Well this morning we woke up at 7 o'clock, had some toaster waffles, then set out on the 3-hour drive to Eger, Hungary. Shane and I and Tami slept in the back of the car most of the way, until we arrived. At first I was like, "Oh another ancient city with old things...yay..." But as soon as we stepped out of the car I realized that it was a lot like a mini-Budapest. The first thing we saw was the Castle of Eger, which is famous for being the castle that led to the downfall of the Turkish empire in the medieval times. Pictures weren't allowed in some places, but we went into the heart of the dungeon, which had different chains they would use, the tools they would use to kill people, sample dungeons, guillotines- in short, it was a very uplifting place. (JK) There was also an exhibit about old pottery that was found in 2008, and a wax museum! I always think they're just actors waiting to jump out at me!
We saw some old cannons and weapons, as well as an exhibit on old armor and swords- some of them were taller than 6 feet! But in the heart of the castle, they had a bunch of cute shops with handmade things, and a man demonstrating how to blacksmith with a huge crowd of little kids around him- he was pretty attractive- not gonna lie. We then jumped back in the car, and went off to see the Minorite Church, which is a really neat church with gorgeous old seats and paintings- it's just amazing, and Shane and I lit a prayer candle there to pray for our families and whatnot! We then walked to the Basilica of Eger (or Cathedral, whichever you prefer) which was built in 1831, and is another gorgeous church with a statue of the patron saint of the church I go to- St. Maximilian Kolbe! It also had this amazing ceiling that I got an awesome picture of! Then we walked back and went to lunch at a building that was the first private residence after the end of Turkish rule over Eger.
Shane's dad ordered some Steak Tartar (pureed steak with egg and other random spices), and I thought the triangular yellow things were cheese. Now I looovee cheese so I was dying to try some along with my tuna melt sandwich- so I cut it in half, put it in my mouth, and started chewing this weird textured cheese- it seemed a bit too soft. Then I remembered that they always give you butter to put on top of bread under your Steak Tartar. Needless to say I spit it out immediately and looked like an idiot. But afterward Shane, Tami and I went to get ice cream jsut as it started to pourrr rain- btu we went anyway :).
I'm addicted to their megg (sour cherry) ice cream here. It's SO good! It doesn't have any gross cherry skins- it's just good, smooth, and sweet. It's amazing! We walked back to the car, and then drove back to Gyoma, where we went out to dinner with Tami, Monika, and Zoli at the Three Rivers Pub again, where Shane got a hugee hamburger, and I got some egg noodles with steak and a strawberry palinka lemonade, which was actually really good- I don't like palinka alone. We then played a game of pool, which I am getting way better at, by the way, and walked home.
When we got back, Shane's grandma announced that Danny and Amanda (her grandson and his fiance) announced their wedding date, and started talking about the Hungarian ball they started at the Hungarian Church in Chatsworth, which is in September. So I turned to Shane and asked, "Oh! Are you going!" To which his grandma answered, "Of course he is! And so are you!" Apparently she had 5 shirts custom-made in the Traditional Hungarian style (which is white and has colorful flowers and designs on it) for all of her grandsons to bring a girl to the ball- where they serve food and volunteer and it sounds completely adorable- then she told me that she actually had my shirt with her (since it had to be super small) and brought it out- IT IS SOO CUTE!!!
I absolutely love it. So tomorrow, Shane's dad decided he wants to take on the whole town of Gyoma in a game of basketball in the backyard court, and he wants to go get one of the traditional skirts too, which is apparently really cute too and there's a place nearby that has them. Super cute- I'm so excited!