Say Cheese and Then Go to the Dogs

In one of the Gringo newsletters, we heard there was a man

who sells cheese and sausage on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. If you do not catch him during this time, your are out of luck. Varieties of cheese in the supermarkets here, lack a certain enticement; it is the same with the cheeses in Hungary. You have to search for something better than pedestrian.

Getting off the bus by the University of Cuenca, we took a short stroll around the campus after a large ceramic piece

caught our eyes.  What a beautiful university this is. Each of the buildings are different in architectural style, walking the stunningly maintained grounds was a pleasure, and at this time, there are few students around. It must be between semesters or summer break. Part of me thought about sending in a C.V. and the other part of me said, “No, you have left teaching.” Only time will see which side wins out. That is not to say that they have an opening even if I did apply.

Back on track, we found our Gringo, who actually is from Sorrento, Italy. He was chatting with two other Italians.

Business was not hopping. We tasted three of his cheeses and bought small portions of two of them. They were expensive, but they are quality products. My mouth was watering for sausage, but the sausage was more like salami. Dried, not fresh Italian sausage, we left it. We said we would be around until the end of the month, so we may be back for refills. He shyly posed for a picture. Say, “I sell CHEESE!”

Close to his location, according to the tourism map, is a museum of archeology. We looked for it, but a number of the roads in this area are under construction. We walked about 10 blocks in various directions, obviously being in residential areas, not commercial. We asked a multitude of people where the museum was located. Not a single person had a clue even when shown the map. We found the cross streets where it is supposed to be according to the map, but there was nothing there. We hunted and

searched. We found a number of adorable dogs, but no museum.

Finally, we found ourselves back at the University of Cuenca, but at a different entrance than before. Ron asked the guard if he knew where the museum was located. By this point, we had hunted for an hour with no luck. Still, the guard was clueless as was the second guard who joined him. Just as we were about to call it quits, a few students passed by leaving the campus. Ron asked if anyone of them spoke English. Three young men shoved a young woman forward. Again, Ron asked, “Do you know where the Museo Arquelógico Universitario is located?” Suddenly, the three men found their voice. They said in unison it is over there as they turned to the left and pointed in the distance. It was a large white building at the back of the campus. With much gratitude expressed, we headed in that direction.

The guard felt obligated for some reason to escort us part of the way. Perhaps he felt responsible for strangers on the campus. We followed trails, walked through a construction

section, and finally arrived at the building. Cerrado! Closed! There were no signs stating the hours. Only one sheet was near the door dating back to 2002. The gate nearby was on the exact street that we walked by on more than once. However, all signage is on the side of the building. The street side is a blank slate of white. There would not have been any identifier as we passed. Even if there were, we would still have had to walk blocks and blocks to get close to the building. It would not have been evident from the street that the museum was closed.

Still, we were able to see more of the campus. The swimming pool and gym are open to the public. The campus is even more stunning when you really walk through it. There are three cafeterias spread around, so snacks or meals are never too far away.

Leaving the riverside to get back to the Mercado, one has to climb stairs. This particular staircase has 99 stairs.

Thankfully, there are breaks, so I stopped presumably to take photos, when in fact, I was getting my breath.

After a stop at the Mercado for chicken and some fruits, we were on the bus for home once again. We were a little shocked at the price of chicken breasts. Two healthy sized breasts came to $8. This is cheaper than the SuperMaxi, but still rather high. Ground beef has been relatively a bargain.

This little guy is in the window of the local florist.  I really

want to take him home.

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And So It Goes

We arrived and are into full day 2. For as much worrying as I did over the Delta flights giving me grief about my carry-on being too large, it was KLM who provided the serving of heartburn. It measured their exact measurements according to their website, including the handle and wheels. Still they made me use the metal template at the airport. It was a struggle, but I could force it in. The staff person sighed, said it was a full flight so I may be uncomfortable having it under the seat. As it turned out, there was plenty of room in the overhead bins.

All three flights were excellent. KLM took us from Budapest to Amsterdam and then Delta pulled a double shift with getting us from Amsterdam to Minneapolis-St. Paul and then from there to Des Moines. Once there, Ron’s friends Susan and Dick Leonard were waiting for us in the baggage area. Miraculously, our suitcases were some of the early ones to arrive, so we were off in a flash.

I had met Susan and Dick once, but many years ago, and even then for only a short time. No matter, these are the type of people that after you know them for five minutes, you feel as if you have known them for years. They took us to their very comfortable home where we were to spend our first two nights. Siting on the bed were piles of packages and boxes. Each pile had a ribbon sitting on top as if Christmas had arrived. These were the items I had shopped for online. As exciting as this was, the need to be social overwhelmed my need to satisfy my curiosity.

After sitting around having a beer or glass of wine, Dick had prepared a dinner of chicken served over spaghetti with spinach. It was delicious. By 9pm, we were wiped out. We had gotten up at 3am to get our taxi to the airport and slept little on the planes.

