Eastern Hungary Day 2

We all get up pretty early, have a traditional Hungarian breakfast and start discussing on plans for the day. Now, part of the reason I wanted to come to Edit's this weekend was that she lives near the Tokai wine mountain. There is this one mountain/really large hill in Hungary that they grow and make a golden wine. Its sweeter than a normal wine, but you can also get it very dry. It is the best tasting alcoholic drink I have ever had. I am become mildly addicted to this stuff, drinking a glass or two each night.

What makes the wine so special is that the cold winds coming over from the Russian Ural mountains starts to raisin the grapes on the vine while they grow. This creates a very different, special flavor that only happens on this hill. The wine has greatly different tastes depending on what side of the hill it is even grown on.

We drive the 45 minutes to the hill, taken there by Edit's dad. We drive up to the top of the hill and look out over the beautiful farm land. This is a giant hill in the middle of a very, very flat land. I assume God liked Tokia wine so much he wanted to share it with humans, but to prevent everyone from drowning themselves in it, created only one hill it could be grown on. Well played, God, well played.

After we go to the top of the hill we start searching for some wineries. Now, every single house in the village is a winery. Not kidding. Everyone who lives there grows their own and makes wine in their basement. We stop by one house, go to the basement, taste three different types. Full dry, 1/2 dry and full sweet. The 1/2 dry is the best. She then fills a plastic 2-liter for us full of this wine. How much does a 2-liter of it cost you ask? About $3.

Matt and I each get one and to our surprise Edit's dad pulls out his wallet and pays for it. Matt and I both try to protest, but he won't have any of it. He gave us a stare that said, "put the wallet away or lose the hand." I decided to keep the hand. He also gets us a 1-liter of the very sweet wine. It is more expensive, almost $10. It is more expensive because it is pre-bottled in glass and regulated by the government, so there is tax on it.

We decide to go explore the village more, walking around, visiting more stores (Edit gets some wine) and finally viewing a beautiful river. Edit's dad explains that two rivers meet here (you can see that), but they have different colors so if you look you can see where they meet they don't blend, one is a very dark green and one a very light green. It looks awesome. You can follow down the river and see as they blend together.

Edit's dad then says he will go get the car and we keep walking around. When we meet back up with her dad he has presents for both Matt and I. Again, I am just flabbergasted about his generosity. He got Matt a really cool wine bottle that is shaped like a bunch of grapes. He got me a beer mug that has the village info on it and then a small wine bottle with a glass grape bunch in side. The cool thing about the bottle is the bunch is separate, so you put two different kinds/colors of drink inside and you can see the difference.

At this point Matt and I think Christmas came early. Best day ever. We keep thanking her dad and promise when he finally comes to KC how we are going to treat him to BBQ like he has never imagined.

We had back to Edit's house as it is almost lunch time. We get back and Edit's dad asks Matt and I if we want a small drink of Palinka. Small means two very different things to us. We get huge shots of the hazzie again. I have this look of utter defeat on my face and sends Matt into a fit of laughter. It was like going into battle confident you are ready for the fight, only to come over a hill to see an army of 10s of thousands prepared for battle against just yourself. That was the look. Either way we take our shots with pride and a small bit of whimpering.

Now, while we have been away getting wine, Edit's mom and grandma have been at home cooking a full feast and it is war. Again, cooking for your family is one of your greatest prides. Not just filling their stomachs, but tantalizing their taste buds as well. Women in the kitchen don't work together, they work against each other to win. Matt put it best, "It is like a war, but where the bystanders always win and win big."

Oh and did we ever win. A four course meal, with traditional goulash, ribs, salad, bread, beef and so on. Best part, every single ingredient was from the village. Even the milk mixed in. How awesome is it to have an entire feast all from local gardens and small farms, all bought that morning. The meal was so good that when they asked me how it was my response was, "Find me a Hungarian wife quickly." Which they offered to do and gave me a list of pretty, single girls in the village. I told them I will be returning soon. My second request was to move in. They said they would gladly accept me and put me to work in exchange for food.

We sit around and continue to talk, but have to catch our train back to Budapest shortly. Edit's dad again bought those tickets as well and wouldn't hear out attempts to repay him. He loves having guests and it is his honor to provide for them. There is a lot of pride about being able to provide gifts for your guests here. It isn't shameful to accept them, it would be shameful to reject. It isn't presented as "you need it more than me," it is presented as, "thank you for being my guests."

That man will be getting a lot of BBQ and steak when he comes to KC in a few years. Like a Lannister, I always pay my debts.

The train ride back is pretty calm. I destroy Matt in two back-to-back games of Monopoly and then he makes me his toy in a game of Risk (all on the iPad).

When we get back it is around 7pm and we head to Edit's apartment to hang out. I thought about just staying there since it is a 45 minute trip back to my apartment, but around 11pm I decide to go back. The metro has stopped running so I have a new adventure. I have to figure out the night bus system and get back home. Like a badass I succeed with little issue, getting home about an hour after I left (good time).

I already miss the food and wine....I will be back.