Castle Tour in Hungary

Day 1: Gödöllö, Eger

Early departure from Budapest. Our first stop is Gödöllö. Driving through the amazing Mátra Mountains, we arrive in Eger early in the afternoon. It’s famous for its wines. Dinner and overnight at Hotel Palota in Lillafüred.

Day 2: Sárospatak, Tokaj

Visit Vizsoly’s tiny church and see the first Bible translated into Hungarian language. Short visit to the castle of Füzér and Sárospatak. Afternoon arrival to Tokaj, one of the major wine regions of Hungary. Dinner and overnight at the Castle Hotel of Tarcal.

Day 3: Kecskemét, Simontornya

After early morning departure, we drive to Kecskemét. Walking tour of the city: Kodály Institute, Cifra Palace, Town Hall. We continue by crossing the Danube to Simontornya. Dinner and overnight at the Castle Hotel.

Day 4: Lake Balaton, Zalacsány

Drive to Lake Balaton and take the ferry to Tihany. Tour its Abbey church founded in 1055. Continue to Veszprém where you will see the Castle district, Gizella Chapel and the Cathedral. Evening arrival to Castle Hotel Zalacsány for dinner and overnight.

Day 5: Sümeg, Köszeg, Sopron

Visit the castle of Sümeg and continue to Köszeg. Walk around Jurisics Square, and then continue to Sopron, one of Hungary’s most beautiful Baroque towns. Arrive for dinner and overnight to the splendid Castle Hotel of Röjtökmuzsaj.

The next day we drive back to Budapest. You have the option of visiting Györ and Pannonhalma (Abbey).

Rates

Merle Liivand was born in Estonia. As a child, she had health problems, and began swimming to help her lungs get stronger. She was soon taking part in open water swimming contests, sometimes even in icy water. In 2017 and 2019, she represented Estonia at the World Aquatics Championships.

Eleven years ago, Ms. Merle moved to Miami, Florida. In one training session, she nearly wound up swallowing some plastic floating in the sea. That experience made her think of all the sea animals who faced similar pollution every day. She began swimming with a special single swimming fin(鳍状物) attached to both of her feet. This rubbery “monofin” allows her to swim by kicking both of her legs together. “Swimming with the monofin without using my arms is similar to how dolphins and sea animals swim,” says Ms. Merle. She believes that swimming with a monofin “sends a bigger message”.

Ms. Merle first set the world record for swimming with a monofin in 2019, when she swam 10 kilometers off the coast of California. In 2020, she broke the record again by swimming 20. 6 kilometers, this time in Miami, Florida.

Last year, she set a new Guinness World Record by swimming 30 kilometers, again in Florida. Even though it took her 9 hours and 19 minutes to set that record, Ms. Merle says she knew she could go farther. So for the last year, Ms. Merle has been getting up at 4 every morning, putting on her monofin and going swimming.

On May 7, Ms. Merle broke the record once more, this time swimming the length of a full marathon. It took her 11 hours and 54 seconds to swim 42.2 kilometers.

To keep her energy up, a friend followed her in a kayak and gave her food and water from time to time. Along the way, Ms. Merle picked up all the trash she found and put it in the kayak. By the end of her marathon, the kayak held three bags full of trash.

Many longtime gardeners will tell you that the garden is their happy place. In a new study, University of Florida scientists found that gardening activities lowered stress, anxiety and depression in healthy women who attended twice-a-week gardening classes. None of the study participants had gardened before.

“Previous studies have shown that gardening can help improve the mental health of people who have existing medical conditions or challenges. Our study shows that healthy people can also experience a rise in mental well-being through gardening,” said professor Charles Guy.

Thirty-two women between the ages of 26 and 49 completed the study. All were in good health. Half of the participants were assigned(指派)to gardening sessions, while the other half were assigned to art-making sessions. Both groups met twice a week for a total of eight times.

In the gardening sessions, participants learned how to compare and sow seeds, transplant different kinds of plants, and harvest and taste eatable plants. Those in the art-making sessions learned techniques such as papermaking, printmaking and drawing.

Participants completed a series of assessments measuring anxiety, depression, stress and mood.

The researchers found that the gardening and art-making groups experienced similar improvements in mental health over time, with gardeners reporting slightly less anxiety than art makers.

But why does being around plants make us feel good? The answer might be found in the important role of plants in human evolution and the rise of civilization. As a species, we may be innately attracted to plants because we depend on them for food, shelter and other means of our survival. “We believe this research shows promise for mental well-being, plants in health care and in public health. It would be great to see other researchers use our work as a basis for those kinds of studies,”Guy said. “At the end of the experiment, the majority of the participants were saying not just how much they enjoyed the sessions but also how they planned to keep gardening. ”