August 2022 – Page 3 – DJmotortouring

Enzesfeld (Lower Austria), Austria July 2022 (Tour 6)

Our last visit to Enzesfeld, just a week ago, saw us catch up with our good friends, the Dedics, and take in trips to Eisenstadt, Rust and Baden bei Wien. This next visit was no less interesting with the added attraction that our daughter had arrived from the UK for the weekend.

A number of wine heuriges were now open and we took full advantage of that during this second 3 day visit. We also visited Hinterbruhl and the pretty little town of Gumpoldskirchen and the small village of Holles (all conveniently located in Lower Austria).

Starting with Enzesfeld itself; while Vanya disappeared into Vienna to meet up with Rohan, the rest of us (Clare, Alex and Niki – Gerhard was still in Abu Dhabi on business) took the dogs for a walk and then, joy of joys, we stumbled on a pick-nick (that’s German for a picnic, as if you couldn’t work that out) but this was subtly different. The Weingut Mayer in Enzesfeld had opened for business in their vineyards (as opposed to back in the town heurige) with a wine tasting picnic.

Vanya met Rohan in Vienna while we all enjoyed Meyer’s pick-nick…

… but it wasn’t all easy, I had to dog-sit.

Hinterbruhl is a small village 12 miles south west of Vienna. Now, it is almost a part of Vienna. It is said that Franz Schubert wrote Lindenbaum in Hinterbruhl but there is no documentary evidence of that. More certain is that it is home to Europe’s largest known underground lake, the Seegrotte. The lake was formed in 1912 when a huge explosion rocked numerous caves which had been dug under the village in the mining of gypsum. The explosion released millions of gallons of water which flooded the lower caves and formed the lake.

Mining was immediately discontinued following the explosion but some of the upper tunnels and caves were reopened during WWII as a satellite camp for Mauthausen Concentration Camp. Engine parts were produced here for the fledgling lightweight (almost disposable) jet fighter know as the Spatz or, in English, the Sparrow (the Heinkel 162). There’s a memorial above ground for the concentration camp inmates here who were all murdered.

We took an informative guided tour through the cave system during our visit; walking the upper levels and being ferried around on a boat in the lower levels. At 15 euro per person it was quite pricy but I’m pleased we did it. Effective lighting throughout the lower levels of the caves made for some very pretty photos.

That’s Vanya, Rohan and I being ferried around the Seegrotte.

We also learned on the guided tour that some scenes from The Three Musketeers were filmed in the Seegrotte

From Hinterbruhl we made the short journey to the delightful village of Gumpoldskirchen. This is for me the prettiest of the villages in the area surrounding Enzesfeld. Of course this view may have been influenced by the excellent wines we enjoyed in a local heurige during our visit but, even so, Gumpoldskirchen is very pretty.

There’s always something special about wine tasting in a vineyard

The last place we visited during this stop in Enzesfeld was Holles. Holles was about the pleasant walk to and from the village from Enzesfeld and our stop in yet another heurige where we sampled Gruner Veltliner, Rivaner (a speciality of this particular heurige) and a Gelber Muskateller and; not forgetting the food, various local cheeses, smoked ham and Salzstangels (salted bread sticks).

And then it was back to Enzesfeld. Thanks so much, Clare; both for introducing us to these wonderful places and for being… Clare. See you soon, we hope!

Markt St Martin (Burgenland), Austria July 2002 (Tour 6)

We used the campsite at Markt St Martin purely as a stop over on our way back to Enzesfeld. The campsite was a total disappointment , especially at 44 Euro per night. Austria at peak season.

The only half decent aspect to the place was the small bar alongside the camp site. It has a swimming pond.

The food in the bar was poor but the setting was fine

An unusual and very clean natural pond converted into a beach and pool

There was little to see in the town (or is it a village) but, it being a Thursday afternoon, everything was closed anyway except for a kartoffeln heurige. Wine heuriges I have heard of; a potato heurige is new to me.

Even the local church was locked up. The only place open was the potato heurige.

On the way in to the village I came across another relatively intriguing feature namely, a fruit (and nut) tree circle. If you’ve lived in Scotland (or any other country where the Celts once settled) you will probably have seen a stone circle or two. Markt St Martin has substituted a stone circle with a much more practical fruit tree circle. Well, I think that is what is was.

Part of the fruit circle. The centre piece and a couple of trees.

You know something? I don’t think I have ever produced such a pointless (and boring) blog before. Back to Enzesfeld.

Lenti (Zala), Hungary July 2022 (Tour 6)

Pausing only briefly in Heviz, we headed for Lenti, still in Zala County (named after the River Zala) but further west near the borders with Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. We were committed to going back to Austria at the weekend because our daughter Rohan would be travelling to Enzesfeld (and we were keen to both see her and pick up on where we left off with the Dedic family) but we had to keep our options open. Keszthely didn’t make the same positive impression on Vanya as it did on me and she remained unsure about this part of Hungary. As it happened, we needn’t have worried. Lenti proved a great place to visit and Vanya enjoyed it so much that our planned one night stopover was extended to three nights.

We were going to Lenti for a specific purpose. The campsite Vanya chose sits alongside a spa complex known as the Lenti Thermal Spa & St George Energy Park and guests of the campsite are given free access to the spa for the duration of their stay.

