Tiszaujvaros

On the map, Tiszaujvaros is just a small blip southeast of Miskolc on the banks of the Tisza River, but I have come to claim the city as my own little utopia!

Planned and built out of nothing by the "socialists" (definitely not the "communists," as we would tend to say back home) in the 1960s, Tiszaujvaros is now home to 25,000 people. It has modern-ish buildings, wide boulevards, long parks, convenient sidewalks and more than one restaurant. It's the real deal compared to little Heves! It even has a Tesco, the Hungarian version of Walmart. I stood in awe for a good ten minutes before being able to physically move through the doors. For the first time since leaving Budapest, I felt like I was in the modern world again. Simply delightful.

Eva, Liz and I traded wonderful stories over beer on Friday night, but the real merriment was on Saturday. Yerik and Jenna, a married couple teaching in Nyichazaalsdfjslak came. So did Kyle from Eger. Kat made it in from Szerenc and Mariah arrived from Kisvarda.

Kat and I joined Eva, her English-speaking friend Agi, and Agi's cousin for an afternoon of kayaking on the Tisza River. I love kayaking, but I had no idea what was in store. Agi's cousin qualified for the world championship in flat-water sprint kayak and threw Kat and I into the lightest, thinnest, longest boat I've ever seen. I'm surprised we were able to let go of the dock.

We came so close to tipping that we offered to switch boats. Kat spent 20 minutes or so learning to use the rudder while I paddled, but in no time at all we were cruising the river with enviable speed. We returned two hours and many kilometers later, amazed to still be dry.

This little city boasts indoor and outdoor pools, indoor skating rink, a track, indoor kayaking pool, lap swimming, weightlifting complex, tennis courts and a skate park. It's unbelievable. The highlight, though, is a state-of-the-art thermal pool. We soaked all evening in the utmost state of relaxation.

We must have gotten ourselves thirsty over the course of the day. And I, for one, had a rather strong thirst for Red Bull and vodka. The local disco Camelot was more than ready to meet our needs, we didn't leave for six hours. Highlights included Cotton Eyed Joe, Eye of the Tiger and the handful of other English songs; repeated rebuffs by the ladies to my attempts to start a conversation in Hungarian, English or German; and some rather wonderful pictures of friends attempting to pull me off the dance floor at three in the morning. I insisted on staying, only to finally head home at five when they turned the lights on.

Eva and friends said I was still dancing.