Budapest (revisited)

This post is not about my visit at Budapest, but rather an indeed technical experience I did, before heading to the city in which I took the photographs I am about to show you.

This idea came up with a conversation with Sofia, where she wondered about the outcome of a 35mm film with perforations (like the many holga cameras do allow) this match sparkled a burst of ideas and little tweaks I could attempt to do and make an experience with it.

I got some rolls of T-Max 3200, got the 120 film holders, tape, 120 paper carrier and in a closed closet, where I stayed for about 20 minutes, trying to fit the 35mm onto the medium format protection paper.

And there not much else you could possibly need. All to be assertive is making sure the film is correctly put onto the new medium, roll it back nice, tight and leak-less of light, put it on the camera and be ready to shoot!

The next thing to have in consideration is where you are on the actual location and you get a good spot or moment to take a memory of. I was shooting with a Rolleiflex T, and because the camera I was using is different from the film I carried, what you see on the screen is not actually what is going to get embodied on the film (6x6) but more like a panoramic image ration, with the addition of labels, such as film type, shoot number and sprocket holes.

When the rolls were shot and I was back to London again, it was time for process and scan them. The process was the old fashioned three-step develop way that, according to the chart list, I saw the times required to make a good development. Scanning however was a rather different story. Because of the size of the film, the film holders for scanners do not exist, hence making us to find ways of doing the thing around. But it can be as simple as putting the 35mm on a 120mm film holder, and now you can see the wholesome of your pictures!

New Year's Present

Even though some of you already stumbled upon what I am about to show, it is still relevant to me to put them here, as proof of what remained hidden for so many years in the closet. What I am referring to is nothing but a roll of film. 

It all happened in a rather windy, cold day, a few days before my departure back to London (around the 5th of January). There I was, trying to see what I had and needed to pack and those that could stay for maybe another time when it crossed my mind to go and look for some ink cartridges to bring along with me. The closet was packed with memories and objects from mine, my brothers, even my parents early days. Curious, I took boxes and papers and objects that, despite put aside, still help refreshing some memories of early times. From those, I saw a cassette recorder and an unseen camera, which I immediately took out and carried to my room. Dust was decorating those gadgets and my mind was curious to see which wonders could they have inside. I opened the camera's box, gazed upon it and turn it around, wishing for a film inside it. A film!!

How many pictures could it hold inside? How old could they be? Who might be in them, where such a few wonders passing at the speed of light through my head. Carefully enough to avoid ruining the whole gathering of memoirs, I rolled the film back and took it from the camera, keeping them safe and sound, ready to gain life again, at my hands in a near future! :)

But this was the point where I was to remain, for now. London was still a few days away and I didn't want to spend money processing film in Porto, where I could do it, with my very hands and for free at Uni. This said, I put them in my bag and turned over to the cassete recorder. There was a tape inside, but no sound was coming out of it, apart from a metallic palhete trying to roll the tape over, unsuccessfully.

Anyhow, these were fine discoveries that I came to find out later to have even more meaning than what they seemed. The cassete holds (my dad's words) the first sound that I ever made. He bought the recorder to protect from the marvels of time the ever first sound I made. The tape, seems to be still fine, but that was something I forgot to bring and try to fix (maybe it is not time yet to listen to those sounds).

The negative, though, revealed a few surprises! For starters, it had only two photographs taken out of a roll of 36 frames. The two frames that still remained intact, though, had a lot to be told about! What, I cannot say for these recollections are even unusual to me. Anyhow, where's what I got from the hidden negative

And for now, we stay here.

Day at the hospital

Long was this day, for everyone. And not light, at all. My brother had a surgery on the past Wednesday and like every surgery, either simple or indeed complicated, people get a little anxious and we all hope for our beloved to leave the operation room. His, in particular, last 15 minutes, wish is nothing but still, either my mum and dad felt a little tense about all this.

Anyhow, he came out and there waited, for hours and hours to come, in the room, waiting for doctors and nurses to come to check is status, make sure everything was checked and no issue was to come post-surgery. From little walks around the room, pain in abdomen area and boredom, we all stood and did the best to make things run a little quicker. Oh, I forgot... he got in the hospital at 8 o'clock, only to leave with the all of us at 7.00 p.m.. No reason to say that spending a whole day in the hospital is something we care to avoid, if possible!

But still, we endured. From a movie screen, a few games and conversations in between, we there did all at our hand (perhaps not at everyone's eyes) to make the place the comfiest possible. Yet, this is an hospital, hence having a feeling of cold and uncertainty in it, no matter what might be the situation...

At the end of day, already night had covered the city with his big vast mantle, we left. And from this point on, a few weeks of no-runnin'-around await my brother. Everything to prevent his wound to open up again.

But for now, we wait for him to get, step by step, better!

Cheers!

Family's new member

As little as a cat can be.

Sweet, gentle, grumpy,

Mewls when she sees me.

Ever demanding fondling

Or food, or play time,

Her name is Tika.

Old she shall grow, and

Happy, for days to come.

Budapest - the last hours

Being this the last day in the hungarian capital, I stood aware that this should be remembered no as something remarkable but an opportunity to see new corners of Buda of to re-visit places to me not yet seen quite right... or even unrealised wishes light that was keept but in the mind.

