Tuesday, July 04, 2006

IN THE HEART OF EUROPE - JULY 1978

HUNGARY!

ROUGHLY 100,000 SQUARE KM; A LANGUAGE NOBODY ELSE SPEAKS (OR UNDERSTANDS...); FOLK SONGS DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER PEOPLE; NEVERTHELESS, IN THE HEART OF EUROPE...

LAKE BALATON - THE LARGEST FRESHWATER LAKE IN EUROPE

Balaton has a surface area of 592 km², its length is 77 kilometres and the width ranges from 4 to 14 kilometres. The lake's surface is 104 m above sea level; depth is up to 11 m (mean depth 3.2 m). Since Hungary is landlocked, Lake Balaton is sometimes called the «Hungarian Sea». The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water.



"BALATONSZEPLAK - Our basis to explore the Balaton Region"


"SIO CANAL - provides outflow to the Lake, as needed"


"SIOFOK - The name of the city was found in the deed of foundation of the Abbey of Tihany (11th century). Main Street (Fo utca) in the late 70's"


"BALATONBOGLAR - Since the late 19th century, one of the most important holiday centers in the Balaton region. The Water Tower of a holiday camp"


"BALATONBOGLAR - I particularly like this photo"


"BALATONBOGLAR is the international town of grapes and wine, the professional centre of the Balatonboglár Wine Region. Here, however, we are dealing with cheery-picking... and cherry-eating!"


"BEACH - Northern Shore, deeper waters"



"BADACSONY - For hundreds of years poets, novelists and painters have been calling the Badacsony and its vicinity the most beautiful landscape in Hungary"


"BADACSONY - Wine tasting"


"ZANKA PIONEERS CAMP - Recycled as The Zánka Children and Youth Centre ?


"TIHANY - The whole peninsula is a historical district. The center of the district is the Benedictine Abbey, which was founded in 1055 by András (Andrew) I, who is buried in the crypt. It has the best view of Lake Balaton"



"TIHANY - The church was rebuilt in baroque style in 1754. The still functioning abbey is a popular tourist attraction due to the historical and artistic significance"


"TIHANY - The only photo with Magdolna"


"BALATONFURED - The town has two marinas, a string of carbonated mineral water springs, and beautiful listed buildings from the middle of the 18th and the 19th centuries. People come here to enjoy the mild micro-climate, beautiful scenery, famous local wine, and sailing and swimming facilities, as well as to revive the two-century-old tradition of socialising around spas, bathing and vacationing"

2 comments:

Andrea Gerák said...

Wow, look what I found!!! I think we had a holiday vacation there that summer, in the village beside Balatonboglar.

And a bit later, I spent also one month in Zanka, in the pioneer city...

You saw really a lot of things around the Balaton!

Anonymous said...

Hi Andrea,
Amazing coincidences; we probably crossed ourselves in the streets or roads around Balaton. And I tell we had a lot of fun during these holidays...