The next leg of our trip was a two night stand at the historic city of Szekesfehervar, which translates to “white castle of the (royal) seat”. This beautiful city was the capital of Hungary in the middle ages, and is just an hour’s drive to the East of Budapest. I kid you not that even after 2 days exploring its lovely streets, I was still hesitant to even attempt saying “Szekesfehervar”. The next time you meet me, test me on my pronunciation!
Along the way to Szekesfehervar, we decided to take a short detour to Lake Velence, the third largest lake in Hungary and apparently a very popular place for the locals to take a holiday. Unfortunately, the villages along the lake seemed like ghost towns in the winter, with not many shops open. After trying for some time to find a restaurant to have our lunch, we gave up and decided to head to our hotel at Szekesfehervar to check-in first.
We were quite bowled over by our lovely room at the Novotel Szekesfehervar. It was a two-level concept, with the living room and a toilet on the first level and the bedroom with the attached bathroom in the loft on the second level.
Needless to say, the two girls were star-struck by that fairy-tale spiral staircase. That huge window which spanned two levels also provided a wonderful view, especially when it started snowing. We spent a fair bit of that afternoon just gazing out of the window in wonder.
The other great thing about our hotel was its location. As we would soon find out, the historical walking street was just a stone’s throw from the hotel, as well as the main shopping mall in the heart of town, Alba Plaza. There, we found some nice food at the food court, and took advantage of the Christmas sales to purchase some reasonably priced walking shoes for ourselves.
As you can see, our daughter had a fair bit of fun admiring the falling snow:
This is part 6 of my Hungary Winter Drive blog series, click HERE for part 7 where I share about our visit to the lovely museums in Szekesfehervar the next day!
- Part 1 – 2017 Hungary Winter Drive
- Part 2 – Sprain Pain and Piano
- Part 3 – Driving in Hungary as a Tourist
- Part 4 – First Taste
- Part 5 – Matra Mountains
- Part 6 – Szekesfehervar Forever!
- Part 7 – Museums Galore – Toy, Diocese & King Stephen
- Part 8 – St. Nicholas Day in Keszthely
- Part 9 – Festetics Palace, Keszthely
- Part 10 – Tihany, Completing the Balaton Loop
- Part 11 – From Siofok to Simontornya
My wife and I enjoy having guests over at our place for fellowship over a nice home-cooked meal. If you would like to drop by to try some of my wife’s wonderful cooking and to talk more about travel and life, do drop me a mail at lenniechua@gmail.com to arrange a dinner date! Everyone welcome!
2017 Hokkaido Winter Drive Blog Series
Little Lion's Lifebook 