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	Tom & Shirley's Page -- 2019 Hungary
	For a late summer vacation Shirl and I decided to visit the beautiful and historic county of Hungary.    As I have mentioned in previous trip summaries, we really enjoy exploring the post-communist Central-Eastern countries.   We find they are often less touristy than western Europe while offering rich historic places to visit as well as beautiful architecture that managed to survive wars and the soviet occupation.   Additionally, we admire the spirit and especially enjoy the stories told by friendly people who lived through those challenging times.   And we find these countries to be an exceptionally good value as the U.S. dollar stretches quite far.   We spent about a month in Hungary.   Our first stop was the capitol of Budapest where we rented a lovely apartment, followed by a stay in an adorable cottage in western village of Koszeg (which is located close to the Austrian border) and we wrapped up our vacation in the quaint and lovely town of Eger staying in a wonderful B&B.
	In Budapest we rented an apartment for 10 days thru VRBO. (Email us if interested in details).   We can only say this apartment fit our needs to the max. Elegant with 15 ft. ceilings, built around 1890 or so it was ‘old school’ but with all the modern conveniences.   Best thing was the location which was a 1-2 minute walk from the Rákóczi tér metro stop on the M4 line.   It never took us more than 15-20 minutes (including transfers) to get anywhere in Budapest using the metro.   Our time in Budapest was very enjoyable.   We found it safe, friendly and clean.   The transportation infrastructure is top notch and the interval between tram, bus and metro arrivals was short any time day or night.   It has many well tended parks and squares to enjoy some quiet time, many wonderful outdoor venues for food and drink as well as truly beautiful old architecture to admire.   There also is the stark contrast with the Communist era buildings that remain.   As one of our young guides said, “they are quite functional, I live in one…”.   With 10 days we were able to see most of the touristy attractions but also many off-the-beaten-path places.   We especially enjoyed a visit to one of the famous eclectic ‘Ruin Bars’ Budapest is famous for.   Another tip: Take one or more of the Free Budapest Walking Tours which are led by interesting and very knowledgeable guides.
	On the last day in Budapest we rented a car and headed west about 3 hours to our next accommodation in the small town of Koszeg, very close to the Austrian border.   Our 7-day rental arranged thru AirBnB (again, Email us if interested in details) was a delightful, cozy, fully equipped cottage about 10 minutes out of town.   Located on a secluded road in the forest it was a perfect place to unwind after the fast pace of Budapest.   The town of Koszeg is not very large, nevertheless offers a lot of delightful sights. So much so that is often dubbed the “Jewel Box” of Hungary.   Located in the heart of Koszeg is where you’ll find its historical center and the walled Jurisics Castle.    Jurisics Square is where you’ll find most of the historic buildings, churches, monuments, and other places of interest you can visit.   The countryside outside of Koszeg is quite beautiful in its own right.    The whole area is a heavily wooded nature preserve that offers many walking/hiking opportunities, plus it was enjoyable just to drive around with no particular destination, simply meandering where the roads beckoned us.   We made a day trip of visiting Sopron, hiring a guide there.   Another lovely little town.
	After a week of R&R it was time to move on to our last stay, driving back east to the lovely town of Eger which is in a major wine producing region of Hungary.   Eger offers plenty of fun sights, nearby vineyards and has an unassuming charm and with few crowds.   Our B&B was with the popular Senator Haz Hotel, staying in their very comfortable Pátria Guesthouse.   The hotel is located right off the famous Dobó Square, the large main square in Eger where most of the major sights, churches, monuments, and curiosities can be visited within a few minutes walking.   We spent 9 relaxing days in Eger exploring the town and sights including a few visits (via the little tourist train from town) to the Valley-Of-The-Beautiful-Women which is a nice collection of wine cellars and restaurants built into the hillside making for a lovely afternoon strolling and wine tasting.   We also got out and about to explore the countryside with day trips including Lillafüred for the waterfall, St. Anna Cave and beautiful gardens of the Palace Hotel (definitely enjoy a cocktail at the gorgeous bar area inside).   We took some walks along forest trails within the Bukk National Forest and day tripped to the small town of Szilvasvára where we caught the tourist train for a pleasant 2-mile ride thru the forest followed by a gentle and very scenic walk back to town.   Since we like to make our traveling home day as smooth as possible, we always stay overnight near the airport the night before leaving.   The drive back to Budapest was an easy 2 hours from Eger.   We dropped our rental car at the airport and the transfer (cab) to the Hotel and to the airport the following morning was paid for by the hotel.   What a lovely surprise the Airport Hotel Stacio was!    Clean spacious rooms, fairly priced, beautiful grounds and fabulous food (we ate supper here and enjoyed their morning buffet before leaving).   Highly recommend this place as well.
	This is a quick overview of our trip to Hungary.   Below are a just a few of the photos from this trip.    If anyone wants more detail or info on anything just email us at luvtworoam@yahoo.com.   We always like to help other trip planners as many have provided help and good advice to us.       ~Tom & Shirley
	Footnotes:   . We found the locals to be wonderfully courteous, quite welcoming and very law-abiding!  ex. no jaywalking, waiting for 'Walk'.   . Public transportation was superb.   . Language (our lack of Hungarian) was not a barrier at all!   . Google camera translation was exceptionally helpful navigating all Hungarian menus and signage at various venues.   . The roads, once again, better than those we pay a lot of taxes for at home, even in the very outlying areas.   . We really enjoyed their white wines!  Many good choices.  The red was quite good as well.   . We only had one meal that seemed just ok.  The food overall was simply delish.   . Local guides were all Excellent.   . We saw no farm animals (cows, goats, sheep, etc.) in the many fields we passed.  We did see some horses grazing.   . 2 weeks earlier in this area we would have seen thousands of sunflowers in bloom.  Miles and miles of sunflowers.
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Budapest

