Amrit Chima
Daniel is an idea man. Over the years he’s had loads of ideas, all of which were the next big thing, the wave of the future, and all twinkling vividly with financial security and personal fulfillment. Piled together, they’d fill a tightly jam-packed walk-in closet, once-shiny brainchildren now shelved and collecting dust. It’s been a bit challenging to muster encouragement and enthusiasm for each inspired idea. I’m a writer. I know what I want. But, truthfully, most of the time I’ve been patient with him. I respect a person who devotes that much energy to explore, to search for what makes him happy. It’s better than being tied to an office, where in my view, ideas and happiness go to die.
Since we moved to Hungary this past March there’s been at least seven projects in the making, most of which, like the others, eventually fizzled out (not for lack of a concerted effort and pure will to achieve something grand). But now I think we’ve reached a critical point in all these years of searching. It’s all finally culminated into something concrete. This month Daniel signed the lease for a space that he’ll turn into a wine shop.
August
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunflower on the side of the road in Austria
Got the keys to DH Wines! Daniel is officially an entrepreneur!
Anyone who knows him understands the absolute rightness behind this plan. Not only because idea men usually make great entrepreneurs, but because he loves wines. More to the point, he actually has some real sense of them. When he talks about wines he’s not faking it, not simply throwing out terminology. After working for a two-Michelin-star restaurant in Manhattan for three years—during which time his ex boss, Eric Zillier (Wine Spectator’s grand award winning wine director), encouraged him to taste hundreds of wines—Daniel has honed his palate. He has a fairly solid concept of quality.
At the moment, unable to renovate the shop (an underground, wine-cellar-like space) because of the usual bureaucratic runaround in Hungary (it takes some serious paperwork just to get the electricity on), there was nothing else to do but drink. We began our legwork in Austria, where viticulture and viniculture have been integral parts of the country’s identity for over five-hundred years. Covering a number of regions, we discovered so many tasty Grüner Veltliners, Rieslings, and Zweigelts, we won’t be able to stock the shop with all of them. Our plan for September is to also attend wine festivals in Budapest in search of a Hungarian selection.
Town square of Retz, Austria: Once a year wine flows from this fountain.
Tasting wines in Sooß (pronounced Sōse)
While in Austria, we spent some time with Daniel’s sister in Vienna. Every year the city organizes a film and food festival outside city hall. (The word for city hall in German is Rathaus, which to me looks much like “rat house”…go figure that this is where politicians carry out their daily work.)
Film Festival outside Vienna’s Rathaus (city hall)
Food Festival outside Vienna’s Rathaus: the American food booth
We weren’t able to stay for the film, but the food was culturally diverse and rich. We sampled a number of cuisines—Indian chicken tikka masala, German sausages, and yes, the cliché American hamburger—before coming across this couple, who obviously ate too much.
A woman and her geezer outside the food and film festival
Our extensive research in Austria successful, I returned home to the still frustrating experience of completing my novel. I’m now two-thirds of the way through, and that last third looks insurmountable. Any excuse to set aside my computer, I went with a friend to Széchenyi Bath. Hungary is known for its estimated 1,300 thermal springs ranging from warm to scalding temperatures, 118 of which are used in Budapest. The country has been a popular spa destination since the Romans first built thermal baths along the Danube in the fifth century.
These small breaks were once enough, but not anymore. My novel so near completion yet still dragging out, I feel like I’m ready for something new. Ideas are beginning to percolate. I’d like to focus on learning Hungarian, working out, teaching English, and improving my general health. So I bought a juicer and gave myself a new challenge.
Széchenyi Bath House
Fruits and veggies for a juice fast
After five days of drinking nothing but freshly pressed fruit and vegetable juice, I can happily say that I no longer suffer from allergies. My dad has them, my brother has them, and I finally developed them a few years ago. Always sneezing, my eyes and nose constantly itchy, the neti pot worked for a good while. But since moving to Hungary my sinuses have been introduced to all kinds of foreign allergens even the neti pot can’t fend off. There I was again, achooing all over the place. Until I drank juice.
The downside. I had to give up wine for a while.
