Eger and countdown to Transylvania

Next Wednesday I take off for Transylvania and all I hear all over the news is how Romania is infested with the bird flu. My group was told that we were not to eat any food or drink any water, oh and we should not travel into the Carpathian mountain forests alone at night, because there are bears lurking about. Lions and tigers too?

I bought a tiny pumpkin at the grocery store here in town and I painted it in order to tell the children about the legend of Jack and his turnip lantern. Actually, I had never heard of this tale before until I researched for myself to tell the students. It's funny how much you don't realize about your country's own holidays until foreigners ask you about them.

This past weekend was spent in beautiful Eger where two of my American colleagues visited another colleague and ventured into the valley of beautiful women where bull's blood (red wine) never stops flowing. Many of the Turkish tunnels underneath the city have been transformed into discos.

Liz, Jeremy, and I sitting on Eger castle

View of Eger from its castle

We climbed this minaret and got yelled at for staying at the top for too long.

Kyle took us on a stroll through this vineyard on our last morning and we couldn't resist tasting some of its shriveled grapes, as Eger is one of Hungary's famous wine-growing regions.