Vilmany!

We found it! Vilmany, Hungary is the very small town in which my Grandpa Orosz grew up until he migrated to the states. Its a beautiful 2 hour drive northeast of Budapest. Who needs a yellow-brick road when you have miles and miles of yellow sunflowers to show the way? Once we arrived to the town we pulled up to the first church we saw, which was well past its prime. Assumptions got the best of me and I took several pictures assuming this was the church that my Dad had always told me about. After trying the door we went to the next, much newer, temple to inquire about a key. This one turned out to the the church of my childhood stories. A long game of charades with the locals finally proved fruitful. I somewhat explained to them that I was an Orosz and the man on the marker was my great-grandfather. They were more than happy to show me inside the church, his picture and his old house, a few doors down. On the way back we stopped at a local fruit stand and indulged in some of the sweetest peaches and a watermelon to take home.

 

Miles and miles of my favorites!

 

The girls and I in front of the phony, old church

Back of the old church

Finally found it!

Zoomed in

Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma,
and I never even knew we shared a name!

Beautiful rose garden out front

My favorite picture

Picture of the grandparents!

  I'm still working on the translation, but the framed paper is about the history of Vilmany dating back to 1333!

Inside the church, there were too many details to capture how exquisite it was.

 Cross by the entrance. 

The locals said Grandpa Orosz made crosses but I'm not sure if he made this one or not.

 Grandpa's house

Castle of Boldogko in the background, 
named after the cliff's resemblance to a "Resting Lion."

The fruit stand we stopped by on the way back home. 

Travel Time

The past few days Laura, the girls and I have been prepping for our trip to Budapest, Hungary. On Friday we soaked up some sun at the Aqwa, which is an outdoor water park of sorts. Saturday, we packed and planned for our trip. Last night we spent the night in Salzburg, the home of Mozart and The Sound of Music. It's a no wonder they say the hills are alive. Some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever experienced has been driving through the Austrian Alps. Today was a very long day of travel. After downloading the Eastern European maps, several hours of completely stopped traffic, language barriers and monetary exchange we finally arrived in Budapest. On the outskirts is a town called Oroszlany, which I thought was the coolest thing known to mankind. In the morning we are off to explore the city, I'm more giddy than any child could be.

Dinner in Salzburg, Austria

Beautiful home in Salzburg, Austria

Town outside Budapest

Eagle statue on Castle Hill

Two hour traffic jam on the way to Budapest

Turkey stuffed with green onions and potato croquettes,
 dinner my first night in Hungary

Here goes...

I'm spending the summer (and fall) in Deutschland with my cousin and her two lovely daughters. Everywhere I turn looks like another postcard. After an exhausting day of travel yesterday I couldn't wait to wake up this morning and go for a run. That ended up being a little more of an experience than I had initially planned. Tomorrow morning I'll have to pay more attention to the street signs, Ha! When the girls got home from their last day of school we headed into Heidelberg and down to Neckar Valley for an afternoon of play by the riverside. I'm still getting used to all the settings on my new camera, so bare with me(:

Good morning run along the corn fields behind the house...

  

...Past the first church..

...and missed my turn past the 2nd church.

Wall along side the Neckar River.

This one is for you, Mom. Ten foot wall covered in beautiful blossoming orange trumpets.

I can't get enough of the European architecture. Sections of Heildelberg Castle, in the background, are from 1400!

Neckar Riverbank 

Just water under the bridge(;