Went to Eger for the weekend. I found the cozyness of a small town that is highly touristized. Got hounded by a well-dressed "beggar" and drank more alcohol than I ever have before. What's laughable is that today's language class was about how to identify the different kinds of alcoholic beverages and how to order them...and homework was a list of numbers, fruits, vegetables and...to order beer/wine at a eatery/pub. But back to Eger...youth hostels were closed (or we didn't know how to get into one) so we ended up in Tourist Motel, very clearly named for those who do not speak Hungarian. 2200 Ft per night per person...expensive but not if you convert it back to USDs. Eger is the place to go for wineries. The vineyards themselves were beautiful, rows and rows or frosty grapes, overlooking little village houses. Beautiful. Wine tasting was new to me...for a minimum of 50 Ft, you get a very decent sized (bout half a pint) glass of wine...the guys profitted of me a lot cause I could take no more than a mililiter of wine per glass (hey, there were tons of wine cellars to visit!). It was rather fun to see Nate loosen up...he laughed and joked about more. Ben smiled during the whole wine tasting process and Eric was just plain grinny happy. Kim and Jeff were themselves and thank goodness no one got super drunk cause I wouldn't be able to handle everyone. The best part for me is getting to know the people better (Ben's sacarsm is great! and he does remind me of Nathan) and the folk dancing that first night. We were walking around the town center and heard music, violin, drums, bongols, somekinda whistle, voice. Reminded me of Scottish/Irish music. These people were dancing around, real dance steps, not just moving their bodies. Not often is clean dancing seen. A few older men and women were dancing as if remembering the days when they were young and agile. We (not me...I was camara holder) joined in the circle..it was fun to watch. I think it's one way to attract tourist and it's also nice to see the community spirit involved. Hungarians do not smile much to strangers, and it was nice to see laughter on their faces just then.