Hungary - Day 2

Breakfast
Breakfast was an experience unto itself.  I had sausage, eggs, croissants, fruit, hard boiled egg, and coffee.  However, it was the room not the food, as yummy as it was, that was the true star.  I felt like I was dining in Versailles.  Had I known, I would have woken up earlier and lingered over breakfast, enjoying ambiance.  A rarity in my life, I do not think I will need to drag myself out of bed; I know I will be extremely excited to wake up tomorrow and enjoy breakfast in such beauty. 




Danube River Bend Tour
After breakfast we began our tour of the Hungarian countryside along the river.  It was fascinating leaving Budapest and seeing the outskirts of the city as we entered the countryside/forests.  The forest was amazingly different than forests in the states, at least on the east coast.  Our forests are a true heterogeneous mix of numerous types of trees.  This forest exhibited a different kind of beauty; all the trees were either oak or birch.  It was quite stunning looking out and seeing the white trunks of the birch trees filling the landscape.  I remember thinking it was funny how each of the forests resembled the diversity of our two countries.

After driving through an oak and birch forests, we took our first stop in Slovakia, just across the Danube from Hungary, so that we would have a good view of the first church and castle built in Hungary.  It was a short stop, only a few minutes for pictures, an then we drove across the river back to Hungary to go up to the cathedral and castle remains.  Here was the first time I learned about the complex history of Hungary and it has definitely inspired me to learn more about its history.  Hungary has gone through more tumultuous changes than most European countries, probably because it always seems to be on the wrong side in history.

Hungarian Connection
At the beginning of our tour we asked the guide about the artist Munkácsy, who is rumored to be connected to our family.  The guide promptly pronounced the name correctly as "muh(n)-KATCH-e" (I tried to spell it phonetically as he said it).  Basically, it sounded just like Makatche except with a very soft "n" sound after the first "a".  Whether we are really related to the painter or not (as he told us that it is a slightly-common name in Hungary) doesn't matter too much to me.  It was just so special to hear our Americanized name be so close in pronunciation to the original Hungarian.  There is also a town with that name in what was formerly part of Hungary, but is now part of the Ukraine as Hungary lost 2/3 of its land after WWI that area became part of the Ukraine.


Lunch
The beauty of Hungary never ceases to amaze me.  Everywhere we go is absolutely dripping with charm and rich with history.  While not historical itself, the restaurant sat atop a hill and had an amazing view of a local castle.  Our food was phenomenal.  I had a roasted eggplant dip with bread, roasted vegetables, and a type of coleslaw.

Szentendre (Saint Andrew)
This is an extremely charming town along the Danube known for its artists.  The streets are open to pedestrian only and are lined with little shops and restaurants.  It is definitely a tourist destination, however, that has not tarnished the beauty of the town.  In many ways it feels like an archetype of what little towns in Europe should be, at least in my mind - beautiful, vibrant, quaint, and a little removed from modern culture (no cars/traffic). In a town known for its artists, I had to buy a piece of art. So I bought an etching of Budapest - a perfect souvenir from Hungary.

Riverboat to Budapest
Our return to Budapest was via a riverboat; a fitting end to our Hungarian countryside/village tour.  The scenery was gorgeous as was the weather for the trip.  Hungary is divided into two halves by the Danube River - one side is Buda and the other is Pest.  Entering the city by the "dividing line" of the two halves allowed us to see them both simultaneously, a true feast for the eyes.


Dinner

After the tour, we walked to the area of  Saint Stephen's Basilica.  It is a beautiful basilica (cathedral) that stands at the front of a gorgeous outdoor square surrounded by quaint restaurants and lined by small streets also brimming with restaurants.  The cathedral was closed by the time we arrived, but there will  be an organ, trumpet, and mezzo-soprano concert there tomorrow evening (hopefully we can go).  We walked down the square to an Italian restaurant that Aunt Elaine and Uncle Steve had found during their last travels to Hungary.  The outdoor seating was full, so we ate inside, which was equally as wonderful.  We began the meal with a delicious salad of arugula lettuce, cherry tomatoes, olives, and mozzarella cheese balls.  For dinner I ordered a cheese-stuffed ravioli in an amazing herb-cream sauce. We all shared a side of spinach as well as a side of mixed roasted vegetables.  I ended with an absolutely delicious dessert.  I forget what is was called, but it seemed like baked filo dough sandwiching a rich vanilla cream - yum!!!  It was a perfect way to end our day.