Go fill the soda siphon!

If there have been things in my childhood that I really hated, one of them was to go and fill the soda siphons!

The soda siphon filling center was some 600 meters from home, so I had to cross the avenue, take the narrow streets between the blocks of flats and, man, I was tired when I got to the center with the soda siphons which were big and heavy. Apart from all these, I would have to wait in a very long line, because all the thirsty neighbors used to come to this place…

Imagine the way back home, when the soda siphons were full and heavier, of course. I had to carry two or three, every time. So there were some kilos there. I have no idea how come my arm did not grow longer from all that carrying J.

I would carry them in a rope bag, as that was better than a normal, plastic one.

Me or my middle sister were supposed to do this. Depending on my luck, some days I would avoid the chore, some other days I could not. It was something like: “I went the last time. You go now!”.

The invention of the capsule for the siphon was a true wonder for me!

I would take two boxes of capsules, I would change them for some that were charged and… that was all. This was a luxury, I no longer had to carry the glass siphons, I no longer was afraid not to break them.

(I still have the soda siphon in the picture. The capsules, too. However, I am sorry I did not keep the glass siphons. I regret this now, because at the time…)

… AND BACK TO THE PRESENT

I was in my car when I saw the shop. Then I saw the railing and I was amused to see that there still are in the town bits of my childhood.

I wonder how come nobody took off the signboard. Or replace it with a more nowadays name, like “minimarket” or “shop&go” or God knows what?

I stopped the car and parked it close to that place, out of a nostalgic feeling that is clearly a sign of old age J)). I wanted to take a picture, as I don’t know how soon the sign may disappear from there and I might be sorry.

I am ready to take the photo with my phone when I see a man inside.

Ok – I tell myself – so the place is not deserted, it had become a neighborhood shop and the sign stayed like it used to be.

I get in, I greet the man, I explain to him my curiosity and, at the same time, the fact that I really liked the “siphons” sign, that takes me back to my childhood.

“Why do you keep it, why didn’t you take it off?”, I ask him, sure that I found a nostalgic just like myself.

“Well, because I really fill up soda siphons!”

What?!? Really?!?

Is there a place to fill soda siphons in 2021???

Do people still have soda siphon bottles in a period when you buy sparkling mineral water or you can get a small, modern device that makes sparkled water?

Well, YES!

You can easily understand that I stayed there for some time to talk to the man. I was really curious if people still come with soda siphons…

Uncle Mitica is known as the man who fills soda siphons. In fact, he and his wife.

They have been doing this for 20 years. Even if, in time, they adapted to the times and the demand. That is why, in their small shop, you can find sweets, chewing gum, chips, different seeds, some alcohol and juices. They even have concentrated syrups, to go with the soda siphon.

“Do you have clients?”

“We survive…”, he tells me.

Especially during the weekend, he has clients who want to fill up the siphon bottles, to drink at home, with their friends a real spritz J.

People from the neighborhood come, but some come from the city center.

Are there still people who come with the old style soda siphon bottles?

There are some old people, the man tells me. They come with those soda siphons that you can find at the fairs and flee-markets, and that you buy as vintage objects…

The other clients come with plastic bottles. Not any plastic bottle, but some special ones, it seems. Uncle Mitica sells them too: 4.5 lei (less than one Euro) the empty bottle + 4.5 lei the device and filling the bottle is 1.5 lei. When you come to refill, the price is just 1.5 lei.

What do you know? I bought myself a soda siphon bottle hihi. More impressed with the place and the story, that of the idea to drink that sparkled water.