JUST DOWN THE ROAD APIECE

13th Century Ruins Zsambek Hungary

View of Ruins from Country Inn

Vineyard at Zsambek Country Inn

Dinner in the Countryside Inn Zsambek Hungary

The afternoon was warm and it was a little late but Jason and Gabi were up for a ride, just for a change of scenery. I'm not really any help in choosing a destination, because I don't know what's where, but Gabriella suggested a little suburb that she thought might have a playground. After filling the bottles and packing the diaper bag and putting 2 strollers into the trunk, we all piled into the car, ( a Citroen Picasso Xara for the detail oriented amongst you )and headed out toward Budakaeiszi. (No spellcheck here). It's a beautiful small town just outside the city limits on the Buda side of the river and it didn't take long to get there.Since the day was perfect, the kids were quiet and the old trailblazer hormones were strong, we just kept on going.
Another 4 or 5 kilometers brought us unexpectedly face to face with ruins of a 13th century church outlined against a seamless blue sky, in the small village of Zsambek. As we crested a hill and turned a corner, directly in front of us, in majestic serenity, were the ruins of a gothic church which has been standing in this place from before the time the Jews were expelled from Spain and Columbus sailed for "the new world". These thirteenth century ruins
are preserved in exquisite detail, against all probability, and seem to stand as silent observer to humankinds endlessly futile attempts to rise above himself.
Across the road and up a short path we saw a small vineyard and restaurant and decided to try our luck.As we went up the stone staircase, and turned onto the covered patio, there was a view of the ruins framed by the grape vines whose trellis was holding up the patio where we stood. I think it was the closest I've ever come to feeling like I was in a postcard and I had to pinch myself to realize that little Lynne Rosen from Beaumont Ave was really here!

After we had an amazing dinner (see photo) we took home a generous sampling of the vineyards yield which was judged to be thoroughly acceptable by those in the know.
It was a really special day and made forever memories for us all. I'm so glad we were all open to the possibilities that came to us and just went down the road a piece to see what else was there.