Well, the weekend finally rolled around and so we decided to show Dave that there is more to Hungary than just our tiny little town. The three of us set off on Saturday morning for Tokaj, Hungary's premier white wine region. Daniel and I were hoping to replenish our white wine supply, while Dave just seemed pleased to be leaving the house :)
On the way to Tokaj we passed through Nyíregyháza and stopped to check out a large wholesale flea market on the outskirts of the city. I must admit that I was a little hesitant to stop because the place was absolutely crawling with people and well, it looked like some kind of crazy ghetto shanty town, but it turned out to be absolutely awesome. There were heaps of stalls and a large variety of cheap items for sale. We spent some time wandering around buying a bunch of stuff we didn't really need (well, except for Dave who was really disciplined), then decided to continue on to Tokaj.
In hindsight, I wish we'd spent more time at the market because Tokaj was like a ghost town by comparison. All of the wine cellars were closed, none of the shops were open and most of the streets were deserted. We couldn't even get a good look at the gorgeous river running by the town because a heavy cloud of fog made it impossible to see much at all. Still, we wandered around for a bit, then decided to grab a drink at the one place that was open - the local biker bar. Again, I was a little apprehensive, but the lure of hot chocolate on such a cold day eventually triumphed over my fear of running afoul of a vicious gang of leather-clad bikies. I needn't have worried. The biker bar was completely empty and we were able to sip our hot chocolates in comfort while watching the Disney Channel on TV. It was strange.
After Tokaj we headed home and began preparations for our attendance at a school fundraising ball in Mátészalka (at the school where I teach once a week). Dave ironed his first shirt EVER and Daniel and I reluctantly scoured the back of our closet for our formal clothes. We've gotten so used to wearing cargo pants and trackies to work that it was rather shocking to have to don something else. Still, we eventually managed to make ourselves presentable and we headed off to the ball.
It turned out to be a great night. The evening started with modern dance performances from some of the younger students, but the real highlight was the traditional Hungarian folk dancing routines performed by a troupe of past pupils. I've seen similar dances before in Hungary, of course, but they never cease to impress me. The male dancers are particularly awesome. They seem to get all the good moves and they make a hell of a lot of noise stamping their feet and slapping their boots and thighs. I took a video of one of the dances. It's a little long (5ish minutes) but I just didn't have the heart to edit it.
The rest of the evening was also enjoyable. There are many English speaking teachers at the school in Mátészalka so we were able to converse with a number of my colleagues, and of course the palinka and Unicum were flowing freely all night. Egészségedre!
- Amanda
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