Lunch, Culture, and Labyrinths

On Saturday Tao Yi, her host sister, and I was invited to lunch by a rotarian whose son is aspiring to be an exchange student.

We had a delicious lunch followed by also delicious tiramisu.

Then we went to Ópusztaszer, which is a historical park portraying old Hungarian culture.

Then, after the park closed at four, we went to a puzzle park just up the road. There were outdoor floor mat type logic puzzles, mazes, and all sorts of fun stuff. The bast however would have to be the labyrinth. There were two large corn maze like labyrinths. We only had time for the small one before it would've been completely dark but it is not so fr away and I hope I can go back to try the big one.

And the best picture of the day :D On this map Tao Yi and I quite literally live on opposite sides of the globe ... but not if you look from a different perspective :) Thank you Bukovecz family for the great Saturday :)

Independent Travel At Last!!!

Any of my fellow 5130 outbounds will almost certainly resent this title because most exchangers don't get to independently travel ... ever. I just wanted to start by acknowledging how luck I am. None the less November 1st and the 3 month mark allowing Hungarian inbounds free travel alone when sanctioned by rotary was long and anxiously awaited.

I entertained myself on the three and a half hour bus ride by listening to music and sleeping in alternating twenty minute intervals; it was not as boring or cramped as I would have expected. The view from my window seat on my first solo bus ride was lovely.

My first independent travel adventure was two weekends ago to visit Pécs and the exchange students who live there. I was invited by Emily to meet her mom and sister who were visiting from Australia. Laramie (Canadian) and I stayed with Mary for the weekend. We had a lot of fun :)

On Saturday and Sunday afternoons we got to do a little sight seeing. Pécs is a beautiful city.

And since I didn't get to see this city from above I would have to say that this it it's crowning jewel.

The city theater was absolutely breathtaking.

On Saturday for breakfast Laramie made us banana and egg pancakes. Despite my dislike for banana they were very tasty and quite nutritious, before we smothered them in nutella of course.

Then we went out to lunch at a restaurant close to Mary's house; it was super delicious.

Then we went into town intending to go ice skating in the outdoor rink but the rain had other ideas. So we decided to do a tiny bit of sight seeing before the non-Eurekans called it quits and we dodged into a very neat little business for coffee and hot chocolate. We now consisting of Randy, Angelo, Olivia, Emily, Emily's sister and mom, Mary, Laramie, and I.

On Sunday Mary, Emily, and I saw Laramie and Emily's family off at the train station before doing a little more sight seeing. After Emily went home Mary and I went to see the locks. The tradition of locking them somewhere and throwing away the key has become a custom in Pécs despite the lack of the bridge usually associated with it.

This is our lock :)