What?? No English???

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Day 9: Saturday 29 September 2007

What??? No English??

Wake up: 6:30am Breakfast 7am Depart for tour 8:30am

This morning Dora took us to Hero’s Square first. I loved it. It had the tomb of the unknown soldier. Along the top of the columns, the statues mean work, war, peace and wealth.
The main statue in the centre was of Arc Angel Gabriel. The legend was that the Pope wasn’t sure who to give the crown to… Poland or Hungary. He dreamt the angel told him Hungary.

We drove through a park where there were zoos (saw an elephant) swimming pool and artificial lakes that become ice skating rinks. I’d love to see that.
We ascended to the Fisherman’s Bastion which had amazing views of the city. We walked along the walls and took photos. Beautiful! There was a massive statue of St Stephen. The church was under maintenance. On the way back to the bus, we passed a bullet ridden wall. It’s been left untouched as a monument to what happened in the war.
We stopped at the hotel for 15 minutes and then headed off for the ½ day trip to Szendentre. We drove for awhile through the mountains. The village reminded me a lot of Montville and went on for a number of streets. Very charming. Our lunch was at a quaint little restaurant. There were lots of items hanging everywhere. The staff did not speak English and couldn’t answer our questions as to what things were. When Dora came, she told us that the huge brushes were for brushing ropes before they are twined.
We had our welcome drink. Apricot Brandy. The wine was in an interesting canister. You pressed up on the glass tube and your glass filled. The meal was wonderful.
Goulash - REAL goulash - served as a soup. That is how the Hungarians eat it. The spice was delicious. Turkey and dumplings with a creamy paprika sauce and a delicious warm moist cake for dessert. Most of the boys stayed around to finish the drinks. Verna and I headed off eagerly to shop!
The souvenirs were cheap and interesting here. I bough lots of little knick knacks and had a wonderful afternoon exploring all the little shops.
The bus ride back was a big show and tell session.

We arrived at 3:30pm. I went to the mall attached to the hotel for a look around. When I opened the doors, the smoke hit me with a blast.
It was a step back in time. Most of the clothes were outdated by our standards. I bought some necklaces and a tshirt. English was rare. Just being immersed in everyday Hungarian life was a great feeling.

Some people on our tour actually complained about the lack of English?? That makes no sense.

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