HOPE IN HUNGARY: Spring Break in Germany

The Easter holiday here in Hungary always begins on the Thursday before Easter and ends on the next Tuesday. We decided to accept the invitation of friends in Germany to visit them in the heart of Bavaria. On Thursday morning we jumped on the Railjet, clearly the fastest train in this part of the world, heading for Munich. The beautiful countryside of western Hungary, Austria, and southern Germany flew by us, giving us brief glimpses of bright yellow rapeseed fields, farmers out in their fields, and forests of light green in their early stages of leafing out. In Munich we were able to catch, by running through the station, a packed regional train heading for Regensburg. There our friends Garry and Debi picked us up for the drive to their village of Velburg.

We met Garry and Debi at a party hosted by mutual friends here in Budapest last Thanksgiving. They both work for the Department of Defense at Hohenfels Army Base. He works in a family services office and she teaches music at the elementary school. Their hospitality and generosity were wonderful, to see the least. With such fantastic weather and good friends and great experiences, this was a vacation we will long remember.

On Friday morning we climbed the hill behind Velburg to explore the ruins of a castle, reputed to be over 700 year old. The view was spectacular. Then we drove to "the post" where we saw Garry's office and Debi's school, followed by a shopping trip to the comissary. How odd for us to see all the American brand-names on the shelves, and the customers making their purchases in US dollars! That afternoon we hiked up the hill across from the village, where we stepped into a small church (it was Good Friday afternoon) and also found a geocache in a cave that Garry and Debi never knew existed. Just have to report that dinner that night was just delicious: T-bones steaks done to perfection on the grill. After dinner we began an intense series of games of Euchre. More on that later...

Saturday was spent in Regensburg, just seeing the sights; stepping into some churches, checking out some shops, crossing the bridge dating back to 1146 over the Donau (Duna, Danube), tasting bratwurst and different beers, and doing lots of walking. That evening we went to one of the local brew houses, Winklerbrau. Wonderful Bavarian cooking!!! Then back home for some limoncello and round two of Euchre.

We woke up with the early birds on Easter morning, aiming to get to "the post" for a 7:00 "sunrise" service. Driving to the base takes about fifteen minutes, and the check-in procedure adds another 7 or 8 minutes. It was quite interesting being surrounded by Americans, singing old hymns in English, and following it all up with a buffet breakfast of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. After returning to Velburg we hiked to a rock formation called "The Mushroom". The sunny and warm weather was so enjoyable all day long. Our late mid-day meal consisted of the local delicacy, schweinebraten prepared by Debbie; it was fantastic! And when the neighbor came over with one of his own red wines, the meal was complete. (Dessert consisted of more Euchre!) Late that afternoon we visited some friends of Garry and Debi, and then returned home for the fourth and final round of Euchre. We four all believe that the men and women tied, after playing twelve or thirteen rounds! We'll go back for a continuation of the competition.

On Monday we said our "goodbyes", Debi dropped us off at the train station in Parsberg, and we caught the 8:15 train to Munich. Still beautiful weather! We were happy that our hotel was only a ten minute walk from the station, and we were able to check-in before heading into Munich. We headed first to the old-town square where we waited for the noon "performance" of the glockenspiel. Then we checked out some gardens, both flower and beer. The English Garden is a miniature Central Park with thousands of people enjoying the warm weather. At one point a part of the river is channeled through a very narrow sluice; here surfers jump in to ride the wave, and going back and forth to do it. The Hofbrauhaus was a must-see; the beer was expensive (and good), but we saved our dining experience for the Augustiner Beer Garden. The delicious meal was a wonderful way to cap off our visit to Germany.