Now … that does boost the difficulty level up a notch!

It is really funny – there is this lady who works in the store next-door. I am there every day, and every day she insists on speaking to me in Hungarian. Not a hi-thank you-buy conversation, she’s got more to say. And I’m staring at her, thinking Lady, I was here yesterday. And the day before. I didn’t speak Hungarian then, and despite the fact that I might look quite intelligent, I did not learn it overnight. Lovely chatting with you, though.

One of the things that always makes me laugh is when one person is talking to another and the latter does not know the language, the first person always (and I do that, too) starts speaking veeeeery slooooooowly. Yeah, that doesn’t cut it … I cannot wait to start my classes though; perhaps the supermarket lady has got something fascinating to say. Will definitely let you know if that’s the case.

And here it is, your random fact of the day. Bet you didn’t know that in numbers in English the very first time you have the letter “a” is in … one thousand. Funny, huh?

It looks like a teapot:

It feels like a teapot:

But is it a teapot???

Nah! See, the genius who designed the teapot forgot to drill a little hole for the liquid to flow out.

Best paper weight I ever bought!

Great news for the bagel lovers  in Sofia. I found a fantastic little bagel place (thanks, Trayan!) right in the center of the city. O’nice offers the real thing – not the Dunkin Donuts crap, mistakenly called bagel. The place is small and very cozy, the food is divine: a great choice of bagels (more to come in two to three weeks), a tea selection that will satisfy the most pretentious of you out there, real good coffee (Vesko says) and smoothies! Also, as any self-respected place nowadays would, there is wireless Internet available.

Chris, the owner, is Irish and he would come by, say Hi and make sure everything is fine. They also offer frozen bagels to go – you could take one, six or a dozen – and you can make your own selection.

I know I’ll be there often! And I definitely recommend it!

And for those of you who want to experiment with food – here you can find an easy recipe for home-made bagels.

Enjoy!

P.S. Here it is, your random fact of the day: March 23rd is the international day of meteorology.

Last night, I witnessed a pretty good example. I went to a James Blunt concert without being a fan. Actually, I only knew two of the guy’s songs – and two others without realising they were his songs. And somehow I found myself standing, dancing and clapping the entire night.

A new brand introduced itself to me and did it quite vividly. A quick eye’s sweep could tell you that most of the people (except a tiny, but dedicated teenage crowd) had gone to the concert to simply check it out, without being fans. But James was great! He dived in the audience, ran around the entire place, high-fiving everyone who was within reach, talked in between songs and at the end he did something that really took me by surprise: he took out his camera and took a picture of us! Seemed to work for everyone – the crowd was ecstatic. Simple gesture, yet brilliant. I bet all of us can learn something from this young British dude, dressed in a suit and tie.

No, I am not going to run out and buy a CD. But I would definitely be more attentive next time his name comes up in the news. Well done, kid!

And today’s random fact: It is Brunei’s national holiday today. Cheers guys! (I know – and I bet so do you – at least 50 people wondering where do they send a CV to be the sultan of this fine country)

In complete contrast to today’s earlier post – something interesting is happening in London during the entire month of February. Little Bay Restaurant is offering free lunch out of compassion for the people affected by the financial crisis (well, for that and other reasons).

Mr. Ilic, the restaurant’s owner, has declared that his customers can pay as much as they desire for their meal. In a TV interview Ilic says that so far this initiative has brought him more clients and more profit. With the exception of a couple who paid 2 pennies for two steaks, most of the clients actually leave more money than the price of the dishes would have been.

What Ilic is modestly omitting is the fact that this move brought him more free publicity than anyone could hope for. Interviews are shown on major TV channels, articles are written, links to featuring blog posts are being e-mailed all over the world.

Hats off, mister! We would never know if this was sheer goodness or a very well calculated PR strategy (somehow, I am inclined to believe the latter) but it scores high marks in my book for creativity.

Here it is, your random fact of the day:

On February 20th 1933, the US Congress declares the end of the Dry Regime. Cheers!

1) On February 18th 30 years ago was the only time it snowed in the Sahara desert;

2) 79 years ago was the first cow’s flight on an airplane.