Pálinka Festival

Yesterday was the annual Budapest Pálinka Festival. It's a common misapprehension that Unicum is the national drink of Hungary. In reality, it's the fruit brandy called Pálinka. This brandy is double distilled and made from a wide variety of fruits and berries, most typically Plums and Apricots. This festival was happening right next to another street festival which I was attending. This latter festival was very strange in that while it was called "Utcafesztival" which literally translates to "street festival", it was more like a rally for the European Union. Each booth was dedicated to some aspect of the E.U. I'm not entirely sure what it was all about... but it definitely had a different feel than any sort of festival in America. I got to listen to the Hungarian version of “American Idol” sing. Anyway, being that I was already in the area with a friend of mine, and most of our friends were out of town, we thought we'd dive into this Pálinka festival. There was an entry fee, but you got a tasting glass and voucher for 500 forints which could be used at any booth. Each mini-shop represented a different brand of brandy (alliteration totally intentional) and by exchanging the appropriate amount of money via coupons, you were given a sample of their stock. It was a really neat atmosphere. There was a gypsy band playing, and there were lots of lanterns and benches since it was entirely outdoors. Pálinka has been an important part of the Hungarian culture, so it had a really authentic feel to it. However, the liquor itself was not for the weak-hearted. Any readers of Lord of the Rings will recall a certain spirit given to Merry and Pippin by the Orcs to keep them, cruelly, on their feet. Such was the feeling I got from Pálinka. It was brutally strong; after the first couple of sips my gums were numb and my lips were tingly and felt swollen to the size of a small automobile. To make matters worse, the festival was held on an old cobblestone surface. I have trouble walking on such flooring under the best of circumstances, but in the dark with throngs of people milling around me, trying to balance a small glass goblet, and drink out of it without looking too disgusted by the whole ordeal, I was challenged to stay on my feet. After not too long, the worst happened. My flip-flop caught on the side of one of the protruding stones and I tripped a bit. In an effort to keep my balance, I took a lunging step forward. However, this proved problematic as my foot landed at a spot that was half stone, and half sand, with the two surfaces being dramatically uneven. Thus, before I knew what was happening, I found myself careening madly toward a large group of handsome, swarthy gentlemen, ending up in the arms of one of them, dripping with brandy. The people around me looked at me with an array of expressions. Most of them were obviously disgusted with the American girl who proved to be extremely inebriated at 8 pm. However, the man in whose arms I was tangled seemed impressed. I righted myself with as much dignity as possible, and smelling strongly like spirits, I left the area of my immediate circumstances, clutched onto my friend for moral support (much to his disdain), and, tripping once again, found my way to a stand to get a refill on my nearly untouched glass. Somehow I wasn't quite in the mood to continue into a long night of brandy, and thus after about half an hour, convinced my friend to leave, and we played chess. This was my eventful Saturday night.