Slovakia
We left Lutowiska and headed west toward Hungary, via Slovakia. We timed our trip for arrival in Košice at lunchtime. Turns out, even though I had never heard of it, Košice is the second largest city in Slovakia and was named the 2013 European Capital of Culture. It is a lovely town. We scouted out a nice place for lunch; afterwards Jack and Kasia raced to the top of the gothic Cathedral of St. Elisabeth while Ed and I ambled around the historical centre's pedestrian zone. |
| View from the top of Kosice's Cathedral of St. Elisabeth, photo courtesy of Jack. |
Hungary
We had two unplanned nights in our itinerary and Kasia suggested we consider stopping in Eger, a small town known for its wines, most notably the "Egri Bikavér"(Bull's Blood of Eger). It was a good call. We happily filled the two days with early-morning visits to the produce market, people watching in Dobo Square, climbs to the fortified castle, and wine tastings in wine caves of the Valley of the Beautiful Women.
Highlights of our time in Eger...
Hotel Romantik: We stayed at this old-fashioned family-run hotel, just a five-minutes walk from the central square. While the rooms were nothing to write home about, it did have a beautiful garden where we would take our breakfast.
Restaurant Senator-Haz: Located on the main square. One of the best dinners of our trip. Wonderful food, good wine and friendly service.
Wine Caves: We took a cheesy tourist train out of the city to visit the wine caves. Think pub crawl, but with wine. We only managed to get to four caves; in each we tasted a number of wines. Great fun.
And then we were on to Budapest...
What a beautiful city Budapest is. Truth be told, until 1873 it was two separate cities: Buda and Pest. We stayed on the quieter Buda side, on the west bank of the Danube River, near the Buda Castle. But we fully explored the Pest side with its beautiful parks, thermal baths, Parliament, Opera House, Heroes' Square, covered market, and the lively ruin bars.
Highlights of our time in Budapest...
Hotel Balthazar: We stayed at a hip boutique hotel, just minutes from a number of good restaurants and the impressive Matthias Church.
21 Hungarian Kitchen: Located just around the corner from our hotel, we had a particularly nice dinner alfresco. Finished with a palinka, which is basically fruit-flavored Hungarian moonshine.
Pierrot: Another fine restaurant within minutes of our hotel. We had dinner here to console ourselves after Jack and Kasia headed home.
Gazebo along parkway: I don't even know the name of this tiny gazebo that serves drinks to mostly locals, but we found it one evening as the sun was going down. I had a most memorable lambic sour cherry beer.
Jack and Kasia left to get back to their respective lives in Berlin and Krakow. We moped, and we began our journey homeward, leaving Budapest and heading to Slovenia and then onward to the Vienna airport.
Slovenia
We had only an afternoon/evening to spend in Bled, which was not nearly enough time to take in the picture-postcard beauty of this tiny town located on the emerald-green Lake Bled. We will just need to come back to do it justice. No doubt about it.
Highlights...
Garni Hotel Berc: We stayed at this 15-room rustic-styled Bed and Breakfast. Perfect for the night.
Ostarija Peglez'n: We dined outside at this cozy lakeside spot. Also perfect for the night!
Austria
On our final day, we made one last stop before heading to the Vienna airport. We drove through the Alps to the tiny town of Gaming, where we visited our friend Tilmon and three of his six children. We were entertained by his talented children (accordion and zither). After lunch, we hiked the mountain path up to a small chapel, accompanied along the way by the sound of cowbells ringing.
And then it was time to say so long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye. We really did hate to say goodbye, but it was time for us to get back home to Farm Dover.
No comments:
Post a Comment