Today we are to drive virtually across Hungary. We have breakfast in the Castle Hotel and I am disappointed that there are no eggs. I ask the hotel guy and he says what would I like, so I order an omelot.
Ham and Cheese Omelot, not bad
There is a lot of driving today, probably over 5 hours so maybe not so many photos. We stop at a roadhouse for gas.
Some of the food at the roadhouse looked alright but we are to do lunchArriving at the Bock Obor Restaurant
The Somelier explaining the wines
Bock winery is one of the Villany area’s most distinguished wines. One of it best is a straight Cabernet Franc, unusual.
Boris and a new friendOur group
At the near right is Tibor our driver and at the far right Julia our guide. Sadly, we are going to lose them tonight they are going to drive back to Budapest from Villany. Lunch is served.
Part of the menuSecond wine, straight Cab FrancLarge saladCold meat platter for JanSoup
The Third WineCarp for JuliePig Knuckle for me – DaintyDessert
We then get back on the bus and drive the rest of the way to where we are staying in Villany which is the Crocus Gere Wine Hotel. There is spa, sauna and pool but we tried too late to get a massage – only one was available so Boris took it. Julie and I decided to do a couples “wine spa”.
Wine Spa
A bit of a misconception as it is a hot bath with a jug of wine poured in. Never mind the hot bath was good.
A glass of the wine was also provided
Dinner was at the Wine Hotel restaurant. We are joined there by Andrew, proprietor of Savor Tours who will be our guide for the rest of the tour.
Impressive light arrangement
Salmon for JulieAnother dainty serveOur wineDessertDessert
At one stage during the dinner, Julia and Tibor depart for the drive back to Budapest. It is sad goodbyes. Eventually after the big day, we all drift off to bed.
Yes, we are in Tokaj, home of white wines, especially sweet white wines – think Tokay in Australian Parlance. Our first stop is at an old cathedral at the top of a hill that is being renovated.
The gang from the top of the hill
We then drive to the Oremus Winery in Tolcsva.
We are met by a delightful Canadian girl who has spent a fair bit of time in Europe working at wineries. She knows her stuff too.
She leads us on a tour of the winery.
A very spectaacular cellar system
Then we taste a range of wines, all whites of course.
We thank our guide and then drive to Erdobenye to a Coopers Workshop. This was an absolutely stunning exhibition of making oak barrels. We took bundles of photos but I am including only a few.
Hungarian Oak. It dries outside for 3 years
Some of his work
He shows us the making of a barrel in three stages. Stage 1 starts with a file of oak slats and a ring.
Part way through Stage 1End of Stage 1, hammering down the rings
Stage 2 starts with the Stage 1 raw barrel which has its insides burned and then the slats are compressed together.
Hugh helping do the compressionBoris helping with the compressionEnd of Stage 2
Stage 3 involves taking a Stage 2 barrel and finishing it up with some straps in the small gaps and the insertion of the tops and bottoms of the barrel. Interestingly, the “glue” used is simple flower and water – klag.
There, we have an oak barrel
After that amazing demonstration, we are taken into their house where we are served three of his fruit brandys.
One was a Palinka
We take leave of our very gracious and talented hosts. Still in Erdobenye, we go to the family owned Karadi-Berger Wine cellar. He has been making wine in Tokaj for about 10 years.
When we arrive, his two sons are cooking gulyas, goulash, on an open fire outside.
The Boys aand the Gulyas
Our host, Zsolt Berger, talks about his wines in some depth and serves three of them, dry whites. Then they serve the lunch with the goulash.
PretzelsGoulash in the bowl.
The guys really liked the goulash but I thought it needed more Paprika. Zsolt then showed us his two dessert wines. They were very sweet but well made. At the end we depart with thanks. There was an option to go to a small wine vinegar manufacturer which we take up. We are shown a film on some very expensive video equipment and two levels of the shop. The guys participate in tastings of the many different flavours of vinegar, but I am not really a fan so did not myself.
