Sopron

Just four weeks after Elizabeth was born, amazingly, we were feeling mobile enough to take our first European road trip. Of course, this had to be within the borders of Hungary, since we do not yet have a passport for Elizabeth.

Call it Spring fever, I guess...

The week before we went on our road trip, we visited the Buda suburbs, where we took a cogwheel tram to the top of Janos-Hill (http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-300390/Janos-Hill). There is a nice park and a “children’s train” at the top of this hill, but that’s another story. The point is, spring was definitely in bloom, and it gave us the itch. Even in the city, there are patches of green everywhere, and the parks are so much prettier than they were just a month ago.

On the weekends, the streets and sidewalks are filled with people on their bikes. We were not the only ones with the itch. Hungarians in general seem a little outdoorsy, so many people I work with head to their country homes on the weekends.

So… on a whim the Wednesday before the weekend, knowing that I had a three-day weekend coming, we asked around for some interesting places to go.

We decided to go to Sopron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopron), which is right next to the Austrian border and is supposedly in the foot hills of the Alps.

Half of our drive was on Motorway 1 (M1), which is just like any one of our major interstates. Most of this portion of the trip was through very hilly farmlands, where we saw lots of hills and valleys and field after field of these little yellow flowers which are used to make vegetable oil. The flowers were in bloom, and the contrast between the green trees, the bright yellow fields and the blue sky was pretty amazing. Pictures don’t do it justice.

Then again, we had been mostly cooped up in the busy city for five months straight. A dried up west Texas cotton patch might have been just as glorious.

On the way, we also stopped at a neat little roadside restaurant. We had breaded chicken stuffed with camembert cheese, with cranberry jam for dipping. AWESOME! They have these mom-and-pop-type places every 25 kilometers or so. (Metric Converter - http://www.worldwidemetric.com/metcal.htm)




When we got to the hotel, we were happy to be in the forest on one of the Sopron hillsides. We stayed at the Hotel Lövér and Wellness Spa. We chose this place because it caters to families. The hotel itself was nice. The room was a decent size, although the bathroom was ridiculously tiny. And the beds were comfy.

After checking in, we decided to head back into town to take care of some things on our shopping list.

1. Bike helmet for Abigail


2. Bathing suit for Keesha


3. A couple of sweaters for Keesha (she realized that she had not packed appropriately, since it was about 10° F lower than in Budapest.

The first night we were there, Abigail crashed early and Keesha and I had room service. We ordered a tray of fruits, cheeses, nuts and bread along with some local wine. Very nice.

The next day, Abigail and I did some outdoorsy stuff around the hotel. We spent most of our time on the playground while Keesha and Elizabeth were visiting the Spa. Keesha enjoyed a “wellness pedicure.” Later on, Keesha and Elizabeth came down and played with Abigail while I went back up to the hotel for a haircut.

After the girls had their afternoon naps, we took a taxi back into town (I’ll explain why we took a taxi later) to a restaurant named Papa Joe’s Saloon & Steakhouse. It had been recommended by one of my colleagues, Csaba (pronounced CHAW-bu).

We were not disappointed!

Its theme is the American Wild West. It has six-shooter pistol grip door handles and real saddles for bar stools. In the dining area, they have a wood burning fire pit where the food is cooked. It smelled awesome!

Keesha had a “raw” steak. I had mine rare. I had corn on the cob cooked over the grill. Abigail took my first one, so I had to order another. She then ate almost half of that one. Sopron is known for their local brew, Soproni. This restaurant is definitely more of a steak and beer place than a steak and wine place. So we did not hesitate to partake.

This is why we needed the taxi. No, not because we were slamming back Sopronis. Hungary has a zero tolerance law. You can not have a trace of alcohol in your blood when driving without getting into serious trouble if for some reason you get pulled over – especially for foreigners in a city where English is not nearly as widely known as in Budapest.

The next morning, we drove around the town of Sopron, but because it was drizzling and pretty chilly, we did not get out to explore. There are a couple of castles and a nice pedestrian area in the heart of the town. We will definitely go back sometime.

It was great to see and breathe-in the countryside of western Hungary. Having always lived in the suburbs, we didn’t really understand why people here in the city – or even back in Dallas – needed their country getaways. Now we understand. And the itch was satisfied… for now.