Hungary, April 17, Rám-szakadék Gorge hike and beyond

 Today was one of the highlights of our trip.  We combined 3 different hiking routes in a large circle.  About 7 km up, 7 km down and about 5 km on the level. The first part was an incredibly beautiful and fun gorge. The second part was at the top of a hill overlooking the Danube River. The third part was a steep downhill climb on loose rocks and with large rocks on either side of the path. It was a difficult hike but really very rewarding. We were joking that we would need to take a bath after our hike to sooth our aching muscles when we came across a decaying Kruschev era apartment building with an old bathtub sitting next to the track.

Copy of our hike except we started from the Danube River by Dömös and did some extra walking to get up to the trail

April 16: From Sofia, Bulgaria to Visegrád, Hungary

 We spent the morning in Sofia, one last banitsa, one last Gelato, this time Mozart flavor, chocolate,  pistachio, and vanilla, and some last minute shopping once we discovered we had a little more room in our bags. Then we took the subway to the airport and hung out in the lounge and ate chocolate and cheese.   Our flight was on time.  We were very impressed with Ryanair. They didn't reschedule our flight for the middle of the night and then leave late (as both of our Wizz Air flights did) nor attempt to cancel a ticket (as Royal Jordanian did). 

Serdika Subway Station

Waiting at the Airport

Once in Budapest, we picked up our rental car and drove north about an hour to Visegrad on the bend of the Danube.

We had access to a kitchen, and since we were tired of eating out, we drove to Lidl and stocked up on food and spent the evening relaxing.

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Bulgaria, April 15, Plovdiv

 We took the subway to the airport and rented a car there, picking Petja, her sister Mira, and Sophia. Petja's mom had made us banitsa (filo/feta) and her dad gave us Bulgarian yogurt.  After our snack and admiring the bees and chickens next door,  we drove about 2 hours southeast to Plovdiv,  through the mountains and near the Mediterranean.  Plovdiv is built on a hill and boasts Thracian, Roman, Byzantine,  Ottoman and Bulgarian ruins. 

The most intact is a Roman Stadium discovered in 1970 because of an earthquake. 

The Roman Stadium 

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Bulgaria, April 14: Sofia and Sophia

 In the morning we walked around Sofia while we waited for Petja, a friend met in East Lansing and her daughter, Sophia. Petja came from Bonn to meet us and was staying with her family near Sofia. We walked around Sofia, eating lunch at a Bulgarian restaurant.  It's easy to find vegetarian food in Bulgaria because the country is Orthodox and used to vegetarian food on fast days. Hungary, which is Catholic,was more difficult.  We saw the typical things that one is supposed to see in Sofia, but we also spent a lot of time at the tea shop. 

Banitsa-Filo and Feta

Vitosha Boulevard with Vitosha Mountain 

Roman Ruins at the Subway

Lunch at Hadjidraganov Restaurant 

St Sofia

Once Upon a Time outside tea garden

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April 13: Egerszalok Thermal Bath, Dobos Torte and Flight to Bulgaria

 In the morning we drove back towards Eger. Our goal was Saleris Spa in Egerszalók, Hungary, a natural salt spring occuring here in Hungary, somewhere in Turkey, and at Yellowstone in the US.  We spent about 3 hours soaking, mostly outside. The pool is both inside and out with a flap door between.  The main pool was decently warm,  making the hot tub unnecessary.  Waterfall jets ran for 15 minutes every half hour, and it was equivalent inforce if not temperature to the waterfall in Jordan. The saltwater is apparently similar only to Yellowstone and  somewhere in Turkey.   In the background was the salt hill where water trickled down and dissolved, leaving a salty residue.  

 After the spa we went back to the palacsinta  (crepe) restaurant  in Eger and had a similar lunch to our last time there, crepes with sheep's cheese  for main course and cherry custard filled crepes for dessert.  Then we walked around Eger again and had Dobos torte and Rigo Janski torte for tea. After that we drove back to the airport and hung out in the lounge until it was time for our flight to Sophia, Bulgaria.  This time we flew Ryanair and had no problems at all, arriving at our hotel around midnight.

Hungary, April 12: Lillafured and Miskolc cave pool

We drove south to Lillafured, a place built as a holiday destination in 1890. We parked at the top of the hill and walked down to the palace hotel and then to the gardens. Our object was to find the largest waterfall in Hungary, about 20 meters of cascading water.

After that we continued on to our hotel in  Miskolc . 

Typical Hungarian Village

For lunch we had strawberry cream soup,  spätzle with sheep cheese and sour cream, and palacsinta (crepes) with apricot jam. 

 After lunch we walked to the Miskolc Cave Pool.  It was a building with a labyrinth of various pool set in caves.  The largest was cool water, the smaller was slightly warmer, and the hot tub got up to 40C . There were several areas with jets that ran every hour and 2 areas with waterfalls, one which was very gentle and the other which was much more vigorous,  rivaling the waterfall in Jordan except that this one was only warm, not hot.  Every hour the jets in the main circle of the cool pond were turned on for about 10 minutes, creating a strong current so that one could basically float around the perimeter of the cave system which was a lot of fun. 

