Woke up this morning to a country that looks abandoned.Litter along the rails, no agriculture where there could be some, fallen trees as we roll across forests. That is the advantage in traveling by train, the country unfolds in front of you and within a few hours you have a glimpse of what that part of the country is like. The few stations where we come to a halt look good though. I can't wait to be in Sofia and see what the capital city looks like.
Alright, let's ago a little back in time. We have been on our way since Wednesday now .... today is Sunday and I am surviving quite well. First night on the train was not very restful, sharing a 5 Square meters cabin with two gentlemen ..... well it is a first time ...... I knew I was going to encounter plenty of first times .....
Beautiful Prague, very welcoming Greens and we spent a lot of time exchanging with them. Same in Zagreb and the general feeling is the same, the rights of women, gender equality is not a priority, I was clearly told that in countries with such a high rate of unemployment it would be really weird and unproductive if a political party felt concerned with paternity leave, and sharing of household chores ..... the only thing that could be considered as a problem was the fact that after a maternity leave it was difficult for a woman to get back to a job, as I was told “ after some time, staying at home, not working, it is difficult to be good for a job”. Plus the childcare facilities are not sufficient, they were, but they are not anymore.
As I write my blog, I can catch images of Romania from the train: Brasov, Predeal, Busteni, Sinaia there probably could be a possibility to attract tourists and start some sort of industry based on that, forests, mountains ...... but everything looks so unkept !
Back in time ..... I have had a first time in Budapest too .... first time I have danced since I have had my knee replacements ..... can't wait to do it again ! We got off the train at 22:00 to rush by taxi to a birthday party with around 50 to 60 people, I started by feeling a little out of place, but in fact everybody seemed to find the presence of a white haired lady at a young people's party completely natural. That is something that always surprises me, in fact we, seniors are sometimes shy, and think we don't have our place among young people ..... but several times now I have realized that the obstacles are raised by us and that it is our perception which is not accurate. In fact, the younger generations are much more inclusive than we think they are going to be and they are much better than we sometimes are at intergenerational exchanges.
