So here we are in country number 9 (Or 10 if you count my 5 minutes in
Poland the other day which Chris says is cheating!) Since I last updated
this we have spent some more time in northern Slovakia (visiting Levoca,
the unesco listed ruined castle at Spis and another national park) and then
started our journey south and west towards Croatia.
Yesterday we arrived in the wine growing regions of northern Hungary. To
quote Louis XIV the sweet wines produced in this part of Hungary are "The
wine of kings, the King of wines".
Today we have been finding out for ourselves by doing a wine cellar tour
and tasting at the Rakoczi cellars here in Tokaj. We certainly agree with
the sun king (Theres a sentence I never expected to write!). The wines are
really nice and we have bought a bottle to have as a treat on one of our
birthdays or anniversary.
So for the oenophiles amongst you Tokaj wines are made from the juice of
overripe berries not harvested till late October, and mixed with "aszu"
essence which makes them even sweeter. The "aszu" berries are left to ripen
on the vine until they look almost like raisins and are then used to make
the sweet essence added to the wines. However they need a long warm autumn
to ripen perfectly and the "Aszu" essence is therefore only made in good
years.
The campsite we are staying on is on the banks of the river Tisza, a wide
gently flowing river perfect for canoeing. Chris had a paddle on his own
last night while I recovered from the long drive here and this morning we
went out together. We changed seats though and I had a try at steering, not
something I have been allowed to do since the Maldives when we spent a long
while going round in circles! Anyway am much better now and it was good
fun, also weirdly easier on my arms than the front seat. All in all a great
day.
Alice Ward
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1 comment:
Alice, thank you very much for my birthday card! It was quite exciting to receive an envelope with foreign stamps, hidden in amongst the junk mail!
It sounds like you're having a fantastic time, and I like the sound of your collection of folk art embroidery ideas.
Andy and I have just got back from a lovely relaxing week in Cornwall and I'm enjoying the last week and a half of the school holidays.
Hope you continue to have fantastic adventures.
Love, Melanie
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