We just returned from Bovec, Slovenia and tomorrow we will head out for a few days in Salzburg, Austria. Bovec was so beautiful it was almost painful to leave the sleepy town and sweeping mountain shadows. I have added the Bovec pictures to a Flickr slideshow, which you can view by clicking the picture below. When we get back from Austria and my parents head back to the states, I’ll finally be able to catch up on all of the block posts from this past month. Happy Fall everyone!
My parents, Györgyi and I just got back from Tuscany and I only have time to post this little we’re back message because in about 20 minutes we are leaving again for Slovenia. Italy was a dream, just as it was when I was 16 years old and in Europe for the first time. I have pictures and stories to share when we are finally back from our travels. Until then, here is the view from our first morning:
This past week, while Györgyi was hard at work, my parents and I visited Memento Park, located in Southern Buda’s 22nd district.
Memento Park is an outdoor museum/graveyard for the remains of Hungary’s soviet statue past.
The skies were overcast, though it didn’t deter the two tourist busses of people from visiting. We went by car, but unless you are on a tour trip through Budapest, you might not even known that it is out there in southern Buda. It’s almost as if there is a feeling from many (including Györgyi) that these little suffering relics of the past shouldn’t get anymore attention.
I’ve been to Memento Park three times now, and I am always left with a lingering creepy feeling. Like most people who visit and who aren’t from a soviet bloc country, my parents thought that the statues were really fascinating and strange.
There are several public transportation options for getting to Memento Park, including a bus that takes you right to the park from the center of the city. I wouldn’t, however, recommend the walking option, which, according to the website is a 20-30-minute walk from Kamaraerdő through the woods. No thanks.
Leaving for Firenze tomorrow. La dolce vita!
The last week has been a rainy mess, so we have been a little bit off of our itinerary plans. Luckily we had a relaxing week in Budapest before the majority of our other traveling begins (Monday we are off to Florence). Last weekend there was a little spot of sunshine and we drove to a few neighboring towns.
Our first stop was Visegrád, which is a town 40K north of Budapest and right on the Danube. The real attraction there is visiting the fortress and getting the most spectacular view of the Danube bend. The Roman initially built a fortress in Visegrád, but the Mongols destroyed it in 13th century. The fortress that we explored was rebuilt in the 13th century when the Mongols left Hungary, during the reign of King Béla IV.
After Visegrád, we drove another 20 minutes northwest to Esztergom to visit its beautiful basilica. Esztergom is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary and it has played a really important religious and royal role through the centuries. The official name of the basilica is the Primatial Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary Assumed Into Heaven and St Adalbert. The title makes me feel a little sorry for the after thought that is St Adalbert. The build itself is the tallest in Hungary and the the 18th largest church in the world. But that’s not all. Plopped down right in the corner in a nice little glass case is the old skull (and a few other bones) of St. Stephen, wrapped, delicately, in white chiffon.
We ended the night by visiting our favorite trout restaurant on the side of the road between the two cities. Trout, almonds, steak potatoes, huge salads and beer was the perfect reward to a very full (and holy) day of traveling.
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For our last full day with the whole family before my Aunt Donna and Ron left for Paris, we headed up to the castle district for a lovely, sunny afternoon. The weather finally broke into some sunshine and we were able to explore Fisherman’s Bastion, Mátyás Templom and the National Gallery. We saw the wooden fixtures that will become the International Wine Festival this week, in addition to sitting at a little cafe for a cappuccino and water.
After the castle, we drove to Szentendre, which is an artsy town about 20 km north of the city. We explored a bit, did some shopping and had a gyro and strudel before returning to Budapest. At about 5 p.m we met at the Marriott where we enjoyed appetizers and drinks in the Executive Lounge, which has a gasp-inducing view of both sides of the river. As the sun set, the National Gallery and Citadel glowed amber and pink and it was the perfect last cocktail hour together in Budapest. That evening, a tour bus picked us up for our Budapest by Night tour, which highlights the best of the city’s nightscape, in addition to a great dinner accompanied by gypsy music and folk dancing. As you will see from the pictures, my Mom was pulled on stage by one of the dancers, with whom she gladly did the csarda dance to end the lovely night.
