Debrecen and Hortobagy National Park We’ve moved on to the far east. The far east of Hungary, that is, close to the Romanian border. We are staying in a campsite in the middle of nowhere, yet we are only about 10 km from Debrecen, the second largest city in the country. The Oldies first set out to explore along the border, popping in and out of Romania as they went. Well, inasmuch as queuing up and having your passports and…
Szentendre and Visegrád, Hungary We went potholing, I mean, touring in the car again the other day, this time stopping off to visit Visegrád. The outstanding landmark of this quaint town on the banks of the Danube is a medieval castle on the hill overlooking the bend or knee of the Danube. His Lordship had intended us all to hike up from the town centre to the castle known as Fellegvár, meaning Cloud Castle. Her Ladyship took one look…
Who said Hungary is flat? Alps they ain’t, but the soft, rolling hills of north western Hungary were a most pleasant surprise for me. We are weaving our way eastwards along the Slovakian border, our first stop being Dömös where we have found a great campsite directly on the banks of the Danube. Yet another myth can be dispelled immediately. Like any great body of water, and believe me, this is a great body – it’s huge – the Danube…
-Dobar dan! -Eh, Seamus is the name actually. Not Dan. -Ah, an English-speaking seagull. A wooden English-speaking seagull, even. How quaint! I was just saying good afternoon. I’m Vlad by the way. -Oh, howya, Vlad, nice to meet you. -You too. Was that you I saw yesterday down at the Fishermen’s Festival at Vrsar harbour, by any chance? -Sure was. I was there with my owners. It was brilliant. I’m still drooling. Fish, fish everywhere, what a treat! -Great wasn’t…
We packed up again and moved on from the Bohemian Forest. Northward, unfortunately. Will I never see the sea again? At least we are in spa country now, so there’s no shortage of water. The Oldies originally planned to stay near Karlovy Vary, the world-famous spa town otherwise known as Carlsbad, but the only campsite they could find was firmly stuck in the nineteen sixties. It was perfectly functional but positively grim. It gave us all the willies! So we…