Ray Bradbury is probably best known for his classic books The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451. However, besides the sci-fi and horror, he also wrote some very good books for young adults including The Illustrated Man and Dandelion Wine. Ever since my father gave me Dandelion Wine to read during my childhood, and long after I had forgotten the actual story, I have remembered the dandelion wine of the title and thought about trying to make my own. Last year Kata convinced me to make dandelion syrup (rightly arguing that we can make other things besides alcohol), but this year she was also game to try making the wine. We picked 4.5 litres of dandelion flower heads, steeped them in hot water for three days, and then added 1.4kg sugar, chopped oranges, ginger root and lemon peel. Then we spread some fresh bread yeast on a piece of bread and set it to float yeast side down in the pot for 6 days. On Thursday we will strain and bottle the result. It will be ready, and hopefully drinkable, by Christmas.

We have also been busy in the garden, spreading dry horse manure in the beds, planting the root vegetable seeds, and constructing tripod trellises for the peas and beans. Rather than going inside to pee, we each have chosen spot in the garden to do our business. I add my urine to the compost pile, while Kata squats elsewhere. Last week she went off to pee and called me over. She had found a semi-free morel in our garden! Further search revealed another 5 semi-free morels around the hazelnut bush poking out of the cement dust. In Hungarian they are called fattyu kucsma gomba, or bastard morels, so I have begun to call them Havas Jon mushrooms in honour of The Game of Thrones' John Snow.

We took advantage of the good weather on Saturday to relax a bit outside of our garden tasks and finally made the hike up to Szád Castle along the nature trail in Szögliget. The road from the outskirts of Szögliget to the trailhead at the Salamander Hostel and Environmental Education Centre is certainly among the worst in the country. Why after 30 years the national park and the local authority cannot get it together and repair this road, which if passable would bring more tourists and money into the area, is beyond me. It was a hot day, and we are still out of shape from winter, but it is not a difficult trail. The first stop is at the Tetves Spring where you can fill your canteen before going uphill through the beautiful hornbeam and oak forest.

Built by King Béla IV in 1264 and once the largest castle (by area) in Hungary, the Habsburgs tore down the castle in 1685. We had lunch sitting at the edge of the ruins overlooking the panoramic Ménes Valley before heading down. The trail is a circular route, but we could not locate the continuation so ended up going back the way we came. Back at the Salamander Hostel we discovered our mistake. We should have gone back down the way we came, but only a couple of stations and then turned off onto the blue trail. Next time. More info in Hungarian can be found here. We grabbed a beer and coffee in Szögliget before meeting our friend Anikó in Perkupa where we settled down to a game of Cluedo before heading home.

On Sunday, we joined the Miskolc Mushroom Association (MIGE) for a Morchella steppicola tour, a kind of morel that grows in grassland. The normally good hunting ground had not been burned back (which stimulates this mushroom's growth) and the high grass inhibited the search. Many aromatic St. George mushrooms and Nyár tree mushrooms (Lentinus tigrinus) were found though. I also found a röt tree mushroom (Neolentinus schaefferi) which is similar to the Shitake. On the way home we stopped for ice cream in Sajószentpéter and tried the rundown Répa Pastry Shop (Kossuth L. u. 159). Their apple pie ice cream was very good. At 179 huf a scoop I at first thought it was expensive, but the portions are very large. We froze some mushrooms whole, ground some for fasirt, and dried and powdered some. Kata was inspired in the kitchen and made a lemon-ginger cream sauce for the nyár tree mushrooms, which we ate with a side of our own potato croquettes.

Later in the week our department was invited to try out the new Treasure Hunt Nature Trail in Aggtelek. The Marketing Department along with the Tourinform Office staff set out with Viki, one of the developers of the new trail. One can get the map, sticker book and wooden egg necessary to complete the tasks from the Tourinform Office for a few hundred forint. The easy route has only 5 stations, but still highlights the special flora, fauna and geology of the area through environmental games/tasks for children. As adults, we also enjoyed the tasks. My favourite was the mini-golf with my wooden egg. All the beautiful signs were painted by our colleague Krisztina. The trail, originally planned just for Easter, has proven so popular that it will stay through August.

This Saturday we will join the Forest Tasting Tour, departing from Aggtelek at 10am.