Serbo-Hungarian nights, part 2

At last, the ever-present Catholic holidays have come to the rescue to provide us all with an extended weekend and the chance to get our bearings - more than necessary after last night's extended house party (20-08); more on that in a moment.

Lessingstrasse, one of our region's typical streets.

It's the city's biggest church and two blocks away from our flat, but yesterday was the first time I visited the Herz-Jesu-Kirche. For the wedding of one of her Russian acquaintances here in Graz, Nashata (letters mixed up to preserve anonymity) put together a "Russian choir" (read: a sextet made up of four Ukrainians, one Lithuanian and one disoriented Finn) to perform traditional Orthodox melodies during the ceremony. Afterwards, we were invited to the reception at Gasthaus Jöbstl but unfortunately I had to leave before the wedding couple even arrived.


Plans for a spectacular Russian-speaking party were hitched and I made my way down the steep streets of Waltendorf towards Merangasse where there wasn't much time left before the flat became a focal point in our city's "vibrant student-propelled nightlife" (quote: LP). Preparations involved: stopping our bathroom from flooding, trying to control our washing machine which tends to take a life of its own during our frequent "Pflegeleicht"-cycles, almost making the house come down while hammering both of my doors open, and turning one of the double rooms into a closed space where anything too space-taking or breakable was thrown in (unfortunately, since the room was already crammed to bursting point due to Anna's Czech visitors, this made Petra decide to evacuate the place).

Thomas being laid-back. Note flip-flops. I want those.

Accompanied by the rumbles of a fantastic thunderstorm, the guests started streaming in with their bring-alongs which ranged from quiche to tortilla to Greek (fruit) salad to Japanese meatballs - it felt like all nationalities were represented except for Austria itself. In general, the party was in full gear until well after midnight. A bunch of people took their leave as dawn approached, and the last survivors emptied my bed later in the morning. In general, I suppose you could call the evening a success.


After a chamber music rehearsal this morning (or wait, was it the afternoon), I came home to float in a sort of stupor. It felt very relaxing to walk around the flat in socks, let the fresh summer breeze in through the windows, know that my flatmates were at home although I couldn't hear a sound, and look forward to tomorrow, another saint's day. For the first time in weeks, my two replacement siblings gathered for a cozy moment on my bed (it is a very comfortable bed, you know) to meditate on the rich fabric of life. Afterwards, a jogging session. I went to get us a pizza for breakfast at around 19. Petra and Thomas, I am going to miss you more than anyone else here :(.

Pécs

Wait a minute - wasn't this supposed to be an entry about the rest of cpmg's trip? I was going to write about frighteningly unforgettable pyjama parties, concerts where time seemed to stand still as I got to conduct one of my favourite Finnish songs, heaps of greasy food to make your indigestion go into major overdrive for days (judging from what I've heard, I wasn't the only one who thought planning a night, say, out at the movies, was too much of a risk) and the Mundharmonikachor Laakirchen - I think I've found my calling.