Expansion of normal

Our five-week European escapade is now coming to a close and I look forward to the return to normal that is my bed, my kitchen, my routine. As I reflect on all that we experienced on this trip, it is clear that even I, a self-proclaimed expert in change management, struggle with disruption in my life. Each new destination would have me grumpy and fussy for the first 24 hours as I shifted to a new living situation almost every five days.

This guard and horse stood immobile at the Royal Horse Guards in London for at least an hour. It stretches my imagination of patience.

The grand 4 ton Gold Carriage at the Royal Mews. Requires a brakeman walking alongside and 27 meters to stop. Apparently this might be the most uncomfortable thing to travel in, and was very seldom used.

Gorgeous Cottage and English Garden in the middle of Hyde Park. This park really had me question my definition of high-density urban territory.

Hyde Park with all of its variations on a garden theme. This one near Kensington Palace.

I was the reincarnation of Goldilocks: bed too hard, shower too cold, street too noisy, service too casual, weather too inclement. After a day, the veil of grumpiness would lift and I would experience the joy of discovery and novelty and imagine myself making a new life in this location. After a few days,  I would be sad to leave and feel a yearning to return and experience more things.

The horsey adventures I had were at times an afterthought but turned out to be some of the most memorable moments of my trip. They expanded my definition of normal from the short training sessions of the SRS stallions, to the long gallops on the Hungarian steppes, to the calm zoom-zoom-zoom of my cob as we galloped towards Buckingham Palace. It has given me a new “why” to my own fitness  plan and the training of my horse as I return home.

2019 horse goal : zoom-zoom-zoom

I feel blessed that we were able to make this trip a reality, and that we took every opportunity to make it memorable. I hope we have another opportunity for something like this in the future, and I would not hesitate to make this leap of faith again. Europe is an expensive destination, but Central/Eastern Europe has so much to offer in history, architecture, culture, all while being so affordable.

Budapest was a lovely home base for 5 weeks and I would come back in a heartbeat. It has taken some time, but I am starting to warm up to the Hungarian culture and ways. But it is not without it's quirks. Some of these quirks are distinctly Hungarian (I think) and some are just more European offshoots. Here are a few:

Itsy bitsy washing machine tucked in besides the bathtub. This one was large compared to the other ones we had.

Drying clothes over the toilet. Really?

1. Micro-everything. With space at a premium, and inner city rents high and building architecture old (and small) … well there is just not much room for gadgets, appliances and convenience. So many of the places we stayed in had these micro-washing machines such as the one in this picture squeezed between the wall and the bath. Surprisingly it fits in quite a good sized load (but half what I am accustomed to at home) but which then leaves us the challenge of drying. No dryer. Everything line-dryed. Not so practical in a muggy humid spring day. And everything dries hard and stiff. I am definitely looking forward to having a dryer, and dryer sheets, again.

2. Grocery stores with minimal grocery choices, but lots of socks and stuffed ponies. So the selection at the grocery stores in Europe is quite limited compared to what we are used to. No costcos here. In the fruits we have apples, oranges, bananas and the occasional grapes or strawberries. That's it. I haven't seen a kiwi, mango, pear, peach, plum, cherry, fig, blueberries … and the fruits offered have only 1-2 varieties. It gets tiresome. But, almost every grocery store here sells socks. And in the Aldi closest to our place they have several rows of toys, garden equipment, and two stuffed ponies. Can't find cashews, but I can have a stuffed pony.

3. Honour-based transit system. This is one perk we saw in Vienna, Budapest, Prague and it is awesome. All those cities had extensive tram networks which were fantastic for city newbies to get a lay of the land and get to their destination fast. But they also all had honour systems for the transit. Get your ticket, have it validated, and keep it on you "just in case". In 5 weeks I have only had a control officer intercept me once. It is great freedom to just hop on-and-off whenever wherever. Our transit pass in Budapest was for one month so we got great value.

