Shops are closed on "Shopping Day"

If I understand the language correctly, then the word for "Sunday" means "Shopping Day." So naturally when we ride out on our bikes all of the shops are closed. We go to two sweets shops before we find one that is open. Who ever heard of sweets shops closed on Shopping Day? The roads were deserted so nobody needed the non existent bicycling helmets.

We had a leisurely ride around Petőfi Island which is named after the Hungarian national poet, Sándor Petőfi. In 1484 he helped lead the revolution against Austrian rule.  He wrote the Hungarian national song, and it inspired the people to rise up. The lyrics are aggressive, and I wonder how oppressed must a people be before they rise up in revolution singing such a song.

There were no signs of revolution on Shopping Day, people rowed boats and swam in the canal (not at the same time, they are separate sets of people), sunbathed and fished. A team was serving up a carnival and blared pop music from speakers, setting a festive atmosphere. Little kids intently crashed into each other on the bumper car ride. There is a single track for jumping mountain bikes, but I didn't see any kids riding it just then. We watched the water, admired the ducks, swapped words in our languages and had a super relaxing day.

At lunch my sister-in-law discovered my weakness....French fries. Home made French fries. With creamy middles and crispy outsides, perfectly seasoned. I ate my whole serving. Then another serving. Then the remains of her serving. She said she would make lots more French fries for me. I am going to have to go for a jog every morning if this keeps up. 

In the mid morning I attended church with a family friend. I only had a near-disaster there, almost knocking the crumb catcher out of the Acolyte's hand after receiving the Host. That would be very bad because it catches any bits of Jesus which might fall from a communicant's mouth. Jesus must not fall on the floor!!! I think I remember a similar near-mishap the last time I was here. I must be more careful. It is very rude to knock Jesus down.

I told this day in reverse because I am a rebel. I fit right in.

Bicycling for ice cream

This is kind of like the old game show, "Dialing for Dollars," but everyone wins! We take bicycles everywhere, for grocery shopping, to the feed store, and for ice cream (my favorite!). The way it works is we pull the trusty touring bikes out of the shed, toss our purses into the metal basket, and head out on the street. No helmets, no safety check, just feet to the pedals and GO! I feel like a kid gettin away with something!

The downtown sweet shop is a destination, not just a stopover. The sweet shops are bright, pretty, colorful and enticing. This one is on one of the main shopping streets, which is filled with shops for ladies clothing, cell phones, shoe, sundries, fabrics and notions, and even a tatto/piercing shop. We can choose from a couple of dozen flavors (no Smurfs today) which are mostly natural (the flavors, not the Smurfs. They are clearly unnatural). This is a proper sweet shop so it also offers pastries such as petit fours and Napoleons. It also has smoothies, which it took me about 10 minutes to figure out.

We settle down at a table by the window so we can watch the passers-by. I end up sounding out the words I see all around me, my sister-in-law amusedly (did I just made up a word?) helping me out.

On the way home we stop at a couple of shops in our street. One is a little general store where we get fresh fruit. The other is a feed store where we get supplies for the cats and dogs. I learn that the proprietress was a classmate of my husband when he was a kid here! I think that is so cool! I'd like to know what percentage of people in the US still live in their hometowns. I think that a lot of folks here do.

Back home we tuck in to a selection of fruits and cheese for dinner. We eat very healthy in this house, everything is natural or home made.

Colleagues to the rescue

A potential catastrophhy (to me, not to anyone else) was averted today by colleagues in the States. I don't know whether anyone noticed, but a set of users of a prominent free email service provider were victimized last weekend by a spammer. Not your ordinary annoying spammer who just clutters up the In Box.  But one who made the spam look like it came from the victim, and, placed a copy of the spam in the Sent items folder. The result for me was a panicked dash to change my password, convinced that my identity was in imminent danger of loss, along with all my money and my life. I think my husband would have stuck by me, but I suspect he'd be annoyed.

I did a great job of changing my passwords for all my services, but... I typoed the password for my main account, the victimized account. So I locked myself out of my own account while trying to protect it. Classic! But also scary. My recovery email was an old work email that was no longer in service so I couldn't receive the recovery code there. I tried other backup ways, but those didn't work either. The service provider said they couldn't prove that this is my account. I guess I can see that in some ways; they'd don't normally see my activity coming from Europe. Specifically, it shows up as "unknown location" in the app, so maybe I'm glad they are skeptical.

So I finally decided to ask my previous employer to temporarily enable my old email so I could recover my account. They graciously complied, and late last night I had a very cheerful and helpful phone call from the office. Staff stayed on the line with me and assisted with the password reset, they made sure I could log in, and set up my mail client.  Awesome, right? I immediately changed my recovery email away from the old work email, feeling like a real dumpkoff. After all, one of my previous tasks was to help customers avoid similar situations. That is how I knew all of the wrong things to do, and did them so well.

A great big giant Thank You to the team at the office who made this happen. You know who you are, and the others at the office can probably guess.  (I'm not naming names because I didn't ask for releases. I'm so sensitive!)

To Do, and, Not to Do

List of things to do while abroad:

• Walk to Centrum (town center) and look around
• Get postcards and stamps
• Use a bit of the local language and try not to feel like an idiot
• Feel like an idiot anyway
• Be grateful when locals helpfully show off their English language ability
• Take a few pictures, glad that these days everyone uses a smart phone as a camera so a body doesn't look too much like a tourist
• Eat the improbably named Smurf ice cream. Yes, it is unnaturally blue

CHECK on all the above!

