ManWomanDogVan: September 2020

We spent a few days in Péc s before going to Zalakaros, a spa town near the Balaton. As Brexit and Covid is having an effect on our plans and spending more time with my Mum would also be great, we have started to seriously consider buying a house there and put our travel plans on hold for a while. We did find a place that we liked, not least because it used to have a wine-bar in the garden that could be re-launched. We have put an offer in then returned to Pecs to help my Mum with the harvesting. (Mostly grapes and apples.) Harvesting done and negotiations for the house ongoing, we set off again, to do a quick tour of the country.

Although we have been to Hungary many times in the past, we rarely went further east then the Danube. This time we worked our way around the eastern and northern borders of the country. Our first stop was at Baja, a lovely town by the Danube. We went to the Opusztaszeri National Heritage Park next, but decided not to go in at the end (we visited the park before) and continued to Gyula instead. We arrived early evening, parked up by a massive playground next to the castle and went for a stroll. It was really nice to see families still out enjoying themselves in the warm evening.

The following day we headed to Debrecen. We went on the back roads (I suppose all roads here are back roads) and sadly, they were the worst of all the roads we have been on so far. There was an actual sign on the road to say “faults in the road” – they were not kidding…

Anyway after an hour of being shaken about, we were stopped by the police. Apparently non-Hungarian residents were only allowed to travel across the country on their way to their destination (due to Covid). We were Ok thought, as we have the all-important Hungarian address card, which is a kind of ID, and so we were sent on our merry way.

Debrecen is the largest town on the east, near the Romanian border. We spent most of our time in the University quarter, which has seen a lot of investment in recent years. The swimming pool is world class, the facilites feature a competitive long course pool, a warm up pool, a training pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and an outdoor thermal bath as well as a large, Pirate themed kiddie’s pool. It is impressive even just to look at.

We have stopped at the Bell House in Hajdúszoboszló before visiting Szatmárcseke, a small village close to the Ukranian border. It is known for a rather peculiar cemetery, where nearly all the approximately 600 grave markers are carved from dark oak in the shape of upturned boats bearing human-like faces. It is also the resting place of Ferenc Kölcsey, the poet who wrote the national anthem of Hungary in 1823.

After a quick stop at Sarospatak we walked up to the Tarn of Megyer-hegy, a lake up on the hill. It is not a very long walk, maybe 45 min or so, but by the time we made thru the vineyards in the 30+ Centigrade heat and blazing sun, Harley has had enough, and decided to just lie down under a bush, thank you very much. So we just sat there, in the dirt for a while, until he cooled down enough to do the final push to the top. It was well worth it thought. The lake and the surrounding area is beautiful and it includes some little caves and a Via Ferrata track, which stretches for 650 meters on the vertical rock walls.

We stayed at Tokaj (the most famous Hungarian wine region) for the night and sampled the local brew. Yes, it was really nice!

The following day we visited the castle at Diosgyõr, before meeting with family for a beer and a chat in the evening.

The Thermal Cave bath of Miskolctapolca is unique in Europe, and a must see. We spent a lovely evening here.

We stayed the night at Lillafured, which is a beautiful holiday resort built between 1927 and 1930 in the Bükk Mountains, in neo-Renaissance style. The hotel is surrounded by hanging gardens, caves, a waterfall, and a lake just to mention a few points of interest.

After the rather lovely morning at Lillafured, we went onto to a much more sombre place, the Recski National Memorial Park. This used to be a forced labour camp between 1950 and 1953, holding political prisoners. Most of it has been destroyed, but there is quite a bit of documentation about it, and a few buildings including a wooden shack that used to house the prisoners, have been preserved.

We were back to visiting castles the following day. First the Salgó castle near Somoskőújfalu then the neighburing Šomoška castle at Šiatorská Bukovina right on the Hungarian/Slovakian border. These are quite small castles, the first hardly more than a watchtower. The second one is unique thought, as it is built of unconventional hexagonal basalt pillars and there is a basalt rock-waterfall at its base.

We ended the afternoon at Vác, where Hamish went to visit some mummies. They were found during the renovations of the local cathedral, apparently lost in the blocked up catacombs for 150 years.

We spent a lovely evening with a friend before finding a parking spot for the night on our way back to the Balaton.

After skirting around the southern side of the lake we were back to Zalakaros for a couple of days before returning to Pecs.

September 2020 - Part 1 Map