Snoel Abroad

Sara is abroad again and this time it is in Hungary! I am here in Hungary (in the small town of Gyöngyös) teaching English at a primary school through CETP- the Central European Teaching Program- Follow along with my crazy adventures in teaching and traveling. Szia!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Eger






Last weekend, all around Hungary, it was prime harvest season- especially for grapes- this meant of course- festivals! These are also generally the last of the festivals for the year so, along with the appeal of them being wine festivals, a few of us decided we couldn't miss out and just must get to Eger and check it out!
Eger is a gorgeous city about an hour east of me. It is the capital of my county (Heves) and a definate must for anyone who comes for a visit. It is a beautiful city with cobbelstone streets, churches and a castle. It is also home to the famous Bull's Blood wine. Just outside the city center of Eger, in a valley surrounded by rolling hills covered in vineyards, was the prime destination for our trip, and where we spent our Saturday afternoon (which soon became evening and late night...) Here, in the Valley of the Beautiful Women- as it is called- all of the vinyards and winemakers of the area have their wine cellars. The cellars are dug into the hills and you walk along the roads and visit the little doors, all with numbers and few with names, they generally have tables set up outside in addition to the tables inside where it is dark and cool and wet. There are musicians who roam the cellars playing traditional music and locals and tourists alike wonder the road having a glass or two at each- which is easy to do at about $1 a glass or less the $4 for a liter if you find one you that you really like.
So Nicole, Becky and I wondered the cellars (acconpanied by Kat and Liz who stayed only the day) and even met some guys from Belgium who boosted our confidence by allowing us to teach them the few Hungarian words we knew which seemed great next to the 0 that they had. All in all a great time and I hope to go back again for a longer stay (we were there for only one night.)

Because it was grape harvest season everywhere there was also a small festival in little Gyöngyös. And because Gyöngyös is only an hour from Eger and Nicole and Becky live about 5-6 hours further south they came up to Gyöngyös Friday night and we were able to taste the wine, enjoy the music and talk to some people in my own town before heading to Eger the next morning- Great for me to have some fun in my own town! The festival was still going on when I came home on Sunday afternoon and I got to see a wonderful parade with folk dancing from different groups of kids from all the schools in the area- including some of my own students! very cute.

This weekend I am looking forward to not traveling but staying at home for the weekend to get some rest and finally meet the other 2 teachers from my program here in Gyöngyös. (originally there were 2 others who I met at orientation but they left in the first week and were replaced by a British couple)

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