Wine and wild beasts

Hungary kept raining on us relentlessly.

Thinking that if there is water from above, maybe water from below would be the right course to take, we went do Miskolc, apparently one of the best thermal spas in the country.

Well, we never got a chance to find out. After standing in line, in the rain, for 45 minutes without anyone in front of us being let in, but plenty of people coming out, and the line behind us getting longer and longer, my human had enough and left, only slightly frustrated…

We then drove on to Sarospataki. Just a few kilometers out of town lies the Megyer Hill Tarn, a man made lake that used to be a millstone mine. The lake is only 6 meters deep but the rock faces around it stand up to 70 meters tall - a must see, weˋve been told.

Well, what can I say, it obviously looked a lot more inviting in the brochure than with gray skies and a constant drizzle. Still pretty, though.

Not letting the weather deter her, my human went on a walk in the surrounding woods regardless and came back with the hood of her rain jacket full of blackberries.

Something to lighten up the mood!

We had a look around Sarospatak the next morning, checking out the historically significant Rakoczi Castle. The foundations of the building reach back a thousand years. It only became important in the 17th Century, though, when it became the center of political resistance in Hungary

The cityˋs town hall

When was Gaudi here?

The nearby village of Hercegkut is home to around 130 wine cellars which were built into the actual vineyards by settlers from the Swabian Forest in the 18th Century.

Now we moved into the Tokaj region, famous for itˋs wines the world over, 5.600 hectares of it.

There are no reds, as the law only allows white wines to be produced here.

Tokaj aszu is the most famous of them all. It is basically made out of rotten grapes, has a sugar content somewhere up from 160 grams per liter and is quite delicious, as we found out in a wine tasting. 

The six wines we tried went from 1,9 grams of sugar to the above mentioned. Letˋs just say that the first four were not so much to our taste.

The town itself is rather sleepy, unless you arrive in the middle of an international orienteering competition, as we did. Running people with maps in their hands everywhere, old, young, fit, not so much, everyone was running around like more or less headless chicken.

The church and Bacchus riding a wine barrel right next to each other

After a run and a hike up to a view point the next morning, we finally found a spa that actually let people in. And thatˋs where my human spent the second half of the day.

From below

From above

The weather is improving and we are getting some sunshine again. It started to feel a little bit like we were being back in Scotland!

Breaking out the shorts again, my human took the bike into Debrecen the following day.

Debrecen is the second most populous city in Hungary, with a bit over 200.000 inhabitants.

Towering over the main square, Kossuth ter, is the neoclassical Reformed Great Church. You can climb the bell towers for a nice view over the city. 

The first Hungarian translation of the bible

A rather austere interiour

Caspo and Piac are the main thoroughfares with shops and restaurants. 

We were looking for (and finding) a butcher, though. Since we were in Debrecen, we had to buy some Debrecen sausages, right? 

St. Anna Cathedral

                                                       They look different in Germany

Just outside of the city is a large forest like park, Nagyerdö, that houses the zoo, a kid´s play park, the cityˋs stadium and Hungaryˋs only multimedia fountain, the “Fog Theater”.

Only interesting at night, though, so during the day itˋs really just a fountain. 

A water tower turned cafè, climbing wall, view point

A much larger park close to the city is the Horobagy National Park, Hungaryˋs first and largest, 820 square kilometers of it. 

The name might not sound familiar, who could blame you, but you will have heard of the Puszta. This is it. 

A treeless alkaline grassland dominates the landscape, making it the perfect grazing ground for grey cattle, Przewalskiˋs wild horses, aurochs and Racka sheep.

There is almost no permanent human population within the park. Only during grazing season, from April to October, hundreds of stock breeders graze their animals here. 

And so my human went from 130 horse power, thatˋs me, to two, namely two horses towing a carriage through the Puszta, to see some of the aforementioned creatures. 

The origins of vaulting?

They didnˋt look very motivated...

A horse sitting down is one of the sillier sights you can see in Hungary

Water buffalo, each as strong as four horses

Grey cattle

Racka sheep

It seems like you canˋt just go off on your own, walking around, exploring. They are afraid on of the grey cattle might have it in for you and take you on its horns. Granted, thatˋs not a very pleasant idea.

There are three areas designated for walking, though. By far the largest one is situated around a huge area with fish ponds where thousands of birds live, as well as water buffalo. And there are no people at all, none!

I guess it looks different in autumn when the cranes are migrating through this area, but right now itˋs empty.

We had planned another day here, but since there are so few opportunities for self initiated activity, we made our way to the Tiza lake, some 40km up the road.

This is the second largest lake in Hungary and also its largest reservoir with 127 square kilometers.

Here we booked into Dieterˋs Campground. Never mind that Dieter died in 2015, as a picutre at reception will tell you.

Itˋs all but two minutes to the lake from here, which can be circumnavigated by bike on a designated 65km cycle path.

Which is just what my human had in mind.

Water bungalow Hungarian style

Kisköre fish ladder, the largest ecological corridor in Central Europe

After watching two quarter finals (GO AUSTRALIA!) of the Womenˋs World Cup, we made our way to Gyula, a wonderfully unpretentious, charming little town only 5km from the Rumanian border, which is know for - asolutely nothing, actually.

We arrived in time for a nice little walk before dinner and went back into town after to listen to some live music in front of the castle. Good spot for some entertainment!

PS:

Things that seem (to us) quintessentially Hungarian:

Watermelons

Sunflowers

Thermal baths

Storks

All of these are absolutely everywhere!