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SUMMITS
SUMMIT Nº 10: KÉKES (HUNGARY)
HUNGARY
KÉKES
08 / 10 / 2022
ALTITUDE
1.014 m
ÁLEX QUIROGA, ÒSCAR SOLSONA, JORDI DUQUE AND ANDREU LÓPEZ
DIFFICULTY LEVEL
LOW
CHRONICLE
Hungary is a Central European republic bordered on the north by Slovakia and Ukraine, on the east and southeast by Romania, on the south by Serbia and Croatia, and on the west by Slovenia and Austria. With nearly 9.5 million inhabitants, its capital is Budapest (1.7 million inhabitants), which was founded in 1873 by the union of three cities, two to the west of the Danube: Buda and Óbuda, and another to the east: pest.
The capital, Budapest, is precisely the base of our operations and specifically we will stay with the Pest gang on this long 3-day weekend in which we celebrate the entry of Jordi Duque into his fourth vital decade.
Budapest is a splendid city bathed by the Danube which, with its 2,860 km before reaching the Black Sea, makes it the longest river in Europe after the Volga. The Danube is one of the most representative elements of the city and it is highly recommended to take a night river walk where you can enjoy the illumination of the city.
Other essential elements of this city strongly marked by the Nazi occupation and the Soviet invasion are the Liberty Bridge, which has connected Buda with Pest since 1896, as well as the Parliament, which, inspired by London and in a neo-Gothic style, sits next to Pest. since 1904.
The passion of the inhabitants of Budapest for thermal baths dates back to Roman times. Although the city has multiple bathing possibilities, we opted for a matter of proximity, for the Szchenyi Spa, which is located inside the charming Varosliget or City Forest, which has a forest from 1886 and the Castle of Vajdahunyad. Returning to our therapeutic space, the spa is a neo-baroque fantasy from 1897 that has become very popular and a tourist attraction that at certain times is excessively crowded.
Other visits that cannot be missing from the agenda are the Chain Bridge as well as, on the Buda side, taking a walk through the Ciudadella and contemplating Pest and the course of the Danube from its viewpoint as well as reaching the “Fishermen’s Bastion ” and to the Royal Palace.
Our weekend getaway also has space to explore the Hungarian geography and specifically the Kékes that with 1,014 meters is the highest elevation in the country, Located in the Mátra mountain range of Heves county, in the north of the country, near more than 1 hour by car from the capital. Kékes is the 3rd most popular tourist attraction in Hungary, after Lake Balaton (at 80 km long and 14 km wide it is the largest freshwater lake in Central Europe) and the Danube.
The name of Kékes means “bluish” in reference to the color that the mountain adopts in the morning. We start walking at mid-morning from the town of Gyongyas at 355 meters and a circular route of approximately 16 km awaits us.
At the meteorological level, fortune is with us and we have a day of radiant sunshine and very good temperatures. The first kilometers of the ascent pass through a wide beech forest that gradually gains height. As we gain height it becomes clear to us that it is a special point in the country as people from other itineraries make an appearance as well as the first constructions in the form of hotels and it is that in a few weeks, coinciding with the first snowfall of the season, the latter will be occupied by skiers.
We pass the hotels and soon we see a telecommunications tower, a source of suspicion that the summit is very close. We were not mistaken and very soon we came to a stone with the colors red, white and green arranged horizontally… it is the Kékes, the roof of the country. We immortalize the moment with some photographs and after stopping to have a snack we take the road back to the vehicle and a large part of it runs along the aforementioned ski slopes.
It is the 10th Top Summit of the project, a figure that is beginning to be significant and indicative that the project is beginning to accumulate life, to accumulate experience…
I am especially excited that Àlex Quiroga and Jordi Duque, “old” and “beautiful” friends, along with Oscar, who accumulates more experience and achievements in the project, have joined this rise. In these moments, in another country and at a distance from home, his presence and company fills and the phrase makes sense more than ever
“Happiness is real when shared”
GALLERY
