Somebody's idea of modern art? Who knows??

Taking the backroads through eastern Hungary. There's not really a lot to see in this area. It's flat, with mostly farmlands. We were headed to the hills though. I had read about a great hiking area near Hungary's Bükki National Park which is closer to the Slovakia border.

Another gorgeous day though... we've been really enjoying the weather lately.

Highs around 24C (75F) with blue sky and sunshine and zero humidity. Pretty much perfect!

Backroads drive in eastern Hungary.

I had read about a parking lot in the village of Lillafüred. It's a popular weekend destination but fortunately we got there early enough to get a good parking spot for Max. What I didn't know is that it's not free. It's also not expensive, but we didn't have any local cash. They use the Hungarian forint in Hungary, and I didn't think we'd be here long enough to need any of that cash. 

I still had some euros, but the guy at the entrance wouldn't take them. He was friendly enough though, and told me we could park and walk into the village to get change.

So we went for a walk and checked with a few shops, but nobody would change 10 euros into forints. Eventually, I went to a little ice cream shop outside a small hotel. The girl referred me to reception. The guy spoke some English, and I told him we wanted to buy some ice cream, but only had euros. He walked us back down to the ice cream shop where we each got a cup of ice cream and some forints in return for our 10 euro note. Persistence pays off!

We walked back and paid 1,000 forints ($3.50 CAD, $2.70 USD) to park for the day. The guy said we could also stay for the night.

Max, parked at GPS 48.09658, 20.620788

(This photo was taken this morning, but yesterday afternoon it was pretty much full.)

We had some lunch and set off for a hike.

Small lake beside the big hotel with rowboats for rent.

Flowers in the park.

Almost stepped on this little snake!

Actually it isn't a snake at all, it is called a slow worm and is a legless lizard.

Heading into the forest.

Going uphill for a view.

View of the forest.

There were actually quite a few people out walking.

But there are so many trails it's easy to find one with nobody on it.

Another view.

At this viewpoint there were three odd round boulders. 

It turned out they were made made... of styrofoam! Somebody's idea of modern art? Who knows??

Back in the village, we wandered around.

Pretty canal.

The Hotel Palota.

The famous Hotel Palota (Palace Hotel) was built between 1925 and 1929 in the Neo-Renaissance style. There is a huge park and gardens from the building towards the Szinva springs . The hanging gardens were designed during its construction, as the Palace Hotel is located on top of a steep ascent, and a terraced walkway system with retaining walls had to be built to reinforce this; here is the highest vertical waterfall in the country.

This waterfall is manmade. It was created when a natural spring was moved during the construction of the hotel.

The rear gardens of the Hotel Palota.

View of the Hotel Palota.

We hiked about 10 kms (6.2 miles). It was a great day. Pretty busy though, with lots of people enjoying the outdoors on a Sunday. Totally quiet overnight though.

Today, we head for the Slovakia border. Need to stop and fill Max's fuel tank before we cross because fuel is more expensive in Slovakia. Then we will stop in a town in Slovakia and buy a local SIM card so we can continue to keep in touch with you all!

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