The hundred and twentyfourth week of the pandemic

The second half of last week was still spent in the village, unfortunately, the promised cool down was very slow arriving, and the heatwave was getting really unbearable. The extreme bad luck was that having got our appointments for the 4th jab, we had no option but go to the Salgótarján hospital clinic on what was forecast as the hottest day of the year. Not a cloud in the sky, no breeze of any sort and promised temperatures in the 40's.

The banister rail as mentioned last time

As it happens, that wasn't too bad. Inside the clinic there was some sort of air conditioning, which didn't take the temperature down too much, but was still refreshing. The staff were extremely pleasant, even though we arrived half an hour early, they let us in and dished out the forms to fill in. Thankfully, I have downloaded one of them, so that was filled in already, we only had to do the other one, which was for the hospital's own database. Amazing, how they still haven't managed to couple up all hospitals in the country to the central Ministry of Health database, and if I know them as well, as I think I do, never will.

My office/bedroom from the bed

Anyway, we went in, I had mine first, then came Roy and I stayed in to translate. The lovely young woman doctor spoke some English, so she could communicate with Roy when she asked him if he feels OK. My jab was a bit more painful this time, but I wrote it down to the nurse's clumsiness. Unfortunately, as it turned out, I had a reaction, for the first time, as all the others I hardly felt and had no reaction to. But about this a bit later.

Looking towards the kitchen

After we walked back up the hill to the car, we sat in it a while, waiting for the air conditioning to come on. The weather really felt like we were in the desert. We filled up with petrol en route home, as nowadays all pumps are limited to 20 litres at a time, so we dread running too low, just in case we can't find a petrol station or they limit it to even less.

A visitor in the garden

Next stop was the Vodafone shop in Pásztó, where I lucked out again with a lovely, kind and very helpful young woman, who helped me with all sorts of new account numbers and other codes, so I can pay my telephone/TV/internet bill for last month. You may recall we were without the net for over a day recently, mostly due to utter chaos at Vodafone after their "system switch over". The girl agreed with me that it is unbearable when they do not communicate, their lines don't work, and the final slap in the face is that neither does the website. Only option is to revert to the previous century and go in person. 

Gorgeous roses

 

Anyway, I have used all the numbers she gave me the following day and paid the bill online, let us hope if they accuse me of not having paid it. The last call, and by this time I was dying from the heat, was SPAR, where we bought some food and drove quickly home. Due to the reaction to the jab I had, I could hardly sleep for two nights in a row. This took its toll in being tired all the time, but very often, just the high heat does that to me, so I thought no more about it.

Some deep red ones

On Sunday I did some more paying online, namely the two credit cards and some money to the children for various events, like birthdays and such. Poor old Stephen had forgotten to renew the children's passports and had to ask Lucy to take them one day to Peterborough, the closest he could get an emergency appointment. I said I would help with the extra costs, but I hope he will remember next time that kid's passports need renewing a lot more often than adults' do. It has not arrived in the post yet, let us hope the PO does not swallow it whole, or I will not see my beloved Elian and Xander in less than two weeks now.

And then came a very funny turn, one like I have never had before. I was shaking, my hands especially shaking like mad, I was starting having a headache, my eye sight was getting blurry and I had a strong vertigo attack with the walls going round. Checked my blood pressure and it was high. Now that I was writing the symptoms down I have to admit that separately and to a lesser degree I had all these symptoms before, but not together and as furiously as at that moment.

I managed to find the out of hours service's telephone number and asked the really nice lady doctor on the phone what it could be. She asked lots of questions, including, have I spent too much time in the sun, or have I drunk enough that day etc. I knew what she was getting at, but I was quietly and without any stress, indoors, where the temperature was only about 25-26 degrees Celsius, have not been outside at all, drank enough and stayed quite calm. We both thought that it must have been the heat and she suggested I rest, eat something, as it was getting towards lunchtime, have lots to drink and take a pain killer for the headache. If it doesn't get better, or especially if it gets worse, I should ring at once! Even if it is OK, I should ring her in half an hour.

I had a small amount of food and it soon started to get better, but very slowly. When I rang her after half an hour, it started getting considerably better, and finally we decided that it must have been the weather front, which was going across the country, having a go at my heart, circulation and nervous system. I suppose, two sleepless nights didn't help either. It was pretty frightening and I don't frighten easy. In about a couple of hours it was properly gone and I took no more Paracetamol after the initial two. 