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Just east of the Mátra mountains is the lovely little town of Eger. While it is recognized for its castle and baths, our main purpose for visiting Eger was to go to St. Andrea winery for a tour and tasting. The region is well known for its wines, but is particularly famous for its “Bulls Blood” red wines. In 1552, 80,000 Turks were advancing toward Eger. Just 2,000 Hungarians, led by Dobó István and including women and children successfully defended the Eger castle. The story goes that during the battle, the Hungarians were drinking the Eger red wine for strength, but all the Turks could see was that the Hungarians had dripping red beards, stained swords and faces. The Turks thought that the Hungarians were drinking bulls blood and were so shocked and scared that the mighty magyars were able to defeat them.
St. Andrea winery is located outside of Eger on a beautiful hillside. We were all very impressed with not only the incredible wines, but with the philosophy of the owners and winemakers. Our guide, Tamás, spoke about how they are searching for the truth in the process, or as he said “the way”. And that more important than selling a million bottles of wine, they want to make a great wine that people appreciate. The tasting was wonderful in addition to the wine, cheese and bread with oil and balsamic vinegar. Inspired by his wife and muse, Andrea, Dr. György Lőrincz’s wines are (like the name of one of his white wine’s suggests) blessings in bottles.
And finally, after the wine tasting, we went back to Eger for dinner right next to the castle at a great restaurant called Imola. The restaurant was recommended by St. Andrea herself, and the food was wonderful. We ordered ham and cheese plates, gulyas soup, beef cheek, stuffed peppers, trout, veal stew and duck. And we were so stuffed from the wine and food that we couldn’t even order desert. So despite the trickling rain and cool weather, it was a beautiful September 1st in Eger.
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On Tuesday night we went to Náncsi Néni, which is a Hungarian restaurant in Budapest’s second district. In my previous post I called it a Hungarian kitchen, which is probably more accurate, because the intention is to provide quality, home-cooked Hungarian classic meals the way that grandma used to make. Of course our family is lucky, since we all have Hungarian grandmothers. But if you aren’t as fortunate, you should definitely make the journey out into the Buda hills to try this fantastic restaurant.
My parents have been hearing about the food here for two years, so Náncsi Néni was a good option to take them away from the unfortunate lack of traditional-style Hungarian cooking in the tourist capital.
The table was covered with candles, cloth and fresh herbs: citrom and oregano. Soon after sitting down, we ordered pálinka as a welcoming drink and a few bottles of wine.
The Hortobágyi palacsinta was a big hit. It’s basically a chicken paprikas stuffed into a crepe. How’s that for a Hungarian description!
All of the food was amazing. Among the group, we had fois gras, gulyas soup, catfish paprikas, trout, duck, breaded chicken and turkey with various potatoes and veggies. And for desert we passed round two different palacsintas (crepes). One had peaches inside and the other was chocolate with cream.
And even though they thought it was a little “strong” at first, everyone really enjoyed the pálinka. Of course, after the first one, the rest go down quite easily!
The wine highlight of the night was definitely a red “Bull’s Blood” from the incredible St. Andrea winery. It was a 2007 and the wine is called “Blessing”. While everyone seemed to enjoy it, we would be in store for many more of St. Andrea’s wonderful creations the next day during our trip to Eger and a private wine tasting at the winery.
Last night we went to Náncsi Néni, which is a fantastic little Hungarian kitchen in the Buda hills. I will write more about it in another post, including some tempting food shots, but this post is about something more important: my Mom’s first pálinka shot.
Pálinka is a very common welcoming drink in Hungary.
It is fruit brandy, and can range in flavors and strengths. At our table, Györgyi ordered us plum and apricot pálinka.
It took a minute for her to react.
I call this the pálinka shoulder shake.
And you probably wont’t believe me,
but after it was over, she had another one. And liked it!
