Sopron, The Most Loyal Town

To escape possible rioting on Hungary's national holiday (March 15th) turned four day weekend, a few of my friends and I fled to the western town of Sopron, found on the border of Hungary and Austria. Below: Aran, Lee, and Harpswell relaxing at a cafe sipping wine in the sun.

It was a spur of the moment decision that spawned from a desperate need to get away from noisy exhaust filled sireny city of Budapest and two rooms at a bed/breakfast that opened up by chance at the last minute. We had been previously informed that every hotel/hostel/bed&breakfast was full and we'd been to stupid to wait that long to make a reservation. Wait?? Hungarians making plans a month in advance? I'm a tad thrown off.

The only thing that I had known about Sopron was that it has several dentists, many who serve foreigners because of the good prices, and that it makes Soproni beer (a popular beer in Hungary).

When we arrived, the town looked half Austrian and half Hungarian. German resided everywhere underneath Hungarian store names, streets, and restaurants. "Soproni Peter," a man from the bed/breakfast picked us up from the train station in his car and drove us back to our rooms. They were very accomodating with skylights, blankets, towels, and a TV in each room. The shower had a door on it, so I enjoyed not having to worry about spraying water everywhere as I do when I'm in my curtainless, doorless tub.

After being in Hungary for almost two years, I've accumulated several trips to villages, cities, and towns across the country. And yes, after a while they do start to look the same. Yellow churches, wine cellars, statues of old Hungarian men, cobblestone squares...

What's important now is who I'm with and how we manage to spend our time.

I will admit that Sopron had a different feel to it compared to other towns in Hungary. After all, it is the most faithful town in Hungary. I believe that there was a vote in the 1920's on whether Sopron should be a part of Austria or Hungary as a part of the Trianon Treaty. In the end, Hungary won Sopron (pronounced sho-prone).

One of the things that I enjoyed about Sopron was our discovery of the Main Square or the older part of the town. Our bed/breakfast was on the outside where there were more modern shops, busy streets, and grocery stores. As we continued walking, we came to the famous fire tower and walked through an archway into a tunnel that led us into the older part of town. Soft folk music tinkled from speakers near a stage decorated with a Hungarian ribbon and drifted through the confines of this old square.

Above: standing in the old square and fire tower.

It reminded me of the castle in Shrek 1 where Shrek and Donkey meet the Prince and are prompted to be killed or go on a journey to save Princess Fiona. Unfortunately, it's the only way I can put it. The town was peaceful, quiet, and relaxing. Almost immediately, my body unwound. Some of the buildings appeared to have been frosted by a cake decorator, the way the designs twirled intricately underneath windows.

That night, we intended to eat and that is just what we did. Two bottles of wine, four appetizers, and four main courses later, you had to roll us out of the restaurant. We checked out a cellar and called it a night after that.

The next day, we wanted to find a wine cellar as Sopron is famous for its wines, but to no avail. We only found a wine cellar that probably wasn't meant to be trespassed upon, although we went down unassuming and took photos. Below: authentic Sopron wine cellar.

That afternoon, with nowhere to stay that night in Sopron, Harpswell called a few places around the area to see if we could stay somewhere else. And after spending a few good hours in the sun, talking, drinking and eating at various cafes, we hopped a bus to Fertod, home of the Eszterhazy palace. This palace was designed after Versailles, although it was nowhere as big or magestic. All the same, it was simply a noble family and not royalty that inhabited the palace.

Sopron was like a retreat. It was refreshing to get away from the city, stroll around peaceful streets, gaze at the delicate architecture, relax at cafes, and take in a little history.