North-eastern Tour
Eger was our first destination, a hystorical site, where the defenders of the fortress fought heroically against the Ottoman Turks in the 16th century.
Next we went to Aggtelek, where long deep caves provide interesting stone formations for several kilometers under the surface. We caught the last tour at 5 pm. After an amazing one hour tour we crossed the border to Slovakia, arrived in Kassa (Kosice) by 8 pm. Found a nice hotel, the Gloria Palac(e) and a three-bed room with breakfast for 68 euros. Next morning we went to see the city with its beautiful Dome and other interesting buildings and places and even did some shopping at the city center. Some folks spoke in Hungarian to us.
Early afternoon we left for the Ukraine, some fifty miles to the east. Ungvár, (Uzgorod) is on the border, and this is the largest city in Kárpátalja (Zakarpatia). We went straight up to the fortress. In the museum we met a Hungarian speaking lady with whom we had a brief conversation about the life in the country. Mid afternoon we left for Munkács (Mukacevo). Here we also went to the historical castle that was defended by Zrínyi Ilona against the Habsburgs. We met Hungarian speaking people there too. This is the second largest city in the Trans-Carpathian region of Ukraine. By 6pm we were in Beregszász (Beregovo) ready for a nice dinner. That we found in the hotel called Arany Páva (Golden Peacock). This completed the second day and at abt. 8 pm we headed for the Hungarian border.
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We were back in Hungary on the second day at around 9pm. Stopped at the Kemence Csárda Inn for the night, stocked up some cold beer and next morning after a good espresso coffe we were off to Nyíregyháza a few kilometers from here. This is a clean, handsome city, proud of its Sóstó Park, a very nice recreation area with hot springs and spa. This is the largest city after Debrecen and Szeged in the Hungarian Plains. We went through Debrecen to Hajdúszoboszló to the hot medicinal baths and pools, famous all over Europe. We got there by five in the afternoon with two hours left for us to take a dip. It was a great treat to sooth our bodies in the warm mineral rich water. I even had five minutes left to make two laps in the open swimming pool before the 6 o'clock closing time.
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With this trip I realized my dream of traveling around the Carpathian basin to see the historical sites and places that were parts of Hungary for a thousand years. Two thirds of the territory were awarded to the victors of two world wars and one third of the Hungarian population was subjected to hostile governments. Things have changed since then and conditions improved greatly with new democracies all around and free movement accross the borders. This will help to eliminate the separation of the Hungarian nation.
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