Nice man, good doctor

This heatwave is getting properly dangerous for my health. If I am too hot, I know what to do, go inside, sit next to a fan, have a tepid shower and dry naturally, drink a lot etc., etc. But this one was very sneaky. I was feeling cool, no problems and then it came. Hopefully, should it happen again, I will be more confident not to get extra stressed about it. Or better still, I hope it never happens again. 

The most delightful young doctor I have

At one stage we were considering scrapping the trip into town and cancelling all my Monday appointments, but as I recovered, albeit a bit late, we got going. I was pretty knackered by the time we got into town and went to bed by about 8pm, especially that I had 3 doctors' appointments, the first being at 8am, the following day.

Good doctor, but not fond of her

Thankfully, the appointments all went off OK. The gynecologist confirmed that there is nothing untoward visible since my D&C, and I only have to go back in 6 months. The ultrasound of my glands in and around my neck proved pretty harmless too and finally the dermatologist lady also saw nothing to worry about, but I need to see her in 6 months again too. As I had a good few prescriptions for meds up in the cloud, I decided to get them in town. This way I have more control and don't have to bother the village social worker with them.

Well, it ended up quite an exhaustive process, especially that I was going low on my vitamins and probiotic too. My usual organic shop has somehow changed its profile and quite a few of them, which I have been buying there, were no longer available. Some I ended up ordering online and then went to fetch them in another shop, and yesterday, having gone to fetch some meds that the pharmacy was out of and they had to be ordered in, I also managed to buy some FFP2 masks for the aircraft, as Air France demands those for our flight to Canada in September, plus a couple of fast Covid test kits, as I think one should have them handy, just in case. We have never had them before, but nowadays we get about a lot more than in the past, plus the Omicron variants are so infectious, that it's better to be prepared. Then, if you are lucky, you will never need them.

Kéhli Restaurant

Today we are having a trip up the motorway after lunch, to our Dacia garage for a 3pm appointment, as we have got thoroughly fed up with the seat belt alarm screaming continuously, even when you are belted in. I hope it can be fixed quickly and not for a king's ransom, as I can't imagine driving the kids around with that going, in now less than two weeks' time. I also booked a table for next Monday, for a dinner with two Americans, whom Roy met on the net and who were so impressed that he didn't charge them anything for the research he did for them, that insisted on taking us out for dinner when they are in town. This dinner is responsible for us staying in town for over a week, as we didn't want to tear home after Roy' appointment at the audiologist tomorrow, only to come back a few days later.

 

I am pretty sure that the audiologist will recommend him wearing hearing aids, and I am equally, or even more sure that he will refuse. Still, a checkup at the audiologist was included in the cost of his visit to the ENT specialist a few weeks back, so he might as well have it.

That's it for now. Next post next week, when we are in Bér, but we should be back later that week, prior to the arrival of the family.

The hundred and twentythird week of the pandemic

I’m writing this in Word, as the internet has gone AWOL again, but being Wednesday, it is due, so I might as well be writing it now, and once the net returns, (if ever), I might be able to publish it.

Basalt columns under Somoskő Castle

As my previous blog post was late last week, this will only contain 5 days’ worth of stuff. Obviously, the main, if not only story of last week is the hike I went on with Anna last Saturday. Early in the week I was getting quite worried, as I haven’t heard from her, but I shouldn’t have worried, as she was away for a week taking kids on a hiking camp holiday from her school. She did tell me about it some time ago, but I didn’t register the fact that it was due immediately before our hike.

Ancient oak tree

According to her unfortunate habit, she was a full hour late again, so we didn’t get going until just after 11am. The hike wasn’t planned to be long, but the weather was quite hot and my physical state is getting more and more unpredictable. Also, this time round the terrain was a bit rough in places and that slowed us down too. It took us 7 hours to do 10 km, although there were a couple of stops for rest and/or food, plus photography, plus fuffing around with caches, so for a now full blown 74 year old with arthritis and heart problems, perhaps it wasn’t too bad a time.

Scree

We left both cars at the castle car park in Somoskő, which is very convenient as well as free. The walk straight and steeply down to the stream was very rocky, but nice. We arrived quite quickly at the first cache to be checked by the Krúdy spring and it was totally OK. No maintenance, repair etc. was required. I noticed that the logbook was about 2/3^rd used up, so I put in another one for the time when it will be full.

Exposed roots

One of the steep climbs arrived soon after the spring, which slowed me right down, but I managed it eventually. It was really steep, but thankfully not too long. The next stop was at my cache above the Macacia quarry and I’m glad to say there was nothing wrong with that one either. I completely forgot that I put that one about 2.2 m high, but there is so much wind blow all the way round the tree, that there is no problem climbing up on those trunks and branches to reach it.

