Budapest

4 months into the assignment and I really am not sure if I am indeed getting any wiser or if my world is spinning out of control ? We have our highs and we certainly have our lows......You just can not find the middle ground nor is it possible to settle down, because there is always changes people are coming and going and you really do not want to invest to much money in getting the apartment nice and cosy? There is just not much point

I must say though, that Gareth is coping very well, he is not used to living in the city and he is plodding along and adapting well considering he is used to the more tranquility up in the Rossendale hills. I on the other hand have learnt to appreciate the countryside and am looking forward to going back to rainy England. Probably on the basis why on earth would I be into sunny places considering my pale but interesting complexion? I do know for a fact that Gareth is missing his car badly, and who could blame him with the public transport. There is always a metro arriving every 3 minutes but they're always so crowded that your personal space does not exist. Jack is of course loving it as his obsession for public transport has just not worn of yet

Anyway we should not complain, we are now in the middle of January and it is 15 degrees outside, I say 15 degrees/ 59 F ? Helloooo? What is happening to this world? Well I can not say other than that the Tracey family had prepared themselves for a somewhat colder Hungary and spent an absolute fortune on thick clothes before we came down, You know....that saying of being well prepared and so on.......? Yeah whatever!

So let me talk about Hungary and Budapest. Great people and if they know you, they so want to please. Food is different and we do miss our English cuisine. They like to deep fry everything and anything, so you really need to keep an eye on that waste line. Sometimes you just have to take a wild guess regarding what you order in the local cafe where I have my lunch, so no room for picky eaters in this place! Gareth got kinda disturbed when he found pizza's with cauliflower and broccoli.......
Alcohol is cheaper than milk in the shops, and for some reason there is only a very small section with a few bottles of milk in the shops,do they not drink /use it?
I will NEVER take the quality or the service for grated when it comes to my local ASDA ever again. the shops are the size of the bread section in a local Tesco/Asda store. So the choice is not exact vast and it is possible cheaper to go out and eat, than buy all the ingredients to cook a well balanced nutritious meal. Unfortunately also the English language is not widely spoken amongst the population in this country, so it can get somewhat interesting when you have finally managed to prepare a meal..... and you realise what you thought they gave you as tomato paste actually is chili paste and you have already added the whole tube.........And my poor,poor,poor husband is gulping the soup to please you with tears in his eyes because his head and throat is on fire.
The best part of the shopping is if the product doesn't have a bar code "You don't get it" simple as that. The amount of times silly me has got to the till and there has been some "vital" ingredients that I am not allowed to have due to missing bar code. GREAT!