János Hunfalvy

SAILING ACROSS LAKE BALATON,

HE DESCRIBED THE SCENERY AS FOLLOWS:

“If we take an excursion by steamboat from Füred to Keszthely, we may behold the general panorama of the beautiful region of Lake Balaton. Our attention is especially drawn to the northern shore with its bays and its wreath of hills. The slopes of the hills are mostly planted with vineyards, at whose feet small villages appear here and there. The hilltops are in some places covered with leafy forests, while elsewhere they stand bare and rocky. At first, low hills appear, farther on they rise higher and assume ever more varied forms — at times continuous, at times isolated. Some stretch out in long ridges, while others resemble truncated cones or slender pyramids. From the tops of these picturesque cones, ancient castle ruins gleam here and there from among the green forests. Behind the backs of the changing hills rises the rocky height and ruined fortress of Csobánc, disappearing from sight five times and reappearing five times again. Then comes the region’s most massive and highest mountain, the wine-famous Badacsony, and finally, between two lower conical hills, the ruins of Szigliget Castle beckon toward us...”

(Dr. János Hunfalvy (1820–1888), founder of Hungarian scientific geography)
(Source used: Hungarian Ministry of Defence Publications)