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Couple #8 in Pécs: Ever enthusiastic Csaba and his shy ex- EVS Budapest based expat girlfriend Marion from Brittany merrily throning on industrial wooden pallets in their soon-to be-hostel on Erszsébet utca 16 while sharing linguistic anecdotes about their “vie de couple” with us. Somehow they seem an unlikely couple, if you ask me. But hej, a short introduction, a glass of cooled rosé, a chat about the consonant mutations and inflected prepositions in insular celtic languages to break the ice and we are ready to filmically host yet another successful interview.

In the background two Janö Fock-era socio- realistical poster- instructions on how to properly use your favourite “made in USSR” nippers while fighting for the world revolution from your local factory and the stylish 35kg- medsovexport “FENAZETIN”- box both visually spice up our location.

We liked it in Pécs: the thermal baths in Harkány, the goulash, Gázi Kászim pasha´s mosque turned into a stylish church on Széchenyi square, the Rolls Royce ignition served in a pan with traditional Hungarian paprika slices accompanied with Pécsi beer and somewhat questionable music, the epic shisha sessions, even the magyar matter-of-fact notorious lack of humour, Violeta´s hippie/flamboyant-bohemian/hare krishna shop in which we lived on the second floor.

Yes, we don´t sleep much and yes, our sweet dreams were interrupted by the noise of our over-pressuring boiler on the verge of explosion. And there was the sweet smell of gas quickly expanding to our room too. Still, provincial Pécs was a pleasant surprise after the bed bugs in Zagreb and the boiler didn´t explode in the end;) So, on we go to Belgrade, Skopje, Thessaloniki!

By Pyotr Magnus Nedov