Saturday, November 24th...another slice of Hungarian life!

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE-- Pannonhalma, Hungary

Art, history and beauty everywhere...from floor to 

ceilings painted like skies! 

 

 

 

 

Gateway to learning at the Abbey.....



 

Hundreds of hungry boys eat here every day.....

 

Another day at the Abbey....

 

 

 

 

Past and present meet at the Abbey where new construction carries on in the midst of historic statues and momuments.

 

 

 

At the invitation of Sylvester and Erika, last Saturday found us once more  away on another amazing adventure.  This was a day that our new friends had carefully planned for us.  Could we clear our calendar and be ready to spend the entire day with them?
 Yes, we cleared our calendar and moved our Ladies' Christmas Tea from Saturday to Sunday the 25th.  Here people seem flexible and such changes don't appear to disturb anyone too much!  (We had a great turn-out on Sunday and will tell more about our tea another time.)

Thus last Saturday found us free and ready to leave from here at 10:30a.m.   Sylvester and Erika arrived with their car at the appointed time and we were off!!

 We headed first to the World Heritage site and beautiful Benedictine Cathedral and Boys School located high on a hill above the town of Pannonhalma, not too far from the Austrian border.  It was this very monastery that Sylvester had attended for several years as a younger man.  At one time he had even contemplated being a monk, but in the end he set this idea aside and married his sweetheart, Erika.  So visiting this school and cathedral held many memories for Sylvester and he proved an able and knowledgeable guide as we toured the grounds and enjoyed lunch in the huge school dining room, surrounded by dozens of hungry school boys!

  After lunch we left Sylvester to visit some old friends and the rest of us set off on an extensive "English" tour of this Benedictine school.   There were a good number of guests there this Saturday, since it was also an Open House day at the school.  Some parents were there visiting their sons; others had come to check out the school before sending a son there for his further education.  It is a famous institution of learning and many hope to have their children enrolled there at some time in the future.

 

By 4:00p.m. we decided it was time to leave the Abbey and head on to our next stop in the city of Gyor.   Arriving in Gyor by dusk, we strolled the streets and alleys until we found a quaint coffee shop where we paused for a short while before carrying on to the Danube River. There we had the unique experience of dining aboard a large paddle-wheel boat moored at the river's edge.  The food was excellent and service speedy. This was good as we needed to keep moving.  Erik and Sylvester had friends ready to meet us at the theatre where we were booked in with reservations at the evening ballet program featuring the story of Zorba the Greek.  Thus we enjoyed yet another memorable evening with new  friends eager to share with us a special slice of their life here in Hungary.  For sure we were thrilled to have the opportunity to share this day with them, trusting it won't be too long until Sylvester and Ericka come our way for a visit in Canada.