Entering the Vinegar factory
Guys tasting vinegar
A number of vinegars are purchased by the guys. We then drive back to our Castle Hotel for a rest. It has been a big day but we are not finished yet. We are to have dinner and wine tasting at family owned Hudacsko Winery in Bodrogkisfalud. When we arrive, we are met by a very nice lady / owner. We are shown around the winery.
Interestingly, they store wines in the cellar for customers that have bought them
Then it is up to the dining room for a traditional, home cooked meal.
Home Made BreadSoup
A very effective wood heater. Can be used to boil water to heat elsewhere in the premisesMain courses were Venison and Duck
I haven’t said anything yet about the wine. We were served 8 different wines along the way, all Whites, with the last few wines dessert wines, again very sweet but well made.
The Wines line-upA premium Tokaji
We thanked these fine and generous people for a great night. It has been a big day so we head back to our Castle Hotel.
Post script: having felt like my throat had been cut with nothing but white wines all day, I poured a coupled of glasses of Red back at the Hotel room. Bliss.
Sunday, 15 May, 2016 – Budapest to Eger to Noszvaj to Tokaj
We have a very full day today so depart from Budapest at 9:00. We have the same driver, Tibor, that picked us up at the airport. Our first destination is Eger, close to a two hour drive, and a winery, Kovacs Nimrod.
Arriving at the winery
There is a nice young lady there to greet us. She is very knowledgable. We start with a tour through the winery.
In the cellar
The Tasting RoomThe Wine list
There was a substantial number of wines to taste, including the Hungarian favourite, Bikaver or Bulls Blood.
The Wines
We bought some wines and departed with thanks.
Our next stop is Noszvaj at the Thummerer Winery where we are to have lunch. We start with a tour of the winery.
Then it is time for lunch. We are served some of the winery’s wines with the lunch.
Chicken CasseroleSpuds
On the PlateThe Gang at Lunch
We finish up and leave the winery. We then have a two hour drive to Tokaj. We stay at Grof Degenfeld Castle Hotel which has been gorgeously restored and is in beautiful grounds amongst the vines. The Castle is great, a couple of photos of our room.
The Grounds out the front
Dinner is at the Castle tonight with wines available from their winery.
Julie and Julia – someone should Produce a film of that title
We have the morning free so we decide to start with one final spa. Julie convinces me to try this medicinal water down there.
The dispenserThe blurb
All I can say is Yuk – tasted absolutely revolting. Any way, the following are a few photos of the Spa and associated areas.
The Spa temperature was very hot
Swimming Pool – I did not use it
We have breakfast and one final massage for Julie. We are not being picked up until 1:00 PM so we pack our bags and check out so that I can continue to do Blog work in the lobby where response times are much better than the room. Eventually our driver for today, Livia, picks us up and takes us to our Hotel for the night, the Continental where Jan and Hugh have been staying.
Julie checking in
The Continental is a big old Pub with a huge lobby. We are shown to our room and have an upgrade to a quite large, corner room. We call Jan & Hugh’s room and they are there. They come down to check out our room and then we go to theirs to check out it.
We decide to go out for a lunch to a place which Hugh had read about somewhere. It was a bit of a walk and I spotted this along the way.
Fosters all over the world
We initially miss the place but finally find it.
The menuWe order wine, naturally. Bikaver or Bulls BloodGoose Breast with paprika sauce for Hugh and I
After we finish lunch, we go back to the Hotel and have a brief nap as we are to formally start the Savor tour later in the afternoon. So after the nap we proceed to the lobby to meet Julia, our guide for the next few days, and guests Boris and Viktoria. The are originally Russian but are now New York City, Brooklyn, based.
The Girls saying hello
We are to go to the Jewish sector where dinner is being prepared by a Jewish widow that had been married to a famous Rabbi who had passed away a few years back. We take a taxi part of the way there and walk the rest of the way.
