Ludwig's Odyssey: The Uplands, The Great Plain

We were a bit unsure as to what to do next after all the excitement in Budapest. The weather was going to blip for a couple of days so it didn’t really matter where we were.
We’d read that Eger was meant to be interesting, so we headed north-easterly towards the uplands for three nights.
The drive through the Matra Mountains was scenic as you would expect.
Our first stop was in Recsk, the site of a Gulag or Concentration Camp from 1950-53.
After WWII, Stalin’s impact was great in Hungary and he placed his puppets in power and so the political reprisals began. Basically anyone opposed to the new regime was put in the Gulag, politicians of course but also union members who couldn’t work for the State, amongst others. It was a forced labour camp for digging out Basalt, most had rudimentary tools or if none at all, were forced to quarry stone with their hands. They had improper clothing for the harsh winters and were of course very poorly fed and worked very hard for 10-12 hours a day. You can’t imagine…
Somehow, casualties were low, and eventually when the regime in Hungary changed, some were pardoned and freed but had of course lost all their lands and wealth, some were put into prison as they were still seen as criminals of the state.

Humbled by the experience, we made our way to Eger.

Eger is the most Baroque place in the country apparently, and we can believe it, lots on show, although after having seen so much lately, we were a little blasé about it. A pleasant and compact town centre to walk around, the other main reason to come here and perhaps the most famous, is to drink the Bulls Blood wine—don’t worry it has none in it— it’s a long story involving invading Turks, beautiful women and bravery. Anyway, we of course had to taste some and it isn’t bad at all.

Next up, up to Bukk national park, and to a town called Szilvasvarad, a bit touristy, but also historically important for the breeding of the beautiful Lipizzan horses. There was a tower to climb to see the views, a waterfall, a cave and so forth.
Going back to the historical part, there was a Horse Museum, which was average really, but the beautiful Lipizzan stallions, in the stable dating back to 1860, were very majestic. We don’t know to much about horses but we know these are a famous breed. Unlike their famous counterparts in Vienna, these stallions are bred as carriage horses, so naturally they are bigger/stronger than the ones used for dressage.

Moving on, we made our way south to the great plain, and stopped over by Lake Tisza for three nights. We came to this particular area to visit nearby Hortobágy National Park and hopefully to see the Great Bustard—but just like in Austria a couple of weeks back, we failed.
It’s still the breeding season, so they are ‘still’ sitting on their eggs in tall grass…
Argh! Anyway, we did enjoy the park.

We went on a tour at the Mata Stud farm—big stables with lots of horses and lots of little ones also—to see some old traditions, which included a horse & cart ride around the big farm. On display were some rare breeds, the Racka Sheep, and the Hungarian Grey Cattle, both of which have terrific horns. This tour also included seeing some old skills performed by the Csikósok—or Horse-herdsmen—on their Nonius Horses, including making the horse lay down, sit up, and cracking a bull-whip around them, something that they have been desensitised to—the history behind this goes back some 300 years when brigands would roam the plains, shooting off their guns, so as to hide, the horses were trained to lay down and get used to the gun noise by cracking the bull-whip. Apparently.
We got lucky in that we were only five in our tour, usually the numbers are much greater this time of year, so we had pretty much a personal guide. She knew her stuff and she did come across keen (sometimes this is not the case). She spoke excellent english, this was obviously due to the fact that she had spent time in the UK and she also happened to have a boyfriend in Peacehaven of all places. It is a small world!!
But we were also unlucky in that the guy who performs the 'five-in-hand' galloping, which is standing balanced on the back of two rear horses, with three more reined in front, has Mondays off. Oh well, we were still happy with our lot.

So, in vain, off we drove to try and spot some Great Bustards but nothing doing. However, even though it’s flat, the area does have it’s own beauty, arable fields merging into marshes and grazing fields. We saw plenty of birds—if not the one we were after—the usual ones, Buzzards, Kestrels etc. but also plenty of; Storks, Great Egrets, Purple Herons, Night Herons and dozens of Marsh Harriers. We also saved a Turtle, a ‘European Pond’ variety, Wendy informs me. It was crossing the road and would surely have got run over, so we stopped, picked it up and took it across safely.

Well, time to move on to the next country. We’ve enjoyed Hungary, it’s a place with lots to offer and we’ve seen some great things, they just need to fill a few pot holes up!

Recsk Memorial Park