Day 53 - Szombat június 1. 2013

From - Budapest
To - Siofok
Distance - 113km
Time - 6 hours
Total - 3348km

Before I start, I need to say, what a great name Szombat is for Saturday! It's the best name for a day I have heard so far.

Back on the road with clean clothes and rested legs. After a little delay in waiting for Janice's taxi, I got away on the bike. The weather has been dry but cloudy and cool - not bad cycling weather I suppose but we should be getting better weather than this here! The evening picked up with a bit of nice sunshine.

My routes for the next couple of weeks do not follow any recognised cycle paths. I am plotting my own directions which are most likely following busier roads. I managed to get out of Budapest by using cycle paths alongside roads and I said goodbye to the Danube. The journey was I eventful and I didn't see much of outstanding beauty. In terms of business the road was a bit like cycling along the A6 from Lancaster to Kendal. The roads were long and fairly straight with long gradual hills and long gradual decents. There were some sections of cycle path alongside the road that I hadn't expected so that was a bonus. Whilst it was a fairly long ride it seemed to pass quickly because there are not many windy or off road sections that can slow you down.

As I was approaching Siofok I was passed by some cyclists with competition numbers on their shirts. I guessed that there was a sportive cycle event taking place and the most likely route was going to be around the lake, a total of 200km. Of course I tried to keep up with them and nearly caught some on the uphill sections but they went away once we got back on the flat or downhill.

I think I have told you that Lake Balaton is the largest freshwater lake in Central Europe. I got my first sight of it just before I got to the Hotel Diana, where I was staying. The lake was a beautiful turquoise colour despite the sky being overcast. The hotel is about 1km outside the town of Siofok so I checked in. It's a 3 star hotel and was very nice accommodation with a small pool and I even have something in common with the Pope!

I checked the Internet to see how the British Lions did in their first match against the Barbarians at Hong Kong. They thrashed them, so I am happy for a good start.

A quick shower and then I went for a walk into Siofok. I knew the Balaton is a place where Hungarians go for their holidays and that Siofok was a lively resort. The cycle event was still in progress and their were still riders finishing. I got the impression that there were lots of cyclists in the bars, recovering from the ride but there weren't too many other tourists and some of the shops and bars were still closed. However, it does have the appearance of a typical seaside resort. There are lots of ice cream stalls, hot dog stalls and beach shops. I found more nightclubs here than Janice and I did in Budapest but I don't want a club tonight!

There was a nice little park as well and a self defence class was taking place in the early evening sunshine. I walked back along the promenade and will probably eat at the hotel restaurant and have an early night. Back in the old routine.

My cycling tomorrow should be more scenic because I can hug the lake shore for the probably 40km or more. I'll have to check my iPad map. I think tomorrow I will have to discuss a dilemma I have about a couple of famous Hungarians that could be disputed!


Photo 1, Last view of the Danube and I found where old London buses go to die!
Photo 2, Lake Balaton. What a nice blue colour, just think what it would look like if it was sunny.
Photo 3, Hotel Diana, nice little pool but a bit too cool for a swim today.
Photo 4, Start of a road of bars and nightclubs at Siofok.
Photo 5, Finish line for the Round Balaton Sportive. I thought I had done a long ride today till I saw this!
Photo 6, Old boat at the small port at Siofok.
Photo 7, Self Defence class in the park. There was also a newly wedded couple taking photos in the background.
Photo 8, View along the Promenade - not quite Grange!

Day 46 to Day 52

At rest in Budapest.

Just a brief résumé of our activities (at least the ones I can tell you about) in Budapest.

The apartment is just off the river and just off Vaci Street, which is the main touristy shopping street. It is a great place to visit, really close to the big Central Market Hall and there's even a Tesco Express fairly close, so we have the best of all worlds.

Janice and I were pleasantly surprised by the Castle area and the Fishermans Bastion. The Castle included a Citadel and Liberty Statue. It also consisted of grand buildings of the Habsburg era. On the same hill we progressed to an inner town area and St Matyas Church and the Fishermans Bastion. It doesn't seem to have much connection to Fishing but apparently it was the area of the hill that was defended by the fIshermen. The views across to Pest and the Parliament building were amazing.

The following day we did the trip to Gellert Baths, which is only across the river from where we stay. Lovely building and 12 different baths at different temperatures. Some were indoor and some outdoors. I made a faux par by trying to get into the main swimming pool without a bathing cap and the attendant had to blow his whistle at me and direct me to get out. They must have taken one look at me and thought 'he must have nits'! There were also steam rooms and saunas. Surprisingly I didn't need a bathing cap anywhere else? I thought that there would be pongy sulphur baths but there weren't. After the bathing we indulged in walking round the corner to the Gellert Hotel, through the revolving doors and had a coffee and cake in luxurious surroundings.

