Got home from Hungary yesterday, today I went to the dentist to have a filling fixed that had started to move, creating a new cavity. Phew… now I can set my teeth in that turkey without any worries 
So tomorrow we’re off to Lille again, just like last year… to enjoy more of a Christmas atmosphere than we have here in Holland. And maybe they still have something of the Cultural Capital of Europe stuff left.
Got home, Saw Dentist, Went again
Hello from Hungary
This is just a quick entry typed in a cool internet cafe called Mátrix cafe, located on Kárász utca, the main pedestrian shopping street in Szeged. Actually, it’s the cybercafe where my cousin used to work late at night after the university lab had closed, when he was still studying for his PhD, which he graduated for TODAY, at the University of Szeged. Congratulations, Dave!
By the way, the Christmas season in Hungary is great: beautiful decorations. Besides, the food is great, the people friendly. What more could you wish for? Ok, maybe a language that is a LITTLE bit easier to understand? Compared to TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE right now… No resemblance to any other European or non-European language whatsoever…
Romeo Quartet @ De Veste
Went to a sunday morning concert at Theater De Veste to listen to the Romeo Quartet, who played the following pieces:
- a string quartet by Schulhoff. A bit modern
- a “Lied Ohne Worte” by Mendelssohn
- 4 Cypresse by Dvořák (yay, found out here how to make that r-with hacek character in HTML)
After the interval, the quartet was joined by Folke Nauta, who gave a solo recital earlier this year at the same theater, and together they played
- Dvořák’s piano quintet in A, opus 81
All very nice performances!
In memoriam
On Nobel Day 2004, my uncle (my father’s eldest brother), left this world at the age of 72. Devoted husband, loving father to three children, and grandfather (“Avuelo”) to five grandchildren. While most other of my uncles on my father’s side live in Indonesia, this uncle had worked as a diplomat in Yugoslavia, the Phillipines, Singapore, as a deputy ambassador in Washington DC, and finally, as an ambassador in Argentina. Due to his many travels, I had the joy of meeting him several times, and he was truly a wonderful person. We will miss him. Requiescas in pace, Avuncule…
Weird movies
Yes, I’m still here, even though I haven’t posted in more than two weeks.
This weekend was spent celebrating a 25th Wedding anniversary on Saturday, and not really celebrating Saint Nicholas on Sunday, unlike most other people in Holland.
Instead I watched the following DVDs with a friend: Lost in Translation, and Pirates of the Caribbean. I found the first one quite good, the second one, well… skilfully made, I guess, but a bit too many swashbuckling skeletons to my taste.
Yesterday I watched Vägen ut, a Swedish comedy about jailbirds who try to escape by acting in a play, and today I watched (part of) Finding Nemo in Icelandic. I had never heard Icelandic, although reading it is a lot easier if you know Swedish. As it turns out, it sounds a bit like Greek (not that I understand that when I hear it). Yes, I know what you’re thinking: I’m weird…
Hope to bring you some more up-to-date and interesting news soon, when I’ve seen The Polar Express.
Bubble Tea in Amsterdam
To anyone living in Holland who’s interested in the Bubble Tea I described earlier: I was told by a friend that one (the only?) place you can have this in Holland is A-Fusion on the Zeedijk 130 in Amsterdam. And while you’re there, why not eat there? “Their creative fusion of Asian flavors combines elements of Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian/Malaysian cuisines.”, as the reviewer above describes it. I haven’t been there yet, but I can’t wait to go…
