Roads

What an excellent span of days and weeks it has been!

We are settling in as we approach our second month in Szeged, Hungary. Work is humming along, and the weather is taking a turn from hot days to cooler afternoons. There is even the promise of rain this week . . .

Regarding daily life, we have met most neighbours in our building–including the furry ones. There are two cats that greet us when we enter and depart– when we check the mailbox for flyers. Speaking of flyers, we have come to enjoy perusing flyers to SPAR, ALDI or TESCO. Our favourite is ALDI, a German grocery chain that is clean, well-stocked and uplifting to shop in. Unlike the other two shops ALDI doesn’t provide a points card, just good deals if you’re willing to look.

Besides shopping, walking to the bus on the way to work proves challenging–especially if we are walking the sidewalks on days off. The roads, or more particularly, the sidewalks here are a real workout for our stroller. So in the case you sport a walker, wheelchair, stroller or other wheeled form of sidewalk transport: beware!

Not sure if the photos does it justice, but these roadways are giving our stroller a workout!

Sidewalks, at least in our part of town in Szeged, are uneven and bumpy. Consisting of different paved-together bits, they have splits and cracks and are reducing the longevity of our stroller. See above!

The good news is that these pedestrian roadways are the least of our worries. If you don’t rush, are willing to weave about as you transit, it’s not all that bad. It is, let’s just say, different from what we’re used to. The good news is that there are plenty of doors, benches, sights, buildings, windows, etc. that are more beautiful and distracting. Why look down when you can look up?

For fresh eyes, like ours here in Hungary, almost everything we see is unique and beautiful. Just look at our Instagram!

What is more, there are more delicious things to consider than sidewalks and buildings . Things like burek. Burek, or börek, in this region is a commonly Serbian or Balkan savoury thick and flaky pancake. It is about as thick as your hand, baked and browned delightfully crispy and filled with a variety of fillings. Our favourite is túró or a dry cottage cheese. This snack is served at pastry or bread shops and is a hearty slice, usually about as big as a quarter of a small pizza. Yum! I don’t have a picture because we usually eat it before we can snap a photo!

Regardless, roads, beautiful buildings or crumbling sidewalks, there is beauty in every direction. No matter if it seems mundane to some, to us, something as simple as burek, is beautiful. Life is beautiful, and we are enjoying all the small pleasures we can. Coffee, too! (Though we now make ours at home with our second-hand Philips 2000 Series Super Automatic Espresso Machine. We bought it used, cleaned it up and it works like a charm!)

That’s all for now. Hoping that your weekend was restful, and that the following week will be grand! We have the Szent Gellért Classical Music Festival to look forward to this week, and maybe a free Cuban Salsa Class if we’re lucky! May your week be equally as tasty, fun and eventful–or more so !

Szia!