FROMBALATONWINEWEEKS TOKALOCSAPEPPERS

ISRAELI DIPLOMAT RECALLS VISITING SOME FAVORITE PLACES IN HUNGARY

BY THE AMBASSADOR

Becoming a diplomat has been my dream since my early youth. Learning about other countries, cultures, and peoples, communicating with them in their languages and serving my country at the same time have always attracted me very much. Diplomacy to me is not only my work but also the way of life, my hobby and passion. One of the most important pillars of diplomacy is the continuous building of relationships. In essence, knowledge of the country will decide the quality of the time spent there. After handing over my credentials, I thought it was important to get to know the more famous places all over Hungary. Tourism has been seriously hit by COVID-19, although the numbers are still relatively low in proportion to the population. It is the tourism industry that has particularly been suffering from the negative impacts of the pandemic, the sector that gives about 7% of the country’s GDP.

Balatonfüred and Debrecen

There are many beautiful cities around Lake Balaton, and I visited

Balatonfüred. According to the locals, swimming and hiking at Tamás Hill are the most common programs, although I had a hard time believing this because the streets are completely empty. My wife and I enjoyed the sunshine while walking along the beautiful Tagore Promenade. The latter is very popular because every year in August, the Wine Weeks are held here, where the best wineries are represented. The Synagogue of Balatonfüred is one of the oldest buildings in the town, it was a Catholic church in the 13th century, then a Reformed one in the 18th century. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the building was purchased by the then growing Jewish community. The second most populous settlement in Hungary, Debrecen was my second destination, where spectacular fountains and sunbathing benches adorn the terrain. The impact of the pandemic was also noticeable here, as there were few people in the main square and the otherwise bustling restaurants were empty.

Kalocsa peppers and the town of waters

An extremely interesting place for us was Kalocsa, where, in addition to the Archbishop's Palace, embroidery and local peppers attract attention. Tata is considered the town of waters, which is also one of Hungary's most romantic places. The fabulous lake here and the promenade next to it already look delightful in themselves, but the nearby water castle, the mills and the Eszterházy Castle also add a lot.

A country popular with Israeli tourists

It is quite amazing (that a country with such a smaller area) can have so much natural resources. Frankly, it was extremely difficult to arrive in a country where life seemed almost to cease, however, in my heart a new life waited to be alive here in Hungary. Today, pandemic hopefully is over or at least it was pushed to the margins of our daily life. There are other crises now that all of Europe are undergoing, but at least it seems that the crisis in the tourist industry is almost over. From an Israeli point of view, Hebrew is frequently heard all over Budapest symbolizing the scores of Israeli tourists, who started to renew their visits to this lovely and exciting place. Five-to-seven daily flights hardly have a free seat available.

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