interesting times

we've done all that washing etc, wood was chainsawed, and other domestic stuff, and then the snow and the cold came, brrr. I think the idea of staying away for 4 months in the winter was a good one, we'd better stat to organize it properly for next year... and now just to catch up some stories such as the GPS - thank you Pali! So we used a borrowed GPS with outdated maps, however, after the initial "what's the point we've got a new map" it turned out to be a real help. We first used it when ending up in the middle of Novi Sad (Serbia) which turned out to me a much bigger city than expected, after the initial panic and getting lost - when switching it on, it worked in the dark and had taken us out of town in minutes. We used it after that all the way - and besides showing us flying when we passed new parts to the motorway, it was just great, and entertaining, telling us how much thousands of miles left to our destination etc... weirdly, the battery had run down faster when plugged in the cigarette lighter socket, we just charged it every night and then used it without plugging it in the pickup. on the last day home we were a tad worried as it took us on tiny Croatian roads to the boarder crossing that was nearest to us, if the battery had run out at that point, we would have been in a mess in the dark - as it was, it was the shortest and quickest way. Though the Croatian customs people insisted me taking off my coat - I still wonder what they thought I was hiding... and on the Hungarian side the boarder guide I'm sure I'd never seen before knew that we are going to Kiskassa... (we worked out that one with some help) -10C and big snow here now, Charlie, the Canadian housesitter seems ok, looks after the animals even while we're home (wow) a bit sort of untidy and sort of not into cleaning much, but we'll cope... he bought himself a guitar (he writes songs, and sings well) and discovered parts of the guest house getting the wi-fi we were not aware. He's the first person I know to get drunk with a friend on facebook - not even skype) So in Budapest we'll stay in Drew/Szonya's apartment, it will be so exciting spending more than a couple of harried days in my still favorite city . Also kids and partners arrive all on different days, which adds to the oddity and make this xmas -hm - special. But we'll have time to set things comfortably. so - if you won't hear from me, that means that I couldn't find wi-fi in that apartment or that it is too dark to blog from Szimpla...and now, let's see if I find a good foto I haven't shown you from our wonderful Greece...