As we leave our hot early spring-like weather and get back to cold winter here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we find this charming story (A Winter's Tale in Budapest, by Esther Vécsey, published in The Budapest Sun, February 9, 2006 edition) of Erzsike and Katica néni and their winter in Budapest, Hungary. We present it here in its entirety, to give you a taste of Budapest living, and for the role of Cukrászda in Hungarian culture.

IT is a typical gray winter day in Budapest, with temperatures well below zero, but Erzsike néni and her friend Katica néni, both widowed pensioners, are out on the town. They live near each other on Bakáts tér (District IX) and often meet for coffee and a Dobos torta at the Nándori Cukrászda (pastry shop) after making lunch for their grandchildren.