What I've been reading

Close Range: Brokeback Mountain and Other Stories
by Annie Proulx

"Tales of loneliness, quick violence, and the wrong kinds of love. Each of the portraits in Close Range reveals characters fiercely wrought with precision and grace."

All set in the wildness of Wyoming, the stories resemble one another in the setting and the general indignities of living in a harsh land, usually without enough money, reliant on climate and neighbours and forever on the brink of personal, emotional, financial or psychological catastrophe. There weren't any heart-warming tales of people getting along just fine, but she always writes interesting and believable characters even if you don't warm to them. And it's astonishing that the essence of the award-winning film is all contained here in just 35 pages. Unlike many film adaptations, in this case the story and the film are equally great.

Not About Being Good: A Practical Guide to Buddhist Ethics
by Subhadramati

"Buddhist ethics are not about conforming to a set of conventions, not about "being good" in order to gain material, social, or religious rewards. Instead, living ethically springs from the awareness that other people are essentially no different from ourselves."

I really liked this basic book on ethics, mainly because she uses such good examples. I borrowed it from someone else in the group and I'm slightly inclined to buy my own copy, but not enough to do it at the moment.

The New York Trilogy
by Paul Auster

"In each story the search for clues leads to remarkable coincidences in the universe as the simple act of trailing a man ultimately becomes a startling investigation of what it means to be human."

These were three strangely interconnected stories, each containing one or more characters from the other stories and one even including the author as a character. It was a clever device and I almost wanted more of it, even though it made the plots slightly confusing. This is one of the books on my 'classic' list, and there's another one on there by the same author that I might try.

Music & Silence
by Rose Tremain

"In the year 1629, a young English lutenist named Peter Claire arrives at the Danish Court to join King Christian IV's Royal Orchestra. From the moment when he realises that the musicians perform in a freezing cellar underneath the royal apartments, Peter Claire understands that he's come to a place where the opposing states of light and dark, good and evil, are waging war to the death."

A long book but an enjoyable one, a saga masquerading as a historical novel by being set in Denmark in the 17th century. No complaints about this one.

Budapest

Memorial in grounds of Great Synagogue, Budapest, December 2022

It was a lovely trip with my two friends A & S, ostensibly to visit the Christmas markets as we had done in previous years in Dusseldorf and Munich. I didn't make any notes as I went along, and it now feels like it was ages ago, so I'll probably have forgotten some of the best bits, but hey! blogging is supposed to be fun, not work.

We flew on Friday and came back on Monday - Friday and Saturday were very wet; Sunday and Monday were very cold. The line for taxis at the airport was so long that we took the bus to the hotel, which was modern and in a convenient location although it took me two nights to work out how to turn the heating down. After we arrived on Friday we had a quick foray into the nearest market, but because of the pouring rain we were lucky to find a café with space indoors for us. Budapest, like Madeira, doesn't generally cater for vegetarians, but the soups were terrific. Luckily I like soup, and this was the first good one: garlic cream soup with croutons.

We started on Saturday with a wet walk along the river as far as the poignant memorial to the shooting of the Jews in 1944 on the bank of the Danube. After another foray into the Christmas markets A and I joined a pretty good walking tour while S went off to the thermal baths. The tour was of the Jewish quarter, although being Saturday the synagogues weren't open to tourists; we returned to the Great Synagogue on Sunday. The tour ended in a 'ruined bar' which was an extraordinary space comprising many rooms and many bars with glitter balls, interesting lighting, plants, repurposed furniture including chairs made from a bath tub and a piano among other things, and covered with graffiti, which was encouraged.

That evening we went to a restaurant that had been recommended and which had very peculiar decor including upside down model buildings stuck to the ceiling, mannequins, and an inexplicable model plane. Soup: mushroom with strips of egg and smoked quails eggs - another triumph.

On Sunday the rain stopped but the temperature dropped. The famous Chain Bridge was closed for renovation so after visiting the synagogue and lunch (pumpkin soup) we walked across a less interesting bridge to the Buda side. We rode up to the palace via the funicular railway and visited the labyrinths that had been formed by underground water and then repurposed for storage and various other activities over the years. Bean and smoked tofu soup was wonderful for dinner - I can barely remember any of the main courses but the soups stood out.

I learned quite a bit about the history of Hungary especially in relation to the second World War; if we'd stayed longer I'd have liked to go on one of the other walking tours that focused on Communism in Hungary. We were reminded that Mr Rubik of the cube was Hungarian, as were Theodore Herzl (father of modern Zionism), Tony Curtis's father, Estee Lauder and Harry Houdini. On Monday we finished our business in various markets, punctuated by the need to go indoors to warm up every couple of hours. We were concerned that the cold snap in the UK might close Birmingham airport, but everything was fine and even the trains were running.

Interior of 'ruined bar'

Scooting and gaming

View from Funchal botanic gardens, November 2022

Coming back to collect the car after my trip to Madeira I helped mum to make her first excursion on the mobility scooter, down at the park at the bottom of the road. She has since made further forays and reports that so far she is not enjoying the experience at all. The pavements in the neighbourhood are not well maintained and  the hill is steep so she constantly feels as though she will tip off. Nevertheless she is persisting and I hope it will become easier with practice.

Back at home UJ's residence permit arrived, and she has returned (via Lisbon) to Kyiv where her parents still live - I think she has been missing friends and family a great deal. She wants to persuade her parents to move to Poland where they have access to an apartment for the winter, given the harsh conditions that a Ukrainian winter without reliable electricity will bring.

