coming and going between Pesth and all parts
of the south of Hungary and Vienna, conveyed either by the railway or
by the numerous steam-boats which daily ply on the Danube. The
neighbourhood, as We have already mentioned, is full of simple and
healthy enjoyments, from the number of its delicious drives and walks,
and places of rural entertainment, the quaint names of some of which
cannot fail to amuse and attract the stranger. At about half an hour's
drive from the town is the Chokolaten-Garten, much frequented for its
excellent chocolate, which is manufactured on the spot. A little
further on, and situated in the centre of one of the most beautiful
little valleys of the Kleine Karpathen, is the Eisen-Brundel, a large
house of entertainment, with a spacious dancing-room; and, without, a
luxuriant grove of fine old trees, forming an impenetrable shelter,
beneath which are arranged a number of tables and chairs. Here every
species of entertainment is to be found, from the most simple brown
bread, milk, and fruits, to the most sumptuous champagne dinners; and
the prince and the peasant take their places without ceremony, as in
the olden time of Robin Hood and Little John--'all merry under the
greenwood tree.'

Numerous other and still more simple places of refreshment and
enjoyment present themselves at every turn of those delicious
mountain-paths, which lead through the little valleys and hollows of
the vineyards overlooking the town. One of the most agreeable is on
the summit of the hill, near the little chapel of St Mary, called
Marien Kirche, under the Kalvarienberg, and from which the eye looks
over the whole town and the plain which stretches towards Pesth, and
through which the Danube winds like a vast silver serpent, till it is
lost in the far woods and dim distance. Lower down, and still nearer
the town, in a little valley, is 'The Entrance to the New World!' The
house is deliciously situated half-way up a wooded hill crowned with
pines, and clothed with rich orchards and vineyards; not far off, in
another little valley, are the Patzen-Haeuser, with their orchards and
gardens; and higher up we come to 'The Entrance to Paradise!' whence,
as might be expected, there is a most superb view. This embraces the
whole plain so far as the eye can reach towards the east and south; on
the north it is bounded by the towering mountains of the Great
Carpathians, the haunt of bears and wolves, wild boars and stags; and
to the