We didn't go out to eat all the time. We self catered and one evening I followed an old family recipe for 'pork in cider'.

The next day we did Europe's biggest Synagogue and had a tour guide that could have frozen an iceberg! She stopped people in their tracks by a mere glance and woe betide anyone who took photos without her permission. She did take pride to tell us that Prince Charles and Camilla had been there and also that Jeremy Irons and Greg Wise were once in her tour group. She went all gooey eyed at the recollection of Jeremy Irons. We had to leave the tour a little early to get to our Parliament building tour and we had a heck of a job trying to get out of the Synagogue. We had to force our way out of the entrance because we couldn't find the exit.

The Parliament building was very grand. The best view is from the river as they were renovating the other side by sandblasting and also doing major works around the outside so it was a but of a building site. The insides were lovely and well worth a visit.

Another day we hired a bike for Janice as I was getting withdrawal symptoms from my bike. It was a good sunny day and we cycled north to a Roman site called Aquinicum (rhymes with Ann Widdicombe). It was quite an extensive site of Roman ruins and a museum. We cycle back towards the city and went onto Margaret Island in the middle of the Danube. The Island is mainly car free and is a beautiful green oasis in the middle of the city. We lay down on the grass and had a picnic gazing towards a UNESCO protected watertower. Idyllic!

Rainy day on Thursday but it dried up in the afternoon and we visited the Hungarian National Museum and mainly saw exhibits about the history of Hungary. From knowing very little about Hungary I am almost an expert. The building and the displays were excellent. On the way in we noticed that some sound system was being set up on the steps outside and we were told that a choir would be singing later and the event would be televised and on the Internet and also similar events were taking place around Hungary in an effort to break a world record! When we came out of the museum the singing was in progress. It was a gospel choir and a lead singing man with a group of school children. The performance standard was excellent, we really enjoyed it. I'm not sure whether the record was ever broken?

In the evening we had a meal and went in search of music and dancing but failed miserably. The best we managed was an 'open mic' at an Irish Bar.

The last full day we set off towards what we thought was the park where all the communist era statues had been put. However, we went in the wrong direction and found Varosliget Park and Heroes' Square which had a big column and statues and grand museums near its entrance. We survived a heavy rain shower and then had bright spells for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow Janice flys back and I cycle to Balaton Lake, the largest lake in Central Europe - the adventure continues......! Back to normal blogging tomorrow, so more codswallop.

Photo 1, Gellet Baths.
Photo 2, View of Pest from Gellert Hill.
Photo 3, Castle area in Buda.
Photo 4, Castle area again.
Photo 5, Gellert Baths from the inside.
Photo 6, Fountain that was square shaped but stopped as you approached so people could stand in the middle. It was great fun, running in and out of the fountain. Some childish person decided to ride their bike into the middle!
Photo 7, Synagogue.
Photo 8, Ruins at Ann Widdicombe!
Photo 9, Parkland at Margarit Island in the middle of the Danube.
Photo 10, Gospel choir outside the Hungarian National Museum.
Photo 11, Archangel Gabriel on top of the Millennium Monument (sorry i chopped off the angel at the top, but i put a different angel at the bottom!). It was erected in 1896 to celebrate 1000 years since the creation of Hungary. This is in Heroes' Square.

Day 45 - Május 24. péntek 2013

From - Esztergom.
To - Budapest.
Distance - 71km
Time - 4 hours
Total - 3208km

My meal out was perhaps one of my best so far. It was in restaurant called 'Csulok Csarda' which means the Pigs Knuckle Shop! I went for a Transylvanian night. It included a lamb and tarragon cream soup and a main course that had pork knuckle cubes covered in sauerkraut and sour cream and grilled with smoked bacon and spicy sausage on top. It was substantial, hot and tasty. I've not had anything like it before. I also had a pudding that was called milk cake with jam. It was a bit like a pancake but not quite? Sorry I didn't have my iPad to take any pictures, so you will have to take my word for it.

I also noticed last night, that the back of the 10,000 forint note had a picture of Esztergom on it. So I thought I would share the picture on the note with you.

It's 1BJ day today, last day of counting down. Looking forward to a holiday within a a holiday.

Time to start todays szlog. I am used to being surrounded by school kids when I stay at a hostel but today I was surrounded by older German coach tourists. I think I prefer the children. Anyway they didn't put me off eating a big breakfast from the buffet and sliding a sandwich in my pocket for later.

