by Joe Faraldo with John Manzi
Five members of the North American Amateur
Drivers Association are in Budapest, Hungary getting ready to clash with the
Hungarian amateurs in a race on Friday, (Sept. 1) and one on Saturday,(Sept. 2)
The team consisting of Joe Faraldo, Alan Schwartz,
Peter Kleinhans, Paul Minore and Bob Davis arrived in Budapest on Monday and
are the guests of their counterparts and prior to the competition they have
been treated to the wonders and history of Hungary.
Below is from NAADA team leader, Joe Faraldo.
“Buda, the earlier settled portion of this city
established in 1245, was named after Attila the Hun’s brother, and was joined
with Pest a town on the other side of the beautiful Danube to become the
capitol city of a Budapest.
“We are not in The Grand Budapest Hotel since it
only exists in the movies. We landed in the Hotel Budapest safe and
sound on Monday morning. Treated to a welcome dinner the first
night by the Hungarian’s team leader and an old friend Tamas Keleman.
“Godollo castle was the first stop on
Tuesday. A detailed tour was arranged and our guide whose
knowledge of the castle and history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was
exceptional in every detail, made the tour much more meaningful. After
that we were off to The Lazar Equistrian Park which is 35 km from Budapest, in
the heart of Domonyvolgy and is owned by the coach driving champions Vilmos and
Zoltan Lazar.
“The resort nestles among the picturesque lakes of the
Godollo Hills and is home to the champion carriage horses in Europe.
There are two trophy rooms and the Lazar brothers have won enough events to
pack those rooms to the ceiling. The obstacle courses these men steer their
four charges through against the clock demands very high talented
driving skills . No wonder the horsemanship demonstrated there made us
feel just a bit inferior as these pros, schooled, no doubt by the
brothers, teamed four at high speeds while perched standing atop two in
the second row. At other times riders performed fetes with horses that must
have taken years to perfect. Just getting them used to the crack of bull whips
above their heads, to sitting them down on their bottoms was amazing.
“The Park also has an excellent restaurant and from
there a trip to the “Las Vegas” casino, a stop at the Buda Palace and a nitecap
at the Gresham Palace topped off the eve of the all important draw for the
Friday and Saturday’s races in the Hungarian American Friendship
competition.
“In Hungary there are only 500 trotters in the entire
country but their industry is hard at work with features surrounding the races.
Food trucks, entertainment for kids and adults and beer, plenty of
beer.
