happy birthday frida kahlo

happy birthday to one of the most beautiful and talented women the world has ever known.

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a girl and her bike

the old saying goes, diamonds are a girl's best friend. i beg to differ. i'd trade a diamond for a bike any day. i'd trade another one for a friend to have a bike too. then i'd trade a third diamond for a free afternoon with sunshine. so i could go for a ride with that friend.

my little pearl. you may not work properly all the time but it doesn't matter.

i'm going away for the rest of the week so i thought i'd bring her up to the flat for safekeeping while i'm gone. running back and forth packing my bag and cooking up some quick lunch, i couldn't stop but admire the afternoon light, the herringbone floor boards and her fame, beautifully unsuspicious.

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one last glance at budapest

in t-minus twenty-five days i'll be saying good-bye budapest but there are still a million things i want to do and see and even more places to explore before i leave my keys in the mailbox on my way out. i doubt i'll ever live permanently in budapest again, but i'm refraining from the word never. because,

who knows what will happen?

[fisherman's bastion]

so, i have less than one month to start ticking off my "cultural" to-do list.


these ten are at the top:

one - spend a day at the thermal baths with some girl friends. soak in all those mineral waters and their healing powers... because god knows there aren't any spas this cheap in london.

two - check out the newest exhibition at the ludwig museum. it's called "the art of light" by lászló maholy-nagy, a hungarian artist known for his work in the avant-garde movement in the central/eastern part of europe in the twentieth century.

three - pack a picnic and enjoy it on the great lawn in the middle of margaret island. i did the same last spring when all the trees were in bloom. it was so nice and people were everywhere will their little dogs, picnic baskets and bicycles. my kind of place.

four - finish reading "the water method man" by john irving. it's quite thick and i'd appreciate not having to carry it with me in london. actually, i'll leave all my books here and bring them over in a couple months once we find our nice new home.

UPDATE: i didn't finish it there, but shortly after i arrived here in london. it's already been passed along to a friend though. so no space is taken up in my new (very small) flat.

five - send postcards to my bestest bests before i leave. budapest is far behind the times and you can still find great vintage postcards in smaller shops out of the city centre. they're so tacky that they're fashionable? if you want one, send me your address!

six - organize a city bike sight-seeing tour with friends/travellers so that i can say goodbye to all my favourite places at the same time.

seven - dance until the sun rises. preferably on a boar moored along the danube... a38 to be more precise. [holduvar on margrit island]

eight - see a performance at the budapest opera house. rumour has it that there are last-minute tickets in the nose-bleed section for cheap. now i just have to get my paws on a pair and convince someone to dress up with me to go. any takers? love high-class entertainment.

UPDATE: unfortunately the season has ended and new shows don't begin until september. doesn't anyone go to the opera in the summer???

nine - the next best thing, open-air cinema on margaret island with the french institute's film club. i'm even going to sneak in a few beers for this one.

ten - only the future will tell.

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