Heading to the same place has I fist went to Natalia's uni but this time leaving at the tram station over the river, from there I hence walked to Buda side, to see what wonders this place could keep safe for me.

Having had some less trouble minded event around, I was cautious not to provoque the same kind of attitudes towards me, even though I felt that this time things would work differently - which they did, happily.

As light was walking down the sky, I remembered of a very nice hill that could be of a very good spot to concretise the bus ride view. And thus, from the tram station, I walked, going under the bridge, towards the rail station, to there walk up some roads and get lost, once more.

The road went up, and up it went. People, walk-passing me looked oddly, as if to reject my existence there, as I was heading up and up more. Some houses looked beautifully abandoned, with looks of very potential making projects for occupations or social developments, but yet that was not the reason to why I was there; thus I went up a little more. 

Then, at some point, after turning left and right again, a flight of stairs appeared to me-self and after those, the road gave room to trees and an icy, muddy treek that I imagined to lead to the vey top of the hill. Yet, as the top revealed to myself and the openness of the space, trees were stopping me from achieving this wish of mine from a few days ago. So, after a bit of walking, I quit and went down.

However, going down made me thing of climbing up a pine tree that look strong enough to handle my height.  I did tried, a few times, but branches kept cracking and I decided not to take the risk of falling down from it and break my bones, thus making me wonder if this would be the end of it...

Still, as I was doing the back direction, I saw Budapest again, only to see that the view I was looking for was the opposite direction from where I had came! And in the very next moment, I saw a path going along the line of the river! So, without hesitating a bit, with the sunny warm lights turning down, trying to get covered by some stormy winter cold clouds I ran, as fast and slow as I could to avoid not slipping on the ice and then... a wall showed to me. I got closer from it only to see it was fenced. With some gloves on, I tried to climb it but the view wasn't still the one I wanted; still to many trees. Went down and ran along it, only to see road again. This road was of a car park, and bellow it, as the hill was going down (not the car park) I saw an open spot. The will was a bit step and with my bag on my back, cold in my hands, and a fading sun, I went down. Grabbing the branches I did one step down; a second one and... a jump. Put my arms around a tree and, like in a illumination, walked, believing that this was going to be the right place to be and do it. Putting the branches away and as I went down the last one stopping me from getting there, a light shone on... it was light magic.

Magic that felt different from the bus journey, for sure, but still worth all the trouble, if you want to call it, to be there, and get there. As a result, I had a photograph and a big smile on my face! ^^

I then went down the hill but to get to the same rail station were I was confronted by the bourrée man. But this time, no drunk man was around, apart from the same man, near the stairs heading to the station, selling chestnuts wrapped in newspaper.

From there, I head to the center, only to be confronted by the freezing wind that was accompanying the misty clouds. A warm minus four degrees was making my nose turn red, and my hands felt like freezing, even though we have had worst temperatures felling way warmer than the one I was feeling. Not bearing the cold, I head back home, at the break-of-day to chill out and enjoy the last couple of hours in Budapest with the people that had host me, pack everything nice and calmly and get ready for a very long journey back.

Still, there I was, with cold hands, but content in my whole self. If you ask me was it worth it... damn worth it was! Everything is worth the shot, even if to say in the end... well, I'm not gonna go there again. And Budapest is a place I am definitely going back to again!!

And for now, we stay here. 

On the outskirts of Budapest

The days are already being counted down. Having very good experiences and others less good, but indeed worth the travel, I set out to the outskirts of Budapest, to see how the big capital would be and also how much of a difference was from it and the surrounding areas.

Not having planned to go very far off Budapest, I set out only a few kilometers of the edge of the biggest city of Hungary and started wondering. Because I had no money, all I could do was walk explore.

Very rural Hungary looked, or to say more, what I saw seemed to be like. It also looked that many of the people would probably work either on the surrounding areas or ones with residency there, but fellow workers of the major hungarian cog-wheel. Many cosy houses, some more than others, were everywhere likewise the wildness of their forest. And here, I really felt that nature is predominant and people are less powerful, if you want to call it, that Her.

Such feeling, notion of having to be worried about our equals less, but nature more was very freeing and a-one-to have more, and more, and more.

Little houses, little roads, little tram lines. Everything was not small minded, but humble. All around this area was just as big for what people should aim. Enough to have all the commodities one might want, but small enough not to compromise the landscape to much. And as I think of this more, the more I realize big cities are the consequence of reckless, selfish and over-look for safety and comfort.

How much beauty is here on this village. All is more of contact. You see some fields, some horses eating the last impressions of grass before snow and frost take all that is left; people patiently wait on the stop for their transport to come. And even here, the same bus seems to run slower than the same journey in the capital, again. Here, everything rose up. The buildings, the noise, the traffic, the rush, even for a city like Budapest, seemed excessive. And shouldn't excess be something to try to avoid?

People would rather take the bus or metro for 5 minutes over the fun of walking or thrill of cycling. People'd rather not go out because it's raining over the magic getting soak and wet and uncertainty of the outside! Well, I don't know about you but for me, there is nothing but a good history and experience, and that is something I won't definitely have if I'm seat on my coach, zapping through the channels all day long. So, instead, I go out. And this is what I get.

And now, we stay here.