Balaton

We ate lunch on our ride back to Krakow from Auschwitz and the rest of the afternoon students had free.  It takes time to absorb the Auschwitz experience.  The deeper effect of the visit may only emerge much later at home when students show family and friends their pictures.

So for dinner this evening I chose a place that's tried and true, an older and still dependable restaurant on Grodzka street, just a block from the Rynek: the Hungarian restaurant Balaton---named for a lake in Hungary.  This restaurant was one of the better ones during the Communist decades, known for spicy food and endless bottles of Egri Bikaver, a Hungarian red.  It's still here, less elegant by today's standards; its metal-framed front windows and lucite door handle date back to the 1970s and the interior is the same, with red and green placemats.  But Balaton is friendly and not crowded (tourists go to newer, Italian style places). perhaps just happy to have survived and to have us. It's also early (you can see that it's light outside), so even as a large group of 15 we get great service. Chris (above, on the left) is delighted; his family is Hungarian.  Our waitress suggests some reliable dishes and one, of course, is goulash which comes to the table in its little chafing dish. Everything else is great too.