This has been a hard week because of having to say our good-byes to some great friends. Even though I've had many, many opportunities to practice saying good-bye all my life, I am not very good at it. I don't like to say good-bye so instead I usually say, "See you later". It hurts less. And there is always the possibility that I will see them again sometime, somewhere. :-)
I will miss my Hungarian friend, Judit Varga.
Our landlords, Peter and Eva Kiss, invited us to lunch at their house this past Sunday, which was coincidentally Easter. We spent 4 hours with their family and had a great time! Peter and Eva have been studying English for the past 1 1/2 years and Glenn and I understand a smidgen of Hungarian, so we could communicate reasonably well. When we got stuck, one of their 3 sons would translate for us!
Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it (and now it's packed and on it's way to France), but our landlord's family gave us a beautiful tablecloth with traditional Hungarian flowers (the blooms of the paprika peppers that are so common here) that was made and hand-embroidered by Peter's mother. It is gorgeous! For years I had wanted to buy one of those tablecloths at the market but they are waaay out of my price range so it is really special to me to get one from my landlord's family and then on top of that, to be hand-made by Peter's mother! What a wonderful gift! (I'll try to remember to post a picture of it once it is unpacked in France.)
The moving truck was at our house at 8 am this morning (Tuesday) and with the 6 men they had our goods entirely loaded into the truck in 1 1/2 hours! We had packed everything in boxes, broken down the furniture that needed to be taken apart and wrapped some of the more fragile pieces before they arrived. Glenn had brought EVERYTHING from the top floor downstairs so the movers didn't have to attempt our dangerous spiral staircase!
We had never seen this creative way to carry a piece of furniture! Instead of carrying it with their hands, the two men carried it in a huge sling of webbing that was crossed over their shoulders, using their hands only to balance the cabinet. That particular piece of furniture is extremely heavy and they made it look so easy to move!
This is our empty living room. (For some reason, it looks huge in this photo! It's not.) Such a nice home. (Sad to be leaving it.) I'm sure we will love living in France as well, but I get a little teary eyed when I think of all the wonderful friends we've had for meals in our home over the past 8 years. Lots of great memories I'll be taking to France with me.
This is our neighbor that lives on the other side of our landlord's parents (who live behind our house). She is the lady who brings Glenn a honey comb or jars of honey from the bee hives in her back yard, home-made freshly baked goodies or some organic home-grown fruit to say thank you for mowing the 4' x 4' section of her grass that is attached to our landlord's parents' yard. Just as the moving truck was pulling away with most of our earthly belongings, I waved to her as she was headed to the bus stop. Evidently word had traveled around the neighborhood that we were moving because when she saw me she realized "today was the day" and told me not to go anywhere because she had something for us. She ran home and brought us back a small loaf of her ground walnut pastry bread! How thoughtful and kind of her!
We couldn't ever really "talk" with her, but she was always so friendly to us whenever we saw her. Her sweet gestures of appreciation for Glenn's cutting of her tiny section of grass will be one of our special memories of our time in Budapest!
On Sunday after our meal with our landlord's family, Glenn and I went to say good-bye to their parents living behind us, taking them a small gift to say thank you for watching our place, getting our mail and putting our trash out when we traveled. This morning, just as the moving truck arrived, the grandmother came running over to our house and gave us gifts: a traditional Hungarian doll and this hand-embroidered doily which SHE MADE HERSELF. These are the traditional paprika flowers that I love so much! Another very special gift that I will cherish forever.
We finished our final cleaning by noon, and met up with friends and co-workers Mike and Terry for one last meal together of our choice. I chose Johnny's Diner which specializes in American burgers. This is Glenn's hamburger! Notice the burger is taller than the soft drink can next to it??? Can you imagine?
My last photo in my yard.
Hyacinths, Daffodils and Tulips are in bloom and everything else is pushing up through the ground! I will miss the yard for several reasons, but Kathy has left me about 15 blooming bushes on the balcony of our apartment in Paris that I will enjoy. Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and more! When I was there last month helping Kathy pack up their belongings, the bushes were in full bloom even though it was mid-February. I guess their balcony is the perfect hothouse!
Tomorrow we continue our journey in member care but from a different location. We fly to Paris mid-afternoon, landing about 6 pm. From the Charles de Gaulle airport on the northeast side of the city, we'll catch a train going south that will take us to a metro/bus stop in Gentilly, which is the name of a suburb just outside the city limits and where we will live. From that metro/bus stop, we'll catch a bus and go 3-4 stops to our neighborhood, then walk about 5 short minutes to our new (new to us) apartment, dragging our suitcases behind us. Doesn't everyone travel via plane, train and bus and then walking a couple of blocks to their domicile ?? Will soon seem normal to me!
HOME SWEET HOME!
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