“We slept like stones. Lady, what am I doing
With a lung full of dust and a tongue of wood,
Knee-deep in the cold swamped by flowers?”Sylvia Plath
Thursday
There is a restaurant in Bratislava called Fat Louis.
Rachelle has been calling me Louis for three days.
I am not sleeping well. I am sleeping long, but not well. Shell is the same.
It is probably the alcohol.
We walk to Zërgë Coffeeshop in the chill early morning.
Through the same streets, across the same bridge.
The staff remember us. The frequent visitors. We order our usual bagels and plenty of coffee.
The bagels are delicious and the coffee is the best we have had on our travels.
A small angry dog takes a dislike to me as I pay the bill. Snarling and growling and barking. If it were not so small and its face not so crushed, it would be intimidating. It growls and barks at me and I laugh at it and it barks some more.
Will we see you tomorrow they ask as we leave.
Most certainly you will.
Lunch at Oriental Soup House.
Shell gets her hair styled.
We head to MyWine. Milan, who looked after us yesterday suggested we return tonight and he would open a 2006 Furmint he had in stock.
As he opens the bottle he casually drops that the wine is made by his father and the vineyards are owned by his family.
We order a cheese board, finish the Tokaj and order a glass of red each.
Milan passes on his email and he offers to host us for a tasting at his family winery when we return in December.
Kiskakukk Restaurant is a 2km walk from MyWine. We stroll past the galleries and antique stores and decide we might stay in this part of Budapest in December. It has a bohemian vibe that we both like.
Kiskakukk has been open since 1913 and in the same family. It specialises in local cuisine and has a definite game bird lean on its menu.
We order the goulash soup and the goose liver for starters.
I have never tried goose liver. Rich and decadent, every bit as tasty as duck liver.
For mains, we order the lamb shank and the confit goose leg. You can’t go wrong with a lamb shank, but the goose is delicious.
I have always loved duck, but goose is another level of richness. I am a fan and so is Shell.
A poppy seed bread and butter pudding and chocolate soufflé to end the evening.
We stroll home and discuss the decisions we will be making over the next few months.
Exciting times and a nice distraction from the fact tonight is our last in Budapest.
“unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.”Charles Bukowski
Tonight’s wine –
2006 Lenkey Kishegy Hárslevelű Furmint (Tokaj, Hungary)
Stunning wine. Incredible structure for a wine almost twenty years old. Marmalade, limes and honey. Lanolin and a fresh minerality. So similar to the Hunter Semillon in both style and the way it ages. Great stuff.
2022 Stiegler Prémium Választék Syrah (Sopron, Hungary)
See previous.
2022 St. Donát Tufa Kékfrankos (Balatonfüred-Csopak, Hungary)
Blue Frankish is what we call Kékfrankos. I guess it does have a slight blue tinge. This reminds me of Gamay. All cherries and sweet fruit. Pretty and easy to drink.