We have been on a couple of mini-roadtrips. Yesterday, we drove through the Bakony forest on our way to Magyarpolany, to go to a Fourth of July celebration. We also passed through the small villages of Papakovacsi, Kup, Bakonypoloske and Noszlop. It was very interesting celebrating the 4th in a foreign country, but it worked. The family of an airforce guy hosted the party. Their house was absolutely beautiful....and very big! It is European style and had gorgeous rock and wood work. The view was spectacular; looking out over the small town, country side and vineyards. The food was delicious. Besides from the American style hamburgers and hotdogs (though I did have my hot dog with some delicious sauerkraut and red onion) there were traditional Hungarian deserts, filled with tons of cream and fruits. Dusty and I had the opportunity of meeting alot of Americans that are living in the area.

Soccer is huge here...obviously. We went to a bar downtown, the Villa Classica, and met up with a bunch of people to watch the Netherlands-Brazil game. Most of the crowd were Netherlands supporters...and they made it very obvious. They were ALL dressed in orange shirts and had blow horns. The cheering was deafening...it was a great time. After the game a group of us went the Red Box for dinner.

Like most of the places, we all had to walk down some steps to get into the Red Box. The restaurant was dimly lit with beautiful ornate brick walls. Our waitress sat the eight of us at a rectangular glossy black wooden table, with bamboo matts. The waitress was very kind and could speak a little English, some German and of course Hungarian. Jennifer ordered slices of pork in a porcini cream sauce with a side of mashed potatoes with onions, chives, and tomato. It was excellent! Dusty ordered wild boar madallions with a mushroom cream sauce and the same mashed potatoes, this was also very good. Dad ordered steak with a Jack Daniels sauce and roasted potatoes. It took about an hour for our food to come out, but the Boeing translator, Julliana, said that this was normal. After eating our delicious meals and conversing amongst ourselves we asked for our bill. It is very common to have to ask for the bill in Europe, because when you go out to eat you should be enjoying the time and not rushing through the meal. After leaving the Red Box we walked back to our car at the Villa Classica and drove home.

Today we drove to Gyor and again drove through some small villages on the way there. Every village we drove through, yesterday and today, had atleast two churches and mulitple statues, including many of crucifixes. Today we drove through Takacsi, Gyarmat, Szentkut, Tet, Margitmajor, Gyroszemere, Nagyszentpal and Gyirmot. We are currently planning a slightly longer road trip!!