A little country with a big heart

by Barbara Utasi (Ireland)

I didn't expect to find Hungary

Hungary is a small country in Central Europe. What makes it unique? . Several things i should mention, for example: Did you know that the Hungarian language is called magyar, and its one of the most hardest languages to learn on the Earth? The longest word has 44 letters and non of the neighbour countries understand this language, this dialect come from Uralic region of Asia. For me the best time to visit, well, its a hard question actually, hmm, i need to think for a second here. Lets start with spring, temperature between 15-22 Celsius. Go, have a walk around in the capital, this city is split in two, as Danube the second largest river in Europe flow across it. You have the old historic city quarters, museums, amazing galleries and fun parks. You can enjoy a lovely glass of vine, as there are twenty two different vine regions. If you like a well boded, dry red, try Egri Bikaver, but if you prefer more something sweet, Tokaji white vine its for you. For the brave ones, the traditional Hungarian drink called Palinka, is between 48-52% ( the tasty ones), but it can be stronger or weaker, made from any type of fruits, even walnuts and honey, and sugar, just please be careful, this drink can give you bad headache on the next day. This place has some bigger hills, would not really call them mountains as the highest point is only 1042m, but you can go for a hike or a forest walk, there are great National Parks, Botanic Gardens and Wild Life Parks. At summer time the best thing to do to cool down - well you need it, sometimes temperature raise up to 35-38 degrees - so just jump into the water. There is a big lake, called lake Balaton and its Central Europe biggest fresh water lake. During the day have a swim, or go for a boat trip, eat some langos ( traditional Hungarian deep fried bread - really tasty), and if you lucky you will end up in one of the festivals at the evening time. You have all summer plenty of music festivals across the country. It is worth to visit this little country as the hotels and rooms are generally cheap, and the food is tasty, you can get what you looking for, art, festivals, culture, spas, adventure parks. I need to stop here for a second, and talk a little about the spas. Hungary has more than 1300 termal water springs, the water is rich in minerals, some of them salty, smelly but it is very good for your body. The water temperature is between 25-38 Celsius. The Hungarian capital Budapest nickname the City of Spas. You can go alone or you can visit with family, I am sure that you will have some fun and a great time. Keep in mind that people generally are nice, but not everyone talks in English. Get yourself a little pocket guide, learn a few words and enjoy. I suggest to spend there a week so it will give you enough time to go around a little in this country. Ready for new adventure?