Pannonhalmi Abbey

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Monday July 15 – Today I took a daytrip to Pannanhalmi Abbey. But first I started with my first inclusive breakfast at a hotel. What fun. The guy was nice and spoke to me in German. Being fluent in food German, we had a good time of it. I chose the omelet, and had bread and butter with jam, juice, tea, and a yogurt with it. Very different than my normal quick breakfast. Getting to the abbey entailed a bus, and luckily there were a few direct buses a day, and I planned to get the one at 10:15. I left early so that I could visit the pharmacy museum beforehand. It was small and free and the only museum open on Monday (and not Sunday). It’s actually part of a working pharmacy, and it was much smaller than I’d imagined. In five minutes I was out and had some time to kill, so I just did some more wandering around before heading to the station. Unlike in Budapest, where everyone lines up nicely to get on a bus, here in sweet little Gyor everyone becomes a back biting monster willing to throw their grandmother under the bus to get the best seat. That was a bit of a surprise. All of a sudden I had to claw my way in there. I like to sit by the driver so I can see what is coming. Buses never announce the stops, pretty much universally, so it’s a bit harder than finding the right stop on train. At the abbey, I found the visitor entrance and got the audio guide, which was a little hard to figure out initially. It took me on a tour of different buildings, giving me the history along the way. After that I took a quick walk in the herb garden and then got the direct bus back to Gyor at 12:50. This got me back quite early, and as I’d seen much of the town the day before, I spent much of the afternoon researching and booking accommodation for other parts of the trip. I also talked to Jeroen about the new cat. He loves her, so we’re going to give it a try.

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