Itinerary in a nutshell:
Day 1. Wednesday, May 31. Departure at 8AM from parking lot behind the Fine Art Museum next to Heroes Square in Budapest. (Dózsa György út 41, 1146).
Budapest – Keszthely – Veszprém (265 km. ) Lodging at the Veszprém Seminary.
Day 2. Thursday, June 1. Veszprém – Nagyvárad (450 km.) Lodging in Nagyvárad in the Grand Hotel Astoria****
Day 3. Friday, June 2. Nagyvárad – Kolozsvár – Gyergyószárhegy (366 km.). Lodging in the „Fenyő Panzió” *** Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights.
Day 4. Saturday, June 3. Gyergyószárhegy – Csíksomlyó – Ditró – Gyergyószárhegy (150 km.) Friday evening dinner, as well as breakfast at 7 AM Saturday morning in the hotel. We must leave early in the morning so that we will find places for us closer to the altar at Csíksomlyó. Saturday evening dinner in Ditro together with other pilgrim groups from Csabrendek, Zalaszántó, and Keszthely.
Day 5. Sunday, June 4, Pentecost Sunday. Ditró — Gyilkos Lake – the Békás Passage – Gyergyószárhegy (85 km.).
Day 6. Monday, June 5. Gyergyószárhegy – Gyimesközéplok – Gyergyószárhegy (100 km.).
Day 7. Tuesday, June 6. Gyergyószárhegy – Székelyudvarhely – Segesvár – Medgyes – Nagyszeben (230 km.). Lodging in Nagyszeben in the Hotel Ibis Central***
Day 8. Wednesday, June 7. Nagyszeben – Gyulafehérvár – Szeged (425 Km.) Lodging in Szeged in the Hotel Novotel****
Day 9. Thursday, June 8. Szeged — Ópusztaszer – arrive in Budapest (190km.) End of trip.
Memories to treasure.
SINCEREST WELCOME TO ALL INTERESTED PARTICIPANTS
Pilgrimage to Csíksomlyó touring Hungary and Transylvania
Date: May 31 to June 8, 2017.
Transportation: air-conditioned luxury bus
(coffee, drinks, water, soft drinks, quiet music, TV)
Tour guide: Myself and other designated persons at various locations)
Insurance: Not supplied, it is the personal responsibility of the individual
Airfare: not included, up to each individual
Make reservations with: András Mezei: 216-861-1937
Deposit of $300. is to be paid in advance by Easter, April 16, 2017,
and the remainder to be paid in Budapest on the bus.
Important things to know:
The official currency of Hungary is the forint, officialy designated as HUF.
The official currency of Romania is the lei, officially designated as RON.
Currency can be exchanged in any city in both Hungary and Romania.
In some tourist attractions in Székelyföld, the Hungarian forint is also accepted as payment.
Good idea is to not put all your money in one place. Have a smaller wallet for your daily spending money separate from the rest of your cash.
The names of the 2 bus drivers:
- István Bagladi – Tel: , 2. Tamás Pusztai
Bus type: MSB 490 Mercedes – Zala – ÉNYKK Traveling Company
Fr. András Mezei telephone number in Hungary:
and American cell phone number:
SOME TRIP DETAILS —
Wednesday, May 31, 8 AM in the morning, we meet in Budapest in the parking lot of the Fine Art Museum by Heroes Square (Dózsa György út 41, 1146) and depart. On our way we will stop at the picturesque Lake Balaton and the cultural center of that area, Keszthely, and visit the country’s third most visited castle, the Festetics Castle. We will then see a performance of folk dances by the students at the Ranolder Catholic School and then attend Mass at the medieval gothic Our Lady of Hungary church. We will rest here a little bit. Continuing our trip we will visit the archbishop’s palace in Veszprém and if his schedule allows, meet with the Archbishop of Veszprém, Dr.Gyula Márfi. Our dinner and lodging will be in the Veszprém Seminary where the following morning we will attend Mass with the seminarians and with Archbishop Márfi as principal celebrant.
Thursday, June 1. We begin our journey to Transylvania, and first destination is Nagyvárad, the city of Saint László. There we will visit the basilica, and other historically interesting buildings. We will walk the main street where the great Hungarian poet, Endre Ady walked, and see some beautiful palaces built in the secession style. We stay in Nagyvarad for the night.
Friday, June 2. On our way to our next destination, we travel through the „Királyhágó” ( mountain pass) touching Banffyhunyad, the center of the Kalotaszeg region and on to Kolozsvár. We will visit the famous statue group of King Matthias, the St. Michael church next to it, the birthplace of King Matthias ( only the outside of this can be viewed), and the Reformed Church of Farkas Street. We travel on to Székelyföld in the Gyergyó Basin, along the scenic Maros River to Gyergyószárhegy and to Gyergyóditró. Our lodging will be in Gyergyószárhegy, or Ditró.
Saturday, June 3. We will participate in the pilgrimage at Csíksomlyó, where year after year more than many hundred thousand Hungarian bretheren with faith filled hearts pray for Our Blessed Mother’s intercession.
Saturday evening there will be dinner and dancing for us in Ditro together with the other visitors from Keszthely and Zalaszántó.
Sunday, June 4. Pentecost. In Ditró we will attend Mass in the beautiful largest church in Székelyföld, where the inscription on the church bell bears the name of our former pastor Sándor Siklodi and the name of our parish church here in Cleveland, St. Emeric Church, and gain insight into the Székely culture. We will also visit a modern church built here in 2015. In the afternoon we will visit the picturesque Gyilkos Lake and the magnificient awe-inspiring Békás Passage.
Monday, June 5. Our trip takes us to the beautiful mountains of the Madaras Hargita and then to the the „thousand year boundary”, the eastern most point of historic pre-World War I Hungary.
Tuesday, June 6. We continue our trip to Southern Transylvania through the Liba Peak and arrive in Székelyudvarhely. After viewing the city we move on to Segesvár, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We visit the center of the city and then continue our trip to Nagyszeben.
Wednesday, June 7 ( or if time permits, early Tuesday evening) we will visit the historical city center of Nagyszeben, city founded by the Saxons which once was also a cultural center of Europe. We will see the big and small marketplaces, a gothic style Evangelical Church and a Baroque style Catholic church and walk around the city. Our next stop will be Gyulafehérvár, which once was the intellectual capital of Transylvania. We will visit the thousand year old Hungarian Roman Catholic cathedral and the neighboring ninety year old Roman Orthodox cathedral and walk in the beautifully restored fort. Continuing on our way, we arrive in Szeged, Hungary.
Thursday, June 8. We make a walking tour of the city of Szeged, will see the famous Catholic Cathedral and the beautiful squares and buildings. No one should ever leave Szeged without tasting its famous fisherman’s soup, so we will have „halászlé” in a restaurant on the shores of the Tisza River. Finally, on our way back to Budapest, we will stop at the famous Ópusztaszer where we will visit the National Historic Memorial Park.
Our trip ends back in Budapest as we leave our bus with experiences and pictures to treasure and beautiful memories to cherish.
Naturally, it is not possible to write about everything that we will see, and especially what we will feel on this trip. As circumstances allow, we plan to have Mass every day.
For further details, please feel free to call the St. Emeric Rectory at 216-861-1937.
Respectfully,
Fr. András Mezei, administrator
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