Then I went to Mr MXF's Christmas party. Despite doing very little for him in a highly sporadic and unreliable manner, I was still invited to lunch at a very nice pub followed by board games at a Games Café, where there was much merriment and where Mr MXF's daughter won everything there was to be won, although she had an advantage as she had played most of the games before. Mr MXF has since reassured me that what I've been doing has actually been very profitable...

Somehow time has become a scarce commodity as it's been a week since I returned from a long weekend in Budapest and nothing written beyond brief notes. I've been turned away from a blood donor session because apparently Madeira presents a risk of tropical infection that requires a 28-day wait before donation can be accepted, so I've rebooked for just after Christmas. But I even skipped badminton last night because I just needed to go to bed early, so the account of Budapest will have to wait until next time.

Orchids growing wild in Madeira

Madeira

Madeira, November 2022

I have been on a holiday - an ordinary, normal holiday, not a retreat, with people who aren't Buddhists, and it is surprising how long it has been since the last time I did this. It was a walking holiday in Madeira, led by a very enthusiastic local man whose catchphrase was "I love it" (delivered as one word).

The day before I left I went to see mum and dad for the important job of trying out and buying a mobility scooter. A local company came to the house with two to try, which were essentially identical except for the battery size. Mum was a bit nervous but I had a go on the pavement outside the house, and she sat on it so we adjusted the seat and handlebar to suit her.

Then off I went to Madeira via Stansted, and joined a group of twelve people, aged from about 30 to 75. Most were English but there was one young woman from Switzerland and another woman originally from Hungary but now living in the USA. It was a good group, nobody too annoying and all fit enough for the walking, which was at times very strenuous indeed. Madeira is volcanic, it has mountains, and water courses called levadas which have been cut into cliffs in order to route water to where it's needed. Every inch of viable land is cultivated, mostly with sugar cane, bananas and potatoes, although we saw avocado, mango and citrus trees too.

The vertical stripes are vents

The first walk was on the eastern peninsula, and as it was a popular walk and a Saturday there were a lot of people about. The main attraction was the eroded coastline and volcanic geology, although there was a swimming area for those who wished. The next walk was in the north - we were taken by car up to the start, and although we started at altitude there was still more climbing to do, and a long descent which punished the knees. It was the first proper holiday for my walking poles, and I'm not sure how I would have managed without them. I don't put a lot of weight on them for climbing or descending, but they provide a third and fourth point of contact with the ground, so helping me to balance without additional strain on the legs.

Don't look down

The third walk took us to a National Park where we walked alongside another levada to a waterfall. The description of the holiday had mentioned that it wasn't suitable for those with vertigo, and this walk demonstrated why - the path was narrow with the cliff on one side and a sheer drop of many thousands of feet on the other, sometimes protected by a rickety two-string fence, sometimes not. Our leader ("I love it!") described some of the native and non-native plants while I looked anywhere except down and leaned away from the edge. There was another long descent down to a seaside village where the sun shone for beer and ice cream, and we briefly visited a rum distillery, tasted the product and had a shopping opportunity. I'm not a rum aficionado but it tasted fine and obviously I didn't buy any.

Spot the rainbow

The next day we were up before dawn and taken up above the cloud line to see the sun come up. The plan for the day was to walk between the three highest peaks of the island, and it was a shame about the cloud cover below us otherwise I imagine the views would have been tremendous, although I enjoyed the views of the clouds below. The peaks were reached along well-maintained paths and many hundreds (if not thousands) of steps - walking poles helped to support jelly legs towards the end of this climb. Thankfully there was a road up to the final stop so we didn't have to make the final descent on foot.

The last day of walking was the least interesting. It included all the elements of the previous days - huge ascents via stairs, walking alongside a levada, cultivated terraces, narrow vertiginous paths with a sheer drop down a cliff to one side, expansive views, punishing descents and the opportunity for beer and ice cream at the end - but nothing new. On our last full day we were let loose in Funchal. I chose to wander around the market and then ascend by cable cars to the Botanic Garden, my usual haunt, and it was a really good one. 

Spot the bird

The weather was perfect throughout - sunny but not too hot, although it had drizzled slightly on the first day and threatened a little rain on another day. Coats and hats were frequently put on and taken off at each break. Each day we had a hotel breakfast and then bought ourselves ingredients for a packed lunch from a supermarket (or surreptitiously collected goods from the breakfast buffet), which was ideal for a thrifty vegetarian like me. Evening meals were less satisfactory. The holiday notes mentioned that Madeira does not cater for vegetarians, and they were right. Alongside plenty of glorious fish and meat dishes, there were at best two options for vegetarians, such as spaghetti with vegetables, pizza with vegetables (the first time I've had pizza topped with carrot and broccoli as well as olives), omelette and chips, vegetable soup and garlic bread. 

To add insult to injury the prices for the vegetarian dishes in Funchal restaurants were comparable with the non-vegetarian dishes, so on the final day I split off from the main group with two other women who had not been enjoying the restaurant choices so far and we went to a different place. They had the local speciality of limpets then seared tuna; I still only had the choice of vegetable soup or omelette, but the omelette was good and only a fraction of the price compared with previous days. The other vegetarian woman went with the majority on that last night and regretted it as she was forced to choose exorbitantly priced spaghetti with vegetables again.

Aside from the scary cliffs and uninspiring vegetarian food, I enjoyed it, and both of these issues were mentioned in the tour notes so I can't say I wasn't warned. Apologies for the delay - it's taken an age to get this written and photos sorted...