Adventures in Southern Hungary (and beyond!)

Sunday night, we returned from a 12 day adventure in Southern Hungary! We spent most of our time in Pécs, Hungary, which is a superb city and one of the 2010 cultural capitals of Europe. We also visited Barcs, Vilany, Lake Balaton, and many other Hungarian cities along the way. One fine morning, we even took a trip to Essek, Croatia. Since we left the Schengen zone, I finally got a Hungary stamp on my passport! (I didn't have one because I flew into Vienna and didn't need to show my passport at the Austrian-Hungarian border). 

Anyways, together, Eszter and I took over 1500 pictures, so I had a lot to sort through! Here are a few of my favorites/trip highlights. They aren't in chronological order.

Szécsényi Square, Pécs. The building with the green roof is a mosque turned church that was built during the Turkish invasion.

The Synagouge in Pécs. I really wanted to go inside, but like the church above, it's under renovation and won't open again till September. I guess I"ll have to come back!

Pécs is a romantic city! Lovers from around the world leave padlocks along this street to symbolize their love.

For some reason, I just thought this was interesting.

During my alone time, I spent the better part of a day touring the Zsolnay Cultural District. Pécs is famous around the world for its ceramics.

An artist hand painting ceramics in the factory. I was also able to watch a man hand-make leather gloves! We had a conversation of sorts. (I say of sorts because I spoke more Hungarian than he spoke English, which meant that our conversation wasn't through words.)

The city was hosting a Leonardo da Vinci Exhibit, which I visited.

Ceramic roof tiles from the Zsolnay factory

An early Christin tomb in Pécs! I was able to visit several museums, and this one was one of my favorites.

An old church that we visited on our way to the Croatian border. The paintings were very, very old! Also, the designers or builders made a mistake on the dome, which is why the pillar was erected.

Over the river Drava in Croatia! I looked for a picture where my hair was behaving, but I couldn't find one at this location. It was windy!

The flags in Essek, Croatia

Almost as soon as we entered Croatia, we began to notice bullet holes in the buildings, even in the village homes. These holes are remnants of the War for Independence that Croatia engaged in from 1991-1995. The nation is still in recovery. To realize that this war (and damage) took place during my lifetime was pretty jarring.

On a different note, we spent a good portion of our trip visiting friends and relatives. At one point, we visited Istvan's cousins, who breed parrots for a living.  The adult parrots were beautiful, but I thought the babies were  ugly. In fact, they were so ugly that they were kind of cute because of it!

A cave in Pécs. Mom, this picture is for you. I should also upload a picture of the volcano at Balaton. Fortunately, it's extinct, but you never know. They should clean it just in case.

This picture isn't in focus, but it's one of the only one I have of the sunflowers. In Hungary, Austria, and Croatia, you can find huge fields of sunflowers everywhere! They are grown for their oil.

Another cousin of Istvan owns a small farm. The girls and I recently read Charlotte's Web, so they checked the pig pen and found a spider!

Another picture from the farm. Can you guess what it is? Christmas trees!!! I'm not kidding.

Lake Balaton

This picture may not be the most flattering, but I think it's hilarious. There's a second head in the backseat, but she's asleep too.  Anyway, it sums up a significant portion of our trip. After dozens of excursions, we all needed rest!

The TV tower. Yes, we went up. It's 176 meters tall.

One night, we visited some friends in the country and took a beautiful evening walk!

I'll have to double check with Eszter on the name of this architect, but he mixes ancient Hungarian motifs with modern styles. His work can be found all over Hungary

A real medieval castle! This castle was a bulwark against the Turks. They were never able to take it.

 Anyway, it seems crazy to sum up such a full, full trip with only these highlights. I've left out so much! Since then, however, we've had more adventures, so if I don't catch up with blogging now, I never will!  Viszlát!