Green Pastures Eventually

Just a week ago we were considering where we could go for a 3-day get-away. Even though it meant packing a suitcase (again), we decided that rest and relaxation was worthy of the effort. Our friends told us about a place in western Hungary called Hotel Szepalma, which means "beautiful apple." Once a royal estate dating back to medieval times, today it provides a secluded, quiet place for horse-lovers, hikers, and bikers to explore the beauty of the High-Bakony Mountain region. After a busy season in life and ministry, a quiet place sounded like just the thing we needed.

Although the morning we left began at a leisurely pace, getting to the train station was a different story. The light drizzle that began that morning had turned into a steady downpour by early afternoon. Unfortunately, the forecast for the next few days didn't look any better.

Since we had to take public transportation to the train station, packing the umbrellas in my suitcase was not a smart move. I remembered this as Dennis was unlocking the last door on our way out from our flat (we have four doors to unlock, plus a gate before leaving our place). After fishing through several zipper sections of my suitcase, I finally pulled out an umbrella. Just as we rounded the corner of our street to walk to the bus stop, we saw the 212 bus pull away.

The slight umbrella delay cost us a ten-minute wait for the next 212. Bus 212 came along, or so we thought. The heavy rain and steamed up signs on the bus distorted my view of the bus number, and so we boarded thinking it was the 212. Several minutes into the ride, Dennis realized we were going in the wrong direction. At the next stop, we got off what we thought was the 212 to discover it was the 272, caught another bus back to where we started in order to wait for the 212 again. This time we boarded the 212, which would take us to tram 61, which would take us to the train station. By now we wondered if we were going to make our train. It didn't help that the 212 bus sat through two red-lights causing us to be too late to catch the 61 tram in time to make the 2:11 train departure.

Quick thinking resulted in hailing a taxi as soon as we stepped off the 212, with only two minutes to spare. With hand motions and short English phrases we managed to tell the taxi driver that we were within minutes of missing our train. He couldn't go fast enough for us. Approaching the train station, Dennis threw a bill on the front seat to cover the taxi and as soon as the taxi pulled over, we flew out to find our train platform. Although all in Hungarian, helpful station attendants directed us to Platform One where our train sat motionless, but for how long? We showed a crew member our tickets and he quickly directed us to our train car. Wet, sweaty, and hearts pounding, we boarded the train lugging the suitcases along with us. Not hardly fifteen seconds later we could feel the slow, but steady rhythm of the wheels in motion.

Was this the prelude of our get-away?

Thankfully, it didn't prove true. Though we arrived with the wind and the rain still in full force, we were driven by a Szepalma staff member to our get-away spot. I found myself taking in deep soul-filling breaths as we drove further out of the town of Zirc, into the country-side of rolling hills and green pastures, with the Bakony's as a backdrop. Greeted by beautiful flower gardens and a warm receptionist I knew the frantic trip to the train station was not an indication of things to come. 

The next morning we realized we were the only ones in the entire hotel! We had the place to ourselves for the next couple days. We read, we hiked (and asked ourselves several times how we ever hiked without trekking poles before - thanks again kids!), read some more, and even got a carriage ride. Two meals a day included with our lodging were gourmet amazing. We definitely picked the right week (the start of school) and the perfect place to enjoy time together away from the hustle and bustle of life.

Hopefully these photos will capture some of what we enjoyed at Szepalma.

Second day - though not clear and sunny, the rain stopped so we could hike. This is at the highest point of the Bakony's