''Creating the winter-life of Balaton''

We Love Balaton: What are your connections to Balaton?
Gábor Takács: I didn't spend many summers near the lake in my childhood. We spent one or two weeks in Keszthely every year in the 1980s. When my son was born 7 years ago we rented a house in Révfülöp with our friends. The next year we rented it only for our family for the summer, then for 3-4 years we booked it for the whole year. Our son is 7 years old now and we have a bungalow of our own. We found a suitable site for us where we built a house with a small vineyard. We want to spend as much time as we can during the winter as well, because Révfülöp has a special place in our heart.
WLB: Have you thought about moving here?
GT: Yes we have, but for now I have so many things to do in Budapest that I would have to leave my family behind for three days a week.
WLB: Why did you choose Balaton as a summer destination over other areas in Hungary?
GT: I spent my holidays in the Danube Bend as a child. Maybe I wanted to come here, because I was not familiar with the area very much.
WLB: In recent years many people bought houses around Balaton or moved to the lake for good. Were you a part of this wave, too?
GT: No, ours was a different story. I recognized the trend in Révfülöp.

WLB: According to the current dbo opinion, Balaton had its golden era in the 1980s, which was followed by a short recess, but the tide has turned back. Where do you stand on this?
GT: I only remember the hundreds of cars from the DDR and the GDR on Balaton's coast. It's a fact that Balaton is on the rise right now.
WLB: Has the majority of Hungarian society recognised this rise?
GT: I don't know how many people are concerned about this in our society. 30 per cent of the people are struggling to pay back their bank loans and I'm not sure if they were planning a summer vacation near Balaton. Balaton is a proper alternative for those who can spend money on their holiday, and I'm sure they would consider this option. Even less wealthy families can have as good time here as anywhere in Croatia for less money. If you ask me I will not have sleepless nights if I don't see any of the rocky seashore of Croatia during my holiday.
WLB: How do you spend your time around Balaton?
GT: I like spending time around our house, sailing with my brother, riding a horse or fishing. We can go hiking and pick mushrooms especially during autumn, winter and early spring. We often go to the pier in Révfülöp, this is one of our favourite places. We often go out to eat and we like riding the bike, too.
WLB: The artisan markets full of handicraft products are getting more and more popular. Do you visit them?
GT: We have been to Liliomkert piac in Káptalantóti. It's disappointing to see that stupid attacks are launched against such positive and important programs like Liliomkert for no reason. Someone wants to make a difference with a popular market, and certain authorities governed by jealousy try to shut it down without any reasonable argument. They tried to do so in Liliomkert's case.
WLB: What do you miss about Balaton?
TG: It is full of life in summertime, but it is dead empty during winter. You don't really know what to do when there are heavy rains in January. Of course, you can always make excursions; last time we visited the Pannon Csillagda observatory in Bakonybél and the whole family enjoyed it very much. Going to a multiplex and watch a movie is quite difficult though.
If we could make Balaton tempting for Western-European tourists who are not tempted at the moment, Balaton could benefit more even in the summer. Nowadays western tourists only come here because of cheap prices. If there were more ports with quality services, sailing could improve very much. Even though Lake Constance is smaller than Balaton, it has more sailboats cruising on the water every summer. Fishing tourism could be improved as well, because zander is one of the best freshwater fish and since Balaton's water is pretty clean, it is suitable for zander. The horse stables have a lot of potential as well.