Boat trip on the Bodrog 2025

Details

Published: Wednesday, 11 June 2025 08:40

Tokaj - Sárospatak boat trip on the Bodrog, 2025.05.26.-28.

Participants:

Lovag National Captain

El Toro Captain of the Budapest Table and his Captive Judit

 Phoenix Captain of the Balaton Table

Predator

Vitéz

Tudor

Vagabund the Clerk of the Balaton Table and his Captive Martha

Ödön Pavletits and his Captive Maria

Lajos Baranyai and his Captive Krisztina

As the author of these lines and the organiser of the programme, I arrived at the hotel in Tokaj one day before the start of the zaff. This was only partly due to the distance, which for me was 470 km, and partly due to a little fear about the comfort of the three-star hotel. Because the advertising on the website and the reality may be different. However, everything was fine here, clean modern and comfortable rooms, pleasant surroundings, professional service and tidiness. It was beyond many 4 star hotels that I have experienced.

We went on a relaxing excursion into town with my captive. There were remarkably few people on the pedestrianised street, all the wine bars were empty. Here we met the basic unit of Tokaj wine makers, the 1 ½ dl. The reason is simple: since everything is measured from a bottle, we had to choose a unit that would divide 7 ½ dl into a whole number.

Then we went up to the lookout point, where we had an excellent view of the confluence of the Tisza and the Bodrog.

On 05.26 the others arrived, at different times. The meeting point was the terrace of the "Halra wine" restaurant, which overlooked the hotel car park. During the waiting time, the cuvée "Tézis" of the Angyal winery was consumed.

At 7 pm the opening of the zaff. followed by an a'la carte dinner. During dinner, our guest Ödön presented the possibilities for the next day in Sárospatak. The party chose to visit the castle and the Reformed library and gymnasium. Since this together did not fit into the time, we planned to occupy and besiege Sárospatak with two teams.

After dinner at the hotel, we marked the inauguration with Golpe de Canon.

On the 27th, breakfast buffet and departure for the port. The marina was 25 meters behind the hotel building, so no one missed the departure. The boat was a 60 year old river motor named Mermaid, with a 5 cylinder Deutz diesel engine, two passenger cabins with a maximum capacity of 50 people, and with audio information about the cruise.

The boat trip takes 2 ¾ hours to Sárospatak on the Bodrog, a slow flowing river with a beautiful scenery and atmosphere. Unfortunately, the nature reserve on the left side of the river is a no-go zone, but we did get a taste of the bird life. Time passed quickly with photography, videoing, contemplating the scenery and chatting, and we were back in Sárospatak. As agreed the night before, we took a seat at the Castle Restaurant and had lunch. The excellent lunch somewhat dampened the fighting spirit, but the castle squatters set off to complete the plan.

Those who stayed in the restaurant were not badly off either, as Ödön gave a lecture on Sárospatak's past. In the available ~2 hours we virtually travelled through 7 centuries, listing the events of Sárospatak's rise, its life and its notable natives.

After thanking Ödön for his efforts, the party headed to the waiting boat so as not to miss the return scheduled for ¾ 4. In the end we had to wait for the squatters, who returned a little tired from the battle.

During the return trip, the Council of Captains met to discuss the possibilities for the rest of the year's activities.

We docked at 6pm and at 7pm we had a low-key dinner at the "Halra wine".

At the hotel we closed the zaff. with Golpe de Canon and friendly conversation.

On the 28th, after a buffet breakfast, we talked over our experiences, packed into the cars and said goodbye with a fraternal farewell, hoping that we can spend more interesting and eventful zaff. together in the future.

2025.05.30.

Vagabond