More pictures here

April 11: Aggtelek Cave, Hungary and a Walk to Slovakia

In the morning we took a 2.3 km cave tour in the Baradla Cave. It started in the hills near Vörös Lake and involved around 600 steps, mostly downhill, ending in the neighboring town of Jósvafő. Along the way were incredible limestone formations including the tallest stalactite in Hungary (19 meters high) and the Giant's Chamber where we experienced complete darkness for a minute and then a sound and light show with excellent acoustics. . 

 Both before and after the tour we hiked in the woods around the cave entrance.

In the evening we walked to Slovakia and back. The border was only about a mile and a half from our hotel.

Our hotel included access to a kitchen area, so we bought bread, cheese, and eggs at the local store and made a picnic dinner.

April 10 Eger, Hungary

We landed in Budapest around 3am, picked up our rental car and stayed at a nearby hotel. At 9 AM we drove about an hour east to Eger, known for its castle in which Istvan Dobo  temporarily fended off the Turks in 1552.  First we toured the castle and lunched at the restaurant appropriately named 1552. We had grilled goat cheese salad and beet risotto.

View of Eger from the Castle

View of Part of the Castle

Then we went to the Turkish bath in town which was tame in comparison to the thermal waterfalls in Jordan. Next we walked around the town.

The main square had a statue of Istvan Dobo and a minaret leftover from the Turkish rule.

Minorite Church in Dobo Square, the heart of Eger

Statue of Istvan Dobo who fended off the Turks in 1552

We had Gelato since Eger is known for its ice cream and then  palacsinta (Hungarian crepes) for supper. One palacsinta  was filled with herbed sheep cheese and the other,  farmer's cheese and cherries. 

 Afterwards we drove to our hotel in Aggtelek.

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Jordan, April 7-9 Hammamat Ma'in Jordan: Hot Waterfalls

This trip came together by accident.  We had booked a trip to Egypt but had to cancel it at the last minute. We had until the end of April to use our tickets. So we chose Jordan since it was the cheapest option. Initially our plan had been just to hang out in Jordan, re-do the things we loved, get our scuba diving certificates, and do the things we had been unable to do when we visited there last September. Then we realized that we would be there during Ramadan.  So we decided to visit a friend living in Bonn, Germany. The flights to Germany all had a long layover in Budapest, Hungary, so we decided to fly to Budapest and take a train to Germany.  After we booked our flight to Budapest, our friend suggested she come a week early to Bulgaria and that we meet her there.  So we did.  Jordan, then Hungary, then Bulgaria. Not very efficient when you look at the map, but it worked well for us. We called this our Matroyshka Trip since it was a trip inside a trip inside another trip.

Our flight went well. We flew Royal Jordanian Airlines.  The flight originates in Detroit and picks up passengers in Montreal where Kristen lives. The only snag was that Kristen was held at the check in for 4 hours in Montreal and only allowed to go through security after my plane had landed in Montreal and an agent had examined the credit card I used to pay for Kristen's ticket. Turns out that the card used to book the flight needs to match the ticket, and I had paid for both ticket upgrades with my credit card.  I'm not sure why the ticket agent didn't tell us that, but now that we know, we won't let it happen again. 

We left Montreal around 11 PM  on Thursday and arrived in Amman Friday at 4:30 PM, getting through customs and picking up our rental car by 5:30.  We checked into our hotel at sunset and went immediately to the hotels thermal pool and waterfall and soaked for an hour, ate dinner and then went back to the pool until bedtime. 

At 6 AM we got to the public waterfall (reserved for hotel guests until 9 AM. )  This was the waterfall Herod used with a sauna at the top built by the Romans.  Last fall there had been a few people there. This time we got to it by 6 AM (Could probably have arrived even earlier) and had it to ourselves for at least an hour.  Last fall the air had been hot and the waterfall even hotter. This time the air was cool enough that the heat from the waterfall felt good.

Inside the Sauna Area in the Public Waterfall

The Public Waterfall

The Public Waterfall with Tiers for People to Stand Under the Waterfall 

We sat under the waterfall until we got hungry then went back to the hotel for breakfast and then back to the hotel pool and waterfall until it was time to check out at 2 PM.

The Hotel Pool--They harvest the Water from the Waterfall

Breakfast at the Hotel Balcony

We drove back to Madaba and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at Kawon Once Upon a Time bookstore, organic garden and vegetarian restaurant. 

Mystery Books at the Bookstore

The Bookstore Cafe

Flocks of Sheep and Goats often Crossed the Road

Parking was interesting. These cars are parked on a little triangular island in Madaba.

After an afternoon in Madaba we drove back to the airport to wait for our flight to the next leg of our trip-- Wizz Air to Budapest.