May I tell you about a town call Pápa?

March 28, 2024

May I tell you about a town call Pápa?

May I tell you about a small town called Pápa in North West Hungary? I recently spent a week there and although there isn´t much information available about it on the internet, it´s well worth a visit. In fact, after having visited quite a number of not-so-big-towns lately, I´m beginning to realize that the best way to understand Europe is to venture off the beaten path. Generally, locals have more time and patience with travelers, and there´s way less tourist traps and other distractions.

So, Pápa. I´m here for work, but one morning I borrow a bicycle and I bike up and down the streets. I stop to take photographs, admire old buildings and talk to the villagers. The younger generations of Hungarians speak good English. When there's a linguistic break down, we greet and smile, and that´s fine, too.

Most tourists visit Pápa during summer to experience the Pápa Thermal Camping where you can enjoy hot springs and spa treatments. The other main attraction is the Esterhazy Castle from 1773. I missed both. I didn't have enough time to go to the hot springs and I´m not big on castles. Instead I visit the Museum of Religion Reformed in the town center. It has an ancient Egyptian mummy in the basement. Long story short: A Pápa scholar of Ancient studies bought it on a trip to Egypt in the mid-18th century (there´s an invoice for the purchase and another one for the shipment). Until recently the mummy was kept in a local school, just imagine.

There's also a nice museum coffee shop where you can have toasted sandwiches. My next stop on my bicycle tour is the Kékfestö Museum, the only traditional blue dyeing and print museum in Hungary. According to its website it's supposed to be open but it´s not, and according to the locals, it happens during off-season.

What's next? I bike around some more and then I have coffee at the Vitafit Café on pedestrian street Kossuth Lajos street. It´s a lovely establishment and this is the ideal way of spending a day in the lesser known parts of Europe. No major attractions, but still great. I have a feeling that there are many untold, or rather undocumented stories here. I want to learn much more about life during Communism and the Nazi occupation as there was both a sizable Jewish and Romani population here, but again, time and language.

In the late afternoon on my last day in Pápa, my good friend Beata takes me to an amazing place about 30 kilometers outside of Pápa. It's called Somló and it's the smallest wine district in Hungary, Here, white grapes like the Juhfark have been grown on a volcanic hill since the Roman times. The wine yards were once tended to by nuns and the bottles from here are said to have been Queen Victoria´s favorite.

I´m no wine connoisseur but the bubbly rosé at the wine cellar is really nice. I´m told that one of the villagers sells his wines to a Michelin star restaurant. However, it´s the sheer loveliness of the village, where time seems to stand still, that captures my heart. I want to see this place in sun rise, in autumn, covered, a thousand years ago.

We end our evening at a Hungarian restaurant called The Stork´s Nest on Jókai Mór. It used to have an actual stork´s nest on its roof, but the stork couple left after the roof burnt down a few years ago. I´m told that "most people" believe a Romani family in the neighborhood is to blame as it is said that their fire "jumped" onto the roof. There´s no proof, no convictions, but Romani are living under difficult circumstances in Hungary and are often blamed for all sorts of things. Be aware of this situation, and most importantly: be kind. A greeting and a smile still mean something to those used to being treated as second class citizens.