Friday, 7 October 2016

Day 19: Eger & Lake Balaton Hungary

Into every life a little rain must fall, so its our turn for a rainy day.  Thankfully, its a travel day to the Lake Balaton area west of  Budapest.  To break up the long 3.5 hour drive we decided to stop in Eger, Hungary.  Eger is located in North-eastern Hungary on the south side of the foothills of the Carpathian mountains.  The rolling hills are good for growing wine and we saw lots of grapes still on the vines as we approached the town.  The "Bull's Blood" red wine is made in this area.

Parking near the Tourist information office we decided to explore the old town and visit the Bishop's Palace.  The Bishops Palace has been renovated to show how a bishop would have lived in the 18th century.  The display showed clothing, religious artifacts and a history of the Hungarian saints.
Marilyn is tempted to drink from the horse fountain in Eger

Eger street views

Eger's church on the main square

A statue to St Stephen (who else in Hungary)

A bishop's stole in the Bishop's Residence Museum

Books on Astronomy in library

Wood carving showing Christ's cruxificion

Bishop's private chapel

Ceiling of the chapel

Marilyn spotted the Dobos Cafe that had delectable tortes.  We enjoyed a piece of Dobos torte and Ezterhazy Torte with coffee before we hit the road again.  On the way back to the motorway we noticed many hillside wine cellars along the road.
Cafe Dobos in Eger

Coffe and torte for lunch.  Amazing!

Local wineries are built into the hills

Door to an underground wine cellar

Another underground wine cellar

Circling Budapest we drove to the Lake Balaton area.  This region is the Muskoka for the Budapest residents.  This 77 km long lake has summer resorts along its banks.  Visiting in early October allowed us to see its natural beauty without the summer crowds.  

Our Air BnB rental is in the village of Paloznak on the north shore near the eastern end of the lake.  The houses do not have numbers and some of the streets are not on the map so the GPS was not useful.  Tamas, our host, gave me directions based on landmarks.  "Drive up Mandula Utica, turn left at the 2 story house with the straw roof, drive 150m and turn into the driveway".  In actuality it was: "Drive down Mandula Utica which is a one lane road for two way traffic with no guardrail and a drop off on the right.  At the whitewashed barn turn left, drive up the goat track that is washed out until you see an unmarked gate".  Oh well, at least it wasn't dark!
The patio outside our lake house in Paloznak

Main entrance to the lake house

Next door is an underground house built into the hil

The terrace house is built into a hill and has grapes and fruit trees on the property.  Since we did not want to drive here in the dark, we made a mad dash to the Aldi store for some dinner and food for breakfasts.  We drove up the trail for a second time just as the sun was settting.  We made a home cooked meal of pasta and meatballs with good Soproni beer.  A good end to a long day of driving.

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