Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Christmas in Sirok















HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!! Here's hoping 2009 will be healthy, wealthy and kind.




We moved to Sirok at the end of November when the weather turned really cold and we had a couple of days of snow. We now have a large wood burning stove which keeps up warm. Erika and I have also been busy finishing off the basement ready for visitors so we now have a shower and 2 toilets and a separate bedroom down there. There's still work to be done but at least it's functional and we can accomodate guests.




I've posted some pictures since we moved in here. The first 2 are of our Sirok house on Christmas day, the next is overlooking Sirok from the castle in November and the final one is of some of our garden furniture and lighting at our Almar house.



We attended midnight mass on Christmas Eve (1st time in a church voluntarily for me) and awoke to a white Christmas the following morning. We spent Christmas day together but did our "bit" for the local landlady by taking her a traditional English Christmas dinner round as she was working a 14 hour day otherwise she wasn't going to be able to celebrate at all.




My friend Tony has just flown out and spent a week with us which was great. We spent New Year's Eve in Eger which was a different experience. All the pubs and bars were closed but a handfull of restaurants were open so we had a few drinks in one of them then went to the main square to watch the firework display. It seems that most Hungarians spend the night with family/friends and those that venture out bring their won alcohol.
Unfortunately we've had more problems with our car so we don't know when we'll be able to return to England to visit our families and friends. We may just fly out in February instead of risking driving across Europe.




My teaching is going great although I've stopped teaching adults as they were hit and miss as to whether they turned up for lessons so I'm looking to teach more kindergarten classes in other nurseries which is what I really enjoy.




On January 2nd we had 2 visitors from Japan who I'd contacted over the internet. They were only in Eger for a couple of days and wanted to get out and about to see some of Hungary so we found out what they wanted to do and drove them around for the day, visiting Sirok castle, Mezokovezsed and Szepasszonyvolgy. They were thoroughly happy with the excursion as they got to see a lot more than they would otherwise have been able to.
This year we are really going to push letting our Sirok house out so if anyone wants to visit Hungary and be shown around then please let us know. It sleeps up to 5 and we will let it out on a daily basis so those that are just passing through also get to experience the beauty and hospitality of our village. We also want to promote daily tours and excursions, whether it be visiting local attractions, fishing trips, motorbiking tours or walks through the forests. All excursions will be taylor made to individual's requirements.
We can be contacted at pd.em@tiscali.co.uk




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