It proved to be a really good spa complex. Vanya rates it better than any of those she used in Budapest. According to the blurb the water is a 40,000 year old sodium-hydrogen-carbonated water. Okay, fine. The spa comprises 5 outdoor pools, 7 indoor pools and 1 pool which is half inside and half outside. We favoured two of the outdoor pools being, the medicinal pool at 36-38 degrees centigrade and the adventure pool (with the lazy river, water jets, bubbles and big slide, etc) at 26-28 degrees centigrade (but which was closer to 30+ degrees because of the hot weather).

What we particularly liked about this complex is that the spa pools are spread across 8 hectares of lawn around which are bars, restaurants, food kiosks, etc and we didn’t once feel crowded despite the place being busy.

Another unusual feature of the complex is the Energy Network or Earth Radiations, more often referred to as Saint George Lines or Dragon Streams. It seems that sometime in 2002, ‘Earth Radiations’ and ‘Crossing Points’ were discovered in the area of the Lenti Thermal Spa and, according to certain authorities, “the energy radiation here harmonizes the flow of energy throughout our bodies and triggers positive processes that can restore our physical and mental balance”. The Spa has marked the Crossing Points of the Lines with columns or posts and guests are invited to spend between 20 and 30 minutes at these posts to maximise the beneficial effects of the spa.

I know very little about Saint George Lines and Crossing Points but I do know that time spent in the spa complex was time very well spent. We used it every day and found the whole process very relaxing. Sated would be a more accurate feeling. I think if I were to visit the place again I would stay in the 4 star Balance Hotel next door to the Spa Complex. This comment does not reflect badly on where we stayed but the Balance Hotel also provide sauna rooms and massages. That would have been cream on the cake.

Doughnuts also make me feel sated and there was a kiosk selling warm doughnuts on the complex

But I haven’t talked about Lenti itself. It’s a small quiet town of just over 7,000 inhabitants. We didn’t see much of the place during our stay (preoccupied with the thermal baths, I suppose) but, I walked into the town centre a few times for a ‘look see’ and to replenish our supplies from two local mini-markets and we both took the dogs into the town for a meal one evening.

It’s a tidy town, almost Slovenian or Austrian in many respects (although the roads in this area by no means match those in Slovenia or Austria). There are a couple of small but nice squares and small parks (funded by EEC money judging by local signage) where a number of locals seemed to congregate as the day cooled. The largest of the two squares we saw was the one in the town centre where St Michael’s Church and the War Memorials are situated.

St Michael’s Church and the 1914-1918 War Memorial

The people we met in Lenti were very welcoming but none spoke English and the fall back language was definitely German. Our Hungarian is non existent. What really impressed us about the place was the low prices. In one bar opposite where we were staying, three pints of lager and five glasses of Irsai Oliver (a very respectable Hungarian wine) cost just 9 Euro. That is £7.56 at today’s exchange rate. We used that bar more than the once and we’ll no doubt be bringing some Irsai Oliver back from Hungary.

* Typically, Irsai Olivér wines from Hungary are dry, medium bodied, with low acidity and a pronounced aromatic fragrance giving it a Muscat-like character.

Heviz (Zala), Hungary July 2022 (Tour 6)

I wasn’t going to write even a short blog on Heviz because it was a place we simply passed through on our way to Lenti. Okay, that’s not altogether true. I made a short detour because I had read about the Roman Catholic Holy Spirit Church (known locally as The Blue Church) and I wanted to see it. I was going to mention the detour and the church in the Lenti blog but then, after researching the church on the internet and coming across some absolute drivel, I changed my mind and decided to write something about Heviz if only to put the record straight about this unusual and quite beautiful church.

So, it has been written on at least two internet sites that the Holy Spirit Church in Heviz was designed by the renowned Hungarian architect Imre Makovecz and that it was built in 1988. No it wasn’t! There, the record is straight. The church was actually designed by Janos Bocskai. Construction started in 1996 and was completed three years later. It is the largest church in Heviz. It can accommodate 1,000 people and it is made entirely of wood. The exterior of the church is a beautiful sky blue colour and it’s seven towers represent the seven pious gifts of the Holy Ghost. Not being a catholic, I had to look those up but can now confirm that the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. The inside of the church is also beautiful and surprisingly minimalistic by Roman Catholic standards.

No prizes for guessing why it is known locally as the blue church

The inside is quite austere by Roman Catholic standards and combines modern and traditional architecture

It is a glorious piece of work, inside and out, and I love it.

One other church perhaps worth a visit in Heviz is the Lutheran Reformed Church which was built in 1993. It is the only protestant church in Heviz and it’s small size reflects that of the local protestant population. Again it is a pretty and unusual looking church.

Only other thing I would say about Heviz at this time is that the Holy Spirit Church is close to the Heviz thermal bath which until 1948 was owned by the Festetics (i.e. the same family who own the Festetics Palace in Keszthely). I was going to pop in on the thermal bath (it is only a couple of hundred yards down the road from the Holy Spirit Church) but, with Vanya taking us to Lenti especially to visit the thermal baths there, it seemed a bit excessive. Having said that and in case you are interested, the Heviz thermal bath is purportedly the world’s largest (swimmable) biologically active medicinal lake. More important, the waters of the lake are completely replaced every 72 hours. That makes it clean, notwithstanding the lake’s average summer heat of 34 degrees centigrade.

I am certain that there is considerably more to Heviz but Lenti beckoned.