The statue is Peter Falk as Columbo. I am not sure the connection
We arrive at the apartment building.
New chums Boris and Viktoria with guide Julia ringing the door bellThe apartments
We are met at the door by our Hostess who is a renowned cookbook-author. One of the first things I noticed was the large number of books. (a number of my photos did not work out, I will see if Julie has some better ones). We are also joined by another young guide, I never caught her name.
We are served two kinds of Palinka to start
Palinka is a home made fruit brandy similar in concept to the Georgian Cha Cha we had last year but nicer in flavour. The apertif was in the lounge room and we are shown into the dining room, where there are lots more books. Dinner is served.
Julie and I donated this Romanian magnum we had bought at LacertaA wine provided by our HostessAnother
The Guys and the Wine
The Group. Our Hostess on the left with Julia next to her
No Pork of course. We take our leave and thank our Hostess profusely. We go back to the Hotel but elect to take a Trolley instead of a cab. Julia has tickets for us all. At the Hotel, we decide to have a drink at the bar.
No, there is no bad luck on this day. In fact, it is a very good day. Julie decides to walk into town where we are to meet at Jan & Hugh’s Hotel, so off she goes. Edith shows up at the spa hotel and shortly thereafter our driver shows up. We drive into the city and to the Hotel and there are Julie and Hugh waiting out the front.
Our first stop is at the Citadel, a site on the Buda side of the river. From there you can get a panoramic view of the river and the Buda and Pest sides.
Walking to the viewOverlooking Budapest and the Danube
At this stage it is time to discuss the bridges of Budapest which link the Buda and the Pest sides. During World War 2, the Hungarians were originally on the Nazi side but toward the end of the war, one Hungarian politician declared they were no longer supporting the Germans. In retaliation, the Germans destroyed all nine of the birdges over the Danube which had to be rebuilt after the war ended.
The Green Bridge
After the Citadel, we went to a Brewery/Restaurant for a tour, tasting and lunch.
The Brewery RestaurantIt is quite a large placeThe girls settled inPretzels
We were promised a tour of the brewery and soon enough the third generation owner comes by to lead or tour. We are all given a glass of beer to assist the touring.
The Owner and Hugh
We complete the tour and go back to our table. We order some Hungarian wine while Hugh sticks to beer, getting one of the other of three beers they make. He does not like it as much as the first one and it is eventually replaced by the first one by the owner. We order our food.
Goulash SoupMeatball soupThe wine
Goose Leg
Our Guide, Edith
After lunch is finished, we go to the Budapest market. It is modern and clean and has a large variety of stalls. Jan buys her faourite Paprika to take home.
In the market
Jan and Paprika
We go upstairs in a corner for a bar area which is known as “The Library” as this is where the men typically go when they are tired of walking around the market with their wives. Julie continues on the prowl around the market.
Goulash in Bread looks like a great idea
A little crowdedOne thing I missed on this tour was Spicy FoodHad to have Salmon in a photoMore Salmon
Wooly PigEvery Town needs a steak shopWow!
How red is that fruitSmall chunks of PorkPork crackling?
Burgers anyone?
Very impressive market and great photos Julie. Any way, it is time to depart. We drive past some scenic sites although I fall asleep and miss most of them. When I wake up, we are back at the Spa hotel, they decided to go there first. So I hop out of the bus and say goodbye to our wonderful guide for the last two days, Edith. Julie, of course, goes back to the city so that she can walk back. The following are some of the photos she took while on the prance.
The Yellow Bridge for walking on/off the Island
The bus in the river. It operates on dry land too.
When Julie finally returns, I had been snoozing, we do not need a big dinner as the lunch had been huge. Edith had kindly done some baking and provided that and other snacks which was perfect for what we needed to eat. Thanks, Edith.
Edith’s snacks
I will add Edith’s contact details as soon as I can find them. Highly recommended.