Things NOT to do

• Mess around with strange dogs
• Get bit
• Go to the hospital
• Cause your sister-in-law to cry

Do as I say, not as I do. Why? Because it hurts, it's embarrassing, and not a fun interaction to have with somebody you love. 

It IS ok to joke around afterward to lessen the stress. I am now a Zombie (see photograph). I am grateful to my colleague who gave me an official Zombie pass at Halloween two years ago. I'm evidently harmless. A friend back in the States just helpfully instructed me to "not try to fight with a dog." Thanks, good advice. 

Baja, Hungary

Baja is pronounced, "BAH-yah." The "a" sounds like the "a" in "father." Baja is my husband's home town, and I am staying in his childhood home with his sister and niece. The family have owned this place for at least four generations. It is a wondrous thought to me!

The house is traditional brick faced with stucco and topped with a tile roof. Like all the other houses one wall affronts the sidewalk and a gated wall continues across the driveway. This gate is solid, and can open to let a car enter, or, a smaller door in the gate opens to admit persons. Inside is a courtyard with a grassy area surrounded by rooms of the house. There is a large back garden with fruit trees, bushes, grassy area and an area for some kind of crop. The whole garden is joined by other neighbors' gardens on each side and the back. Trees and bushes obscure the adjacent properties. The result is that each block is enclosed by a continuous wall and the center of the block is a huge garden divided by fences. It is lovely and private and birds provide a constant concert.

This town is the end of the line for the bus I took. It is a medium sized town, smaller than my home town of Castle Rock, Colorado. It probably hasn't grown much in the past 40 years. But it is on the Danube ("Duna") River and is important in the region. It hosts a world-wide carp soup cooking competition every year. This is the official website. Halászlé is an important regional dish, and it has a prominent place in the lives of the residents. It must be made in a certain way, and traditionally the men cook it and the women assist with the preparation. Halászlé is cooked outside in a large cauldron over an open flame. It takes hours and the enticing aroma fills the entire neighborhood. I imagine that everyone's mouth waters and they start thinking of nurturing their own batch!

First days in Budapest

I had stayed awake for 24 hours, so I slept fairly well my first night in Budapest. I took a Melatonin the second night, but woke in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep. So I messaged relatives in theUSA asking how much Melatonin I could take. I took a few more and still didn't sleep. So I listened to my Humgarian language course. Eventually I slept. But, oh! what a nightmare I had! Imagine being chased by a very bad person and not being able to escape. Eventually I discovered that I was in hell - bummer! I woke up just then and was rescued from an eternity of running.

I'm staying at my cousins' home in Budapest. Their grandchildren are visiting, a tiny boy and a primary-school age girl. She is helping me with Hungarian language. We are watching NickJr on TV and I am learning colors and numbers. The Smurfs are also on TV, I am excited because I love their name in Hungarian, it means "little blue [garden] gnomes." So cute! My little cousin isn't as enamored of Smurfs as am I.

My breakfast was bread and butter with marmalade and some specialty sausage. Lunch was liver pate on toast with home made tomato soup. Dinner was crepes filled with cocoa or marmalade. I make coffee a couple of times a day, trying to stay awake.

I get lots of sunshine playing outside with the children. The baby boy and I have about the same level of Hungarian language, except he understands more than I do. I listen and look at pictures when his grandmother reads to him. I am so proud to learn that "dump truck" is "dumpolo." I can remember that!

They have a pretty garden in back, with big old trees, oleanders, and a chicken run. Two chickens provide all the eggs the family needs.  I enjoy some soft boiled eggs, they are fresh and flavorful. They remind me of the fresh duck eggs my friend from the gym provides. Yummy!

Mostly I relax and play with the children. My cousin apologizes, thinking that it's no fun for me. But, I think it's perfect!

The next step is to take the bus three hours south to my husband's hometown. I've never ridden the bus in Hungary, so my cousins will teach me what I need to know. Then I can do it on my own.

London Layover

I arrived safely in London. I had a nine hour layover, so decided to take the Gatwick Express train into the city. I disembarked at Victoria Station and then went for a walk. 

The English Rose café

I found the English Rose Café and had a fresh scone with clotted cream and jam and a pot of Earl Grey tea. The scone was sweet and soft and buttery with a bit of fruit, possibly current.  It was small and not much like the large, hard, scones I’ve gotten in Denver.  I walked around a little more, then took the Express back to get airport.  If you blocks that I saw were a mix of old and new architecture and you looked like what I might see in Denver. I saw three or four wine bars, sushi, Thai, Indian, and other ethnic restaurants.  It’s good to stretch my legs and get some sunshine because now I’m totally off my sleep pattern.  Next stop, Budapest Hungary. 

The English Rose Cafe

The Next Adventure - Hungary 2018

Angel and Leslie on my last day at work.

Friends, tomorrow I embark on a new venture - summer in Hungary with family. I am packed and ready for a tiring 15-hour trip from Denver to Budapest. From there a few hours by bus to the south of Hungary. Summer in Hungary can be hot, humid, and occasionally rainy. I expect to ride bikes a lot, maybe go swimming in the local open water swimming hole, and eat a lot of delectable Hungarian ice cream, called fagyi. It is fresh, and fruity and ultimately yummy! I'll check in after I arrive. For now it's off to bed and, hopefully, a good night's sleep!

See you on the other side of the Atlantic!