photograph courtesy of Sean Kirkham
 

Every day at precisely 4:30 p.m., 68-year old Erzebet Esterhazy sits down at a small table in a quiet corner of Cafe Mai Mano, following a ritual she has performed for the past 18 years.

If you’re lucky enough to sit next to her and strike up a conversation, Ms. Esterhazy will enthrall you in her faltering English with stories of her past. You’ll learn how, as a young woman, she performed at the Opera House. You’ll learn that she later worked backstage in the Opera House’s costume department. You’ll also learn that these days she occasionally mends costumes at the neighboring Thalia Theatre to make ends meet.

Erzebet’s favorite cafe derives its name from Mai Manó, Habsburg Emperor Franz-Josef’s court photographer, whose atelier is located next door. Mai Mano House—the one-time atelier—currently serves as the Hungarian House of Photography.

For the price of a coffee and the pensioners’ entry fee of HUF300, Erzebet escorted us for an hour through the museum. She told us colorful stories about the history of the museum and Nagymezo Utca, a thoroughfare dubbed the Broadway of Central Europe. Her stories are compelling as only local stories can be.

Erzebet is a throw-back to a romantic dreamscape of late 20th-Century Budapest, not to mention a very charming afternoon coffee companion.

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