Sárospatak Pentecost 2013

Over the Pentecost weekend we were invited by friends Dénes and Petra to join them in Sárospatak. Traditionally this is the weekend that the Erzsébet Festival is held in Sárospatak. According to legend, St. Erzsébet was born in Sárospatak in the early part of the 13th century to the royal family. She built a hospital with her own money and became a nurse. She is known for her giving her wealth to the poor. The festival commemorates her life and her generosity to the poor. There are many activities throughout the day representing life in the 13th century.

The festival wasn't the only attraction. The beautiful weather gave us opportunity to see and do many other things. Jack was invited to go fishing for keszeg (breem) with Dénes and his father in the local Bodrog River. They caught enough that we could enjoy a delicious meal of the mild tasting fish. It reminded us of smelt, though it is a much larger fish.

We were also able to go wine tasting at the Grof Degenfeld manor in Tarcal, just on the other side of the hill from Tokaj. Their wine cellar is over 200 years old. Sáropatak is in the famous Tokaji wine region. They are known for their special sweet white wines. We learned a lot from the vintner who led the wine tasting about the special process of picking and making the aszú wine. This type of wine is made from the grape that is infected by a fungus that causes the grape to dry and shrivel and concentrates the sugar. This is done only in Hungary and France.

Cindy and the bodza (elderberry) bush. Petra had picked some of the blossoms, steeped them in water, and for the rest of the weekend we enjoyed adding bodza syrup to our drinking water. It has a wonderful flavor. 

Petra, Dénes's mother Éva, and Samu.

The courtyard of the Reformed high school and seminary. 

Jack netting a keszeg. It was really a warm day, but the mosquitoes required long sleeves and pants! 

The home-made fish scaler used by Dénes Senior.

Here is a good one!

Sunday dinner! Scored with a knife, rubbed with garlic, breaded lightly with corn meal, and fried in the pan.

Stilt-walkers putting on their show. They tell stories taken from Hungary's history, using children from the audience as characters.

The Rákóczi Castle in Sárospatak.

Saint Erzsébet riding pillion, or perhaps falling off!

The beginning of the parade through the town.

We enjoyed listening to this old instrument ensemble. They were excellent musicians!

A puppet show for the children, but very enjoyable for adults too.

We went to the Reformed church on Monday morning for the Pentecost service. We sat in the upper level so that Petra could translate for us without disturbing anyone else. The church was built in the early 1700's.

The Grof Degenfeld Castle, where we enjoyed a tour of the wine cellar and tasted nine different wines produced there.

It was a beautiful day to be at the vineyard.

The cellar dates back to about 1795.

Dénes, Petra, our host Attila, and Jack.

He really knew his facts, but Petra needed to translate most everything.

All white wines, most of them sweet dessert wines. We did buy a bottle of Fortissimo, which you can see here in the foreground on the right. The others were delicious but we were not quite ready to spend $40 - $50 for some of them!