Hungary Like The Farkas
Yes, I am in Hungary....in Gyor which, it turns is on the Road From Damascus. About 15 miles out of town I encountered refugees in large numbers walking on the cycle path. They were about 3 abreast and it took me half an hour to pass them.
I don't really do politics on this blog and I know the refugee crisis is complex and serious. I also don't profess to understand the issues but would like to offer two observations from my little encounter with the biggest new story of the day:
1/ Though there were women and children, the overwhelming majority of the walkers were young men. In fact they were exactly the sort of men who, in other countries faced with war, pick up a gun and fight for whatever seems right.
2/ Since when does having had a tough time allow people to trash a country that has taken them in. The Hungarians may not have offered the warmest of welcomes but the rubbish (and human faeces) dumped at the side of their roads is a disgrace!
Hmm...back to the normal bollocks.
With over 400 Florints to the pound the prices here seem outrageous....until you do the maths and realise that living here is effectively free if you earn your money in a western currency. I have no idea where eastern Europe technically starts but this feels 'Eastern' - a bit drab and colourless and sour expressions on the faces of the locals. A sweeping and unfair generalisation? Probably, you can put another point of view in YOUR blog.
When I rose this morning the promised rain was falling heavily so I dallied over breakfast and packing and, incredibly, it stopped. I stayed more or less dry all day and the forecast says I'll now stay dry all the way to Budapest.
The back is a little better today. I can now make it past the fresh produce, past meat and dairy and all the way to tinned and packet goods. The bottles are tantalisingly in vjew but just too far :-(
Ps - did you like what I did with the song?
I don't really do politics on this blog and I know the refugee crisis is complex and serious. I also don't profess to understand the issues but would like to offer two observations from my little encounter with the biggest new story of the day:
1/ Though there were women and children, the overwhelming majority of the walkers were young men. In fact they were exactly the sort of men who, in other countries faced with war, pick up a gun and fight for whatever seems right.
2/ Since when does having had a tough time allow people to trash a country that has taken them in. The Hungarians may not have offered the warmest of welcomes but the rubbish (and human faeces) dumped at the side of their roads is a disgrace!
Hmm...back to the normal bollocks.
With over 400 Florints to the pound the prices here seem outrageous....until you do the maths and realise that living here is effectively free if you earn your money in a western currency. I have no idea where eastern Europe technically starts but this feels 'Eastern' - a bit drab and colourless and sour expressions on the faces of the locals. A sweeping and unfair generalisation? Probably, you can put another point of view in YOUR blog.
When I rose this morning the promised rain was falling heavily so I dallied over breakfast and packing and, incredibly, it stopped. I stayed more or less dry all day and the forecast says I'll now stay dry all the way to Budapest.
The back is a little better today. I can now make it past the fresh produce, past meat and dairy and all the way to tinned and packet goods. The bottles are tantalisingly in vjew but just too far :-(
Ps - did you like what I did with the song?
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