Posts Tagged ‘castle’

European Castles for Sale at Rock-Bottom Prices

My latest piece on Demotix.

Times may never have been better for commoners eager to purchase a piece of nobility. Business website Real Deal reports that in Hungary alone there are some 300 castles, mansions and country estates currently listed in the marketplace — many at prices far below those of apartments in European capitals.

In fact some are selling for as low as $20,000, according to the Hungarian financial daily Napi Gazdasag.

However, before you collect the keys to your new fairy-tale home, you may want to buy several gallons of paint, a few rakes, and the services of a skilled worker or two.

Most of the castles for sale are in such a state of disrepair that the renovation and maintenance costs are likely to far exceed – often exponentially – the price of the property itself.

Gyula’s Renaissance Carnival: The Party Few Are Familiar With

This online journal hates to keep secrets. Thus we shall let you in on one. Gyula is the name of the secret and it is a gem of a town situated 200 kilometers southeast of Budapest, an area which seems virtually uncharted by English speakers, or for that matter speakers of other languages besides Hungarian.

This weekend Herr and Frau Chortler awoke briefly from their winter hibernation – which traditionally lasts from late September to early June – and descended upon the annual Renaissance Carnival in Gyula. You can see photographs of their sojourn here and here.

This most enjoyable affair saw the virtual pair consume copious amounts of the region’s famous sausages, which were in turn washed down by an equally copious amount of local wines and, for Herr Chortler, stronger libations.

Gyula has other events on the 2010 calendar worthy of a visit. Coming up March 19-21 is a sausage festival, April 16-18 one can partake in a palinka (Hungarian brandy) festival, and in the summer – June 29 to July 12 – a Shakespeare festival will be held with this castle as its backdrop.