In the countryside this weekend with friends, we picked cherries, shelled peas at a neighbors with signifigant doses of homemade palinka, and of course cheered the Dutchies during the European Championship. Lennard and Jeroen came prepared with a Dutch Fan Starter Pack complete with wooden shoes; and clothing, party hats, hand clappers, and horns - all in orange of course. he local barflies at the Italbolt in Perkupa did not know what to make of us, but the commiserated with us at the end.

Borsod County is the poorest in Hungary, but it also has some of the most spectacular landscapes. Visit Aggtelek National Park, with the second largest karst cavern system in Europe. Of the 2 main entrances to the caverns, I would recommend starting from the Josvafo entrance - especially since the village of Josvafo is one of the most picturesque in Hungary. A 2-hour tour is plenty, though they have everything between 2-hour and full day tours. If you are looking for accomodation, the Maria Vendeghaz in Perkupa is the absolutely unbelievable. The best pogacsa on the planet, as is anything else Marikaneni chooses to make. Let them know ahead of time and vegetarian is not a problem. Of course, they also serve Treehugger Dan's Fair Trade organic coffee as well ;-) Perkupa is only about 6km from Josvafo (be careful! the train station is after Perkupa, but it is a long, long, long walk from there to the village), and has a lovely section of old houses. Varboc is also a gorgeous village neighboring Perkupa, where most houses have beautiful arcades in the peasant style. There is good hiking as well as the Gothic Road you can follow full of Arpad-era churches, monastaries and castle ruins.