Anna at the edge of the quarry

Anna was a bit tired herself, after a full week of hiking with kids, so she didn’t look too disappointed at having to wait for me while I dealt with my caches. When I found her again after my last cache, she was sitting at the very edge of the quarry, dangling her feet and taking photos. My heart missed a beat, but such is the recklessness of youth. Well, she is not in her twenties, or even in her thirties, but still a youth to me.

The abandoned quarry

 

We walked a couple of hundred yards to the nearby lookout tower, where she climbed up to take photos of both castles in one picture, but I don’t think the light conditions were very good in that direction. I have taken some in the past, even before the tower was built, which came out fantastic, but for that you have to get there a lot earlier than we did this time.

Two castles in the distance

The alternative password was supposed to be on the tower, but I couldn’t find it. As it happens, it is there, as I read it in a comment, but it doesn’t matter, it isn’t compulsory to put out an alternative, so I didn’t bother about it.

The real hard graft of the hike was the next leg, which was long and very rough in places. Looking at the map, I think I should have risked the unmarked paths on the other side of the border, crossing fields on the plateau, as they seemed shorter, not so rough and more straightforward. Still, who knows, they might have disappeared by now, as unmarked paths have a habit of doing so. As it happens, ever since we started, we were actually in Slovakia. Over half of this hike was planned to be on the other side of the border, with only the return route crossing back into Hungary.

The lookout tower

The reason why we found rough ground was because not only there were no marked paths to our next destination, but there were no paths at all. I had the crazy idea that we should follow the border posts. Once, many moons ago, I joined some friends on a hike on the Medves Plateau, where we did that for a short while and I remembered that bit with fondness, the forest was so nice there.

Big columns of basalt at the back

Well, it got a bit rougher since, and the roughest was on bits where I didn’t go last time. Having said that, we navigated it perfectly well. This cache was on the highest point above the plateau, and being somebody else’s, there was no maintenance to be done. For a number of years this cache seemed so out there on its own, after I found everything else in that area.

Rock transport

As we came out of the forest, the panorama was breath taking. As I have never been there before, this was a new experience for me and I really missed my old camera, which would have taken panoramic photos. My phone doesn’t, but it still takes beautiful pictures and I like not having to lug the camera around.

Tree with tits

On our return to the car we were both very tired and seriously considering giving up the last 2-parter multi cache, which is also mine and needed checking. Anna was a bit grumpy, so I offered her the opportunity to go straight for the car, while I proceed further to check that last one. The green trail, thankfully went straight past the first part of the multi and that was perfectly OK. When we arrived at the crossing where I suggested I’ll be OK for the rest, I think she felt a bit embarrassed and decided to stay with me.

Lonely tree on the plateau

The second part was a bit weather beaten and inhabited by hundreds of black ants, but the contents were there and it was still sturdily fixed to the tree, so I didn’t do anything to it.

It wasn't just me who was tired

We had another kilometre to get back to the car, but thankfully that was all downhill, so we got there quickly. We said our good byes and drove home. I felt extremely stiff for days after, but was very glad that I did it. This hike was the last one that was as strenuous as these parts can be. 

Slovakia on the left, Hungary on the right

 

I have only 6 more caches to check up on, one set of three will need a bit of hiking in West Nógrád, of the remaining three one is in BP, one is a drive in, but fairly long way away and the last one is in North Nógrád, with its first point being drive in and the second one a short hike. Hopefully, these can be done soon, preferably before September, so I can then concentrate on some in other parts of the country to go away to. With Roy only prepared to sleep one night away from home, we’ll have to be very efficient at getting as many as we can in just two days.

The plateau with mountains all around

Staying with the topic of geocaching, something really good happened on Sunday evening. That was before the internet went and I was looking up something on the Geomap when I noticed that finally my friend Luki had put out a moving cache he has been sitting in for nearly two months. And it was situated somewhere reasonably clear. What was so special about this moving cache, that I have never found it before. Some cachers are mad moving cache chasers, I’m not one of those, except for the first time. Once I found it once, I only bother when I get near it anyway.

The rough road across the plateau

 

This one was in the village of Alsótold en route to Hollókő, about 35 minutes’ drive from home. Roy and I jumped into the car, trying to get there before somebody grabbed it. And we were successful. I am glad this cache in now back in circulation, as sitting on it for two months, Luki was very lucky that nobody noticed, except me and I didn’t want to upset him by complaining. Normally, when somebody hangs on to one for 2 or 3 weeks, there is a scandal and lots of bitchy comments on the various forums.

