Europe-oly

Marty & Barbara drinking Tokaj wine in the Hungarian Embassy

Today Marty and I attended the European Union Open House event in Washington DC.  Once a year the embassy's of the European Union host an "Open house" where they invite the public inside to experience the cultural of that country.  We started our day with at our favorite B&B in Takoma park, then rode the metro into the city.  We picked up an official European pamphlet which featured the location of the embassies as well as 8 spots to have "stamped" as we attempted the tour.

Let me begin by saying that the embassies are located all over D.C. There were four "groupings" by area on the pamphlet, and we began by heading out to Slovakia and Austria, which coincidentally are neighbors in D.C. as well as in Europe.  Walking through the doors of Slovakia, we were greeted with samples of homemade Haluski and from that moment, our enthusiasm caused us to tackle as many of the houses as our feet could handle. 

 
Security was extremely heightened, and we found ourselves standing in long lines waiting to go through metal detectors and have our coats and personal items searched by nearly every embassy.  That certainly took up a lot of time, but we met some delightful people while waiting in line. 

We ate Haluski in Slovakia, tasted pastries and coffee in Austria, had some Tokaj wine in Hungary where we also managed to pet some very cute Hungarian dogs.  Marty feasted on Czech Goulash while quenching his thirst with a Pilsner.  We were certain that Lithuania was our favorite embassy when we found ourselves being offered free beer, bread, cheese and chocolates, without having to go through a search at the door,  but then we headed to Poland and found ourselves with free Kielbasa, pierogies and beer.  Needless to say, a new favorite was found.

Marty and I managed to fill all 8 stamps, and actually visited two more, for a total of ten embassies. I think we passed "Go" a few times, but didn't collect $200.00.  Luckily we didn't end up in jail either!

Fun with Family & Fish: What more could you ask for?

Today the long anticipated meeting of Marty and my Slovak cousin, Mary, was fulfilled!   Mary is my fellow "Takach" family genealogist.  Her father and my grandmother were siblings, so we share the bond of tracing the family from Slovakia to Pennsylvania, and, lucky for me, Mary speaks and reads fluent Slovak, which has come in handy on many occasions!

Now that Marty and Mary are facebook friends, Marty felt that it was finally time for them to meet, and Mary was equally excited.  She welcomed us into her home where her lovely daughter, Diane, had prepared a delicious lunch for us.  You'll note Mary standing with me, holding a DQ Ice Cream Cake which was truly scrumptious!  What a real treat!

Marty and Mary really hit it off, and he is looking forward to a return trip sometime in the near future when we can spend a bit more time together.  Mary and I didn't even have time to delve into much genealogy!  We did talk a bit about last year's adventure to the town where Mary's parents grew up before emigrating, but there's much more that we need to catch up on before too much time slips by!

Since Mary lives only 5.4 miles from the Bass Pro Shops, Marty couldn't resist stopping in for a "quick" look.  Lucky for me, Sunday hours are only until 6:00 p.m., so we only had about 25 minutes to wander through the place, but he didn't waste any time checking out the items of most interest to him.

Marty sports his new Bass Pro Shops while sitting on a "Fish" Bench

I've decided that the next time that we make the trip to visit Mary, Marty will have to drop me off, so that Mary and I can really talk genealogy, and Marty can spend as much time as he likes in the Bass Pro Shops.  This way we'll both be able to enjoy our favorite things.

No offense to you, Mary.  I'm sure Marty likes you more than fish.  But he'd definitely put this place ahead of the genealogy.