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A day with the Fellini Római

painted object, acryl, wood, canvas
60 × 90 cm, 2011

Római-part is said to have been totally different before the change of regime. There were party holiday houses along the riverside in the place of the present private resorts. Paddling was the most important entertaiment, especially after the closing of the last free beach in 1973 due to the deteriorating water quality. For anyone who grew up during that period, it may be strange to get used to the current state of the riverside but for those who got to know the Római-part in its peresent state, it is a story of which they feel they have a part when they visit there.

On Sunday, we went to paddle with Laca and the others and Zsuzsi took Csipesz as well. We were paddling towards Szentendre along Lupa Island with the dog in the canoe and back. Then we brought the staff back to the boathouse. I put down the paddles and looked at the oars piled up how good they looked together. There were no two alike. Each of them was fixed just as much as it was necessary not to become damaged. I went farther in and I liked what I saw. Somehow this boathouse concentrates what I feel about the place. The new things were attached to the old ones, the spankingly arranged boathouses experienced a lot of things, the landing-stages and the beach smell due to the sunbathers. The River Danube is blending with its unique smell to which the smell/scent of the little restaurants – depending on how you feel it – must be added. The Fellini Római Kultúrbisztró is memorably good with its ingenuity.

Lots of news is circulating. Will there be a new dam which can protect the riverside against flood? If yes, then when and what kind? Instead of the present temporary so-called ’nyúlgát’ there could be a mobile dam in three versions or the riverside sector would be made wider with 20-70 metres towards the River Danube.

Some people are unhappy because they are frustrated by the atmosphere reviving Lake Balaton. Others are mentioning Balcan atmosphere and considering irritating the pack of cyclists. There are some people who are disturbed by the dust and the smell of the Danube is irritating other’s nose too. The disorder of the riverside can be also nerve-racking as well as the newly appeared motor-boats and the irresponsible building operations because of that plane-trees are being cut down. So Római-part is making a big splash. But there is something that the locals and those who have already enjoyed themselves there want to protect. And I also know that Kultúrbisztró got its name because of a Fellini quotation - ’It’s easier to trust in a restaurant than in a woman.’

19 July 2011