Off to Pannonhalma

Typical Hungary. The bus station in Györ is an open area with something like 20 different bus stops, each with a clear number (1 thru 20) but absolutely no way of knowing which stop is which. And no central schedule board. And, this being Sunday, no information office open. If you don't already know , you're not supposed to know. Obviously. But I recalled from my reading of some online trip advice that the bus to Pannonhalma started from stop 11. So I looked at 11, and the bus had a LED sign that said something like Gibberish Gibberish PANNONHALMA Gibberish Gibberish, so I went aboard and only one minute later we were off. Good timing.



So the bus stop was in the residential area at the bottom of the hill, and I started off to climb the hill up to the abbey. It wasnt all that far, maybe a mile or so, but it was definitely steep. Probably another one of these ancient volcano cones. I paused halfway to take some photos with a plum orchard in front of me.









Anyway I manage to the top, get in with a tour group that is starting off (Hungarian language, but I am given a brochure to help fill in the gaps), and we tour the place. Mostly 18 19 20th century stuff, except for the church itself. There remnants of 13th century in the form of walls, a few vauls, some carvings. The place was sacked by the turks in the 1500s, nearly all of the parchment manuscripts were destroyed, but the monks saved two documents, including he charter for the abbey dating to 1002, and an earlier document which, though it is primarily in latin, includes about 60 Hungarian words, mostly place names, which is the oldest known written document to contain evidence of the Hungarian language. But we dont get to see the originals, only facsimilies.
























After the tour I got a cup of coffee, sat and relaxed a bit, then strolled around the grounds, making a circl3, enjoying the views in every direction. After a while I strolled back down the hill, ultimately found the train station, returned to Györ, and reclaimed the bike.

Around 4 15PM Iwent back to the Old City, plopped down at an outdoor table on the main plaza and had a very leisurely beer and pizza while I watched kids from 2 to 15 cavorting in the ground level fountain--one of those newer installations that has about 20-30 nozzles that shoot blasts of water at various heights--from just a few inches to about 10 feet-- with a complex pattern of discharges that surprises and delights. There were two girls about 10 years old that were doing this topless--almost but not quite yet candidates for training bras, and one little boy still in pampers who would run up to a stream of water, clap his hands three or four times and stamp his feet at the same time, run away about a yard or two, and then come back for more. There were dozens of families out and about, some at the umbrella-shaded tables like me, some off to the edge of the plazy in the shady area. The ice-cream stand was doing a very brisk business.

By this time I had begun to realize that my legs were tired from the walking and riding, i was glad to go back to the station, get on board and head home to Tata. I snacked on fruit and cookies for supper and by 9 30 was already in bed.

Barking dogs woke me at 3 45. OK, time for a bathroom trip and then a surprise. NO COLD WATER. HMMM. Cant flush. OK. Well at least I have some water in the Britta filter pitcher that I can use to make tea and coffe. And there is hot water, so I can fill up a bucket if i need to and pour the water into the toilet.