I didn't want to foreshadow in the title what has transpired since Tuesday. I have  been putting off writing this entry, but now it's time. 

We aren't going to Hungary.

Heart

1

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

I'll back up a little. We had a great tour planned and Susan Carpenter was going to join us! We had all the logistics worked out for three bikes on the car and had booked our stays in interesting places. We were so excited about our Hungarian tour which was going to be a bit different from our usual tours. Janos and I have ridden our bikes in Hungary before but we hadn't really explored much, it was more or less follow-the-Danube from Vienna to Budapest. Unfortunately, I have no journal from the ride. This time around we were planning to take our time in some interesting towns with our eyes wide open and cameras in hand. I was concerned about the predicted heat wave but knew we would cope. But that was not meant to be, not yet anyway.

Tuesday morning in our apartment I tripped and fell, a faceplant. I automatically stretched out my hands to break the fall, as one does. Everything hurt but I had the most pain in my hands and I knew I had to see a doctor. Fortunately, I was able to get an appointment with an orthopedist for the same day in Gauting where we live. X-rays showed a hairline fracture on my left ulna and no fracture but a severe contusion on my right hand. The doctor said cycling was absolutely out of the question. Well, I didn't exactly feel like riding my bike anymore anyway.  Back from the doctor's, I called Susan and we discussed our options. We briefly considered taking the trip, Susan and Janos could cycle and I could just not cycle. It didn't take us long to realize that wasn't a good idea. We wanted to cycle together.

I got braces for both hands the next morning, very uncomfortable at first since both hands were still very painful. I couldn't imagine wearing them for four to six weeks. Today, three days after the fall, the pain and discomfort have subsided and I am feeling pretty normal except I can't do much with my hands. I am thankful that things are not worse. I am able to dress, eat and wash without help, I'm just not much use in the household or kitchen. And can't ride my bike.

Of course, we canceled all our bookings immediately, no charges. But we are already thinking when can we fit in this tour when I have sufficiently recovered. 

This attempted performance of a Hungarian Rhapsody only had an overture and a finale, nothing in between. It should have been played by a trio, with passages in allegro or adagio, leggero or forte. But it turned out to be more a scherzo with accidentals. In lieu of a journal titled A Hungarian Rhapsody, here is a performance of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody n°2, probably the most popular of his 19 piano pieces based on Hungarian folk themes, which he composed during 1846–1853, and later in 1882 and 1885.

Maybe there will be a journal, Hungarian Rhapsody N°2?