Saturday, May 28, 2016

Eger to Felsotarkany

Finally, the first day of the walk. A cab picked up our bags and us at the hotel in Eger. He was going to take our bags to our stop tonight in Felsotarkany, and on the way dropped us at the trailhead a couple of kilometers outside of Eger.

After getting things sorted out, we headed out in the direction you might expect – up. And we continued mostly up for the next couple of hours, through vineyards and farmland.  Along the way, we missed a turn and wound up going up a mountain bike trail for a couple of kms. It wound up taking us to where we wanted to be, but was steeper and rougher.

We wound up on a grassy slope at the top of a mountain (In North Carolina this is known as a Bald). There was a terrific view looking down on Eger. There was also a large cross as a memorial to Hungarian fighters. Out here in the middle of nowhere.

Several other folks arrived at the field from another direction, with Paragliding gear. They were going to wait for the wind to be right before Paragliding back to Eger, but we headed on out, down the trail. A few hours of  trail walking later, we headed downhill into the village of Felsotarkany.

The night’s stay was in the home of Mrs. Szabo, who lets rooms to passing hikers, and it was a great place to stay.  Think of Mrs. Szabo as Aunt Bea with a bottle of Schnappes. She greeted us, showed us to our rooms, and asked if we wanted a glass of beer or wine. We chose a cold beer, and it was perfect. A shower and a nap later and it was time for dinner.

Marty says that his Dad’s favorite recipe, that his Dad would make himself, was Chicken Paprikash. So when Mrs. Szabo (who, btw, spoke no English) was able to tell us that she was making Chicken Paprikash for us for dinner, Marty was pretty much beside himself. But before serving dinner, she brought out a chilled bottle of Schnappes and three glasses. One for me, one for Marty, and one for Mrs. Szabo. We toasted the evening, she poured another round for me and Marty, then went to finish dinner. And, she left the bottle of Schnappes behind.

Dinner itself was started with vegetable soup, followed by chopped salad, the Chicken Paprikash, in a rich paprika sauce, gnocchi (home made of course), and peach cobbler for dessert. We went through a bottle of Eger Bull’s Blood, and had to turn down another.

I’m no expert on Hungarian home cooked meals, but this one had to be pretty close to perfect. And I think Marty agreed.

The next morning, Mrs. Szabo sent us off with bottles of water, and “picnics”, that we later figured out contained three sandwiches, an orange, and a candy bar.


Homestay’s don’t get much better. Oh, the beer, schnapps, wine, bottled water, and picnics were not included in our tour price. So we paid Mrs. Szabo directly. Total bill was Two Thousand Huf.  Less than $7.00. 




   

5 comments:

  1. Alan. Great description. It sounds like the two of you are having a wonderful time and the food sounds great. Thanks for posting all the pictures. I put a map together that I will post on facebook if you want to use it. Happy Memorial Day.

    John

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  2. Sounds great.. Great pics and description.

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  3. Sounds great.. Great pics and description.

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  4. I can picture it all so perfectly. Sounds wonderful!

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