tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post5172229400109894395..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Alongside and down the DanubeDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-56315331222456753162017-07-05T07:16:36.357+01:002017-07-05T07:16:36.357+01:00I have, however, never made a hole in the ice to l...I have, however, never made a hole in the ice to lower myself into freezing waters! And I'm a wuss in that if it doesn't get a bit less ouchy as I swim, out I come.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-84166891442380133862017-07-05T02:37:37.466+01:002017-07-05T02:37:37.466+01:00On bathing in the freezing sea, you and Anneli are...On bathing in the freezing sea, you and Anneli are kin!Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15674930917585246294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-43044175354544688032017-07-04T20:44:17.918+01:002017-07-04T20:44:17.918+01:00I was especially pleased to have snapped and - eve...I was especially pleased to have snapped and - eventually - identified the lone Black Stork. Seabird life also very rich in the East Neuk of Scotland, where I've been for the annual festival (always superb, possibly this year richer than ever). Vital that I bathe in the freezing North Sea every year; it was no warmer this year, but the sun shone on the sandy beach by the harbour jetty in Crail, so that was fine. And then a wonderful walk to Anstruther - a stretch where there are no golf courses...Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-17278582875943282352017-07-04T20:32:33.410+01:002017-07-04T20:32:33.410+01:00Yes, I can well appreciate your friend's dilem...Yes, I can well appreciate your friend's dilemma--and also the difference in experience between the cosmopolitan cities and country towns and villages. An artist friend here who lived and worked in LA, then had to go home to rural Georgia to tend to her ailing father, bemoans the closed minds/closed worlds of the place in which she is now trapped. When we are upstate, there's a lot of that, which is why most all our friends are in the city, and very few up here, despite having lived here now 10 years. This morning, we walked along the rail trail, and it reminded me of your photo of a thrush. We have the wood thrush, very elusive, so we seldom see, let alone photograph, them, but the call is the loveliest of any bird we have, and they were calling away as we walked. Susan Scheidhttps://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-10088562499137966252017-07-03T07:18:22.795+01:002017-07-03T07:18:22.795+01:00As in a lot of quasi-dictatorships, you're fin...As in a lot of quasi-dictatorships, you're fine in Hungary if you don't come close to the system. A friend of mine moved back there and found work which didn't touch on the Orban circle, but found that difficult. But as she loves her country, though enraged by a lot of what goes on, she wouldn't leave it. And as with Istanbul, Budapest is such a cosmopolitan city. Go to the country towns and villages and I gather it's quite a different matter.<br /><br />Anyway, you can still walk along the Hudson and in the Catskills.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-9734212595155270362017-07-03T01:33:49.963+01:002017-07-03T01:33:49.963+01:00David: I want to flee from the US, particularly to...David: I want to flee from the US, particularly today, with its appalling grotesqueries piled atop sheer cruelty, into the beautiful places you show us. At the same time I realize Hungary is no haven either, though it seems, at least from the photographs, that ordinary people seem to get on with their lives. But perhaps that is also a mirage.Susan Scheidhttps://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-63006403544848705252017-06-29T17:06:03.499+01:002017-06-29T17:06:03.499+01:00Thanks, both. Andrew, I suffered for my camerawork...Thanks, both. Andrew, I suffered for my camerawork - virtually heatstroked mid-afternoon. Morning and evening were just beautiful and the temperatures did make it seem like another land.<br /><br />Josie, have I been speaking poetry without knowing it? I take it as a compliment from a poet-watcher. And yes, it was a bit of an adventure, I realise, looking it over: the only certainty when I set out was the time of the 5.30pm boat back. But not difficult to accomplish.<br /><br />TAD feature on Budapest Wagner Days should appear on Saturday - been drafting it on the train up to Leuchars for the East Neuk Festival. Wet with rough seas at the moment - weekend should be better. Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-45625294439203300222017-06-29T14:08:10.900+01:002017-06-29T14:08:10.900+01:00"So here, above the church, I halted in the s..."So here, above the church, I halted in the shade ...<br />but the views back continued to open up in the deepening light…. <br />….it was no hardship sitting outside in front of the trees and the statue watching the world - and back to the hotel for an early night before the final assault on Parsifal at 4pm the next afternoon."<br /><br />Thanks for taking us along on the adventure.Josiehttp://www.josieholford.com/life-in-school-1-6/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-12362813929008676522017-06-29T11:58:25.651+01:002017-06-29T11:58:25.651+01:00Lovely - quite the day for photographs! I look for...Lovely - quite the day for photographs! I look forward to hearing about your opera house adventures.Andrew Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13621999760260602982noreply@blogger.com