The third event in the last 5 days happened yesterday, with the arrival of my “parcel” from Linda, which I have paid for last week and was concerned when it would arrive. It has been opened, but no damage was caused and nothing was missing. The fact that they make you jump through hoops and pay for something that has no commercial value at all, is appalling, and I think can only happen in a country like Hungary. Still, with VAT and handling charges coming to just over £2, I wasn’t going to make a fuss.

A really weird, gnarled fallen tree

 

And then the internet went. It is during these outages that we always realise that we are seriously badly dependent on it in this isolated, back of beyond little village. It is damn inconvenient, but there’s nothing that we can do about it. Unfortunately, our package is landline telephone, internet and TV all together, so we are without TV as well.

Waymark posts

 

As for the cause of it, I realised that I shouldn’t be surprised, because they announced an IT switch-over weeks ago. It was supposed to cause no disruption to their basic services and should have finished 4 days ago. But if you believe any of that than you’re even more stupid than I am.

Finally on the top

Roy, being deprived of his computer and television, embarked on yet another DIY project, which had been planned for months, even years. You may recall that a couple of years ago, he built a banister on the stairs for the dangerous side. He was very clever doing it, it still looks good and is serving its purpose perfectly.

Still some roses without burn marks

Then he started moaning about not having anything to grab or hold on to on the wall side of the stairs. That would have to be fixed to the wall, which is always tricky, but finally, when we were in town some weeks ago, he found the exact bits of timber he wanted in OBI and now he is putting it together. He has slowed down considerably since he made the banister on the other side, so this will take him a while. Never mind, it occupies him while without the internet and TV, so I’m happy.

A deep red one

Closing now as lunch is coming. I think we are having jacket potatoes, which I love, but currently probably not very wise to put the oven on in this heatwave. Still, we can’t always have the same things, and we definitely not had jacket potatoes for a long while.

Sundial by the moving cache

PS: It's 8:30 in the evening and the internet is back. For how long I don't know, but I thought if it went again, in the meantime I'd better finish this post. We were without internet for 32 hours. As for our lunch, we did have jacket potatoes and they were delicious.

Next post next week, with any luck.

 

The hundred and twentysecond week of the pandemic

When I last posted we both thought that we would stay in Bér until we go East for a couple of days. And then I received a letter from the Post Office that I have a parcel that needs to be assessed for customs duty and would I provide them with the following documents: 1. A declaration from Linda, the sender, that it is a present, its value and a variety of other bits of information in there about herself etc. 2. A request for the Post Office to do the customs assessment, (rather than the Tax Office),

Muggins at the top of the mountain

and that included all manner of stuff about me etc.

I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. The "parcel" was actually a large envelope with all my post for the last few months, 2 photographs and a small bag Linda had sown. I was totally lost what was required, due to the arcane and very obtuse language Hungarian officialdom loves using, but finally I spotted that I can phone them, so I did.

Near the mountain top

 

Spoke to a bloke who was helpful, but a bit vague and then to a woman who was extremely helpful, but just as we got onto how to get to the forms on the website, the internet went. And that was that. Without internet in a back of beyond small village with no facilities, one cannot survive very long, especially, when one has to sort out something as ridiculous as this. I had to be able to access the net to stand the vaguest of chances of sorting it successfully. So I tried and finally after hanging on the line for hours, got through to our internet provider, who tried this and tried that, without success and agreed to send an engineer on Monday afternoon. That was on Thursday.

The Danube from the top of the fort

So, we decided to decamp to BP, where we have two desktop computers and hopefully an internet connection. When we arrived, we were so tired and brainless, that we couldn't really cope, but once I got on the net, I noticed that the lovely young woman had actually sent me the required documents attached to an e-mail and with the net available, I decided to work out how to fill them in myself. In the meantime I realised that there are some details about Linda I didn't know, so I had to contact her as well for those.

The aerial walkway in the Gerecse Mountains

 

To make some use of this time in BP, we also decided to go geocaching and on a geocache maintenance trip West of the city, which has been on the books for ages. That we did on Friday, the following day. The trip was pretty useful, and even Roy was very nice and didn't grumble too much about having to sit in the car a lot, while I climbed mountains and repaired damaged caches.

