P-DAY EXPLORING

What an opportunity we have had to enjoy riding bicycles here in Eger on P-day.  The bicycles were donated to the mission by a very nice American couple who were here in Europe making a 600 mile bike trek that followed the Danube river form Germany to Hungary.  They did not want to ship them home so the bikes will stay here for missionary use.  We took the bike trails north of Eger and covered about 10 miles.  We saw some pretty interesting scenery and witnessed some interesting country life. There are many people here that ride bikes, since owning a car is not as necessary as in the US.  Cars are expensive and drivers licenses are hard to get.  Thankfully the public transportation is pretty good here.  Out on the trail we saw something that I wish I had a picture of.  One man was coming from Eger with a wheel barrow filled with lumber which looked like finish work lumber.  Another man on a bicycle with a load of scrap wood tied to the rack crosswise.  His load took up most of the width of the bike trail.  This was probably his fire wood since most of the houses in the country have wood burning stoves for heat.  Several more bikes passed us carrying back packs and sacks full of scrap metal.  At first we could not figure it out but later down the trail we came to a scrap metal yard and we saw the men waiting in line to have their metal weighed.

Riding Bikes in the country is the best way to really see your surroundings and get a feel of what country life is like.

Interconnecting trails tie these small towns together.

This street is much wider than you will see in most small towns.  Nice to see greenery on both sides.  Very few homes have a front yard.  The back yard much more important.

Along the edge of the hills there are lots of these cellar doors.  Most of them we have seen are wine cellars.  This one is under the big yellow church so not sure what it would be used for.

Our favorite part of the bike trail was following the little stream.

The bike trail in Eger close to the center square and our apartment. Elder Peterson is carrying fresh fruit and veggies we bought on our way home.  We almost feel Hungarian.

More of the wonderful trail.