Dusty-Yesterday was an extremely productive day. Jennifer and I began the day walking towards one of the many museums in Papa, Hungary. We eventually found a museum or we thought we found it, but as we walked in, like two oblivous tourists, we found out that it was an iskola (school). After walking into the school and getting a few weird looks from some of the people that worked at the school, we decided to browse the park nearby. We entered the park and found our selves looking upon plush green grass and gorgeous trees. The park had designated walkways and bicycle trails and everybody was using the walkways, no one was walking on the grass. We stopped at some of the monumetal sites in the park area which were extremely old.
Jennifer-We could not read any of the signs for the monuments, but they looked important lol! In the park there was a also a large lawn decorated with pieces of abstract art and old statues. The park was absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately it was a bug's heaven. We both got bitten up!
Dusty- We rummaged around the park at bit more and then decided to head to one of Papa's old castles, Eszterhazy Palace, which was built in the 1700's. Inside this marvelous monument there are galleries and musuems. However, we did not get to see them because we got to the castle right at lunch time. We did get to wander through the hallways and view ...
Jennifer-...old pictures of the town. The hallways and staircase were sights to see themselves. The castle is as old as the US is a country. After visiting the castle, we walked to The Great Church but it was not open for viewing. We definitely plan on walking through both of the big churches in the walking area. In the Benedictine Church, which is the closest to our house, the "Black Christ" is on display, we are really looking forward to seeing this piece of history and art.
Dusty and I next walked down streets we had not previously and attempted to get a little lost. We found where the police station is, or rendorseg. We also came across a "Rock and Roll Club". Dad called us at about 12:15 and invited us to meet him for lunch at a little restaraunt on the walking area. We sat outside and watched as the people walked by. It is amazing how many beautiful people there are here (especially women). The most popular color for the local women to dye their hair is red...bright red. A few gypsies walked by in their colorful attire. For lunch Dusty had an amazing Greek salad, Dad had a fish burger with onion rings, and I had the restaraunt's special house salad with chicken and fresh parmesan. My salad came with sliced toast, and none of the drinks were served with ice. Dad explained to us that you must request ice if you would like it. Lunch was fantastic and we are looking forward to taking my mom there for the Greek salad.
After lunch Dad went back to work and Dusty and I browsed in the shops. Clothes are extremely inexpensive here. I saw a really cute skirt for under $2, tops go for around $4, and we found leather jackets for $40-$100 (made in Italy).
We cruised down an alley and went into a little "drinking shop." There are drinking shops, or Talbots, all over town. A talbot serves all different kinds of drinks, alcoholic and non. Talbots can also range in the quaity of shop, there are high-end and low-end drinking shops which offer different quality of beverage. This particular shop was higher-end and so cute inside. When we entered, there were two women sitting at a booth to our left. One lady got up and greeted us in Hungarian, and we returned the Hungarian greeting. I asked if she spoke English, she shook her head no. I ordered a kave, tej (coffee, milk). She asked me, "melange?" I did not know what that meant and just looked at her, and repeated, "kave, tej." She smiled and lead us to a table, I assume saying, "Please have a seat." When she said please, she spoke it in German opposed to Hungarian. Maybe she assumed we would be more likely to understand German, I am not sure. When the kave, tej came out, I was very surprised by how she served it. I was expecting a latte, the way I am familiar with. Instead, in two cups, both a little larger than espresso cups, there was espresso in one and steamed milk in the other. Sugar was on the side along with a shot of water. The presentation was quite lovely. I poured the milk into the espresso, added some sugar and enjoyed it with Dusty. The woman, whom we assume is the shop owner, came over asked, "Yo?" Yo means good, we answered, "egen" (yes). We relaxed in the shop for about 40 minutes and then began to stroll back home.
I made homemade pizzas for dinner, using the marinara I made a couple nights before. Dad said that there is no where to get good pizza in town. He really enjoyed the dinner as did Dusty and I. We all watched "Did You Hear About the Morgans" after dinner...very funny movie. It was the first night, besides our first night in Hungary, that I was able to stay up past 8pm!! We stayed up until about 10, then I was wide awake at 2am. I forced myself to stay in bed and fall back asleep, it took about an hour. Our bodies are still getting used to the time change, but it is getting better every day.
This morning Dusty and I went for a walk to find the swimming complex. We found it on the far right side of the park. We looked around inside, it is very nice. For a 4 hour pass, it is about $10 for the both of us. The complex contains thermal pools, regular pools, in-water massagers, water slides and cafes. We will be visiting the pools very soon! It is pretty humid here, so it feels quite a bit hotter than it is. Before our walk today we put on some bug spray....we did not get any bites!! ...that was a first!
