The Teázó az erdő mélyén is the kind of place everyone is familiar with, who has ever read a fairy tale. The weary wanderer finds an inn deep in the forest, sits down by the fire to warm himself and asks for a tea. Lavender tea.
The Teázó az erdő mélyén is found on the Sajkod-side of the Tihanyi-félsziget, on the land of the Tihany-Sajkod Horgásztanya (fishers’ lodge), but according to its creator, Ágnes Hortobágyi ‘even beer- and wine-drinking fishers have switched to tea here.’ The otherworldliness of the place is best reflected by the fact that one has to fare 2 kilometres in the woods to arrive here, to the depth of the peninsula—as if passing an initiation ritual. It is befitting to arrive on foot or by bike, to allow our minds to settle down and leave the bustle behind by the time we get there.
‘Many of us are brimming with troubles and thoughts; we need time to rest. We often fail to notice the present. We need time away from everything, the bustle, to get a bit closer to nature. Many come here to rest, just to sit down and watch the squirrels and the birds, with a steaming mug... sometimes their drinks go cold, because they are so caught up in the moment. There are people, who sit three hours in that armchair (she points at it), just being. Then they walk on recharged,’ explains Ági, a glimpse of whom makes you believe at once that you should spend more time here, sitting down with a cup of tea, just listening to the forest. ‘In the beginning, of course, there were sceptics asking who would come here for a mug of hot drink?’ she adds with a smile.
People do come; they have been coming here for 7 years, since the moment the dream of 10+ years, which had been conceived following a trip to Eger, was realized. In 2005, when the main building of the Fishers’ Lodge was renovated and the accommodations were put on the upper story, Ágnes and her husband took over the stewardship and the management of the place. Since then, the ground floor has been functioning as a breakfast buffet and a mess on weekdays, and as the tea parlour of her dreams on weekends. A shelter for weary modern wanderers.
On weekedns, all year round
Why are they closed on weekdays? There is an answer to that. ‘Many asked, and all got used to it by now. The tea house is but the icing on the cake, a Platonic love. We want some peace for our lodgers as well: in addition to the rooms upstairs, the surrounding buildings also belong to us, which means 30-40 guests. They deserve to have the place to themselves on weekdays, there are many returning guests.’
The tea house is one of those extraordinary places that you can visit on an early spring day at Balaton, or when you are strolling knee-deep in fallen leaves or running from the snowstorm. ‘In the winter, it is mostly the locals who visit us and enjoy that finally >>it’s me sitting down and being served.<< And of course those who know the place or accidentally bump into it on a weekend. One can experience the wonders of the fall-winter Balaton, silence, and a truly special face of repose here: to cozy up in the warmth of the tile stove and sip fragrant teas far from the noise of the world is a heart- and soul-warming moment.’
