Pilgrimage to Pannonhalma

This weekend we went on a bus trip with some of the other teachers from school. Actually, it seemed to be an event that was sponsored by either the Máriapócs town council or the local church, we weren't too sure. In any case, we did know that there would be a lot of Máriapócsans coming on the trip and we would be visiting a number of churches on our journey. We were a bit wary about this plan as we've seen quite a number of churches in our time here in Hungary and to our eyes they all look much the same as one another. But still, it would be fun to travel with our friend and colleagues so we agreed to be pilgrims for the weekend.

One important factor that we had to take into account before we left was that we couldn't take Iago on the trip with us, so we had to find someone who would be willing to feed him while we were away. Luckily, one of our students in Grade 3 was more than happy to come around and feed and walk our poor lonely dog. Actually, I think she was so excited to do it that Iago might have been all walked out by the time we got home late Sunday night.

We all piled onto the bus at 5am on Friday morning. There were many familiar faces including Sanyi, Zoli, and Laima. We were all pretty tired from waking up early but pretty upbeat about going on an exciting journey! The drive to Budapest was fairly painless, I caught up on some reading, and chatted to Amanda and Laima. Once we got to Budapest, we had our first stop of the day at Heroes Square. We've been to Heroes Square a few times in the past, but it's always very impressive. We wandered around, listened to some interesting history and took our photos with the statues.

The highlight of the day was Pannonhalma. This town has been the site of a Benedictine abbey for over a thousand years, with the first Christian king of Hungary endorsing the site himself. There were records of the site also being used as a holy place in Roman times so its seemed certainly worth seeing. We were staying in what seemed to be accommodation for pilgrims, so although it had a very prison-like entrance way it was actually quite comfortable.
 
We arrived at the accommodation early in the afternoon so we had time to head over to the abbey. Once we got there, we assembled for a short introductory video then went on a guided tour. The abbey grounds were simply beautiful. It was all very well tended and yet with a sense of unrestrained growth that gave them a clean, green and peaceful feeling. The abbey itself was also really impressive with plenty of interesting history. The main tower was really quite stunning, and had an interesting challenge in its crypt. According to our guide, the crypt was home to a special alcove that supposedly once held St Stephan's throne. The guide told us that anyone who could sit in this alcove with their feet touching the floor would be the next king of Hungary. Now,  Amanda may or may not have been sitting very firmly on the alcove, but there is now a real chance that Hungary may be having a royal coronation some time soon.

The other area that was quite neat was the library. The abbey is home to many students who are taught by the monks. The attached school is considered to be one of the best high schools in Hungary and the library certainly holds up to this standard with many impressive works and features. One of the more impressive sights was a copy of the first ever official Hungarian-language document. It didn't live up to the standard of the more modern beaurocratic documents that we've seen however, as it only required on signature (albeit King Stephan's) and was only two pages long.

We ended our first night away with a meal at a local restaurant and then went back to the pilgrim accomodation for beer, palinka and whiskey. Good times.

- Daniel.