Trip to Eger & Szilvasvarad

September 21-22

I went to a couple of nice quiet towns outside of Debrecen this last weekend and had the greatest of times.

Eger is an old castle town where the Hungarians fought off the advancing Turks. Eger is also famous for its wine. Legend has it that the badly out numbered Hungarians were given red wine from their general to boost their courage. When the Turks came to battle they saw the red wine all over their breads and believed that the Hungarians had been drinking the blood of wild boars and other animals and became frightened and ended up loosing the battle. Several years latter the Turks returned and defeated the Hungarians. In Eger there is a valley called the "the valley of the beautiful women". There are no beautiful women just a buch of gympsies selling cheap wine. The whole valley smelled of wine. Eger is a type of town where its nice to sit outside at a quiet cafe and listen to the nice classical music as the sun sets. One of the highlights of the trip was soaking in the turkish mineral baths with the locals. These pools are natural springs that get as hot as 41 degrees celcius. They are also high in sulfer content causing the water to have a nice smell. Mineral baths are great for the skin and body pain. I felt so refreshed afterwards, it is a must while in Hungary.

Szilvasvarad town is a great place to do some hiking and see the Lipizzaner horses. During the summer months there are shows and charriage races. We were able to see the horses pulling tourists and later we visited them in their stable.

It is so fun to plan out these excursions almost every week. I love looking at maps and reading all I can about these destinations.