shopping in Szolnok

In other news, this weekend was great, if somewhat tame. Ros came and stayed two nights. Although we were total teachers and went to bed early and didn’t go out partying, we did go shopping on Saturday (neither of bought anything). We made it all the way to Cora, despite having to wait 50 minutes for the bus. The wait involved wandering around the freezing-cold train station, and getting terrible coffee at a bowling alley. But Cora was awesome! Being not only from America, but also from Minnesota, home of the world’s largest mall, I feel that the small, glorified-department store which is Cora shouldn’t really impress me as much as it did. I think after being in Hungary for all of a month now, I was overwhelm by the possibility of actually having choices. Three different brands of laundry detergent? Who ever heard of such a thing? Appliances and clothing on sale in the same building? How decadent! (Although Szolnok does boast a wine-and-childrens-clothing store.)
We also made a stop at Szolnok’s market, which is not as spectacular as Kalocsa’s. But, it is open every day, so that’s the trade off. I’m always impressed with myself when I manage to buy anything. But I think an outsider might not view me as a successful shopper. The main problem is that I usually end up buying a kilo of everything. Sometimes this works: a kilo of apples or oranges is about six pieces of fruit, which is a good number. Yesterday, I bought a kilo of green beans. Not so successful: one kilo makes a massive pile of green beans. About the size of my head. I managed to gift some to Ros, but I think by the end of the week I will be thoroughly sick of eating them.