It was a very nostalgic weekend, starting with a drink with Magda and Richard at a former regular watering hole, Captain Cook's. Cook's used to be a favorite in the summer because of the terrace, but with the beer gardens opening up in recent years it has fallen out of favor with my crowd. Now smoke-free inside and new very friendly and attentive staff, it bears taking another look at. With the sad closure of Fun Palace and Smileys last week, our Friday night "boys night out" decided to check out another old favorite, the Feher Gyuru, fondly referred to as The Ring Piece. Again, smoke-free with new friendly and attentive new staff with a small terrace in the summer, it was good to revisit. On Saturday, slightly hungover, I staggered to the Hunyadi ter Market for what could have possibly been the best langos I have ever had. The new management of the langos stall just keeps doing it better. Then I met Jon at Jaszai Mari ter and we took off for the first bike ride of the year. Lots of new bicycle roads have been built on the Pest side, so we decided to try going up to Szentendre most of the way in Pest rather than Buda for once. It was a very good decision, and we could not have asked for better weather. The first interesting surprise was the canoe/kajak club by the dam on Nepsziget Sziget by the Teli Kikoto (winter dock). An old retro spaceship type building perched on top of the dam and reminiscent of Kobanya-Kispest Metro Station, it seems to house a cafe that might be worth checking out in the summer for the view it offers along the river. Along my memory lane, we also passed Dagaly u. and Dagaly Baths (1948), where my second flat was 22 years ago... My first flat was on Vaci Ut across from Duna Plaza when there was no Duna Plaza, and the metro only ran as far as Arpad hid. Not more than a month or two after I arrived, we had to move because of an electrical fire in our walls which the owner somehow wanted us to pay for. Unfortunately, it was also the week of the so-called "taxi strike," which was really an action against drastic price hikes in gas (removal of subsidies and more realistic prices). The blockage of the bridges and roads, and taxi strike, meant we had to lug our bags to the new place on Dagaly u. Just slightly further up is the site of the first football game I had ever seen, staring Paul and Andy Kamondy. It was an important game, since if they one they could move up a division. Some banger from the other team hit Paul hard. A couple minutes later, Andy got revenge for his brother and took the banger out with a sneaky uppercut. We were all worried about a rumble after the game, but there was no trouble... We skipped the rickety railroad bridge and crossed back to Buda on the new Megyei Bridge with a convenient bike bath. The bridge is SO LONG. Entering Szentendre, we had really hoped to visit the local beer brewer but the place seems to be closed. Instead, we ended up at the Szamos Marcipan Museum. I had a very nice truffle-chocolate cake in the sun on the terrace in the middle of the main road in the old town. I am sorry to report the closing of an institution, Dixie Chicken next door. My knees where hurting so I proposed we go as far as Romai Part for a beer, then get on the HEV back to Budapest. Romai Part is beginning to come out of hibernation. The langos-palacsinta places are open, but the hekk fish restaurants are just getting ready for the season. Rejuvinated after a beer, we cycled all the way back to Budapest past the entrance to the Sziget Festival (where, as part of Captain Pedantic and the Scurvey Dogs, we had to fight our way through with instruments raised above our heads to play on the main stage at the first Diak Sziget Festival) and the Sock Factory's (zoknigyar) graffitied walls. When I used to work at the REC at Miklos ter, we used to go for cheap lunches at the Sock Factory's commissary. The factory actually encouraged people to graffiti their walls in the early 1990s to liven things up a bit. Across Arpad hid and down Margit Sziget, we ended back at a very busy Treehugger Dan's. Should take you 1.5 hours each way at a leisurely pace on either side of the Danube.