Miskolc - A Day of Actual Exploring

Timber Church

Our second day in Miskolc was jam-packed with things to do.  We started the morning bright and early with a hot breakfast at the hotel.  Unfortunately the Hungarians’ idea of eggs and sausage consisted of very runny scrambled eggs and a microwaved hot dog.  We opted to stick with cold meats, yogurt, and cheese.

After breakfast we made the trek down to the bus station in Miskolc-Tapolca to head out to Diósgyör and the medieval castle.  It was clearly a haven for young children, but cool nonetheless.  Interestingly enough, the castle is where the Peace of Turin was signed to end the war between Venice and Hungary.  The castle is also home to the largest set of wax figures in Central Europe.  They were really poorly made and pretty creepy, but it was still kind of neat.  I felt really bad for our tour guide who was kind enough to ask us if we were American and then proceeded to painfully give the tour to us in English (And Hungarian for everyone else).

We spent the afternoon back in central Miskolc.  The kind ladies at the TourInform center gave us a pamphlet with walking tours of downtown Miskolc that would take us past all of the major sights in the city.  We opted to take the long tour and see everything.  The booklet was interesting in that it didn’t provide you with dry facts about everything in the city.  Instead, it stated upfront that the best way to get a feel for the city is to see the sights and hear the legends/stories behind each location.  If I have some time, I’ll post some of those later.  The walking tour was fun, but somewhat disappointing because for some inexplicable reason all of the churches and the synagogue were closed all afternoon on a Thursday.  It just doesn’t make sense.  There were no signs with posted hours for the churches, they just seemed to be closed all the time.  My favorite sight in the city was hands down the Timber Church, unique in that it is made entirely of wood.  Unsurprisingly, the current church is the fourth reincarnation on the same sight; the previous three having fallen victim to “infernos.”

It was a long day and we were both exhausted.  Kati had decided to wear a strapless dress all day yet neglected to put on sunscreen, so by the end of the day she was pretty burnt.  By the time we made it back to the hotel in Miskolc-Tapolca, it was around 5:00 and we were beat.  Yet, seeing as there was no food in the immediate vicinity, we knew we had to venture out at least one more time that evening.  We mustered up our strength, grabbed our towels, and headed back down to the cave baths to relax before grabbing dinner.  It was an excellent choice.  The thermal mineral water and the “healing” air in the cave really rejuvenated us…at least long enough to have dinner and hike back up the hill to our hotel.