day 3: Again slept very well until 7 am... haven't slept so long. I did take another ibuprofen about 2 am. Gyongyi (not the same person as Gyorgyi !) prepared the traditional Hungarian breakfast...Hungarian peppers, salami, jam, rye bread, juice. cheese and coffee (espresso). This will be the last time I mention what we had for breakfast unless there is a change. Following breakfast Gyongyi drove up to the hill farm. It really is on top of the hill overlooking Kis Balaton To( little lake Balaton). There was a very nice breeze. She picked fresh carrots, potatoes, peppers and parsley. The grapes are tiny this year and may not yield a big crop, if any. There are also apple and pear trees. Lots of apples but fewer pears. The house in the garden is very nice. Kitchen, washroom, living room and a lovely bit outdoor porch. The basement houses the grape making stuff. It was interesting to hear that a lot of the owners of the other houses on the hill were Germans. The cost of these 2nd houses is prohibitive for some Hungarians. It was a very interesting drive back through the hills and dales. Once back, Gyongyi started making lunch (ebed- pron eh-bed). We are having stuffed peppers in tomato sauce. This is the same recipe that I use at home. The taste is identical. Tamas returned just before lunch (ebed) and had my cell-phone working. He got a new sim card. I tried it out and it works beautifully. It is a very warm day, about 30 C and sunny. A small breeze. At about 2:30 pm, I decide to go for a walk... to Zalakaros to the bank. It is hot but I go...sunscreen and a hat. It is a hot trek. I get to the bank to find out that they closed at 1:30 pm on Friday and won't be open till Monday 7:30 am. I stopped at an ice-cream place (szukor...something-or-other) szukor means sugar. I ordered a faglalt (ice cream cone)... lemon with strawberry on top. I misunderstood the waitress. She said 200 HUF (Hungarian Forints) for each. I had only 320 HUF. Fortunately they took euros. So I got some HUF and euros as change. I ate the ice cream in the air conditioned store. I cooled off a bit. I went out and tried to see if there was an ATM nearby... couldn't. I started the long walk (about 3 km) back. I spotted a small store that sold everything and bought a Magnum ice cream bar. Only 470 HUF compared to the 2.5 Euros I paid in Helsinki (1 euro = 305 HUF today). So I continued on my walk back happily eating the Magnum bar.

A cold beer was waiting at the house !

About 4 pm Violetta, Szabolcs, and children (Virag 8, David 6, and Rebecca 1.5) arrived. There was much talking and exchanging of stories. Violetta speaks fluent English and Szabolcs pretty good English.

Gyongyi was busy making a small meal (supper is usually much smaller than the luncheon meal). She made deep fried Zucchini. I watched her. Zucchini peeled and cross cut with the seeds removed. Each ring (look like onion rings) was dragged through flour, then beaten egg, then through bread crumbs. She used sunflower oil to deep fry the rings. They were eaten with either mustard-mayonnaise or mustard. They are really good.

Of course we started off with palinka and yet another cold beer.

After supper we sat outside and had one more beer with peanuts and chatted about the tragedy of the passenger airplane that had been shot down over the Ukraine.

I am off to blog at 9 pm and pay some bills at the Internet banking site. I had no problems this time.

Nancy wrote that she was having trouble with a bowel blockage. I hope things are OK for her. I wrote a couple of emails to her.