You need to know

You need to know

…that Hungary’s highest peak, “Kékes-tető” in the Northern Hills, is only 1,014 m high?
…that one of Europe’s biggest stalagmite caves is Baradla Cave in north-eastern Hungary, that it’s a World Heritage Site, and that is extends as far as Slovakia?
…that Central-Eastern Europe’s largest freshwater lake is Lake Balaton, also called the “Hungarian Sea”?
…that Lake Balaton is the only place in Europe where the freshwater sponge (which originated in India) lives?
…that Lake Héviz is one of Europe’s largest, natural thermal lakes?

Important data:

Area: 93 030 km2
Population: 10 million persons
Capital: Budapest (population: 1,7 millionen persons)
Time belt: Central European time (GMT + 1) time conversion: At the end of March to at the end of October: Central European time + 1 hour (GMT +2)
Official language: Hungarian
Government: Republic
Currency: Forint, HUF
Coints: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 Forint
Forint notes: 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000 and 20000 Forint
Electric current: 230V, 50Hz

The climate is a moderate continental climate. Coldest month: January, warmest month: July, Number of the hours with sunshine/year: 1979.
Telephone: international call number of Hungary: 36, to Budapest 1, inland long-distance call in the province: 06, international number: 00 Emergency service: International emergency call centre: 112,
Emergency ambulance 104, Police 107, Fire Department 105
The above emergency phone numbers can be called free of charge.
Hungarian Automobile Club’s Emergency Phone: 188

Holidays:
1. January (New Year),
15. March (national holiday day of the revolution of 1848-1849 as well as day of the emergence of the modern parliamentary Hungary), Easter Monday,
01 May (day of the work),
Pentecost (Whitsun),
20 August (state holiday - day of the state founder, sank Stephan),
23 October (national holiday - day of the beginning of the revolution and the liberty fight of 1956; Day of announcing the Hungarian republic in 1989),
01 November (All Saint`s Day)
25-26 December (Christmas)

Hungaricums

Bull’s Blood (Bikavér)

When you hear the words “Bull’s Blood” you are more likely to think of Eger (and more recently the Szekszárd) wine regions, and completely rarely really the blood of a bull. There are several legends explaining the wine’s rather unusual name; the most famous is connected with the siege of Eger Castle in 1552, immortalised in Géza Gárdonyi’s classic novel.

Béres Drops (Béres Csepp)

Here in Hungary this world-famous product from Dr. József Béres has been synonymous with the word ‘health’ for decades. Béres drops are used successfully both in Hungary and abroad in the prevention of illnesses, and the treatment of health problems facing people of all ages.

Gyula Sausages (Gyulai kolbász)

The sausages, whose name has become synonymous with the town in which they are made, started out life at the end of the 19th century in what were pretty inauspicious circumstances.
The recipe of the typically peppered and smoked sausage is secret. In 1935, this sausages won a gold medal at the Brussels World Exhibition.

Herend Porcelain

Herend “white gold” is classical hard porcelain, made from a mixture of china-clay, felspar and quartz sand which is then sluiced, strained and pressed. The pieces made from these raw materials are all made by hand.
It was at the World Exhibition in London held in 1851 that Herend’s perhaps most famous pattern, a design incorporating Chinese-influenced butterflies and flower patterns painted in fresh, lively colours, came to the world’s attention.

Kecskemét Apricot Brandy

The process used for making spirits from fruit is more or less the same wherever you go. The ripe fruit with its high sugar content is put in barrels and crushed. (It is at this point that aroma, made from crushed or intact apricot stones, is added in varying amounts.)

Once the necessary yeast is added, the fruits’ sugar changes into alcohol. It is the distillation process which preserves the taste of the basic ingredients, and it is the distiller’s task to make sure that only the best fruits stay in the mixture. The taste you get in Kecskem�t apricot brandy comes from the soil, the sun and the carefully tended trees. The town itself often feels the effects of the winds, standing where the sand meets the sandy loess.

Although the sand can be light and sodic and sometimes bound, here the sands are loose, sparkling and golden. The sands can easily be moved for cultivation purposes, something which reaps its own rewards. The sand is not very good at holding heat, so much of it is absorbed by the fruit during the day, the sand cooling quickly during the night.

The light and warmth the fruit gets from the sand and the large number of sunny days and cool nights are what give the apricots their unique flavour.

Many believe that it’s the apricot’s characteristic flavour which makes apricot brandy such a great drink; others point to the technological improvements made by Zwack Unicum Ltd. The fact remains that the apricots would not have their unique flavour without the region’s golden soil, which plays such an important part in the ripening process and preserves the fruit’s flavour. Edward VIII. once said of apricot brandy, “With soda it’s better than whisky and soda, and added to tea, it’s better than tea and rum.”


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