Weekend at Lake Balaton

First and foremost, I am sure that the good weather we enjoyed all weekend was because both Sarah and I brought along our heavy winter coats. It is with my great pleasure to report that we never once had to use them! It was in the mid-70's and sunny the whole time; warm enough to wear tee shirts and sandals, but too chilly for anyone sound of mind to want to jump into the Balaton.

In case you are not familiar, Lake Balaton is in the south-western region of Hungary, and notably the largest standing body of water in Central Europe. Similar to how families flock to Myrtle Beach, or Bethany, or Ocean City for summer vacation, Lake Balaton is the place to be for Europeans on holiday in the summertime. Visitors enjoy swimming, sailing, fishing, strolling, biking, staring at American tourists, and all sorts of watersports.

Our itinerary was full and exciting; we were on a "study-trip" and instructed to observe the art, architecture, and culture of the sights we saw because a presentation is due after our second trip to Prague and Vienna. Our first stop was an excavation site of an ancient Roman village located West of the Danube. A good bit of imagination was needed, but fascinating nonetheless. We continued on the fishing village of Tihany and visited the Abby (pictured right) which dates back to the 11th century. Notice the light beams coming in through the windows...

Our evening included a very nice three-course meal at a local etterem (restaurant) paired with a wine tasting of the local White Varieties. Yum! The next morning we found ourselves navigating windy country roads (not easy in a tour bus) and enjoyed the sight of what are known as the "Witness Hills" because they have seen so much; most are the remnants of old volcanoes, such as the one pictured below.

Once in the quaint town of Tapolca, we enjoyed the most unusual and interesting experience of boating along the waters of an underground cave. It was like a ride at Disney World, but better. Not only were the boats not attached to any sort of guidelines or bumpers, but we had to paddle (or push) it along ourselves! In some places, the cave was so low and narrow that we'd have to crunch down to avoid hitting our heads; I referred to the final passageway as the "Birth Canal" if that helps any for the mental picture.

Our final destination of the day was the resort town of Keszthely. The hotel was lovely- right on the waterfront with a private island to boot. Before dinner, we took a pleasureboat cruise around the Balaton; the rest of the night was free for exploring. Thinking there might be something fun in town, we wandered about for more than an hour, but to no avail. It was the off-season, and most of the city had gone into hibernation. Ironically, the best party was in the lobby of our hotel. Go figure.

The next morning we found ourselves strapping on slippers over our shoes and padding along the 250 year old wooden floors of the Festetics Palace- an 18th century French chateau that was occupied by the nobility of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Everything about it was beautiful- the walls, the molding, the paintings, the gardens. The library was breath-taking, housing over 90,000 volumes and one of the very few collections that safely survived World War II. I love to imagine what life was like within these walls.

My favorite part of the trip was our stop at the headquarters the porcelain manufacturer Herend. We took a tour of the "mini manufactory" where we got to see the step-by-step process of fine procelain creation. It was incredible to see- the detail, the labor, the skill involved. They had stations set up with employees demonstrating the different steps or techniques involved- from making the porcelain material, to painting the products (all by hand) using stencil, or done freely. The museum shop was equally amazing in how many beautiful porcelain products were for sale and on display, however the price tag discouraged me from making any purchases. A simple tea cup, for instance, costs about $100. Pretty steep, but good bargains can be found around Budapest so I'm going to keep my eyes open.