Green Paradise

I've always loved nature. Ever since I was a kid, my parents took me and my siblings to a lot of trip through mountains and valleys. Sometimes we went by car, or bought a ticket for the little train. When we had more time, we made sandwiches and went hiking.

My parents don't really like going abroad, whether it's a plane flight or a day long car trip. "Flying is stressful and expensive, driving takes time and fuel" they say. That's the reason why I've never been to the French or the Greece coast, or Legoland in Denmark, and never seen the Eiffel tower or the Colosseum in real life. To tell the truth I miss this part from my life a little bit. Traveling...

However I've been a lot of memorable places in my own country. My absolute favourite area to go hiking is definitely Lillafüred. You might wonder if it has a more English-friendly name, but unfortunately I couldn't translate it for you...

Lillafüred is a small town in the Northern Medium Mountains of Hungary hiding a truly untouched side of the world – that is rare nowadays. Mesmerising green forests reaching far in the distance, followed by even more green fields laying just below the horizon. In spring, the sowing makes it gorgeously colourful. The wheat, the sunflower, the canola and in some places the purple lavender, and its smell... The beauty of rural life.

And I still haven't mentioned the undulating valleys and hills alternating in perfect harmony. Between two ranges of "mountain" small lakes are resting with their colourful wildlife. They were formed by natural forces, their water is clearer than the freshly washed summer dress. If you're lucky enough, you might get to see a timid deer, a swimming duck looking for fish, or a sneaky fox hunting in their natural habitat.

As the nature slowly wakes up after a long and cruel winter and the landscape becomes lively, the birds' echoing song and the endless sound of waterfalls and streams fill up the green forests.

And maybe the best thing of all that if you get hungry during hiking, you won't stay without food. If you ever happen to visit Hungary, especially the Northeast part of the country, don't skip the the traditional fish meal of that area: the fried trout (in a settlement called Szilvásvárad).

I was probably 12 years old, when I first tried out this local food specialty, and I was completely amazed by its taste.

People who live in the nearby villages and towns have been breeding this species for ages, and with the help of Hungarian flavours they managed to make this dish the number one favourite of the foreign tourists.

Usually everyone has their own wooden stand at the edge of the road, where they fry the fish in a furnace over 200 °C, and serve the hot trout ready to eat. These "mini" restaurants are scattered along the designated hiking trail, providing permanent meal serving during the tiring day of a hiker. Furthermore if you visit the area in summer, you can refresh yourself with some handmade ice cream after lunch.

To sum up, you don't always have to organise a trip to a famous building, or a fancy city with full of sights in it. Eventhough these places might be good-looking, yet they're noisy, crowded and polluted. Nature has never failed to amaze and fill me up with positive energy and it always makes me smile even if I'm not in a good mood.

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