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Lisa Scattaregia's avatar

Thank you. I visited Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Novi Sad last summer and what is noticeable when traveling outside the major tourist cities is the poverty, limited services such as grocery stores, and crumbling infrastructures. Also the old depressing Soviet bloc apartment buildings, abandoned factories, and rusting “checkpoint” shacks on the highways between countries.

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James L Bruno's avatar

Right. I visited places in Bulgaria that were terribly depressing. It'll take decades for these areas to catch up with the rest of Europe.

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Lisa Scattaregia's avatar

My son was stationed at NATO base in Bulgaria and then at the base in Poland.

It reminded me of when I went through checkpoint Charlie as a student in the 1970s. West Berlin was lively, modern and full of color— East Berlin was grey.

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Thomas Cunningham's avatar

Thanks James. Keep Rockn. Take good care of you!

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Harrison's avatar

Fascinating read! I’m Harrison, an ex fine dining industry line cook. My stack "The Secret Ingredient" adapts hit restaurant recipes (mostly NYC and L.A.) for easy home cooking.

check us out:

https://thesecretingredient.substack.com

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