Getting Settled

I slept in until 9 AM this morning. The University staff were indeed right that I needed a day of rest. Here's what I wake up to now. My flat is basically three rooms. One enters through the kitchen. I'm back to washing dishes in the sink, but that's not too bad. I haven't figured out yet how to light the stove. When I buy detergent I'll give the washing machine a try. The directions for this one are certainly easier than the one I had when I stayed at a bed and breakfast in Poland last summer. Just like Poland, there is not a clothes dryer. I have a drying rack in the closet area behind the bed.

The second room is a combined living room and bedroom. I might have been very surprised about this, except that I read before leaving that a room in a Hungarian flat is often used for more than one purpose. On one end is a table that is my work center. On the other side of the room is the sleeping area.

Outside the door at the right of the beds is a terrace. The owners apologized to me for the fact that the terrace needs cleaning up. I laughed and said, "Hey, it's January! I don't expect to be sitting out there for awhile." However, when spring comes, it will be a great place to spend a lot of time.

And of course or maybe I shouldn't say of course for in many parts of the world this wouldn't be expected, I have a bathroom. One delightful feature is that a heat duct must run under the door area between the sleeping area and the bedroom. It is great to have a warm floor.

This is all located on Janos Utca. One is not allowed to drive or park on this street without a permit, for Janos is part of the city designated as a walking only zone. It is amazing how quiet a city is when there aren't cars and trucks moving through.

Notice the lack of snow.

And here's the front door I come home to now. Yesterday I was very challenged in getting the front door unlocked. The owner oiled the lock and gave me a different key copy and since then I've not had a problem.

I spent a good part of the day trying to get a bit organized for living. First, since my cupboard was totally empty, I went out for breakfast. I had a very nice omlette at a coffee house. After that I walked down to the shopping center. I found a hair dryer and did a bit of looking for a mobile phone. I got some groceries, so now I can at least make breakfast for the next couple of days.

It is at least a 20 minute walk between the shopping center and my flat, and uphill when one comes back. It was cold and I was tired, so I stopped midway at McDonalds and had a Diet Coke. McDonalds was full of university students, and it seems so odd to me to see  so many 18-21 years olds, since my home university has an average age of 32 years!

Came home for a bit and then decided to walk down Janos Utca in the opposite direction towards Kiraly, a main walking/shopping street as a way of getting more acquainted with the neighborhood. Went past a fruit stand and purchased something called a Sweetie. It looks like a green grapefruit and is labeled as coming from Israel. Yesterday when I was with the University professor I asked what that might be. He didn't know. I'll cut it tomorrow for breakfast and begin to find out.

I continued to the pastry shop, and picked out a sweet to take home. In English I said, "To take home, " for one can also have coffee and pastry on site. Well, we didn't quite connect. I came home with two pieces of cake. One piece is already gone as I write. I'll not be unhappy to eat it twice. I thought it might be lemon, but it turns out to be a cream cake. It is makes me think of a cake that is called Pope's Cake in southern Poland, for this dessert was the favorite of Pope John Paul.

Tomorrow I find out more about schedule for this experience. So stay tuned for more news.