Lovo and Sopron (May 26)

Before Zoli picked me up for the day I had a wander around Wiener Neustadt.  The name is a misnomer, because it's been around for hundreds of years.  My hotel - Hotel Zentral - is right on the main square which is pedestrianised.  There were markets on, with the most beautiful strawberries and cherries for sale.

This house was originally built in the 1300s, but rebuilt in the 1500s with the sgrafitto decoration.

So many buildings, in the square alone, have a long history, and there are vaulted arcades in front of a lot of shops.

Not far from the town centre, some Turkish cannonballs from the 1500s - 1600s.

A gorgeous bird house with a feed tray tucked in underneath.

Zoli very kindly took on chauffeur duties again.  Heading into Hungary - haven't been here since 1989.

He had the inspired idea of seeing the church where my paternal grandparents got married.  This is the village.

It's a border village, and the name can be loosely translated as "shooting".  I guess they asked questions later.  Here is the church.

We were in luck.  The church was open, with at least half a dozen women cleaning, getting ready for a confirmation service the next day.  The inside was gorgeous.

One of the older ladies got talking to us, and it turned out she knew some of the descendants of my grandmother (my grandfather was from another area).  She was so wonderfully warm and friendly, one thing led to another, and she took us to visit and introduced us to a woman who turned out to be my second cousin.  More than that, this second cousin was born in and continues to live in the house which was the original Varga house.  That is, the house where my grandmother was born and grew up.  It's been modernised over the years, but this is basically the same place.

Overwhelming.  Time for some sustenance.  Chicken soup with liver dumplings

 and my all time favourite dessert, gesztenye puree - sweetened pureed chestnuts with whipped cream.

Sopron was next on the tour.  It's a large centre and used to be part of the Amber Road trading route.  Here is part of the Roman road.

Monday being a holiday - Pentecost Monday - there were fairs everywhere.  Here, we found some traditional and different things.  Wouldn't you love to be a kid and climb into one of these basket swings?

We caught the tail end of a wedding in the old town

and some great live folk music and folk dancing on stage.

Dinner was made by Zoli's wife, Agi; a delicious porkolt with nokedli and a cream cheese dessert. 
An amazing day.