4. Grocery cashiers sit down. This one threw me for a loop, and these positions seemed to attract low-mobility women as they only had to move their arms a little bit to scan a product. You have to be fast to accommodate their process or they scowl at you. After the scanning desk, there is a small section of 1 square foot where they pile the groceries and you better be removing them and putting them into your basket or bag FAST. After you pay, you can then move your basket to another shelf along the wall to properly bag your groceries. This works ok when you have 1 bag of stuff … but this would NOT work if you were bagging an entire cart of stuff. And don't get me started on the annoyance of having those bagging shelves clogged by clients slowly bagging their stuff while I am standing waiting.

5. To tip or not to tip. Sometimes the restaurant will include a service charge, sometimes they wont. With all the currencies we juggled (Czech Crowns, English Pounds, Euros, Polish Zlotis, Hungarian Forints) we often paid with a credit card but didn't have change to leave a tip. So we had to learn the new two-step question process every time we got the bill: 1) Does this include a service charge?, and 2) Can I add a service charge to the bill? The waiter would then ask us what we wanted the total bill to be and he would input that amount into the credit card machine and thank us. Service tipping is expected yet not so common.

6. Weigh and tag your fruit. Sometimes. Each grocery store had their own process for this, but if you saw a weight machine and tag printer in the fruit section, you better be bagging and tagging your produce. Or else the cashier will scowl at you. Yes, lots of scowling at tourists happens here. Apparently nobody got the message that the "customer is king". Vestiges of communism perhaps.

7. The wine. Hungarian wine is delicious! And yet they export so little. The biggest market for Hungarian wines is : Hungary! This little uralic enclave loves their wine, yet is surrounded by countries more dominated by beer. 

8. The language. Impossible to decipher and learn, although I tried. I can do yes, no, thank you … and often I forget thank you. This uralic language has absolutely no similarity with any of the Indo-European languages and is more similar to other uralic languages like Finnish. This uralic tribe has origins that date back over a thousand years as they migrated south-west as great fighters. The romans and Germanic tribes hired them as assasins and fighters to combat the ottomans and turks. They stayed behind, and eventually the Germanic christians left them land as payment for their work and loyalty. Because of their fierce nature, they were able to hold on to this empire in spite of mongols, turks and even the Hapsburgs. The AustroHungarian empire was more of a merger of equals to establish peace, and lasted many centuries. The preservation of this unique language, and their fierce nature absolutely defines some of the Hungarian spirit.

9. The peppers. I love them. Fresh, dried, ground and pickled, the Hungarian paprika (means pepper) is amazing in all of its forms but especially the spicy varieties which actually is not so spicy. I must get me a steady supply at home to make some goulash, paprikash and just perk up ham and eggs.

10. The thermal baths. The carpathian basin has a very thin Earthcrust here which contributes to thousands of thermal springs in Hungary much like Iceland. The Roman Emperors figured it out fast when their soldiers would heal much faster if they soaked in the springs. “Taking the waters” is a definite thing in Hungary and the whole country is peppered with hundreds of spas, with a dozen of them in Budapest. The original city, Obuda, formed over a thousand years ago by Romans was because of the thermal spring. I cant understand the science, but after a few hours in the Rudas bath naked with a bunch of cackling ladies I felt relaxed, my skin was soft, my hip didn’t hurt, and I slept like a baby. Shawn supposes the mineral content (magnesium?) is what is having such an impact. Highly touted for sprains, stiffness and any form of rheumatoid arthritis.

If you need a stuffed poney or socks, go to the grocery store.

But do not expect the cashiers in the grocery store to be helpful, at all! The only sit, and scowl.

We are flying home tomorrow and I am torn between sadness and excitement. I am super excited to see my horse and friends again, and a little daunted by all the work that is waiting for me. I am also a little concerned about a little tickle in my throat potentially announcing an upcoming cold. With the lectures, conferences and group facilitations I have scheduled in the next 10 days I have no wiggle room to get sick. 

This trip, and the quirks of travel, have stretched my definition of normal and I am curious how my old version of normal will feel inside this new and broader sandbox. Maybe it will fade with time and become a distant memory. Somehow, I doubt that.

The best sticky toffee pudding with caramel ice cream ever! Available at The Mitre in Lancaster Park.

So much flying. So many landscapes.

Next up: The long awaited reunion with my beautiful Q. Horsey adventures to follow as we return to our regular programming.