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Did you know?
...that Hungary's highest peak, Kékes-tető in the Northern
Hills, is only 1,014 m high?
...that one of Europe's biggest stalagmite caves is Baradla Cave in
north-eastern Hungary, that it's a World Heritage Site, and that is
extends as far as Slovakia?
...that Central-Eastern Europe's largest freshwater lake is Lake
Balaton, also called the "Hungarian Sea"?
...that Lake Balaton is the only place in Europe where the freshwater
sponge (which originated in India) lives?
...that Lake Héviz is one of Europe's largest, natural thermal
lakes?
Important data:
Area: 93 030 km2
Population: 10 million persons
Capital: Budapest (population: 1,7 millionen persons)
Time belt: Central European time (GMT + 1) time conversion: At the end
of March to at the end of October: Central European time + 1 hour (GMT
+2)
Official language: Hungarian
Government: Republic
Currency: Forint, HUF
Coints: 50 Fillér, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 Forint
Forint notes: 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000 and 20000 Forint
Course:
1 euro = approx. 247.45 Forint (conditions 2005)
Electric current: 230V, 50Hz
The climate is a moderate continental
climate. Coldest month: January, warmest month: July, Number of the
hours with sunshine/year: 1979.
Telephone: international call number of
Hungary: 36, to Budapest 1, inland long-distance call in the
province: 06, international number: 00 Emergency service: International
emergency call centre: 112,
Emergency ambulance 104, Police 107, Fire Department 105
The above emergency phone numbers can be called free of charge.
Hungarian Automobile Club's Emergency Phone: 188
Holidays:
1. January (New Year),
15. March (national holiday day of the revolution of 1848-1849 as well
as day of the emergence of the modern parliamentary Hungary), Easter
Monday,
01 May (day of the work),
Pentecost (Whitsun),
20 August (state holiday - day of the state founder, sank Stephan),
23 October (national holiday - day of the beginning of the revolution
and the liberty fight of 1956; Day of announcing the Hungarian republic
in 1989),
01 November (All Saint`s Day)
25-26 December (Christmas)
Hungaricums
Bull's Blood (Bikavér)
When you hear the words "Bull's Blood" you are more likely to think of
Eger (and more recently the Szekszárd) wine regions, and
completely rarely really the blood of a bull. There are several legends
explaining the wine's rather unusual name; the most famous is connected
with the siege of Eger Castle in 1552, immortalised in Géza
Gárdonyi's classic novel.
Béres Drops (Béres Csepp)
Here in Hungary this world-famous product
from Dr. József Béres has been synonymous with the word
'health' for decades. Béres drops are used successfully both in
Hungary and abroad in the prevention of illnesses, and the treatment of
health problems facing people of all ages.
Gyula Sausages (Gyulai kolbász)
The
sausages, whose name has become synonymous with the town in which
they are made, started out life at the end of the 19th century in what
were pretty inauspicious circumstances.
The recipe of the typically peppered and smoked sausage is
secret. In 1935, this sausages won a gold medal at the Brussels
World Exhibition.
Herend Porcelain
Herend "white gold" is classical hard porcelain, made from a mixture of
china-clay, felspar and quartz sand which is then sluiced, strained and
pressed. The pieces made from these raw materials are all made by hand.
It was at the World Exhibition in London held in 1851 that Herend's
perhaps most famous pattern, a design incorporating Chinese-influenced
butterflies and flower patterns painted in fresh, lively colours, came
to the world's attention.
Kecskemét Apricot Brandy
The taste you get in Kecskemét
apricot brandy comes from the soil, the sun and the carefully tended
trees. Many believe that it's the apricot's characteristic flavour
which makes apricot brandy such a great drink; others point to the
technological improvements made by Zwack Unicum Ltd. The fact remains
that the apricots would not have their unique flavour without the
region's golden soil, which plays such an important part in the
ripening process and preserves the fruit's flavour. Edward VIII. once
said of apricot brandy, "With soda it's better than whisky and soda,
and added to tea, it's better than tea and rum."
Makó Onion
As well as being one of mankind's most
important sources of nourishment, the onion has been a medicinal plant
for many thousands of years. Throughout history, the world's best
doctors have written about the beneficial effects of onions. In 1858,
Louis Pasteur wrote about their antibacterial properties; Albert
Schweitzer showed onions could be used in the treatment of dysentery.
Today, medical journals describe onions as being one of alternative
medicine's most important remedies.
Paprika
In the center 19. Jh. Szeged became to the
most important Paprikacenter of Hungary. The sharpness of
the spice powder was adjusted by the addition of the seeds and veins.
Kalocsa became around 1920 with its mild Paprikappowder the competitor
of Szeged. These two areas supply the majority of the paprika,
which is for the tourists a practical present and means a
typically
Hungarian taste at the same time. In hot fat gold-yellow roasted bulbs
and on it strewn Paprikapowder - this is the first step for most courts
of the Hungarian kitchen. With this begins Hungarian stew
and pottage. If Hungarian paprikapowder is available, one can
prepare these meals everywhere.
Salami
Why could salami (Pick) become the
perhaps most famous product from Hungary? Thanks to the singular
raw material, the singular spices and the careful technology. The
classical salami does not contain a paprika. Nowadays there are more
variants with paprika, ginger and other spices,
sometimes even with beef on the market. The Hungarian salami has two
world-famous sorts: the 1869 born PICK and since 1888
after another prescription, but with similar technology manufactured
HERZ.
The wine of Tokaj
These quality wines are pressed in the famous Tokaj wine area
(in the triangle of Sátoraljaújhely,
Abaújszántó and Tokaj). Those internationally
well-known sorts like the Samorodner,
the Furmint, the Lindenblaettrige and the Muskateller develop on a
volcanic soil in a special mikroklima thanking to the tradition of
centuries. The most famous speciality of this wine area is the
late vintage, the Aszú: (Vinum regum, rex vinorum), king
of
the wines and wine of the kings.
Unicum
Everywhere in the world one strives
to lend to the liquor more taste and smell harmony. Also of the Unicum
we cannot betray no more, than that it is a combination of herbs, which
grow on Hungarian soil under local climatic conditions in pure
distillate and for more than 200 years.
Zsolnay-Keramik
Vilmos Zsolnay developed
its hard pottery manufactory in Pécs starting from center
19. Jh. with the help of its family members to a ceramic(s) factory of
European rank. The architect Ödoen Lechner, the master of
specifically
Hungarian art nouveau, co-operated within the range structural ceramics
(furnace tiles, roofing tile, front decoration) with them. Zsolnay
invented also sucked. Pyrogranit, which proved as frost steady and
could with colored glaze be covered. The most beautiful examples of it
are to be seen in Budapest at the parliament and at the arts center, in
Kecskemét at the city hall, in Debrecen at the hotel Aranybika
and in Pécs at the Zsolnay Gedenkbrunnen.
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