Mary & Dave in Hungary

Kaposvár Saturday morning 12/17 Cold & rainy Hi: 2°c/35°f Lo: -2°c/28°f

Mary, Dave & I are in Kaposvár for a few days to visit with family, before catching an afternoon train to Budapest later today…we've invited Andrea, her father, Tamás, his wife, Édi, Alexandra & Beni, and Vanda for lunch.

Yesterday, Mary & Dave joined me for a walk-about Kaposvár…the pensione where they are staying is on Main Street, a block from the main square, with its Christmas tree and market…this was our first stop on my 'nickel tour,' and we were able to catch a Christmas sing-along with a group of students from the local elementary school…lovely…Mary commented that it was nice to hear Xmas carols sung in the native language, Hungarian, rather than the tired, ubiquitous songs we all love to hate, sung in English…we then walked down Main Street to my apartment for a coffee; they wanted to see my apartment to assure themselves that I had adequate shelter…I do…later, on a cold & rainy night, we were unable to snag a taxi to Andrea's house for dinner, so we ended up walking half a mile in the rain…I hope none of us end up sick because of it.

Andrea prepared a delicious shrimp pasta and re-heated a traditional potato casserole from the day before…we brought an olive baguette and wine…it was so enjoyable visiting with her and Alexandra, who joined us after her work…Alex kept laughing at us as we reminisced about the 'good old bad days'…as I mentioned previously, we'll share one more meal with them today, then off to the big city, Budapest.

Tomorrow, we plan to train to Kecskemet to catch Cameron and his volleyball team as they take on a local rival…it's the last game before the holiday break…afterwards, we want to watch the World Cup final between Argentina and France with Cam, before returning to the apartment we're renting in BP.

Before arriving here in Kaposvár, I met up with Mary & Dave in Zagreb, Croatia on Monday…I had to train over on Sunday night, this past 11th of December, even though our apartment wasn't available until 1 pm Monday afternoon…this because, as difficult as it is to believe, there is only one train from Hungary to Croatia, from one capital city to another…it doesn't arrive in Zagreb until 10:10 p.m…very inconvenient; 10 p.m. is too late to check-in, so I'm forced to find a room for the evening previous…an added expense, simply for the incompetence of the National Railways.

To keep expenses down, I found a private room at a hostel near the main square in the heart of Zagreb. Thankfully, the reception desk is open 24 hours, as our train was an hour late; so after disembarking the train at 11:20, it's a 20 minute walk in the snow from the main railway station to the hostel…I'm in bed by midnight.