Sharing stories with each other is one of the best things to do around Balaton. You'll need stories for that, though. If you're out of drunken and army stories, and you're still sober/you haven't kissed her, then We Love Balaton can give a helping hand with 10 interesting stories related to Balaton.

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1/10

Rock around Balatonfüred.

The revolution in October was not the only story of 1956. Another serious matter had a huge impact on the next decade. The first tunes of rock&roll In Hungary were put on at the pier of Balatonfüred in the summer of 1956. According to the legend it was Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock, the first rock and roll song ever. An apparatchik heard the song and turned off the music right away to stop the Western influence. 7-8 years later Hungarian teenagers were partying to the Beatles songs played by Radio Free Europe around Balaton every summer.

2/10

What is NASA doing in Balatonkiliti?

In the spring of 2012 there were rumours about Wikileaks documents suggesting that NASA was building a seven-floor luxury bunker right under Balaton. The bunker was supposed to be a shelter for Very Important People for the Armageddon expected to arrive last December. The television channel of Somogy tried to find the entrance at Balatonkiliti without any luck, and the Mayan calendar lied about 21st December 2012 as well. It doesn't mean that there is no bunker under Balaton though.

3/10

Tihany almost became an island.

What if Tihanyi-félsziget was the Hungarian Mont Saint Michel, a single island with an abbey on it? It almost became reality. The Hungarian government decided to build a line of strongholds on Balaton-felvidék during the Revolution of 1848-1849 against the Habsburgs. The leaders wanted to cut Tihany from the North Shore, because it is always difficult to conquer an island. They didn't start digging, and the plan fell apart. We're not sure if Tihany would be more fun as an island.

4/10

Balaton's most beautiful ship didn't make a good window-box.

Sirocco is considered as the most beautiful sailboat in Hungary. Do not forget to share one or two stories of it when you see it on the water. The sailboat was built during World War II, and the king of Egypt wanted to buy it after the war. The deal didn't go through, and the Socialist party took the opportunity, and laid its hands on the ship, because the owners had used it for smuggling gold. At least, Communists claimed so. The Party didn't care about the maintenance, so the old ship almost ended up in the pioneer camp of Zánka, in the form of window-boxes and playground equipments. No worries, the story has a happy ending: the sailboat made of expensive materials was reconstructed at the beginning of the 2000's, and nowadays it often sails Balaton.

5/10

Secret treasure on the South Shore.

Balatonendréd has never been an exciting place throughout history. The place's last headline was a scandalous sideroad construction. You can find this beautiful place in a valley, a bit south of Zamárdi. There is Turkish treasure buried underground somewhere here. Várcsige-domb is a bit to the south, you can see it from the town well. According to the myth, the Ottoman Empire had a small castle here, and the fleeing Turks hid their treasure under the ground. Even Turkish archaeologists set up an excavation site, but they found nothing. It is worth a try, but you'll more likely find sheep around here.

6/10

The man, who built a summer house for his dead sweetheart.

Kripta Villa (meaning Crypt Villa) in Fonyód has a weird name, and its story is strange as well. Ödön Abrudbányai-Rédinger loved his fiancée, Magdus very much, but the girl passed away before the wedding. Ödön - already married to someone else - decided to build a memorial villa for Magdus in 1941. In the Mediterranean building the wedding bed is carved from marble, with the couple's statues lying on it. The ashes of Magdus were supposed to be taken to the villa, but World War II thought it differently. The legend says that a couple's love will last forever if they join hands over the marble wedding bed.

7/10

Atomic bomb on the Balaton-felvidék.

In spite of the fact, that it has never been confirmed officially, this is a true story. Close to Nagyvázsony and the Kinizsi-vár, there was a Soviet military base in Tótvázsony. The locals refer to the abandoned base as Small Moscow. Among the ruins and wild animals the presence of sluice-gates and cranes prove our theory: there had to be nuclear weapons in the hangars of Small Moscow. Visiting is forbidden, but you can always find a tour to the secret bunkers and army bases.

8/10

The most popular fish of Balaton is caught in Argentina.

It's more or less official, that the hake is one of the strangest fish names of all time. Even though, hake is the most popular fish around Balaton, it is still seafish. Is it surprising? Hakes arrive to Balaton frozen in giant ice blocks. Dining Guide dug into the story and found out, that breams became more and more expensive in the 1960s and '70s. A big socialist company, called Terimpex could import frozen hake at a fair price, which meant that the buffets got hooked on good fish with a few bones right away. It worked, because many Hungarians still believe that hake is a traditional Hungarian fish from Lake Balaton.

9/10

Tanks under the water.

Many aircrafts fell into Balaton during World War II, and many of them still lie under the waves. Some say, that there are at least three German tanks at the bottom of the lake near Tihany. No one knows if they are still there. There was a treasure hunter Hungarian movie, Csak semmi pánik with the Hungarian Bud Spencer in the leading role about a German aircraft and its treasure lying under the water.