Roy in his favourite pub

 

The count at the end of that day, both from updating/repairing 2 of my own caches and then finding and logging another 3 in the area was 5. The two maintenance job was first on the British War Cemetery in Solymár and the remembrance cache of Nagybaczoni Nagy Vilmos in Klotildliget. The other three took me back to a place I went to a couple of months ago, when I gave up on it. That one included a steep climb to the top of a wooded mountain, the next one was inside an old fort, and the last one on an aerial walkway in dense forest. The weather held, so I only got a bit wet in the last couple of minutes at the end.

A collage of our last week

One interesting happening that day was getting a phonecall half way up that forested mountain from the internet provider, telling me, that after all the shenanigans on Thursday over the phone, when they said the trouble was not with them, it turned out since that it was their fault and they have now fixed it. I told her, that I am a bit miffed and to be honest, I will not believe her without checking it, and as I am currently climbing a mountain 60 miles from Bér, I cannot do that. Therefore, I insisted that she doesn't cancel the engineer, although promised that should we find on our return that the internet is working I will ring and cancel the visit at once. 

British  Military Cemetery in Solymár, Hungary

On Saturday we journeyed to a newly discovered fruit and veg market in Buda, where we purchased 5kg of apricots to make jam out of. Budapest's public transport is up the spout, to put it politely, everything is either redirected or you have to get off and take something else, before a few stops down the line you have to get off again and get back on the normal tram or bus or whatever. We played around with this, but finally got back to the flat and with a great deal of happiness proceeded to make 17 little jars of glorious apricot jam.

The apricot jam

On Sunday, finally, we went home to Bér, shopping at Lidl in Aszód. Unfortunately, the populace is so stressed after nearly 3 years of the pandemic, and all that meant for them, that we nearly got lynched at the checkout, because we had the audacity to pack our shopping into bags, rather than just throwing it into the trolley and sorting it later. Being nearly 74 and 80, we were a tad slower than ideal, but when the checkout girl took the side of the impatient crown behind us, we were beginning to fear for our safety. One thing is sure, that was the last trip to that particular Lidl, no matter how convenient that shop is en route to home or BP.

A rocket from the tank battle in WW2

As soon as we were indoors, I turned the computer on and miracle of miracles, there  was the internet, so the woman on the phone on Friday was correct. As I promised I immediately rang them up and cancelled the engineer for Monday, which the guy who picked the phone up thanked me for. This is unfortunately a country where many people have the habit of not bothering to cancel anything. They just don't turn up. Thank goodness we are not like that. 

Little old tram in Nyíregyháza

On Monday I finished reading the Post Office website, filled in both forms and uploaded them. And all this for an envelope, containing nothing of commercial value and mostly my own letters. All those Brexiteers, especially those that are now chasing after the PM's post, pretending that after all they weren't in the Leave camp, need a serious flogging and some years down a mine or in a quarry, methinks. Monday was also spent with getting ready for our trip East to celebrate my 74th birthday. 

Old fire tender in Nyíregyháza Fire Station

Then on Tuesday we departed in an Easterly direction very fast on the M3. We got there in time to get our first cache around 10am. This cache was in memory of a tank battle in WW2. It was an extremely enjoyable day of geocaching, where we cleared up all the pesky multi-caches in Nyíregyháza, which are usually a pain. Some were quite interesting, others not so much. But altogether it was a busy and productive day with a total of 9 caches bagged.

Ancient weeping willow by the lake

The themes of these geocaches were pretty varied: flying little planes, old trains and trams, the Fire Service, famous people, one family especially, who had a brickworks in the 19th and 20th century and left a good few pretty lakes (old clay pits that filled up with rainwater) as a legacy. We also visited some old water towers, which I always like. It was fun and we arrived at our flat around 4:30pm.

Pretty bush in Nyíregyháza

We actually ran into the guy who owns the flat, as he has just been there to check it over. He showed us everything and seemed a very nice guy. The flat was approximately 40 square metres, (about the same as our flat in BP), with a jacuzzi and sauna, which is quite rare. It cost appr. £50 for the night and we were very happy with it. It also had fierce air conditioning, so fierce that I had to get up in the middle of the night to turn it off. The flat was very clean, comfortable and we both loved it. The one downside, which unfortunately might stop us using it again, that it was situated on the 4th floor without  a lift.

Pork with garlic and beer

When booking it, I asked the owner for a suggestion for a restaurant and he sent the name of two. We rang one to book a table and they didn't pick up, so we rang the other and that seemed a perfect choice. It was in downtown, but we arrived just before 6pm, after which the parking is free. No hassle getting a parking place as there were plenty of them available. We parked right outside the restaurant and went in.

