Tasting some liquid goods from Hungary

From wednesday till Friday we were stil in the south and we were happy to be there. Pécs is a very nice city; big enough to discover new things every time you stroll around. That first day we discovered mostly closed museums though, that was a pity (and it wasn't Monday...or Saturday like in Győr). That day we felt a bit like this city has had its best times. But we could visit the St Peters church and it is the most beautiful church I've ever seen. Such rich ornaments and patterns on the walls with perfect matching colors. It had Turkish influences and that made it very interesting. We climbed one of the bell towers just before noon; living on the edge!;-) Back down we got a nice organ concert. Since there was not much more to visit (mine-, marzipan- and ethnographic museum were closed) we decided to spoil our tummies. First with a nice warm lunch in a restaurant where you could eat the whole year without having to eat the same meal. After that we went to the best süti (cake) place in town; Magda Cukrászda. We had to walk for it quite a lot, so 2 cakes per person was well deserved. But this was heavy! The marzipan cake felt like a bomb in my stomach, but still a delicious taste! I had a coco/chocolate cake too and Bogdán had a chocolate/raspberry cake and lemon cake. We walked around the city and found a cute square and set down to have a smoothie. We almost forgot the taste of fruit and vegetables so it was time! In the evening we had some drinks and grill dinner at a lovely garden bar/restaurant. I love these kind of places! They are mostly situated next to a castle or on top of a hill whith nice views of the city (in this case both) and it has such a nice informal atmosphere because of the trees, grass and garden furnitures. The beers and food were great and we could see the sun go down.

Next day (Thursday) it was time for some other drinks; wine!! Close to Pécs there is the village Villany, one of the principal producers of wine of Hungary. We got a coupon from Bogdáns parents to do all different kinds of activities and we choose for a winetasting in Villany. And that was a good choice! Although the day started with missing the train to Villany by just 2 minutes. But well; now we could visit the Ethnographic museum which was already closed yesterday afternoon. It was cool and had all kind of folk art, like woodcarving and colourful costumes and clothing. And instead of starting the day with loads of sugar we went to the rétes ház (strudel house) in the same street as Magda Cukrászda where some nice old ladies where baking the rétes right in front of us. It was okayish, but we are so spoilt with the supergreat rétes of Agárd that this was no comparison, sorry ladies. Time to get the next train, cause otherwise we would miss the 2 o clock winetasting including a tour through the cellars. That was really cool to see..and smell. There were huge barrels full of wine and there was a big round cellar which can be used for winetasting or parties. It was really beautiful and because of the round roof it had a funny microphone effect. But well, the tasting was what we were here for. And it was something; we could taste 10 different wines and they were not saving on quantity. First two white wines, then a rosé and we already felt tipsy. 7 More reds to go. We were afraid how embarrassing this would get... We didn't have lunch either, but luckily we were provided with nice cheese and homemade bread with grapeseed oil. The wines were really nice (of course they got nicer and nicer to the end) and after 2 hours we could step back on our train in a happy and statisfied drunken state. With the sun shining bright on us I fell asleep almost immediately, but while arriving back in Pécs I felt fresh again. We decided to see the east side of Pécs now and that is actually the most beautiful part. Nice ornamented old buildings everywhere and a lively vibe with hip bars and restaurants. We had a drink in another hidden garden bar, but decided to have dinner at a tradional Hungarian restaurant. After all the wine we could use some good (read big) meal. I had the chicken version of my favorite dish; cigánypecsenye, the one whith all the garlic. It was a huge portion! But so tasty that I couldn't leave anything behind. I'm so happy we stayed at the apartment high above the city; this way I could at least have the feeling that I used some of all that energy for climbing up. Seeing the city centre by night was also a beautiful sight. Although the first day we didn't have a good impression of Pécs, this day we really liked it. Maybe it was the wine...

But no, on our departure day we decided to have 2 little stops before leaving and the good impression stayed. We said our nice host goodbye (just like in Kecskemét a woman alone who was falling asleep in front of the tv and snorring loudly and also complaining a lot while they live in a beautiful big house, but this one was more talkative and smart) and went to the highest point of Pécs; the tv tower. While arriving we heard an alarm and saw a man in a calamity coat, so we thought we made a wrong decision to come here. But it turned out that there was a firemen training...not a problem for me! ;-) Unlike us going by elevator, they had to run up the 400+ stairs in full gear and with oxygen masks. It looked very difficult and heavy. Luckily they could enjoy the 360-degree view afterwards too. This panoramic view of the city was great (although we were already used to some nice view) and also to see the other surroundings; mostly super green hills full of trees and one old coalmine. I'm constantly surprised actually by all the green hills here in Hongary, there are just so many unspoilt parts full of trees. The last thing we wanted to see was Zsolnay Negyed, the quartier where the porcelain factory of family Zsolnay is and which is now turned into a whole park with colourful rooftiled buildings, gardens, musea, shops and bars. It was really gorgeous and something I wouldn't want to miss. It was almost like walking around in entertaiment park the Efteling (I say that for everything I really like)!! This was a good goodbye of Pécs, which eventually is a really nice city. Not as cute as Kecskemét but more diverse and surprising. Time to go back to Budapest but just really short, cause we were invited for a pizza dinner at Bogdáns friend Péter in Gödölő. It was nice to meet his family and see their house (with huge garden full of fruittrees and handmade furnitures and even brick walls by himself). Although I couldn't understand too much of the Hungarian conversations, it was still cosy and we had a delicious dinner (although Bogdán barely ate cause he felt sick, poor thing). The fresh pizza his wife made was wonderful; she had a receipe from Tuscany and it worked! Super thin and crunchy bottom and perfect ham, cheese, salami and garlic oil on the top. And last but not least she made some great palacsinta which we could fill ourselves. I took the abricots and plum lekvár (jam) of course. Aaahhww, so nice!! I really had to hold back, for not eating myself sick. Such nice people, hopefully we meet soon again. Back to Budapest again and driving in the dark hills with the big lights of Budapest in the distance was great. And it's so amazing to enter the city and see the castle, parlement and other beautiful lighted buildings appear all of a sudden. What a beautiful city this is! We were happy to be back although it was really short, have our wash done, sleep in our wellknown bed and get ready for our last journey in Hungary; Eger and the northeast region.

I'll write about that another time! Puszi!!