Bull's Blood of Eger, a Cuvee red wine (Egri Bikaver), has it's histroy in this city, where a group of Hungarians led by Dobó István defended the castle against the Turks in 1552. All of the people in the area had brought their wine to the castle, and it was all mixed and dumped into barrels. The soldiers were fortfied by the wine, which stained their beards red; The Turks decided they must have been drinking Bull's Blood... hence the name and style of the wine.
This is the Church on Dobó István square, right in the center of the part of town we were staying in.
A statue commemorating the battle.
One of the side streets on the way up to the apartment we rented.
St. Steven fountain.
The Eger Basilica
Afternoon drinks at the coffee shop right in front of our apartment.
Inside Palacsintavár, the palacsinta restaurant (Hungarian crepes).
Vicky's dessert palacsinta.
Chris had the 'Popeye Palacsinta' which was chicken ragu filled with a spinach sauce on top.
This is one of the best things I've ever eaten. The 'Boss's Favorite': Filled with a cabbage and pork knuckle ragu. So freaking tasty.
This was on a Turkish minaret that still stood. (After the Hungarians won the seige in 1552, the Turks would later return and take over the area).
Said minaret. We went up inside later.
The castle wall in the background; the marzipan museum in front.
An odd carved fountain.
This used to be a palace but was now a school.
The sign outside the palacsinta place.
The street our apartment was on.
The door to our place (we went up some stairs from the street in the previous picture, to this courtyard on the inside... we were up on the terrace above our place)
The courtyard was right up against the castle wall
Views at dusk.
The church from the first picutre
One of many bottles we sampled.
We had a long debate over if that was steam or smoke.
It was coming from the 'valley of the beautful women', so I surmised it must have rained and the steam was just rising off their hot bodies. Chris appreciated that, but Vicky was mildly irritated.
Inside our apartment
Free breakfast in the mornings!
Our first walk up to the castle; it was a Monday, so many of the exhibitions were closed; we decided to come back later.
We went up inside the minaret that day, instead. It was terrifying.
The church was right in front of us; The Basilica in the background on the left.
The castle. Our apartment was on the other side of the flag.
The marizpan museum again...followed by other views of town
Going back down was a bit trickier.
The indoor portion of the indoor/outdoor market
Bounty for a future snack.
Back to the Basilica.
Looking back down from the steps of the Basilica.
More beautiful craftsmanship. I really enjoyed the architecture and size of this building.
That door handle is about 8 feet off the ground.
Once again, the former palace/current school
Later, we took a tour of the 'city under the city'. It was several kilometers long network of wine cellars.
Here's some calcite deposits... if left unchecked, some of this can grow in thickness by about a foot a year.
Water either collects here, or wells up from underneath.
They had a few mock-ups of wine production equipment, etc.
The aforementioned snack. This meat was a thin Kolbasz sausage. Basically a Hungarian slim-jim. Damn tasty.
Chris and I went into the valley of the beautful women later, well all of the local wine-growers have their tasting cellars.
Inside the Bíró Borozó cellar, run by Bela Bíró. The cellars range from this style, where you have moss and mold growing on the walls, to completely revamped, more modern looking tasting rooms... I prefered this style, as it just seemed more...real, I guess.
Rumor has it that if you stick a coin in the wall and it stays up, you'll be back within a year.
Me, Bela, and Chris, right as I was getting ready to sign the guestbook. We found Chris's et al's signature from a year before.
The coin we stuck up; it was still there the next day, so hopefully it stays up!
This place was just so cool! And the wine was awesome!
We hit up a couple more places.
We came back to the coffee shop and met up with Vicky for one more drink. This was the key to our apartment.
Cool money! This was, with the exchange rate, about ~ $55
Back to the castle. This depicts women dumping hot oil and goulash on the Turks during the siege.
A cannon.
A cannon hole.
A cool water fountain.
Some documentation.
The old church grounds, within the castle.
An inner courtyard.
The basilica in the distance
Where the church once stood.
Our apartment, from the castle.
Looking back down into the square.
On the church grounds; St. Stephen apparently gave sermons here.
Outside the torture/dungeon exhibit
We went back to the cellars that night; This one was built in 1777. I guess this sign used to be readable.
That 2L bottle of white wine cost Vicky about $2.50
Walking back towards the main set of cellars we were at the night before.
Some new house were being built..
...or had recently been finished.
Bacchus... don't know why he's in a cage.
And then it hailed for about 20 minutes.
The cows in the parking lot were not so happy.
Back to Bela's
She sealed a bottle of wine for Vicky that she bought elsewhere and was leaking.
So we bought a bottle of her wine and played some rummy.
Fat Bread! (Bread with lard spread on it; sprinkled with paprika... this one was a bit fancier... had fresh paprika peppers, onions, and cheese.)
This toiletpaper dispenser was named 'Little Joe'
The Dobó István statue.
To the train station; next stop, Budapest.
