch of this company so I was able to sample another excellent plate of their best. A bonus for that meant I had two such meals to keep me going until my return in 2015.

Addingham

This is a small town nestling in the Wharfe valley and you will find it on your way to Ilkley. It is north of the Aire valley where you will find Silsden. They are separated by hills and an 'official' mountain called Nab End.

Why did I go there? I had heard a lot about the contribution of the people and council to the Tour de France. It was a huge success in the north and it came through Addingham and then through Silsden towards Keighley and eventually to the south.

My cousin Frank, who is a keen cyclist and lives in Keighley, was on the organising committee for the area. It was generally accepted that their work had been very successful and millions of people had turned out to cheer on the cyclists.

Addingham kept all the street decorations for tourist reasons. I went there on my second day in the area to see how the locals had decorated their town. I liked what they had done. I particularly liked how the locals had decorated public rest areas and left coloured bicycles in those areas and parts of the road.

As I queued for the bus back to Silsden, I noted I was surrounded by a group of 'senior ladies' with rucksacks and some with walking sticks. We got into conversation and talked about the town and its decorations. When the bus came they all showed the same Senior-Metro-Card that I had. I enjoyed their company until I reached my destination. A nice interlude.

The small town has an enduring quality for me. It is the place where my first love lived. We were both 15 and in love. At 16 I learned she had fallen in love with a man much older who she later married. Memories!   Here are a few images of how the small town celebrated its brief moment of fame when the Tour de France swept through.

Pork Pies

Now to report on my very interesting and unusual August. It started on Friday 1 August when I flew to Liverpool. A nice weekend as usual with Barry and Pam plus dogs! I also met a duck who had a liking for Gin 'n Tonic! Barry drove me to Silsden on Sunday. Thanks to both.

Fran and Geoff had altered their upper floor. The second guest bedroom had been incorporated into the master bedroom, so Warren gave me his small, but comfortable house while he stayed with his parents.  A nice arrangement for it fitted in with my theme of staying in the area and not wandering too far. 

On Monday 4 August I took a bus and stepped out at Skipton. This is about 7 miles north-west of Silsden and is famous for its medieval castle, open market on the main street, and as the gateway to The Dales. This refers to a large national park called the Yorkshire Dales. 

I walked from the bus station into the main street. It was market day so full of stalls and people from the surrounding farms and villages. I walked further until I reached a left/right split in the road where it meets a church near the entrance to the castle.

I went into a small butcher's shop and asked for 6 pork pies. The shop is owned by a lady and I was served by her nephew. He apologised for only having 4 but I could have 2 from the batch about to come out of the oven. How could you say no. It is now the place where I do pilgrimage to the art of making the perfect pork pie. 

I took them all across the road to the church yard and a seat overlooking the main street. I took out one from the bag and stared at it. It stared back! I took that to be an invitation to sink my teeth into it. That is just what I did. Mmmmmmhhh........the taste.... and how the juice/gravy dribbled from my lips. You have to experience this for yourself. But only from this shop!

I later wandered around the centre, enjoyed the sunshine and atmosphere before boarding a bus and my return to Silsden. There I placed the rest of the pies onto the table, much to the delight of my hosts. 

Settling in

Yes, it's now a week since I returned to Berlin. This time last week I was in Jüterbog celebrating a double 70th birthday. It was a happy time but I was very tired. I relaxed during the week while keeping appointments and getting back into life here.

I watched Germany play Argentina on Wednesday evening (football) and was disappointed at the result of 2:4. Went to my AWO breakfast for Oldies on Thursday, taught a lesson there and on Friday I met Kerstin and her Oldie Keep-Fit Group. They were happy to see me again and asked lots of questions about my holidays.

In the evening I went to a SPD supported Volksfest in the Orangerie der Kiezspinne in the west of the district where I live. I really enjoyed the event and took some photos. A very German evening with lots of friendly talk, grilled sausage etc, beer and wine to wash it all down, kids playing everywhere and a group.

Unfortunately very loud! We could hardly talk when they were playing - and it was not classical music! My friends moved away so we could at least hear each other speak. Even so a I pleasant event. I got a call from Oldie H and we agreed to meet Monday afternoon for coffee and cake so he can look at the photos I took during my adventures in August.

I also got a call from Angelika after she played in the Kiel Music Festival. We agreed to meet tomorrow at the Komische Oper where she is playing viola in a trio, then for a chat and catching up on news. She is planning a late birthday party next Sunday so I am sure we shall talk about that. Now you can see that I am settling back into life in Berlin.