Eger mini-break

This past weekend, I went on an excursion with my study abroad program. The general destination was the small city of Eger about two hours from Budapest, but they also wanted to show us as much of Northern Hungary as possible, so it was quite late in the afternoon before we actually got to the city. Our first stop on Friday morning was the tallest mountain in Hungary. This is far less impressive then it sounds. Hungary is an incredibly flat country, so any elevation counts as a mountain.

After "attacking the peak of Hungary" as our program Director Elizabeth called it, we went to the Soviet era work camp of Recsk. The communists did a very good job of destroying all the evidence of its existence, so with the exception of the memorial commemorating the victims of the camp, it just looked like a harmless little mountain meadow.  I feel really guilty about saying it, but in all honesty it was really pretty. The weather was gorgeous, there were little yellow flowers blooming by the stream in the foresty areas, and on the whole, it was very hard to believe that such a pretty place could be the site of so much suffering.

From Recsk, it was on to Szilvasvarad, where we visited the stables of the Hungarian Lippizaner horses. We got to see the stallions, but sadly were not allowed to touch them. We also walked through the national park and found ourselves at what seemed to be a gypsy carnival or something. The rides were air-brushed with the faces of celebrities, but the only recognizable one was Nicholas Cage oddly enough.

Weird Pokemon themed Merry-Go-Round at the Gypsy Carnvial

We finally arrived at Eger around five and after setting our things down in our rooms, we were hustled off to the nearby "Valley of Beautiful Women", the valley where all the wine cellars are located. I have never been wine tasting before, but it was quite enjoyable. My Hungarian comprehension, it turns out, is much better when I've had some wine. However, my friend Rachel and I were conned into buying more wine than we can ever drink. We had gone ahead of the group to other wine cellars and each bought a little plastic barrel of a wine we liked before returning to the first cellar to try one or two more things. Now our program director was there, as she happened to be friendly with those vitners. She practically forced us to buy everything the women offered us. I enjoy wine when I'm with people, but I don't drink much on my own, so I am at a loss about what to do with the three extra barrels and one bottle Rachel and I were bullied into purchasing.

After the best sleep I have had in a very very long time. (One my roommates snores, and the other one keeps very odd hours.) we went to explore Eger for the day. We took a tour of the fortress which successfully held off an Ottoman siege, only to be taken a few years later. (Hungarians are not known for winning) We also saw the Cathedral and took a tour of the underground wine cellars. The cathedral looked more impressive in the photos in Art History. The underground tour was amusing because it mainly consisted of dark tunnels and a guide telling us about the exhibits they would like to put there.

View of Eger from the fortress

 
I just got back from a trip to Malta, so expect another post in a day or two!