Today felt a bit disjointed, but that’s probably because we didn’t ALL get up and go at the same time. I got fed up with the older girls around 10 a.m., and the two littles and I left. I can’t spend all morning trying to roust two surly teens out of bed. Ticks me off.
We strolled to an area called Gozsdu court which had loads of restaurants and artisan/antique vendors set up along the center of the court. It was a long walk though, and Romeo didn’t eat enough in the morning to get him thru to the late breakfast we were going to have, so he was melting down. He is currently obsessed with Fortnite, and in the morning is when he plays with his friend (some kid that lives in Spain, which is sort of a cool concept that these two kids a world apart can be playing the same game and actually become “friends”). Anyway, it’s hard to get him to eat, his standard answer is “I’m not hungry” but it’s only because he doesn’t get long enough on the game and he dare not waste his time eating (in reality he gets plenty of time on the game, he just wants more.)
So that’s the backdrop to his meltdown this morning, which consisted of nonstop complaining and crying that he was hungry, but every option I presented wasn’t working for him for one reason or another—mostly because he was too busy having a tantrum. Finally we came up this darling little placed called “The Fat Fairy”, and he had a waffle and orange juice which seem to take him out of his tantrum trance.
We then investigated the artisans and the kids bought little things they found. What manages to catch Romeo’s eye is so completely random it’s almost comical. At one antique vendor, he picks up this little porcelain duck amid a sea of crap---mini thing, that looked like nothing you’d imagine anyone wanting, least of all a 7 year old boy. Yet, it’s now part of his many ‘travel treasures.’ You know those things that you see and you wonder “who the hell buys this stuff??” Well, the answer is, Romeo.
We finally met up with Ava & Lucia a couple of hours later, via modern technology called Life360. All of us can see where the other is on our phones, so they just found us, and hit google maps. Ava luckily has John’s sense of direction, which is fortunate because she can map out where she is and move around a city in lightening speed. I often get turned around even WITH Google Maps.
We found a great Mexican restaurant and all ate, then continued to just meander the streets, getting treats along the way, and stopping at a city park for a rest and some playground fun. It’s the international language of play grounds, always good for some fun.
The biggest problem today was that by the time Ava and Lucia got their groove, the littles were tired and had walked 4+ hours….and that’s where things go south. There’s no agreement on what to do, half of us feel like we are already worn out, the other half is ready to go. It made for some arguing for sure, and a relatively uneventful day. That being said, some of my favorite days traveling are ones where we don’t really try to “do” anything…we just explore the city in its natural state….no monuments, no tours, just eating, walking, shopping, and feeling the vibe. It’s when I get a chance to notice murals, and signs that I like…or notice little artisan shops (which sometimes are the tiniest holes in the wall, barely even a store). It’s when you notice the people that live there, and their labors of love.
One of my favorite visuals today was this tiny grandma, who was going down the sidewalk on a scooter (and not the old lady type of motorized chair scooter, I mean a real scooter). She had on a huge pink backpack, and a denim skirt with tennis shoes. She had completely gray hair pinned up in two buns, and was definitely 70+ years old. I suppose it was possible she was a frighteningly old looking 30 year old (a Benjamin Button type thing), but I don’t think so. She was a bad ass grandma on a scooter, and we were all very impressed.
The really great news is that John is cutting his LA trip short, and he surprised us by getting a ticket back to Europe early—he’ll be here tomorrow night! So that’s huge; solo parent no more. I think he was jealous that we were having so much fun in this city without him.
I’ll just note, that as I write this we are back home, post big dinner, it’s 8:45 p.m. and I can hear Gia in the kitchen. She’s had a bowl of cereal, a peach…and who knows what else she’s about to get into next. All following dinner just an hour ago, during which she ordered an expensive rib entrée. Again with the ribs. Yes. And the worst part is she didn’t finish them and now is eating Cheerios. It’s stuff like this that I have to really struggle not to be annoyed by—and clearly that’s not working right now. If you don’t have kids you are thinking, ‘who gives a hoot what she eats?’ If you do have kids you know what I’m talking about because it happens ALL the time and it’s pretty much always annoying when you make/spend money/otherwise give them food which they don’t eat or don’t eat enough of, and then 10 minutes later they want more.
I need to get up in the morning and do yoga, clearly I’m not in a super zen space after today. Just as a note, I threw in a pic of Romeo’s jacked up front tooth, which has been loose and crazy looking for awhile and it’s coming out any day (thank god because it looks weirder by the minute). Looks like the Tooth Fairy has to make a guest appearance in Hungary.
Signed, ME {lv}
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