Today we drove to Gyor to check out the mall, Arkad. The mall was built in 2008 and hosts 125 merchants. It is beautiful, modern, and clean. There are espresso bars featured of the second floor, along with a variety of food choices. Multiple clothes boutiques, jewelry stores and shoe shops are located on both the first and second story. A robot museum runs along the first floor, and offers families the opportunity to build their own miniature robotics.

The items in the mall were much higher priced than the items here in Papa. There was one exception, a costume-jewelry shop located downstairs by the main entrance. This shop had beautiful pieces of jewelry at second-hand prices!
For lunch we decided on a restaurant which served food from Greece. We ordered a large piece of chicken which was covered with white creamy cheese and onions, served over a bed of rice with corn and peas. It was absolutely delicious and cost us about $4.00. We didn’t buy anything at the mall, except lunch, but had fun observing the very “different” fashion trends.

Dusty had previously experienced having to pay to use the “water closet” (toilet) and I had my first experience at the mall. We found the sign for “WC” so I headed down the hallway. At the end, there was not only two doors, but also an elderly woman standing behind a cash register. I paid the 50 forints (.22 cents) in order to use the WC and was then allowed in. It felt very strange having to pay to use the bathroom! But when in Europe…

The drive to and from Gyor was like a scene directly from a painting. Sun flowers have bloomed all along both sides of highway 83. It was absolutely stunning!!