Visegrad - Károly Márkó The Elder

9/8/2020

Bruce Charlton's mention of the Lake District in a blog post the other day brought back memories of my only visit to that area of England, which happened during a backpacking trip I undertook when I was sixteen. Though I only spent two days in the Lake District, the natural beauty of the place left such a deep impression on me that I made a vow to return. It's been a little more than three decades since I made that vow, and it remains unfulfilled. In all honesty, I don't believe I will ever make my way back to England again; still, one can always hope.

Anyway, remembering my visit to the Lake District inspired me to ponder if Hungary has a place of similar beauty. Yes, Hungary does have a beautiful "lake district" of its own in the form of Lake Balaton, but the landscape there is nothing like the north of England. After much thought, I came to the conclusion that Visegrad and the so-called "Danube Bend" about 45 kilometers north of Budapest is the closest Hungary comes to the Lake District in terms of landscape and scenery.

True, there's no lake, and Visegrad is not completely enveloped in a National Park, but the Danube is rather wide, and as it bends south it does give the illusion of being a lake. More importantly, the Danube Bend is home to many splendid hills and upland swells.

Not quite the Lake District, but still beautiful in its own right.

Visegrad - Károly Márkó the Elder - 1826

3 Comments

Michelle

9/9/2020 12:30:20

One of my previous jobs took me to hundreds of counties throughout the United States, some very small and remote. The beauty of some of these places is just stunning. From the empty deserts of Death Valley (where I heard absolutely nothing for the first and only time in my life) to the harrowing mountain passes in Colorado, to the vast plateaus of the Badlands, the scenery is truly awesome. I had that job for 10 years and every year I visited new places that were so striking. Even with the ugliness and evil that is growing and spreading in the U.S., it still is the most beautiful place on Earth in my mind. I'll likely never visit those places again, but just recalling the pure emotions of witnessing God's handiwork during those times makes me so thankful for the opportunity.

Francis Berger

9/9/2020 12:59:29

@ Michelle - Your travels have been extensive! And yes, Death Valley is a remarkable place.

It's a massive cliche to even mention it, but lately I have been focusing much attention on examples of smaller scale natural beauty - flowers, trees, birds, clouds, etc. We don't always have the chance to visit breath-taking landscapes, but everyone can pause for a moment and study a plant. I find there's just as much beauty in the micro as there is in the macro. How could there not be? After all, it's the micro that makes up the macro.

My overall (unoriginal) point is that we don't need to visit beautiful landscapes to enjoy natural beauty . A flower or a passing bird can still establish that connection. It's this connection evil tries to dull and eliminate.

9/9/2020 13:29:36

It's only cliche if you've heard it a million times! Our modern thinking only focuses on the macro and rarely on the micro. (My thought every day about society as a whole is- instead of solving "global warming" or "inequity" or whatever, try fixing your own issues first)
I've also extended my observations of beauty, especially during this time, on individual people and all the millions of circumstances that occurred prior to that moment to cause a person to be standing next to me. How unique each person is, how amazing God's creation is, and all the impossible things that happened to bring the person pumping gas next to me to say good morning. I have found how beautiful the need for human connection is, and what love for others is. On such a small level, how beautiful a smile can be.
All at the same time I contemplate how frail humanity is, how easily it succumbs to evil, and how much the powers that be want to crush beauty even in it's smallest form.

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Visegrad - Károly Márkó The Elder

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