Our Favorite Ukrainian-Hungarian Gypsy Wine Town

In the province of Zakarpattia, right along the Ukrainian-Hungarian border you can get a good bottle of wine and drink it with gypsies under the bridge. We haven't done it ourselves, but it can be done. Ah, Memory Lane, gentle viewers! It isn't in every town that you find one of those. In this episode we return after nearly five years to *Berehove*, a Ukrainian town that's a mere stone's throw from the Hungarian border — or, as many residents insist, to Beregszász, a Hungarian town that ended up on the wrong side of a stone's throw from the border. When we left five years before, it was after having lived in Berehove for eight months. Mr. East was the lone foreigner in the place. Unless you count the Hungarians. While there Valentyna taught English to small children, since no one except the spice lady in the market could speak more than a few words of the "global language," while Mr. East toiled away at a novel that no one, to his great sorrow, had the slightest desire to publish. Why choose to live in Berehove, you ask? Heck if we know. There isn't much to see. There isn't much to do. Yet the place had an intriguing vibe, not quite Ukrainian. Which might have something to do with the populace being mainly Hungarian. So we go skipping down Memory Lane, and along the way drink some wines, converse with gypsies, and ask some students to eternal question: Is Berehove or Beregszász Ukrainian or Hungarian? And in this episode Mr. East debuts his very own cap! These videos can't be made without the help of caffeine. If you'd like to buy us a coffee (or a bottle of wine or a private jet): buymeacoffee.com/eastofthewest 0:00 Introduction to Berehove 2:20 Our Sentimental Journey 5:40 The Hungarianishness of Berehove 9:46 One of Our Favorite Ukrainian Markets 14:57 A Chat with the Students 21:28 Trip to "Nota Bene" Winery 25:16 Thermal Baths and Why We Don't Go 26:54 Last Glimpse of Berehove #ukraine #ukrainetravel #berehove #followthecap #Берегове #Beregszász #carpathians #gypsy #carpathians #followthecap #rurallife #countrylife #wine #winetasting #transcarpathia #zakarpattia #hungary The winery in the video is called NOTA BENE. They have a Facebook:   / nota.bene.wine   The music for this episode (one of Brahms's Hungarian dances) comes from the Internet Archive: www.archive.org