an adventure in Eger

While my AP students took the exam yesterday, I took the day off! Heather and Aaron and I decided to take the train to Eger. It was truly one of the most memorable days I've had here!

Eger is a city about two hours away by train, and centuries ago it was incredibly important as the last fortress to successfully hold off Turkish forces. The city is beautiful, and the castle is pretty cool, but we were all impressed by the people. Everyone was so incredibly kind, which isn't always the case in Budapest.

The pictures tell the story of the day, but a few words of explanation!
The tall tower thing is a minaret. While climbing it, I felt slightly claustrophobic... although it was pretty cool. But it paled in comparison to the folkmusic festival at the castle. My favorite part was when the musicians played while lying on the ground -- and then all the old ladies danced over them and flashed them repeatedly. Hilarious. Those ladies cracked me up. They danced, they twirled, they shouted... I can only imagine what they were like 50 years ago!
Then we moved to the Valley of Beautiful Women, which is famous for its wine. While there, we ran into a group of women who worked in the vineyards. They were quite possibly the most festive group I've ever seen, and they totally adopted us. Aaron knew a Hungarian folk song, which impressed them greatly, so he wrote it down for us so we could join in....repeatedly. People underestimate how much fun older people can be! :)
After dinner (I had deer and boar stew!), we made our way back to the train station. except for the minor detail that the last train had already left, and the next one wasn't for hours. Fortunately, a kind homeless man spoke English and helped us figure out another way to get back to Budapest. We took the train to a different city where we waited for a separate train. Unfortunately, it didn't leave until 2:38! We sat in the waiting room for a while, but they closed at 10:30. Again, supernice Hungarians came to our rescue. We thought we'd have to wait outside in the cold and rain, but they actually bent the rules for us. They took us to a small waiting room for kids, and they locked us in! They were afraid we might be robbed by some of the homeless people while we slept, so we were safely, if not exactly comfortably, locked in until just before the train arrived. We didn't really get good sleep (notice how I actually put my feet in my camera bag to keep them warm!), but it could've been a lot worse.
We finally got home a little before 6 -- just in time to catch a quick nap before work this morning! Totally worth it, though. and DEFINITELY an adventure! :)

most of the awesome photography is courtesy of Heather...