Hungarian Adventure, Part II

#1: at the New York Kave Haz
#2: Michel and Lydie Fender on the boat;
#3: the New York Kave Haz

I thought I was busy on this vacation before but the tempo really picked up when I met with the Fenders on Margitsziget (Margaret’s Island) in the middle of the Danube. We know the Fenders thanks to AFS, the foreign exchange student program. We hosted the Fenders’ oldest son, Ben, in our home for 9 months back in 2005-06. Who would ever imagine that we would become good friends with the entire family—the Fenders coming to visit us in Chapel Hill many times and we have visited to their city three times since. And now we meet them in Budapest!

Ben’s dad, Michel, was clearly in need of a vacation on this trip, having dealt with some stressful problems in his professional life in the last year, but of course, I wanted to take them everywhere and to taste everything. I was curious about the family’s reaction to Hungarian food and pastry which I think rivals French food.

We went out for lunch first to Foldes Joszef, a restaurant where my Marosi family had taken me, and we had a great first meal. The Fenders did wrinkle their noses at the thought of sweet cold fruit soup for a starter and Michel didn’t even like the idea of camembert cheese with a blueberry sauce, but other than those two negative reactions, they liked the food very much! The restaurant is owned by a friend of myarosi cousins, and there is a picture of Marianne Marosi and Giscard D’Estaing, one of the past French presidents, outside the establishment. That got us off on the right foot.

After I took them on a long walk and tour of Buda Castle, Lydie and her daughter Aelinor when off on a taxi tour of Budapest while I took Michel to the Hungarian House of Wines for a sample of 6 regional wines. This was tempting fate: taking a Frenchman who knows his wines to a Hungarian wine house. What hubris!

We had a Hungarian sommelier, Ishtvan, who spoke English with a thick Australian accent. Whoa!

We were there for about three hours. I drank water and watched Michel start to mellow, and then we headed back to the hotel to meet all of his family. Off we jetted to New York Kave Haz, one of the most beautiful restaurants I have ever dined in. The service was immaculate (gloved waiters) and the food was very expensive, very Hungarian, and very good. Michel was generous to pick up the check, but then again, I had him liquored up pretty well before-hand J

We went to the charming village of Szentendre the next day and by 5 p.m., we were on the public boat ride back to Budapest to await Courtney’s arrival.

Dory, our foreign exchange student this year, and her dad live close to the airport and were kind to pick up my tired but happy husband and after a quick hello to the Fenders and tour of the splendid hotel facilities, they said goodbye. Courtney and I had a lovely dinner at the hotel with the Fenders and called it a night.

The next morning, after Courtney slept about 10 hours, we went with the Fenders for lunch to Gerbeau’s, a turn-of-the-century eatery with open air seating on a beautiful plaza—very French! Gerbeau’s is a bit touristy but is considered a must-see here, and has homemade chocolate. Its best-known chocolate is called “cat’s tongue” for its spoon-like shape.

We said goodbye to the Fenders—they went down Vaci Utca for a quick shopping spin and we went our separate way toward the Big Market. As we parted, Michel remarked that they see us more often than they see their own family. The French have the highest standards for everything, so we know a compliment when we hear one.