Well, after having postponed starting this Budapest blog, I am finally feeling up to it, settled down at my computer on a half-sunny, half hazy post-March 15 th Sunday morning.

I cannot tell much about the events of yesterday, the most important National Holiday, ( together with October 26 th ,anniversary of the 1956 revolution), celebrating the beginning of the 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule, except what I heard on the radio around 3 PM: eggs and stones were thrown at the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Budapest . But checking the news websites (http://index.hu/politika/belfold/napi9992/), things seem to have got a bit out of hand later in the day.

Anyway, apart from seeing people all over the city wearing the traditional kokárda with the national colors on their lapel, (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/hu/b/b0/Magyar_kokarda.png ) and guests calling me to ask where they could buy food as every shop was closed, yesterday for me was a typical Saturday in Budapest: I started the day at the great little pastry shop on Horváth Mihály Tér (off the crossing of József krt and Baross utca) to get some of what must be the best krémes in town, not the gelatinous, artificially firm creamed ones that you find most places , but the real , home-made stuff. I was astonished, at my last visit, to see that the 2 or 3 small tables where you could sit down to enjoy  your pastry had disappeared: the dreaded ÁNTSZ (National Higyene Service) had decided that, since there were no toilets directly off the shop, only take-away or eat-standing (there is a small high counter) was authorized...Difficult to understand that what had been OK for 50 years or more is suddenly  no more permissible and that customers who were happy to uphold their bladder until getting home are now in urgent need to relieve themselves then and there... What's more, there would have been a solution , as there are toilets in the building but since, to reach them, you would need to get out of the shop and into the courtyard of the house, the administration deemed this was too much of an effort to ask from the customers. This is another example of the silly situations brought about by overregulating everything (oh, but we only want the best for you). A consequence of being in the E.U.?

Anyway, apart from the wonderful krémes, I also bought "káposztás hasé", a savoury cabbage snack, the peppery filling very reminiscent of the one in cabbage rétes or the delicious simple home dish, káposztás tészta (cabbage noodle), that is often on the menu of the simple , usually lunch only "étkezde," restaurants.

My next stop was one of my favorite hangouts in my 8th district neighborhood: Kristály Cukrászda (pastry shop), a pleasant place to spend a couple of hours by a habos kávé (coffee with whipped cream) and a gesztenye püré (chestnut cream with whipped cream - only in season). They have great pastries (especially their somloi torta) but their krémes is not to be mentioned on the same day as the one above....(Kristály, corner of József krt and Baross utca, across from Stex restaurant).

My next stop (a few hours later) was the restaurant of my French friends , Edeline and Christophe, A la Galette. Edeline and Christophe have lived in Budapest for about 2 years now and opened a "creperie", a crepe restaurant, not to be mixed up with the Hungarian palacsinta pancake. Their place is at Szondi utca 11, in the 6 th district, a block from Erzsébet kőrút, between Oktogon and Nyugati (for reservations: 302.69.25 - Open Tuesday through Saturday 12-15 and 18-23).

Having dedeicated a great part of the day to culinary delight, I decided to go for a bit of culture: I walked from the restaurant to beautiful, sun-drenched Andrássy Avenue and then up to the Kogart House (www.kogart.hu) , which, in the last few years , has become an important venue for art lovers. Kovács Gábor is a very rich Hungarian business man , who dedicates a great part of his fortune to collecting and promoting art, through the Foundation he created. The Kogart House is a beautifully restored palace , with exhibition rooms on 3 stories and a gourmet restaurant in the basement (I have never eaten there ...). Usually, part of his collection is exhibited on the ground floor and temporary exhibit take place on the upper 2 floors. This time, though, the whole house is dedicated to a retrospective of the works of Gulácsy Lajos, entitled The Garden of the Magician. Although some of the works presented come from various Hungarian museums, most are in private hands , and it is a rare opportunity to see them , through July. (http://www.hung-art.hu/english/g/gulacsy/).Nézd meg közelebbről is!

One of the most impressive and unforgettable exhibits I saw at the Kogart was dedicated to a contemporary tapestry weaver, Péreli Zsuzsa (http://www.artendre.hu/html/pereli/index.html). Incredible and wonderful!

I learned 2 interesting things at the Kogart yesterday: you can become a Friend of the Foundation (yearly membership 15.000 ft), which entitles you and another person to visit the exhibits free of charge, but also , much more interesting, to take part in periodically organised visits of the workshops of contemporary artists, in art of history conferences, etc....(details on the web site).

The second, more prosaic, but just as interesting info, is that they serve a full English five o'clock  tea, with savoury sandwiches , cakes, scones and clotted cream. The tea menu is on request, it costs 2.900 HUF and you have to phone 2 hours ahead:  (+36-1) 354.38.30. I can imagine how pleasant it will be to have tea outside on the terrace, beside the magnolia trees, which, yesterday, were about to bloom: I will try it as soon as the temperature allows it (but of course, it is served anytime in the restaurant).