Day 7: Eger [Hungary]
We were sad to say "good-bye" to Kraków, but we definitely got to see a lot and left enough for a return visit ;) Hungary here we come!
The group was to wake up, grab some breakfast at the hotel, and then we were on the road! We had about a 2 hour ride before reaching the border crossing. Here we did need to show our passports (a stamp in our passports), which was the first time on the trip, but it all went well! Branco pulled over on the way for this beautiful photo opportunity of the mountain sides. This is what you don't get in a "big tour", the small things, the personal touches from every aspect of the trip. While some managed to sleep through the stop, we took the opportunity to snap a few pictures! Thanks Branco!
The group was to wake up, grab some breakfast at the hotel, and then we were on the road! We had about a 2 hour ride before reaching the border crossing. Here we did need to show our passports (a stamp in our passports), which was the first time on the trip, but it all went well! Branco pulled over on the way for this beautiful photo opportunity of the mountain sides. This is what you don't get in a "big tour", the small things, the personal touches from every aspect of the trip. While some managed to sleep through the stop, we took the opportunity to snap a few pictures! Thanks Branco!
The bus pulled into a small town with a town wall around it, called Levoča. Welcome to Slovakia! Here we had some time to stretch our legs and grab a generous picnic lunch Katka had acquired while in Kraków. There was plenty to eat, some fresh fruit and some "beverages" available for those interested! After lunch, Nicole and I walked around the little town and stopped by the church. This is a great stop to make for lunch during a day on the road, just enough to get a little adventure in, take in some new culture and hop back on the bus toward Eger!
We had arrived in Eger! This little town was very charming and we seemed to be the only "tourists" there. Our group split into two small hotels across the walkway from each other.Our hotel room was very nice and had a little a/c unit in the corner. We did find that we started to miss air conditioning, just a tad, so that little unit was quite refreshing!
Everyone was to freshen up, then hit the town for a quick orientation walk with Kataka! It's nice to have these orientation walks to make the most out of our free-time, since we had the morning to spend here, we were able to plan our time during this walk to revisit some areas!
At the end of our orientation walk we would up at our restaurant for another group dinner! During this dinner we were to introduce our "buddy" and share a few things about them to the group. Each group member on the tour has a "buddy", that they pick at the beginning of the trip. When we are traveling through towns and getting to places, a quick "buddy-check" helps identify who is there and who isn't there very efficiently. Though, I don't think anyone could sneak past Katka, she was good!
Any way, Mike's buddy was Risa, "like Lisa, but with an R", this is when we found out that she really likes the movie "Frozen" [who doesn't?], Kathy used her phone flashlight to blind herself instead of for reading her notes and some tour members had known each other since high school! It made for a very fun evening with the group and we had excellent food!
Everyone was to freshen up, then hit the town for a quick orientation walk with Kataka! It's nice to have these orientation walks to make the most out of our free-time, since we had the morning to spend here, we were able to plan our time during this walk to revisit some areas!
At the end of our orientation walk we would up at our restaurant for another group dinner! During this dinner we were to introduce our "buddy" and share a few things about them to the group. Each group member on the tour has a "buddy", that they pick at the beginning of the trip. When we are traveling through towns and getting to places, a quick "buddy-check" helps identify who is there and who isn't there very efficiently. Though, I don't think anyone could sneak past Katka, she was good!
Any way, Mike's buddy was Risa, "like Lisa, but with an R", this is when we found out that she really likes the movie "Frozen" [who doesn't?], Kathy used her phone flashlight to blind herself instead of for reading her notes and some tour members had known each other since high school! It made for a very fun evening with the group and we had excellent food!