Hairgrove's in Hungary: Trip To Northern Hungary & Slovakia

In the autumn we took a trip with Ben's school to the western part of Hungary. Now that it is the spring they invited us on another trip to the northern part of the country. It was a one day trip that left on Thursday and came back on Friday. A lot of historical Hungarian sites were packed into this one little trip. Our first stop was at lunch time. We stopped in Tokaj for lunch--where we had our pork on a slice of bread and pickle. Ironically we would be back in Tokaj just a few days later--for another trip we had planned.

A man fishing in Tokaj.

Our tour bus and teachers.

Us with a group of teacher friends.

After lunch we continued north to the town of Monok, which is the birthplace of Lajos Kossuth. He is considered one of the most important Hungarians of modern times. He was instrumental in the 1848 Revolution attempt and was Regent-President during the Revolution. He was a fugitive after the Revolution and eventually lived out the rest of his days in the United States.

Lajos Kossuth painting.

The museum made you wear special
foot slippers.

Ben was not thrilled about wearing his
foot slippers.

Ben standing next to a 1848 Revolutionary solider.

Me posing in a traditional dress of the 1840's.

The birthplace and now museum of Lajos Kossuth.

The next stop was Boldogkovaralja or the castle of Boldogko was built in the second half of the 13th century. In the 16th century the castle played an important role in stopping marauding Turkish troops leaving from the Hungarian Highlands. The castle was once owned by the Habsburgs, but was made unlivable in 1702. It was restored in the 1960's and even as recently as 2010.

Boldogko Castle.

The view on top of the hill is wonderful.

Me with our contact Eniko.

Me and Ben enjoying the view. It was very windy up there
that is why our hair looks kind of crazy.

View of castle from below.

A lonely little train crossing the landscape.

Our next stop was Vizsoly. It has a copy of the Károli Bible (printed in the mid-1500's), which was the first complete printed Hungarian translation of the Bible. The church was built in the 13th century and is a calvinist church.

A replica of the printing press used for the Bible.
It took about one and half years to print the first Bible.

The Karoli Bible.

The Vizsoly church.

We arrived that evening at a very small town on the border of Hungary and Slovakia. The town as far as we could tell consisted of a row of houses, our hotel and some farms near by. That evening we had dinner, relaxed and enjoyed listening to the teachers sing Hungarian folk songs--it was quite nice.