		And we're off!		Our Budapest apartment was circa 1890.		View from apartment balcony.
		Don't see many of these back home.		Budapest is loaded with nice parks like this one in Erzsébet tér.		We highly recommend the Free Budapest Walking Tours.
		Fisherman's Bastion area was very interesting, and the views stunning.		My photogenic wife and unphotogenic me at Fisherman's Bastion.		The moving Shoes-on-The-Danube memorial.
		We ran into Ronald Reagan in the Szabadság tér park.		Marked bullet holes from Russian forces putting down the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. Kossuth Square.		Monument at Gellert Hill Cave Church-in-the-Rock.
		Spent a relaxing afternoon at the Budapest Zoo.		The elegant Szabó Ervin Library.		The touching weeping Willow Tree memorial with names of murdered Hungarian Jews on the leaves at Doheny Street Synagogue.
		My Shirley recuperating after a long day of touring.		Shirl and I during a visit to St. Stephen's Basilica.		We agree!
		Took an interesting guided tour of the unique Memento Park featuring statues removed from post communist Budapest.		Spent some time at the Szimpla Kert 'Ruin Bar'. These are unique to Budapest, built in the ruins of abandoned buildings, stores, or lots.

Koszeg

		Our next stop was in Koszeg, in Northwest Hungary close to the Austrian border in this cozy cottage.		Interior of our cute Koszeg cottage in the woods.		Hungary has some excellent wines, like this Olazg Riesling. Unfortunately not able to find this locally at home.
		We added our own personal touch the other traveler mementos.		View from the Hero's Gate Tower of Jurisics Square and seventeenth century St. Emeric’s Church.		Jurisics Castle has a very well organized exhibition about its history and a lot of interesting artifacts.
		Jurisics Square at night. Building in the background is the 14th century Town Hall.		Forest trail leading to Írottko Observation Tower in Austria but close to our Koszeg base.		Took a guided tour of the lovely town of Sopron an hour north of our Koszeg base.
		So we started this long remote trek up a steep hill and along comes this guy in a truck …		… who offered to cart us all the way to the top (where he actually lives) …		… where we enjoyed some nice views from a lookout called Szulejmán-kilátó overlooking Koszeg.
		And I did too!

Eger

		Our Last stop in Hungary was in lovely and friendly town of Egar …		… were we stayed at the friendly Senator Haz Hotel right off Dobó István Square …		… in their nicely appointed Patria Pension …
		… where we had a nice quiet private courtyard.		Enjoying a beautiful warm September evening on Dobó István Square.		One example of the incredible ornate iron work throughout Eger. This at County Hall on Kossuth Lajos street.
		Perhaps a bit weird, but I'm attracted to the attractive manhole covers found in Europe.		Eger has plenty of monuments to admire. This one a dramatic battle scene against the Turks.		Nice river walk along the Eger River.
		Taking the little tourist train over to The-Valley-Of-The-Beautiful-Women (Szépasszony Völgy) …		…which is a cute little collection of wine cellars and restaurants built into the hillside that makes for a lovely afternoon strolling and wine tasting …		… just ask Shirley.
		View of Eger from The Astronomical Tower and Home to the Camera Obscura.		The Beatles Museum in Egar is chuck full of many valuable and original memorabilia, has videos detailing their journey, all while Beatle music plays in the background.		On our way to a daytrip to Lillafüred this part of Northern Hungary was heavily wooded and quite beautiful.
		The Lillafüred waterfall is the in Hungary with a height of at 65 feet.		The elegant Palace Hotel in Lillafüred has beautiful hangings that are free to enjoy.		Aboard the tourist train in Szilvasvára that meanders up through the Bukk National Forest up to waterfalls, caves and other attractions.
		We took the gorgeous walking trail back down the hill to Szilvásvárad versus the train. Good choice.		And all too soon our Hungarian holiday ends.