Early Mornings

“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.”

Henry David Thoreau

Shell wants to run this holiday. I have not run in over four years. I am sure I will be fine.

I have long been an advocate of strengthening the mind and the body. The old cliché if you don’t use it, you lose it, is true.

I read and meditate to keep my mind sharp. I lift weights to maintain a strong body. I engage in regular aerobic exercise to improve my heart and lung capacity. Yoga keeps my joints limber and flexible.

You push the body, it rebuilds stronger.

What I am most proud of is my liver, how I have worked it over the last two years. Building its capacity, pushing it to breaking point, and seeing it return ever stronger. My accommodation for beer and wine is a tribute to the incredible constitution of my liver.

I use it so I never lose it.

“I mean, I have the feeling that something in my mind is poisoning everything else.”

Vladimir Nabokov

We start our run, cutting through the tourist section. A group of pigeons eating some vomit from the previous evening.

The circle of life.

The slow pace is difficult. It is probably my runners.

We knock out a lazy few kilometers before settling for a walk back home to shower and grab some breakfast.

“People sometimes sneer at those who run every day, claiming they’ll go to any length to live longer. But I don’t think that’s the reason most people run. Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If you’re going to while away the years, it’s far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive than in a fog, and I believe running helps you do that.”

Haruki Murakami

Zërgë Coffeeshop for breakfast. For a change of pace, we order exactly the same as in the previous visits.

Breakfast done, we head to Margit-sziget to see what the summer flower beds look like this year.

Four genuine seasons make for stunning gardens.

“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece”

Claude Monet

We stroll to a few hiking shops in search of some summer shirts before heading home for the Pies game.

I am knackered. 16km before lunch. I need a beer and a foot rub.

Shell falls asleep, and I read because the Pies are getting thumped, and it hurts to watch.

Shell for a hair treatment and I am lunching solo. The beer is excellent, and I am satisfied my liver is getting the work out it needs.

Home for some reading while Shell finishes her hair appointment.

Pies surge back but fall just short.

We stroll through the city looking for some clothes. Shell needs a new kit to suit her luxurious hair.

Home to relax for a few hours before heading out for dinner.

I feel like an Aperol Spritz. It is more of an afternoon, sitting in the sunshine, drink than an evening beverage. I feel my window closing on this endeavor.

“The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before.”

G.K. Chesterton

We head to DeVino wine bar. Apparently, they do food there.

They don’t.

We have a few wines, some local Furmint’s, which are very good.

While we are there, a man sets up a camera on a tripod. His camera is focused on an intricate piece of stonework. The camera he is using is over 100 years old. Forget digital cameras, where you can take as many pictures as you want. Not even film, where you need to make every shot count.

This camera takes a single shot, and the film is developed in silver.

One shot. One perfect shot.

He spends over an hour waiting for the light to be perfect.

“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”

Leo Tolstoy

The night ends poorly.