Hello, Today was a day of on and off rain and downpours on our way here to Tihany , Hungary. It is a little village about 60 miles from Budapest, Hungary. We were on our way to Budapest via the Autobahn but since it was raining and it was to be raining in Budapest for a couple of days, we decided to venture onto the country roads . We had met "someone" in England, I think and he had recommended that we come to this area so we did. We will stay here for a couple of days before we head to Budapest.
We had spent 2 nights in Prague, Czech Republic. We stayed just outside the city and took the tram into the city. We decided to do a "hop-on-hop-off" bus tour. Even though we did just that, we did a lot of walking. We walked about Prague Castle area that is to be the largest castle in the Czech Replubic and is still used for government business and meetings. We then took a river cruise on the Vltava River and went under the famous Charles Bridge that was built in 1357. Stopped at a street vendor outside the Prague Castle and had a lite lunch. The view of Prague from the Castle area is beautiful. Amazing how big the city is. We also were able to watch the changing of the guard for the castle and apparently the Soviet Prime Minister was visiting and we saw his motorcade and then he exited his car and walked and shook hands with some people standing near by on the way into the castle. We took the tram back to our hotel. We had taken the wrong tram into the city...went the wrong way but had plenty of time so saw some other parts of the city...but were sure to take the correct tram back to our hotel!! The hotel was actually part of the sports stadium walls, so can now say "we spent two nights in a stadium"!!! Apparently you could book a room that had a window that looked out onto the field. The staff at the hotel were once again more than happy to assist us with our questions. As we left Prague, we decided to stop in Brno, Czech, Republic. We walked around and saw a beautiful church.....each city has so many old beautiful churches. We also will see crosses with Jesus Christ crucified either near a town entrance or exit or just out in the country on a routine day trip. We were told that 60% of people in the Czech Republic are Atheist but there are always several churches in each town and city , plus these crosses on the roadside.
We also had a nice lunch on the plaza as was a beautiful sunny day. We next ventured to the Brno Undreground. This is a medieval and mysterious underground. Within it's walls is a Kostnice which houses the second largest ossuary in Europe built in the 17th Centrury .It consists of three burial chambers which contain the remains of over 50,000 people who died during the Thirty Year War, the Swedish Siege of Brno as well as cholera and plague epidemics. There are walls built of bones and skulls in an art-like way. The skulls were placed in this art like gallery as all the city graves were full and there was no places to bury them .
We went into the tunnels and it was very sobering and sad.
We decided to head for Budapest on the 11 May and decided we would find a small village to spend the night vs. city. We ended up going over the Solvakia Mountain Range and found a nice bed and breakfast at the bottom of the mountain in Seneca. The owner was very helpful and we had a nice dinner in the local Solvakian restaurant just around the corner. It was nice to have a nice walk to the restaurant...passing by some nice homes that had vegetable gardens, grape vines and fruit trees. One of the homes had a really detailed irrigation system.
We will be here in this small village of Tihany on Lake Balaton another day before we head for Budapest and whatever adventures we find around the next curve!
We are still having great days and laughing a lot....sometimes not sure why! Tom and George are taking turns driving now too.
13 May 2016..add on. After yesterday's rain and clouds , we woke up this morning to a bright blue sky and sunshine. We decided to go to a little town about an hour from here that is known for it's spas called Heviz. On the way we drove around Lake Balaton. We had a nice walk around Heviz and found some nice little shops and they also had a local craft fair. Maryann was talking to a shop owner and he told her that the weather was to change from sunny to pouring down rain at 2 PM. Just as we were finishing our gelato , we noted a very black cloud and rain drops...it was 20 minutes to 2! We headed to the car just in time and arrived back in Tihany in time to go up to the Church that was built on an old volcano at the top of the hill and had amazing views of Lake Balaton. We had left the rain behind in Heviz and drove back into the beautiful blue sky and sunshine!!
Yesterday we celebrated Emme and Eiza's 3rd birthdays. We were able to FACETIME with Emme and sing happy birthday to our happy girl who was at the zoo with her Mom who took the day off to spend the special day with Emme. We also gave Eiza hugs in our hearts.
We continue to keep you all in our daily prayers.
~ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT YOUR PRESENT SITUATION IS NOT YOUR FINAL DESTINATION, THE BEST IS YET TO COME~ unknown author
Our Love and Hugs,
God Bless
Tom and Maryann
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