Szeged Sunday

When I resigned from ELTE, they requested my discount train paper, which technically is good until March 2015. They did waiver the rule to allow me to keep it until August 31, 2014 when my contract really expires. It seems petty to make me hand it over, but then again, I have never used the maximum train trips and generally less than half a dozen.

Our friend Kat, who has been living in Budapest for the last 9 months and her boyfriend, Geoff, who is here from the US, have never been to Szeged. With Ron’s birthday coming on Tuesday, it was a no-brainer to suggest we all do a train trip.

Szeged is the 3rd largest city in Hungary with the Tisza River running through it. The city is famous for paprika, Szekelygulyas, a goulash made with pork, sauerkraut and sour cream, and a fish soup named halászlé. It is made with catfish and carp, two types of fish I would never touch.

I went with Geoff to get tickets for the two of them. I was shocked to see that 2nd class ran over 14,000 Huf and they needed an IC supplement besides. The woman clerk knew we were traveling together, but never said as much for me. Ron who used to ride for free, due to his elegant age, had to pay 520 Huf. No BFD.

With 5 minutes to spare, we rush for our train looking for the car with Kat and Geoff’s assigned seat. What should be on the next track over, but the New Oriental Express? Oh, how I would love to do that route from end to end.

Setting fantasy aside, we found the seats, but they were not a foursome, so we moved to one. Wouldn’t you know it, when the trainwoman arrived, she made Ron and I move to the next car because we did not have the IC supplements. All four of us move and actually were more comfortable.

Szeged was delightful. It has been about 6 years since we were last there, but it is a charming city. We were amazed with the number of trams and buses crisscrossing the streets but we chose to walk. The day was delightful and enjoyed by all.

Returning to Budapest, we went to the Caledonia Scottish Pub and Restaurant for a beer before going somewhere else for dinner. As it turned out, we dined where we drank and the food was excellent.

It was a lovely celebration of Ron’s birthday two days early.

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Szeged - Paprika Capital of Hungary

Mea culpa times three. There I said it and I am truly sorry. For years now, I have been saying that once you have seen one Hungarian city outside of Budapest, you have seen them all - the Deja vu experience I called it. One more time for good measure, mea culpa. Ron and I took the 2 1/2 hour train ride to Szeged today so I could do some research for my upcoming book. The section on Szeged is small as is Eger, but still there was a burning need to refresh my memory of these smaller cities. According to http://www.citypopulation.de/Hungary-Cities.html#Stadt_gross, Szeged ranks number four in size, but Eger is not even on the top eleven list. On an IC train, we were surprised at how crowded it was. Why weren't all of these people going to Balaton instead? With Mr. M on his own adventure, I could not keep him from popping up in my mind. He had to catch a train at 6:30 this morning. We reached ours at 9:30 am. He had a seven hour train ride ahead of him to reach his destination, we had two and a half hours. He had two to three hours at his destination before returning again, we had all day. He had another seven hour ride to get home, we had two hours and fifteen minutes. Oh, life is good. It also occurred to me that with a perpetual mantra of "What should I do? What do you think I should do?", he reminds me of a remote control toy with the toggle controls in someone else's hands. He just goes where directed, without much self-control. When he crashes into a wall, he can certainly blame others. He did not direct himself there; someone else set him on that course of action. Back to Szeged. This is another city we have not trained to before. The last time we visited, we came by bus with Fulbrighters. The train station is beautiful, but like Eger away from the city center. A full day transport ticket was 750 Forints and the tram directly outside took us to one of the main squares from where we walked most of the day. A healthy person could easily become a sugar comotose mess here; there are more pastry shops than there are restaurants. Each of them have similar versions of all of the basics, so it is vexing why one would choose one over the other. Checking hotels and restaurants for the book, we allowed ourselves to take in some sites too. We found architecture, which I had web researched for the last edition, but had not seen in person. Stunning!! Szeged is lovely in parts, but it is spread wider than Eger, so to get from interesting point A to interesting point B is not as compact. Being a Saturday, everything was closed by 1:00 pm, even the little convenience stores that we rely on in Budapest for when the grocery stores close for the day. Interesting! Also, we were hard pressed to find a hotel in the heart of downtown, with one exception, but its looks were so unappealing from the lobby view, I could not bear to walk in to offer a reader recommendation. They will have to deal with the two that I have. The weather was congenial. Not a drop of rain fell from the sky, though I did pack an umbrella, which I would have shared with Ron had the need arose. All in all, we had a delightful and productive day, home again lickety split by 10:00 pm.

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Choo Charlie at it Again

Ron and I were going to train down to Szeged, far south in the Hungarian plains so I could do some current research for my next book. The Divineless Mr. M decided he wanted to go with. He came to meet me and after an errand he needed to run on the way, we went to the MAV office, the Hungarian train official office. As it happen, it was raining yet again, our seventh or eighth day of rain. I cannot be sure, my calendar is too soggy to read the exact number of days. Mr. M still has not bought an umbrella, though he has been here since August. Not tempted to share mine as it is only a one man size, when we passed a brolley dealer, I pointed out to Mr. M the divine color arrangements, sharing which would complement his complexion while keeping his shaved dome dry. He was all atwitter for a whole two minutes until he asked the price. The poor dear who spends her day out in all elements trying to make a living wage, whips out her calculator and punches in 800. From the reaction of my walking mate, one overhearing his reaction would have thought she asked for his first born. "Four dollars for an umbrella?", he shouts "I could get it in NY for three." Yes, I say, but the trip to NY would certainly detract from the savings of $1.00 and certainly your NY days are well in the past. You have not lived there for years now. Umbrellas there are most likely up to $6.00 or $7.00 at least. Regardless of my persuasive skills, he chose to ignore a practical purchase and I continued to justify my lack of sharing my mini-brella with him. This from a man who has a degree in Social Work, decries the flood of illegal immigrants into the US, yet would support child labor from third world countries to save himself a buck. Somewhere in my karma I must have been tagged with a sign that shows "Befriend me, I need to have my values perpetually clarified by your warped thinking and words." I cannot comprehend how I do attract people in my life like this. It is a burden. Mr. M had the plan to wander off to Szeged with us, only to continue on to Serbia for the day to have his passport stamped. His Visa was running out and needed to leave and reenter the country to gain another 90 day stay. However, since the world is out to persecute him, the Hungarian train system was out to get him too. There are no trains from Szeged to Serbia even if it is only inches away on a map. If he were to follow this plan, it would mean an overnight train there and one back again, just to collect a stamp. Instead, he second choice was to go to Zagreb in Croatia, which ruled out Szeged. His final solution was to travel seven hours to Zagreb, tour the city for two to three hours and climb aboard yet again to spend a relaxing seven hours to return to Budapest. The weather report showed that there was an eight-six percent chance of rain tomorrow regardless of destinations. I wonder if he will find a cheaper umbrella in Croatia.

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