Muggins with her Cesar salad

Fairly modern decor awaited us which was elegant and not too much in our face. The service was very good, although they didn't have English menus. Roy declared that it being my birthday, I should choose for both of us. So he had pork with garlic and I had a Cesar salad with chicken breast strips. Both were delicious and we had to go round the centre of town for a walk, to aid our digestion. In fact the food there was not just superb, it was gourmet fare. I sent my compliments to the chef, I hope it was passed on.

Fishsing lake: the cache was under the jetty

 

And then, on Wednesday, which was my actual birthday, we started caching fairly early, and the first one was just 5 minutes away by the Zoo. The last time I drove near that cache, I couldn't find anywhere to park, but this time Roy spotted a tiny layby and I got the cache in 5 minutes. Good beginning, we thought, and really most of the day was easy and pleasurable.

Zsindelyes gate cottage

We returned home a different way we arrived. We took to ordinary roads, namely route no. 4, which was heading South to the town of Debrecen. There were 6 caches quite close to that road and we picked them up one by one. There was a fishing lake and a lovely little renovated group of venacular buildings, accompanied by an inn. It was far too early for lunch, otherwise we would have stopped there to eat. This was followed by a local history museum and the local chateau in one village, which has been beautifully renovated in the last 5 years.

One of the renovated old houses

After this one we turned off route no. 4 and made a turn West. Our route took us through the puszta at Hortobágy, which is as flat as the proverbial pancake, full of cattle and their owner's homesteads. Here we visited a set of beautiful lakes, which had a study route and a narrow gauge railway through it. Unfortunately, the engine was away being repaired, so we couldn't travel on the littl train, but the environment was worth visiting.

Local history museum in Újfehértó

 

Just after three o'clock we finished with geocaching and turned for home. We got to the M3 quickly and were at Tesco in Hatvan in no time at all. There we did a quick shop, only to end up on checkout with a situation very similar to the trauma we suffered in Lidls and Aszód. Here the problem was not with our packing speed, but with Roy's card. The machine that accepts credit cards kept rejecting it. The cashier as well as the people behind us started making xenophobic comments, as the government propaganda in Hungary is specially designed to whip up hatred of foreigners at every opportunity.

Where's the fisherman?

Personally, I am sure there is nothing wrong with our cards and the trouble was probably with the system not working correctly, or more likely, the cashier girl being stupid and unable to handle a foreign credit card. After it rejected Roy's card 4 times, I tried to pay and it rejected mine as well. Then I tried to pay cash and discovered that I didn't have enough money with me. The only option left was to try and use my Barclaycard, which I don't use too much and miraculously that went through without a hitch.

Calvary crosses in Egyek's cemetery

 

Roy and I were laughing at each other, saying that we are fast running out of supermarkets we can go to shop at. I think the real truth is with the entire country getting so desperately stressed and  full of government brainwashing, that wherever you go now, tolerance of others is at zero and aggression is growing. Unfortunately, deliveries of groceries are only available in and in the close proximity of Budapest, so we will probably have to shop mostly in small shops and more often than we have been doing in the past. This way we can hopefully have not too many items in our basket and if necessary pay by cash.

Egyek's cemetery with the chapel

It was a shame that what was a brilliant geocaching birthday treat for me, ended like this, but thankfully Roy and I have a very well developed sense of humour, and laughed it off at the end. Since we got home from the trip we have been catching up online, logging my cache finds and waiting for my parcel to arrive. Once home I had an e-mail saying that the custom process has been completed and I have to pay VAT and a handling charge, but no customs duty. It came to £2.75, which has to be paid online, otherwise it will cost £3.15, payable on delivery. I did pay online, but it hasn't  arrived yet.

Flowers in a Nyíregyháza park

 

Tomorrow I am due to go on a hike with a friend near the Slovakian border. She is just arriving home from taking a bunch of kids on a camping holiday. I'm amazed she wants to go hiking with me after a week like that. I used to go to bed and sleep days after such an ordeal as many kids in tents that I was in charge of, but she must be made of sturdy Hungarian stock, with plenty of energy to spare.

Roy comfortable in our Nyíregyháza flat

Next post in about a week, although who knows where we will be by then? We had an invitation by some friends to join them by the Balaton next week and we are considering the offer. In the meantime, Omicron v. 4 and 5 are raging in Hungary too, so I might not want to go anywhere. We'll see. 💓