Discovering Sopron

2008. October 2., Adam Young

After a 3 hour journey from Budapest, our first priority on arriving in Sopron was finding the hotel to shed the rucksacks that seemed to have become twice as heavy since the outset. Possibly due the sudden heat that hit us on exiting the train, something that we had been spared in the moving train with its windows (and sometimes doors) wide open.

Finding the hotel didn’t take too long, considering the maps being used were a tiny Rough Guide layout of the old town, and a hand drawn map quickly scribbled down after a quick look at google maps. The trek up to the hotel wasn’t very far from the centre, but did involve walking up a fairly steep hill, which the hotel was perched on top of. After arriving and getting into the room we thought we would treat ourselves to a pint of Dreher at the hotel bar.

Bev and I in the hotel bar

Afterwards we made our way back down the hill and into the centre. The centre of Sopron is very quaint and has some beautiful buildings. One of the main features of the town is the Fire Tower, built in the 12th Century. This was orignally used as to watch over the town for any fires that broke out. The time was late afternoon going on early evening when we were exploring the town. This meant that most of the tourists had finished their daytime activities, but were not yet out for the evening meals and drinks, which led to strangely deserted streets. This added to the atmosphere, and first impressions of the town were good.

The main square in the old town of Sopron, Fő tér

The Fire Tower

There were a number of restaurants in and round the old town, and we decided upon Rókalyukhoz which boasted an impressive variety of pizzas. Obviously it wasn’t typical Hungarian fair but the place was nice, service was good and the food was lovely. The only problem being we ordered what was described as a standard size pizza, but in reality this was huge. Having no willpower when it comes to food I just kept going until I could eat no more. Or even walk very far for that matter...

Having slept off the pizzas the next day we decided to get a bus to Fertőrákos, a town to the northeast in the Fertő-Hanság National Park, and also one of the towns that is next to Lake Fertő. We arrived and had a quick scout around to see what the area was like. There was an area for swimming, although this was fenced off and it cost money to enter. There were boat trips around the lake itself, and a long line of what looked like holiday apartments, all on stilts access to them was via a wooden walkway over the water.

Holiday homes on Lake Fertő

The plan was to try and hire some bikes and go a cycle along lake Fertő. This simple goal turned out to be slightly more difficult that we had anticipated. An instruction board next to a row of bikes for hire advised that we needed to ring a Hungarian phone number, give the operator the details of a credit card and then they would provide a number to unlock the code operated locks on the bike. Not really wanting to ring an unknown number and provide my credit card details anyway, the decisions was finally made when we looked at the bikes and the locks were not code operated at all, and needed a key to unlock them!

We cut our losses and decided to hitch back into the main town of Fertőrákos as the buses were few and far between, and by this time the sun was at its peak. In the town was a large disused limestone quarry. The quarry was originally opened in 1628 and the rocks have been used for defensive walls, churches, public and private buildings in Sopron and even in Vienna. Nowadays the quarry has been turned into a tourist attraction, and as a venue for opera and classical performances, with seating for nearly 750 people.

Entrance to the Quarry

View over the Quarry

On the plateau of the quarry stands a poignant reminder of the Iron Curtain. There is a sculputre that resembles a piece of barbed wire. It was created by Gabriela von Habsburg and the statue symbolises the Pan-European Picnic that took place on August 19th, 1989. On this date more than 600 East Germans broke through what was the Iron Curtain and fled into the west. Hungarian border guards had threatened to shoot anyone crossing the border, but when the time came, they did not intervene and allowed the people to cross.

Sculpture by Gabriela von Habsburg

As the bike ride had failed to materialise, a decision was made that the third day was going to be more active. The Lövér woods around Sopron were an ideal place to go a walk. There was a watch tower at the top of the woods which was to be our destination.

The woods have a lot of different paths crisscrossing all the way through them, and at first it was slightly confusing as to which was the best way up. After a little bit of wandering we eventually came across a green arrow on a tree that signified we were on a recognized path. From this point on it was difficult to go off course, and the woods themselves were beautiful. At the top we finally reached our goal, and for a modest fee of 150hu we walked up to the top and got some spectacular views over Sopron.

The watch tower at the top of the hills

After a walk through the wood covered hills of Sopron in the hot Hungarian sun a chance to cool down in the popular local swimming pool was very welcome.

View over the pool

The final full day in Sopron started pretty badly. There was nothing but grey clouds in the sky, and an oppressive heat that made it feel like you were weighted down with lead. Whilst having a coffee in the centre of town the grey clouds finally gave in, and torrential rain fell for a quarter of an hour, then suddenly stopped. Our hopes that this would clear the air were unfounded, so we decided to get a bus to Fertőd.

Fertőd is home to the Eszterháza palace. This palace was built by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, a member of the Hungarian Noble family, Esterházy. Construction was started in 1762, and was first inhabited in 1766. Construction went on until 1784, when a large fountain in front of the palace was finished, and then the prince considered the palace complete.

Eszterháza is perhaps most famous for the fact that Joseph Haydn spent nearly 30 years in the Eszterháza palace where he produced a large number of compositions, and his musical style developed. He had a range of responsibilities, including composition, running the orchestra and eventually the mounting of operatic productions. The prince was a huge fan of his music and allowed Haydn access to his own small orchestra.

Eszterháza palace

After a tour around the house in Hungarian (with English information sheets) we got the bus back to Sopron. The air still hadn’t cleared and it was difficult to walk 10 metres without breaking into a sweat. Eventually late in the evening an amazing storm hit Sopron. Sitting outside, under shelter and watching the storm was an exciting spectacle, and the storm carried on into the early hours.

The storm viewed from the hotel patio

Before getting the train the following day I thought it would be wrong to leave Sopron without taking a trip up the Fire Tower. What start off as large, sturdy, stone stairs soon turn into fairly rickety wooden stairs, which makes the top seem all the more inviting. Early in the morning there was no one around, and standing on top of the Fire tower overlooking Sopron was an impressive end to the holiday.