Hungary: Castles!

Today began with a quick Aldi run before my host picked me up for the day. We shared another breakfast of the delicious kifli, assorted cheese and meats and eggs and tomatoes before heading out.

Our first stop was a magnificent castle about an hour west of Veszprem. We toured the restored castle grounds and got a feel for medieval life here. The compound was large and quite high up in a hill, making it quite the workout to climb! The vistas from the top were well worth the hike though. There was a blacksmith hammering away and the kiddos got to join him in making a little souvenir each. We also attended a lovely hawk and falcon show as well as tried a few other activities in the open space. This castle was a large compound and an important one in the history.
Before we left, we grabbed some chimney cakes. They are a dough swirled around hot iron cylinders and deep fried. The warm cakes are then coated in sugars of your choice (vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, etc)  the outside is like a crunchy doughnut while the inside is like a fluffy bun. They were delicious!

Next we headed to our second castle. This one had seem some hard times, but was an important castle when the town of Veszprem where we were staying collapsed to the Turks. It was fun to read about an incredible woman who was instrumental in the expansion and design of this castle. We climbed quite high to the top tower at this castle too!

Finally, we headed to a winery with the most stunning views of Lake Balaton. I began with a lovely sparkling rose, and then had a white wine spritzer. The Hungarians have an entire menu of the proportions to mix wine and sparkling water. Sitting overlooking the stunning lake was the most magical part of the day. The kids were very disappointed at the stop, because we just sat there, but I assured them they would understand the allure in a few years.
There were two ice cream sets to grace the day. After the second castle, I had a refreshing lemon and raspberry sorbet. After dinner, I had a cantaloupe and punch flavor. I'm not a huge cantaloupe fan, but this is the 2nd time I've had cantaloupe ice cream and I'm a huge fan. The punch ice cream was pink and reminiscent of a tutti frutti ice cream I adored as child. It had dried fruits in it and a faint trace of rum as well. In Europe, fruit flavors often are way more intense than American flavors, and very refreshing in a summer day.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant in the Veszprem town Square and I had a simply delightful pork loin over a gnocchi bed with an earthy mushroom sauce.

I’m incredibly grateful to get to see the heritage of a country with native tour guides. This trip had a lot of conversations on identity. What is your identity? Is it your birthplace? Where you call home? What your relate to your heritage? I don’t know if I truly qualify as a third culture kid, but I do feel like one. This trip was a unique glimpse into both immigrant parents and first gen kids, and the struggles on both sides. Seeing the castles was an immigrant parent’s attempt at national heritage and pride. Only time will tell if it had the intended effect on the kiddos.

Szia!