Eger, Hungary

We’ve left the Danube far behind us, but we are still in the Hungarian hills. In fact, my owners have sniffed out a wine-growing area. Our new home for the next few days is the town of Eger, home of the ‘Eger Bull’s Blood’ and the Oldies have even managed to find a campsite directly in the ‘Valley of the Beautiful Woman’ with its 200-odd wine cellars. It is just as well that it is within walking distance of the town centre. I suspect we won’t be using the car much in this place!

Before we’d even ventured into town, we had checked out our nearest wine cellar/tavern, run by the charming János (pronounced Janosh). The Oldies were delighted with his wines (great value too at only €1.60 for a half-litre carafe), and his home-made goulash soup (guylásleves) and goulash proper (pörkölt) were declared the best they’d eaten so far. Yes, Janosssssh and his goulasssssh were a great hit altogether!Eger is a lovely town, with many of the typical features we have come to expect: a huge basilica, numerous other churches, a fortress, a market, etc. There is one very atypical feature too: a minaret, the northernmost one in Europe, erected during Turkish rule towards the end of the 17^th century. After one glance at this needle-like tower, Her Ladyship declined to ascend (‘No feckin’ way am I going up that yoke!’ were her exact words as far as I recall). His Lordship was all on for it, but was disappointed to discover that it was closed for renovations. Pity. I’d have bet money on his getting stuck inside, especially after having eaten all that goulash.

Another fascinating feature of Eger is its network of wine cellars, ‘the town beneath the town’, as the locals call it. Originally there were over 140 km of wine cellars, but they started to cave in once the wine was removed during communist times. Apparently it was the mould caused by the wine that kept the walls intact. With the wine removed, the walls began to dry out and crumble and the remaining cellars are now reinforced with concrete.

The cellar tour was all a bit over my head, both literally and figuratively, but with the temperature above ground hitting a sizzling 35°C, I was just glad to be underground enjoying the cool, damp 12°C atmosphere. I had to laugh at the fact that visitors were offered the option of hiring blankets for the duration of the tour. Sure, 12°C is just like a grand soft Irish summer’s day. What would you be needing a blanket for?

No trip to Eger would be complete without a visit to the local spa. The Oldies are not really spa people, but even they saw the sense in hitting the old H₂0 in this heat. The water, however, turned out to be even hotter than the air temperature. The main medicinal pool was 37°C, with the water cascades even hotter, well over 40°C. Amazingly enough, this pool was the one the Oldies enjoyed the most. The sulphur smell and the heat were too overpowering for me, but the Dynamic Duo literally wallowed in it and they were definitely less creaky than usual after a spell in this particular hot water. Its properties supposedly work wonders for the old joints. Her Ladyship was practically dancing a jig when she re-emerged from the waters, god help us all!

The spa itself is quite old-fashioned, a bit of relic from the past, but the pools are great. There are about ten in all and the ones for the kids are fantastic, with loads of slides and fun features. If only I were a chick again!

Eger spa is also very affordable. The Oldies only had to fork out about €7 each for their day pass. At that price, I can imagine that the locals must practically live in the place. In fact, we saw one elderly couple leaving the spa and wandering off down the street, still wearing their dressing gowns and flip-flops. It looked like the spa was a home from home for them.

It’s not all eating out and treats like spa visits, I’ll have you know. Daily chores are also part of our travelling life, although food shopping is no great hardship here. His Lordship took a trip to a local supermarket the other day and reported that he’d bought a kilo of chicken legs, four peppers, a quarter watermelon, three peaches, two bulbs of garlic, one large blueberry yogurt, six bread rolls and 100g of salami. €5.80 for the lot!

The girl at the deli counter did not appear to speak any foreign languages, but, with a lot of pointing and smiling, the transaction was carried out successfully. His Lordship gave her a ‘Thank you’ as he left, to which the girl replied with a cheery ‘Hello!’

What’s not to love about Hungary?