[Our first river trip was to Kalocsa.  It is one of the oldest towns in Hungary, noted for its paprika.  It’s population is only 18,000 . . . so think Alex plus La Grand township.  Our first stop was at St. Joseph’s church where one of our tour guides introduced an organ recital by a local priest . . . ]

[And here he is!  Blew our socks off with Bach!!]

[Reetz ponders the meaning of life . . . as well as the state of IU basketball!]

[If you guessed “in the church,” you win a cookie.]

[Should you ever deign to visit Kalocsa, here’s a handy-dandy map for you.]

[The city may be small but is of some import.  This is St. Mary Cathedral in Holy Trinity Square . . . ]

[And this is the Archbishop Palace.  Yup, they housed an archbishop.]

[Various statuary in the Square, accented by The Biddies.]

[Leaving the city (and the Cathedral), we passed Franz Liszt, the great Hungarian composer who visited Kalocsa many times.]

[On the road again, through the Great Hungarian Plain.  Karen also ponders the state of IU basketball as we pass by another rapeseed field.]

Do you like horses?

[We were busing inland from Kalosca to see a performance of traditional Puszta horsemanship.  Now, I’m not a horse guy, but this was a terrific show with skilled riders and well-trained horses.]

[This guy entertained our arrival with traditional Hungarian flute.]

[The Super checks things out . . . ]

[Popcorn, peanuts, Cracker Jack!]

[The family Gross settled into the first row.  I’m glad we didn’t . . . ]

[First, the beasts of burden (I know how you feel guys – I’ve been on shopping trips with the Supervisor!).]

[The guy with the cute “little ass” was a crowd favorite.]

[There was a mud puddle in front of where we were sitting (intentionally, we believe), so whenever they flew by at a high rate of speed we got splattered a bit.  Kind of like being at a Gallagher concert.  And the guy riding the 10 horses at once is like one more horse away from setting a world record!]

[I wanna pet the baby!]

[Wagon ride!]

[Who has more fun than The Biddies?  (Or did I ask that already?)]

[Cows!]

[Cornelia and Reetz reminisce about the good ole days.  Remember the night we got into the slivovitz? Oy!!]

[Never, ever turn your back on a 70-year old woman with a whip in her hand!  Well, it was time to shop at the horse place.]

[Take my picture with this flowery bush.]

[Then it was back to the boat for “in case the boat sinks” practice.]

[We’re No. 1!]

[Destined to be a family Gross holiday card photo for years to come.]

[This is Jarl.  Our boat was named after him.  He was a grandson of Odin.  Quite the dude.]

[Our final quick stop in Hungary.  Mohacs is a customs check point.  The countries along our route are in various stages of application to the European Union.  Until then, you have to play the passport game.]

[From Mohacs we round the bend heading for Croatia.]

[And here’s their customs boat lest they have to run us down.]

[Once again, your job is to match the food to the menu . . . ]

[Say good night, Gracie.]

If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.  ~  Katherine Hepburn

Up next:  A surprise?