“Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein,
Although Karura had undertaken this journey on his own, he had met with or made friends at each stop. Budapest was to prove to be a city of contrasts and surprises, but all held together by companionship and hospitality.
High in the hills of Norma-fa, Karura surveyed the city below him. The great river Danube defines the location while the effortless beauty of the topography gives definition to the scene. Although helped by the cogwheel railway, it had been a long walk to reach this highest point. Nevertheless, Karura's step was light and he was happy in the cool breeze.There is unquestionable beauty in Budapest. It is a city steeped in history, culture and life. Karura reflected that despite this history it feels very young - adolescent even - and he wondered how that could be. Perhaps it came from its people, so many of whom seem not quite to have found their place yet. Or perhaps it consists in the optimism of a still new market system which has yet to settle into the predictable patterns of many other major cities Karura had seen on his travels. Most of all, he concluded, it was to be found in chaotic juxtaposition of old and new. In parts there seems little overall coherence, with, for example, ultra modern glass buildings grafted onto the old as a statement of what? Function over form? Form over other form without heed to connection?
Karura was in two minds. He loved the vitality and individual expression, yet perhaps saw his own life reflected too deeply in the lack of overall coherence. The word 'integrity' was never far from his lips as he searched for ways to bring everything he felt and knew together as one. Karura had rejected morality in the traditional sense, but he was determined to find integrity. That would mean taking each part of his life and moulding it into a whole. No cracks, no misfits, no tensions. All of it glued together by character and integrity. Karura could not quite see it yet, but he was finding direction.
That evening, Karura enjoyed food, wine and jazz with friends before moving on to the indescribably wonderful 'Szimpla' to drink beer and discuss philosophy until the small hours. In this company, Karura had always found his thoughts shifting for the better and so it was to be once more. Everything was good.
