To work

On my last day in Budapest the tickets for tours of Parliament were sold out, so I went to a Belgian beer bar instead. Beer or government, which one is more fun? I also walked around Margaret Island, which is a big park. I tried an interesting pastry called Flodni. It is supposed to be a traditional Jewish food, and since I stayed in the old Jewish neighborhood it was easy to find.

In the morning, Alain's friend Peter (also a winemaker) showed up at 5:50am to take me to his winery in Szeksard (about an hour from the winery I work at in Villany). He was a lot of fun to talk to. He told me about growing up in Hungary. There were Russian soldiers on the streets to enforce communism, and later he saw rockets flying through the air across the border in Croatia. He also had a good impression of Tito in Yugoslavia because his people were free, unlike the Hungarians. When Hungary joined the EU it didn't change much inside the country, but Hungarians could go work elsewhere in Europe easily. Peter drives to Budapest once or twice a week to sell his wine.

The winery has caves lined with bricks, but Peter doesn't like it because there was a lot of Brettanomyces and other bacteria in there. The lab is nice and clean though and they have a great machine that does all the analysis with one small sample. From the winery Alain's wife Aniko drove me to Pecs to go to the immigration office which went well, but we have to go back one more time. I even had my fingerprints taken.

I got back in time for a big, meaty Hungarian lunch and worked in the afternoon helping on the bottling line. Everything in the winery is new since it is still being built, so I have to be extra careful not to break or scratch anything. I also learned there will be another intern here in September. He's Japanese, studying wine at Montpelier University in France, and is currently working in Tunisia. It sounded strange to me too.

Alain took me to a pension (similar to a B&B) where I'll live for two weeks. The hostess doesn't speak any English, but she does my laundry and makes me food, so I'm happy. Breakfast of bread, cheese, and meat is provided.

Two days this week the electricity was cut off at the winery, so I studied some Hungarian, visited the town of Mohacs where I tried the local brew, and also to Pecs where I walked around taking photos of the cool old buildings. I tried a local pastry that Alain said was made from the same plant as cocaine, but I didn't feel anything special. On Wednesday we bottled and Alain brought me clothes, shoes, boots, and a cell phone.

Yesterday I used a power drill putting 64 screws into each wooden bin at the winery, but I still didn't finish. My body hurt by the end of the day from the crouching and bending. I guess I'm not in great shape after three months of holidays. Go figure! After work Alain, his business partner, and a full-time cellar hand, and I went for happy hour at their favorite restaurant. They know the owner so they didn't even pay for the bread, cheese, or wine when we walked out. They even talked them into giving me a free dinner, which was delicious duck. They also had bread baked with tomato and a smokey Hungarian cheese. While we were sitting outside, we noticed the rain was coming and we saw the wind come right down the street toward us blowing dust and grass everywhere, so we went inside. It was a strange weather experience for me. Later I went to a winery/bar for a glass of wine and the guy didn't even charge me for it. Maybe it's a locals' discount?

Alain brought me a bike, apricots, and two bottles of wine, and took me to the winery to help him with a couple things. He told me to remind him to send an email to his contact in West Australia for a job next harvest. He's been very generous. I read my book and walked around town with the rest of the tourists because today is a National Holiday celebrating one of their revolutions. There are people dressed up and there will be live music. What else is great is I can walk down the street drinking a beer. My night is planned.