An Abbey-Normal Day at Lake Balaton

Greetings to all of you Young Frankenstein fans out there! Today was a travel day into the Western Hungarian countryside to visit Alcoa in Szekesfehervar (impress your friends at parties by pronouncing and spelling that one!) and Lake Balaton. We started off at the Alcoa plant where the managers there took us step by step through the process of making forged aluminum wheels for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Unfortunately but understandably, we couldn't take any pictures inside the facility, so I got a few students to pose by the sign on our way out. The thing that struck most of us about the visit was the amount of automation present in the facility. We only saw about 20 or 30 workers in our 90-minute walk through the facility; the vast majority of the work is done by manufacturing robots, which was really neat to see.

After Alcoa we stopped at a restaurant that had outdoor seating in a beautiful garden and had a great lunch. We then drove another hour out to Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Europe. The water there is famous for its pristine blue-green color, and they even have a ban on motorboats on the lake to maintain the natural beauty.

High on a hill overlooking Lake Balaton is the Benedictine Abbey of Tihany. It houses the remains of one of the first and only kings of Hungary dating back to the 11th Century. The interior of the abbey is unexpectedly ornate, with beautiful statues and trim carved out of wood and painted to look like they are made of marble. Outside of the abbey is the small village of Tihany with its many outdoor cafes and shops. We walked around there for a few hours and then endured the two-hour ride back to Budapest.

Tomorrow we have a tour of the Hungarian Parliament building followed by a short city tour by bus. Then we have another free afternoon. So long until then!