Yesterday was BUSY. After a super late night out with Candida and Daniel and an intense amount of red wine consumed, I awoke fuzzy-headed and a little bit dumb. I had to reprint one of my images for the exhibition and walked all the way to the print shop without my disc! So I turned around, walked back, met up with Marlene, and we went back to the shop. Then the guy printed my image on PAPER, not photo Paper, so I had to go back a THIRD time. Just as I was re-framing the image and cleaning the frames, Beata swoops in like a storm and the day of installation of all our art work at the Mucius Gallery begins.
We were there for a few hours, helping out, but Mucius hired a professional installer to hang all the pieces, which was pretty convenient. Patricia couldn't seem to find a decent place to hang her long crocheted (with plastic and wire) piece inspired by the Chain Bridge, and all the while she's been making it, I've been calling it a pacsmina - it really looked wearable. Resigned not the exhibit the piece, I asked if I could wear it during the exhibition! And she was delighted! So, I'll be the walking exhibition of the show, the Hungarian girl wearing the Chain Bridge and I'm very honored!
Later, we met with Beata for dinner on the Buda side and had a lovely evening with great food, great wine and great conversation. It was the last night all of us were together as Patricia left for home at 5 am this morning. She's missing the exhibition, which really sucks. But I've promised her lots of pictures!
After dinner, we dashed to the tram to avoid the light rain. Again, I forget my umbrella, so on the way out of the restaurant, I grabbed a Metro newspaper and fashioned a lovely rain-blocker tent over my head. Patricia asked me "Are you cold?" and I said, straight as can be, "Why no, this Hungarian newspaper keeps me both warm and dry." For some reason, this just came like I was a walking advertisement for the miracle that is the Hungarian newspaper and its versatile uses! It's not just newspaper anymore, it's an urban necessity! A giggle-fest ensued.
Once back, we futzed around looking for a less smoky place to have a last drink with Patricia. I had noticed this bar around the corner from us when I first got here, called ROCKTOGON. Though a stone's throw from our hotel, we'd never ventured there, it just looks so bad! A total metal bar. Like Harpo's or something. And This may not seem HILARIOUS at first, but our neighborhood is called Oktogon and the play on words is an irresistable invitation for a million bad rock jokes and puns of our own. Did we dare test the power of such a formidable sounding rock bar? Were we rockin' enuff for this place? It was Patricia's last night in town and she voted that yes, indeed, we rock enuff. Right as we're walking past Kiado, Marlene says real loud, "Let's go to Rocktogon!" and the guy in front of us turns around and stares at us in horror. And to our horror, it's the bartender at Kiado that's a real hard-case. We call him "Meanie." And we were so unbelievably embarrassed - usurping our usual Kiado for ROCKTOGON and then going public with it is a CONTROVERSIAL and DANGEROUS social move! We had no choice then but to stay to true our rockin' selves and boldly go to the home of heavy metal in Budapest.
Laughing our asses off, we entered ROCKTOGON and were sorely disappointed. This place doesn't rock! At least not on Mondays. It was silent and empty! But the beer was super cheap and we were left alone. Literally, because there was only one other group of people in the whole bar - young kids listening to a radio they brought in and singing along to Linkin Park and Creed. THEY ROCK! The decor was a kick-ass supply of posters of Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden and equivalent versions of Hungarian rock bands. We just laughed and laughed the whole time there and got the bartender to take our photo, showing off our versions of the Jesus-Gang-Gesture meets the Rock-On-Devil-Horns.
As you walk in to ROCKTOGON, there's a wall of fame. Signed press photos of no one I recognize. Some of the frames were empty. Methinks it would be a great idea to take a ROCK photo of us, sign it, and install it in the ROCKTOGON. That would rock!
I woke up today, alone in my room. I miss Patricia! Almost everyday she got up before me, but when I'd wake up she'd say "Good morning, dear" and we'd plan our day ahead. I really loved having her as my roommate! Now I'm all alone!
After breakfast I ventured out, in search of a dress for tonight's opening. I had every intention of splurging on something grand for myself. After a few hours of bullshit and no luck and nothing fitting and one guy saying at a boutique "We only carry 38's here" (as in "beat it, fat-ass, no couture for you!", I decided to come back to the Medosz. So, it's the same old black dress I've worn 3 times already here. Which is fine, all I wanted was a black dress anyways - since I'll be exhibiting the Chain Bridge tonight and that's the real piece-de-resistance.
A couple hours to go until the opening and I'm not really nervous. I'm not entirely thrilled about my photos, but they're pretty good and it's quite an honor to have a show in Budapest. Beata put a price of 75,000 forints for all six pieces, I'd be quite a lucky girl if they sold! My awesome Hungarian family is coming and it will be an exciting night for all of us. For now though, I'm just going to relax, enjoy an espresso and a glass of wine and mentally prepare for the challenge of being a walking art piece!
