Bodor Ferenc: Coffee-Houses - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1992)

Muskátli (geranium)

The Muskátli has wilted together with the generation who gave birth to and shot their admission and diploma films here in the sexties. Yes, this was a meeting place for intellectuals, and there were some who got worked up over the action. Then a giant photo-poster was put up on the wall: skanzen houses, an atmosphere of geraniums, open windows, fresh air, the fragrance of flowers. Later the wallpaper was torn down and fake windows were put in all around, for what reason no one knows. We plump down into the over-soft, too-deep armchairs and perform Houdini-like contortions to get out of them again. The Muskátli has a terrace where the moneychangers of Váci utca while away the hours and tourists eat leisurely breakfasts. Petals wither and fall and time passes by... we may say when our eyes alight upon the artificial flowers.

11 VÁCI CITCA, V.

MUSKÁTLI shedding its blossoms

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