It’s hard to find anybody who knows English here, and we are
in the city center of the 3rd largest city in Hungary – Miskolc (Mish-kolch). Best luck of finding someone who knows a
little English is in a restaurant. But
the grocery store or stores in a mall or stores in downtown here, there is a
good chance you will have no way to communicate when walking in.
The unemployment rate is officially around 25% in Hungary,
but George says that it is actually closer to 50%! As we drive every day to and from the boys’
small village you see many people walking to the market or riding their bikes,
and it is the middle of the day. They
say the economy is very depressed here.
Miskolc was an industrial powerhouse during Communism, mostly metal working
and metal production, but since, that production has moved to other
countries. As one guy said, “one rich
man decided to move the business somewhere else.”
By the way there are more people out and walking in downtown
than I first indicated. During the day there
are many, many people walking around, but when it gets later, you may not see
anybody at all. Also, our hotel has a
few more people staying here finally, but not many. The people here are not real friendly, they
aren’t rude, but if you try to say hello or thank you or give a nod to someone
walking on the street, you won’t get a response. As a general rule, the people are thin and
tall and well dressed. The men have that
distinct European look - short hair, sharp features, skinny jeans, different
looking frames on their eye glasses, and cardigan sweaters with a bunch of
weird colors. Many of the older ladies
have the nice fur coat and a fur hat.
Disclaimer: Kimbo has
proofed and approved the next part.
The women here are not all SI Swimsuit Models or on their
way to professional modeling, and this may not be representative of the rest of
the country. This is only my general
observation the last week as I walk around downtown Miskolc.
As a general rule the women here are attractive. They are tall, thin to medium build, and all
are nattily dressed and made up to be going out, they are very
fashionable. Eastern Europe is famous
for attractive women and I think I am seeing some of that. Most are wearing calf high or knee high boots
with a tall heel, that makes their feet look very small, then they have tights
on, usually black or tan, or “skinny jeans,” that are tucked into the
boots. Most have a sweater or a shiny
coat that covers their mid section down to mid thigh, but some don’t have this,
and in these cases, their booty shows off how tight their tights or skinny
jeans really are. You do see blond and
light haired women but they usually have a dark complexion. Kimbo agrees with me, the women are
pretty. Not wearing your PJ’s and
Flipflops in public probably has a lot to do with my opinion here.
The food is good pretty much everywhere I have been. Bread, potatoes, and cheese are all staples
in the Hungarian diet and that is okay with me.
I have only had the goulash at a place called “The Calypso” that is
close to the hotel and it is awesome.
Turns out traditional Hungarian goulash is basically like our beef and
vegetable stew but tastes different, it has a very deep, rich flavor. I thought it was hamburger meat and noodles
but that is not the case. Also, Hungary
is famous for their spicy Paprika. You
can buy it everywhere and it is something you can put with your food
everywhere, sort of like our jalapeno or crushed red pepper. On valentines night, I ate the large bowl of
goulash at the Calypso and I asked for a side of Paprika. The waiter who was professional, a little
grouchy, and who knew some English, said “ares youz shoer youz cans handle it?” He wasn’t joking, I think he thought he was
trying to help me out. I almost said, “Are
you kidding me? Have you ever seen Dallas, dude?” I didn’t, I said yes I can handle it. I put half the paprika serving in my bowl and
it was very good. The burn was good, it
goes through all your sinuses and you can feel it in your ears, Kimbo noticed I
did have multiple sweat beads all around my hair line, what’s interesting is
that it doesn’t make your mouth and tongue burn but you can feel it in your
nose, eyes, throat, and ears. I hid most
of the rest of the paprika in a piece of bread so that the waiter would be really
impressed. Later, I saw him looking at
our table when talking to the owner and they were doing double takes and
chuckling. Yes, I am J.R. Ewing from
Amarillo.
Every morning, I am not hungry. I just feel quesy in the morning. While Kimbo is eating her 3 egg breakfast with ham and bacon, i usually just have coffee. Yesterday, I decided to ask for some bacon. The lady comes out half apologetic because she is bring just one slice of bacon. That isn't any big deal because I am not that hungry but the problem is the slice of bacon is raw. see picture. after further inspection i guess it is lightly smoked? I eat the meat parts of the bacon and I think of my buddy Zack Farr who loves to eat full plates of crispy bacon for breakfast, I can hear him complaining now.
Pictured here also is a Schnitzel and mashed potatoes from the Calypso that was very very good
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