I got a good start. No wind and a reasonable cycle track meant that I made good progress and I was enjoying my cycling. The first place I went through was Visegrad which was an important place in history and once had an upper and a lower castle. Before the castles the Romans had a fort here as well, as this area was on the northern border of the Roman region of Pannonia. The lower castle also helped to keep the Mongol invaders out in the 13th century. I didn't climb to the upper castle, it looked a bit steep especially for me and the bike.

I cycled on and looked at my cycle speedo and thought to myself that I wasn't going very fast! I looked at the trip distance and thought to myself, I haven't gone very far. I began to panic, thinking the machine wasn't working properly. I eventually realised that it had mysteriously switched from kilometres to miles and I didn't have a clue how it happened and more importantly I didn't know how to put it back to kilometres for the sake of my blogs. The rest of the journey continued in miles.

I went through a couple of towns, Tahitotfalu and Leanyfalu. They sounded a bit like they should have been islands in the Pacific (they may actually be rugby players for Fiji!). They were actually town at the start of the run into Budapest and they had nice area of bars and cafes on the banks of the Danube river. The next town was Szentendre that had a number of coaches full of Japanese tourists visiting a big street of tacky souvenir shops but the town had nice narrow cobbled streets. I suspect it was a weekly market day in the town and attracted the tourists because of it.

When I got into Budapest I headed straight to the cycle shop that had a tyre for me. I changed the tyre and then phoned the owner of the apartment. Within half an hour I was in the apartment. It is well placed, very close to the river, 150 yards from the big market and about 50 yards from the main shopping street. There are so many amazing buildings and places to visit. I will wait for Janice before I start being a tourist. I have popped into the big market and had a meal on the top floor. I could choose various meals and put them on the same plate. All very cheap too!

I will do one blog covering the whole of the week. So, I will take a little break but I'll be back. The song for the day has to be 'Budapest' by Jethro Tull. It's a great track, one of the best.

The wifi in the apartment is good, so I'm OK for emails and Skype etc.

Photo 1, A 10,000 forint note with Esztergom on the back.
Photo 2, A tranquil picture of the Danube.
Photo 3, The jagged bit at the top of the hills the Upper Castle at Visegrad.
Photo 4, The lower castle at Visegrad.
Photo 5, Szentendre.
Photo 6, Entering Budapest.
Photo 7, Inside the apartment.
Photo 8, Courtyard at the apartment.

Day 44 - Május 23. csütörtök 2013

From - Komarom
To - Esztergom
Distance - 57km
Time - 3.5 hours
Total - 3140km

I was sad to hear that Mick McManus passed away. He was the best bad guy wrestler ever. He seemed too old for wrestling when I watched him. I think the postmortem will show that he beaten to death by a handbag! Me and my brother David used to watch wrestling on 'World of Sport' at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon and then go into the hall and had a fight which usually ended in me loosing my temper!

Well today is 2BJ. That's short for 'two days before Janice' arrives at Budpest. I will get there tomorrow but Janice flys in on Saturday and we will have a full week there. I will take a break in the blog during that time. I checked the word for blog in Hungarian and there isn't one, so I am going to call it a szlog. It seems appropriate seeing as its a bit of a slog for you to keep reading it!

I did a triathlon this morning. I had. 7am swim, I jogged 10 metres back to the hotel and then ate a plate of fried egg and ham for breakfast before setting off on the bike. Not a bad start to the day. Do you think this could be a new event including the breakfast into the competition, it could be interesting. I feel I have a specialism in the breakfast department that might give me the edge over competitors.

The weather started bright but became cloudy. Not so warm really.

The ride was not very interesting, it was mainly on or alongside a road but the tracks were a lot better, thank goodness.

Esztergom is considered to be the 'Rome' of Hungary. The Citadel which contains the Biggest Cathedral in Hungary and the Royal Castle dominates the town. The town centre must once have been wonderful but many of the houses look good from a distance but are a bit run down when you see them closer. The theatre building must have been grand but it looks closed now. I walked around the town and the weather slowly improved into the afternoon. I spent time looking for somewhere to eat in the evening. Eventually I gave up on that and just had a beer n the shadow of the Cathedral. My hotel was very close and it was nice and comfortable.

One famous Hungarian that has been suggested to me is Bela Bartok the composer but the key classical composer has been missed and that is Franz Listz. His contribution to Cockney rhyming slang must never be underestimated! Other notable Hungarians include Mr Rubik who invented the Rubik Cube and Emile Biro who invented the Biro pen. Harry Houdini was originally a Hungarian before escaping to the US and Zsa Zsa Gabor was Hungarian before going to Hollywood. I'm sure that there are many more more worthy Hungarians but I have missed them in my ignorance.

