Budapest

On the road to Budapest

After 4 hours of sleep I finished my packing I went to the bathroom, ate some breakfast, and was off to the train station. Sister was my ride. I traveled by prevoz.org ride-sharing, ride (Volvo caravan) costing me 25€ (a few € more than the train but in half time). The driver was a bit late (10:15), enough to meet other passengers, an Australian couple. The ride was no excitement, especially after the border it was dull, and I tried to get some sleep without luck. On our way, we stopped for gas and once more to buy a vignette. The most interesting part was talking to the driver. He had some interesting stories, from his son in Budapest to making guitars and coaching swimming. In Budapest, it was of course busy. After a few ideas for drop off, we didn’t go to Tjaša’s job but he left me in the center.

Meeting Tjaša

I was some 20 minutes away from Kiraly’s address, so on my way, I ate a homemade sandwich and smoked a cigarette. Finally, I met with Tjaša around 15h. After seeing her apartment and giving some gifts we crossed the street to my lodge for 2 nights. I was staying at Simon’s place which rents on Airbnb rooms in his flat. I brought him Pelinkovac as a gift, he went shopping to buy shot glasses and we had a few rounds, smoking on the balcony, and having a nice chat. Tjaša was tired from the week and went back across the street.

Evening

Simon invited me to join him and his friend Roger, they were going to an art exhibition. It was an interesting ride, making a U-turn on 4 lane avenue crossing over bumps in the middle, and hitting some Christmas trees when parking in an old Mercedes. When we came to the supposed address it was an apartment building. After the call, we were explained that the exhibition is on the 3rd floor. The main idea was to recreate exhibitions from the 80s when under oppressive government artists wouldn’t get space for their exhibitions. Today their regime is going in that direction, the opinion of students preparing the exhibition. There we ate something close to chili con carne from plastic plates and drank some red wine, smoking on the balcony. Some interesting conversations developed with one guy from Belgrade and another from Vojvodina; about art, British humor, and Yugoslavia. After we searched for a bar and one more beer. There was a bigger group and more art talk, about the Ludwig Museum and what was wrong there, what were crucial points for modern art, Fountain (Duchamp), Black Cross (Malevich). The landlord paid for my beer, while they didn’t take cards. After the ride home, I ate two sandwiches and went to bed really tired.