ALL YOU NEED IS...

Well, a good guide apparently. I had been to Budapest before of course, but I'd never been with anyone who had experience of living there and so tended to gravitate towards the more touristy places and always came away feeling faintly disappointed with the place. That my guide was Australian and therefore refreshingly un-English was a bonus. That his idea of a good night out in Pest proved to be uncannily identical to my own, that the stimulants we indulged in either counteracted or enhanced the effect of the ones before at just the right moment and to exactly the right degree and also that the music in all three places we visited seemed to have been chosen with me in mind led to one of those evenings where everything that happens does so at precisely the moment it was meant to and at the time at which you needed it to happen. The steady click, click, click of things falling into place became a flow and I went whither it would lead. A perfect evening. Thanks, Allen. For knowing what I needed even if I didn't.

So, please allow me to recommend Castro's for a spot of sustenance and several cool libations before heading for Szoda for some of the most esoteric and funky music I have heard in Hungary and where one might just be invited to partake of a restorative toke or two prior to tootling off to Simpla Kert where, had we been more up for it, we could have set events in motion which would have resulted in the taxi-fare being split four ways instead of two.

Oh, and thanks also for this...

OVERHEARD CLASSIC CONVERSATIONS Part One

She (Swedish accent): I'm sure your friend likes me but he thinks I'm too young, doesn't he?
He: Maybe.
She: Oh, please tell him not to worry. I practise every day.