Camp in Upper Hungary
Today (15th July) we have arrived to our accomodation in Szentgyörgy, Slovakia. On this first day of our camp was about the travelling itself and getting known Bratislava. Tomorrow we are exploring Driny Cave and Redstone Castle. Benczúr Anna
Second day – Following an ample breakfast at the accommodation we visited Driny Cave and its thousands-year-old stalactites; it is a wonder of the Small Carpathians.
Having the Cave explored we went on to see Redstone Castle. We learned that the palace used to be an important part of the Hungarian defense line as it is placed on the former border.
The Pálffy family, owners of the Castle made the palace and the whole area develop. Inside the Castle we could see many furniture, paintings and other pieces of art, and even guns from that era. Having the Castle explored, we arrived back a bit tired. Bédi Norbert, Group 1 of Jászberény
Third day – Today we had our longest excursion at Bajmóc Castle. The building, previously owned by the Pálffy family was a part of the northern Hungarian boarder line, similarly to Redstone Castle which we had seen yesterday.
After a little snack we went on to see the palace on the inside, including its 620 stairs as well. Following that, plus a buying some souvenirs and having lunch we left for the accommodation.Vugernicsek Zsolt
Fourth day – Today we could get up a little bit later than we had to yesterday, and then we left at 8.30 to Dévény Castle.
This palace was an enormous building, part of the Old Hungarian border line, however, today only its ruins are visible for visitors. Having the Castle seen we got on the tram to see the Presidential Palace of Bratislava and the park behind it filled with different statues, pieces of the modern art.
Following that we went on to see the city center and the Old Town, and had lunch at Neolithic-style restaurant, and finally we visited St. Martin Dome. We finished at a pastry with an ice-cream, after which we went back to our accommodation and swam, played tennis, or just simply had a little rest. Horváth Gergő, Group 2 of Szeged
Fifth dav – We started our day with yet another delicious breakfast. Then our sleepy mood was turnt into excitement and curiousity. We took a look around the castle of Pozsony. The beautiful reminisced us to the life hundreds of years ago.
Returning to the bus, we headed to the other goal of us, to the BS-8 bunker. Entering the WWII bunker, we took an insight into the life of the soldiers at that time. We saluted to show respect to the soldiers who died there.
Heading back to the city, we visited the beautiful blue church. We had a tasty lunch, and after that we had a programm which we liked a lot too, so it was time for some shopping. We went out to buy souvenirs and clothes for ourselves in the enormous shopping centre in the EUROVEA. We finished our day with some football and with fantastic dinner. We gained a lot of knowlodge and experience ont he 5th day as well.
Gábor Bence, Sz1
Sixth day – After breakfast we headed to get to know another Upper-Hungarian town, Galánta. We spent the morning in the Homeland Studies Museum of Galánta, where we had a great guidance.
The guides of the museum gave us an emotional presentation of the history of the area, so we could see the local clothes, furniture and traditions. Following that we had a short walk in the centre of the town and saw the statue of Zoltán Kodály, who had been born here.
Than we had a big surprise: we visited an oasis where we got close to the nicest animal of the jungle, the tiger. Younger and older ones are also have a great place there.
Our delicious lunch was on the bank of the river Small Danube with a glass of kofola, which is the national drink in Slovakia. In the afternoon we visited the mill of Jóka, which is one of the oldest mills of Slovakia.
We could see it working. The last evening we spent together was about collecting the best and most memorable moments of the camp and we are sad that it came to the end.
I would like to say thank to the Foundation for being part of this great experience as a junior mentor.
Valentin György-Dávid
Junior mentor, Kaposvár