Pecs - my 2nd favorite city in Hungary!

Loved it! Maybe it was the hills, or the slow pace we took it, or the atmosphere, but in any case, it was great! Don't have the pics posted, but will this week.

I think one of the most unique things there was the mosque church. When the Ottoman Empire ("the Turks") invaded and conquered Pecs, they tore down a church and rebuilt a mosque on the same spot with the same materials. When the Turks "left", the Christians did not tear down the Mosque, rather they just converted it to a church again! The Mosque Church sits at the top of the Szecsenyi Square (one of three squares in the inner town), which is on an uphill slope, capping the square with it's dome.

Jamie and I had a good day on Saturday, exploring museums and churches and sitting in the sun as we went. The only thing we had to pay for was the entrance fee to the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which included a wine tasting at the church cellar!!! Otherwise, we used the Hungary Card I bought and were able to enter all of the museums for free.

We splurged on food though. We had a lovely breakfast outside on a pedestrian only street and people watched. We ate a late lunch: Jamie had cream of mushroom soup and I had French onion soup. However, we think they were really the same soup (mine sans mushrooms) with Jamie's having croutons on it, and mine having the crouton on the side! We braved ordering a dish called a salty pie, which turned out to be a quiche I think, with a pizza like crust.

For dinner we ate outside again on a different square and really enjoyed our meal. I ordered Hortobagy Palacsinta for an appetizer and then took the waiters suggestion for a wine and main course. Jamie ordered the turkey with apples which was advertised on the sign board. The Hotobagy Palacsinta was fabulous. My brother Greg works with a woman from Budapest and I met her when I was home. She recommended I try these, and it was a perfect recommendation. These are the Hungarian Pancakes stuffed with a shredded meat in a flavorful sauce. I was served two huge ones, so thankfully Jamie helped with one, or I could not have eaten my main course. My main course was turkey stuffed with ham and cheese which was quite good as well. The dinner: 1 appetizer (big enough for a meal by itself), 2 main courses, a glass of wine and a glass of beer and conversation with the waiter came to $22.00 with tip! Not bad. (Total cost of the weekend was $81. which included transportation, hostel, sights, and food.)

About an hour after I got home, there was a knock on my door, and it was David with 5 other students. David had stuffed cabbage for me so I invited them all in. Three of the students hadn't been in here before, so they were quite curious about everything. I opened a package of smoked salmon (thanks Greg!) and shared it and they liked it! These are the students who didn't like peanut butter! Go figure! But, they did say it reminded them of ham...guess it was the smoked flavor. One of them was surprised it was pink...they had only seen fish with white meat. I also shared jelly beans and we talked about the rest of the marshmallows, but I didn't share them as I think 12E will use them for their cooking competition on Wednesday.

It is 7:15 in the morning and there is a jack hammer working outside my window already! They are replacing a cement sidewalk with bricks which are used elsewhere on the school grounds. Guess it's my call to get moving this morning.