Yesterday morning, after breakfast, Susan drove us downtown to pick up our marriage license. Dick was going to go grocery shopping. Downtown is impressive with the styles of architecture and refurbished building that are quaint businesses now, but there was an excitement that overwhelmed everything else. That was getting license. I had corresponded with a gentleman from this office so many times; questions ran the gambit how to get the license long before hand due to the 3 day waiting period, did they get the application, and finally is everything alright. He was so kind and gracious with each response, I commented on it. He responded with “I am just doing my job.” To this I responded “Many do their job, but not all do it pleasantly.” Because of this, we brought him a little gift from Budapest. Rats! It was his day off, so we did not get to meet him. We left his gift with a co-worker who was equally as charming, but with little contact with her, no gift.

Downtown Des Moines has a skywalk, a connected walkway that is enclosed with glass walls where you can travel through much of the downtown area. You can literally walk for 4 miles without having to stop for traffic or to cross a street. It is truly an incredible feat and an attractive feature of the downtown area. If you work within the skywalk network, you can go to other offices or restaurants without ever feeling the outdoor elements. No winter mittens, hat, overcoat or boots needed during inclement weather.

Our next stop was the grocery store. This is more than a grocery store as it contains a bank, real estate agency, pharmacy, florist, and of course food. I picked up some ‘forever’ stamps, the US postage stamps that are usable regardless of rate increases for first class mail. At the pharmacy, I shopped for all the little essentials that we cannot get in Budapest or at least in any form we can recognize. With pills, ointments, and balms all collected, we headed for the cheese case. There were an array of cheeses that made my heart flutter, but better was yet to come. Susan directed us to the better cheese case. I could have done back flips when I saw the variety of luscious cheeses from Ireland and beyond. Knowing that all our packages weigh heavily,

Yes, the last sentence ends abruptly and without end. To think I could keep up my notes while being in the home stretch of getting married, was beyond fantasy. That is where I left off and had not returned to until now.

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Mondays Are for Animals

Not all Insomnia coffee shops are created equal. Some are little cafes, while the one today is a bar in a smaller Spar store. The muffins are not very fresh either. With all of the coffee I had drunk in this country, I cannot say I had a good espresso drink yet. Some places even use the same brands they do in Budapest, but the quality of the drink is not close to being as tasty. The water perhaps? Maybe their need a better filtering system of the Liffey? It has been doing a great job for the beer though.

Decisions, Decisions…we had to decide how we were going to get to the airport tomorrow morning. Our IrishRail package included round-trip tickets on public transport, but we need to be at the airport by 6 am. The buses don’t start up early enough. With that in mind, since we could not use the first portion, we took our tickets to the bus office. Ron, who perpetually looks innocent, told the young lady we needed a refund since we could not use the tickets. Technically this was a true statement. What he did not say was that when we arrived, we tried shoving these tickets into the validator, but since it was the wrong bus and had made so many attempts the driver told us to forget it and sit down. After she went off to ask someone one who may or may not have known more than she did, she forked over a twenty Euro note.

Still back to decisions, decisions how to get to the airport. Option 1: take a taxi for twenty-five to thirty Euros. I have nothing against taxi drivers; I drove a taxi for 2 years in Jamestown, NY. BUT, I really hate shelling out money needlessly. Option 2: take the first bus for 5.50 and hope we get to the airport before the check-in closes. Too chancy! There are security and Passport Control counters to pass. Never know how long the lines will be. Option 3: take the Paddy Wagon. Yes, we decided on option 3 for 4.50 Euros each.

With that weight off of our backs, we used the Hop On – Hop Off bus for city transportation. By now, we could have given the commentary ourselves. We went all the way to the 20th stop, which was the zoo in the park. With Ron’s Silver Surfer card, we received 2 for 1 admission saving 15 Euros. Really it only saved us 12 Euros due to a senior concession. Dublin Zoo was opened in 1831, still not huge, but really a magnificent place for animals if they have to be kept in a zoo environment. There were a number of different animals one would expect, but were not here. Those they did have, they had a good number of, like four rhinos that we spotted. We spent almost the entire day watching the animals, but sometimes more fun was watching the children react to the animals.

Before the day passed us by, I wanted to check some computer stores for MS Office 2010. It would have been easier to buy it here than have someone bring it to me from the US. I had concerns that here it would be British English, but they said it was changeable. The cost, however, was exorbitant. I can get a multiple computer license in the US for about 70% of the selling price here. However, although we found a number of bookstores with offers for cheaper books, Waterstones had their usual buy 2 get 1 free offers. With some quick calculations, already knowing the prices and discounts offered elsewhere, this was a better bargain.  We came home with 9 new books, 6 of which were newly on my list as of this trip. I hope they are worth the lugging home.

For the first time this trip, we went back to the hotel for a rest, but that only lasted less than an hour. We went out for dinner, but for a change we went to an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant, but getting there at 8 pm when they close at ten was not the best move. There was an apparent slowness in refilling the trays that were empty, but eventually they did.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a lovely old-fashioned looking pub with a young staff. We were 2 of the 4 people in the place and that continued until we left an hour later. I hope it survives the downturn.

It sounds kind of pathetic, but on the way back to the hotel, we bought Cheddar cheese, a rare or expensive commodity in Hungary. At either the Tesco or the specialty cheese shops, it will run about $10 a ½ pound.  We had it for snacks a couple of days, since we miss it so much. 

This was the end of our mini-vacation.

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