Sunday Aug. 3 Day 18:

Today is the last day for Jancsi's week vacation so we are taking it easy in the garden. It is also very hot today so using the pool (medence in Hungarian) is a very good idea. The water is 23 C so it is quite “refreshing” once you get under it. It reached 31 C in the afternoon.

Irma (the English-speaking neighbour) came over for a short time bringing damson plumbs. We were told to be careful since some had small worms in them...that was true.

There will be a bar-b-q Hungarian style. Jancsi prepares the charcoal brickets in the area with a chimney in it. It is all cement with space for the rack to slide in. It takes much longer to prepare the brickets. I asked Jancsi if there are propane bar-b-q's in Hungary and he says there are but not very popular and more expensive. I think there is no tradition for it and the old ways die hard.

Ebed or lunch is grilled pork which had been flattened by a meat hammer and spices and a little olive oil added. When cooked, which takes little time compared to getting the brickets ready. It is very tasty. We have a salad with it containing about 10 things from lettuce to sliced carrots to olives (from Spain). There is balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil on it. Very tasty. Jancsi puts mayonnaise on his...ugh ! A cold beer helps everything go down very well. A short swim and a reclining chair are great after lunch.

Jancsi's camera in his net book is not working and we cannot fix it since it is a hardware problem. Strangely, the audio works perfectly.

We played some more badminton but stepping on a rose thorn brings the game to a halt for Gyorgyi.

Samu and Simon collecting Snails-Csiga

Orsi and Gabor with the two kids, Samu and Simon in tow arrived just as I was going to church. They had to leave quickly since they had forgotten a bike on their trip and they were not sure if it would still be there.

Saint Lipot Church,Budafok

Since I was too late for the church service in the morning there is another at 7 pm. The church is very old and at the bottom of the hill in Budafok. The inside is very beautiful. It is not a large church but has very interesting features like a pulpit 3 meters off the ground but no longer used.

I always find the service a little different than in Canada but very similar to those in Italy. They sit during one part of the service where we would kneel. This is fortunate here as the kneelers are made from wood. The pews are very old. There are 3 helpers for the priest. Two readers and an altar boy. The collection is taken up by a reader and the altar boy.

As usual the sermon is long but the theme is “first, seek God and place your trust and hope in God”.

After mass the priest shook everyone's hand as they left church; a very nice gesture.

It was a little cooler but still very humid. I made the uphill walk in about 12 minutes. A nice beer was waiting. The kids were getting ready for bed and Jancsi had to go to bed early since Monday he was back to work.