I found out that t was the 'New Christy Minstrels' that did 'Three Wheels on my Wagon' and it was written by Burt Bacharach. Not many people know that! Today's song is going to be the music I use as a ringtone. No specific reason but its a good rocker. It's Rockstar by Nickelback. I'll settle for being a cyclestar!

Out for a meal tonight. Not decided where yet. Before posting the blog I had a little look back over the photos and realise that their are hardly any other people in view. That's because everywhere is quiet. There are occasional coach tours but apart from that there are very few people bout, even n the town centres. It's not just here. Back home there is a constant bustle of people going about daily lives but here that lest seem to be the case. What does everyone do?

Off to Budapest in the morning.


Photo 1, Nice view across a ills with poppies.
Photo 2, St Peters Temple, on the edge of Esztergom.
Photo 3, The Cathedral and Castle at Esztergom.
Photo 4, The Cathedral front.
Photo 5, Inside the Cathedral.
Photo 6, Fountain in the main Square.
Photo 7, Just one of many lovely buildings that have been allowed to get run down.

Day 43 - Május 22. szerda 2013

From - Gyor.
To - Komarom.
Distance - 67km
Time - 6 hours
Total - 3083km

I actually finished the Jack Reacher book this morning. The serial killer turned out to be a female FBI detective who was actually one of the investigators. I didn't guess at all (and I am the acknowledged Cluedo champion in my family). Jack Reacher guessed it and got there just when she was committing her fifth murder and punched her once and it killed her. It saves the expense of a court case! Quite a thriller. I would recommend it to you but I've spoilt it completely now. Never mind there are lots of Jack Reacher books.

I gave my bike a quick check over and found a little chunk missing from the back tyre, only small but it convinced me that I need to change it now. I didn't have a long journey so I thought it would be OK to find a bike shop. Simple! I could find bike shops alright. I found four in Gyor, one in Komarno and two in Komarom. Most didn't have the right size tyre and those that did only had slicks for racing bikes. I was forced to cycle whilst worrying about the tyre. It just happened to be on the day where the cycle tracks and roads have been horrendous.

Hungary's road and pavement infrastructure is poor to say the least. Overall most of the towns and villages are fairly basic in many amenities. It still has an Eastern Block feel in some places. The roads are quite a mess but they are better than the pavements. At least the roads have had some patching up whereas the pavements get ignored. If Hungary has had a grant for developing the Eurovelo 6 cycle route I can only see the signs as an outcome of the money! Two parts of the track were certainly not fit to be part of a cycle route. They were just muddy, rutted tracks. I can only be pleased that it has been dry for the last few days because otherwise I wouldn't have managed on my bike. I did fall off again on one track just because of the terrain. No injuries and no damage, thankfully. I just got dirty. Enough of a rant. At least the back tyre survived.

I was a bit concerned that the comment I made about Hungary being a good country for tanks was possibly unwarranted but it didn't take me long to find the proof. See Photo 1.

I didn't manage much sight seeing beyond the 6-10 feet in front of my bike for most of the day as i was constantly looking for holes and bumps. I'm still going on about the roads again aren't I, sorry! Things did improve towards Komarom. I visited Monostor Fort. It was named 'the Gibraltar of Central Europe'. It is a large fort complex that overlooks the Danube. Surprisingly it was only completed in 1871. That's the same year my house was built! It's a big fort with walls ver 5 metres think but made bigger by earth all around them to help them withstand shelling. The place is a bit dilapidated and probably wouldn't be allowed to be open in the UK on the grounds of health and safety. I was almost the only visitor in this massive fort, I don't think many Hungarians have much leisure time to go visiting places like we take for granted. There were loads of tunnels and barracks within the walls. There were a couple of rooms that had displays of soldiers of a certain era in them. As I walked in (unknown to me) there was a sensor that triggered a bugle and some music. I nearly jumped out of my skin when this bugle started. I was ready the second time when I went into the other room! I really liked the fact that it was just as it had been left because it was impressive enough and I could imagine it being used more easily. Apparently the last people to use it was the Russian Army who used it as a big munitions store.

I told you yesterday that I didn't know much about Hungary, so that prompted me to find out a bit more. I must admit I wasn't sure which side they were on during the World Wars. Sadly, it appears they were on the wrong side twice. Although I think they tried to back out of their alliance with Germany at some point of the Second World War. After the war the Communists took over and they tried to introduce some freedoms against the wishes of the Soviet Union and were crushed in 1956 with around 20,000 people killed. Then they achieved democracy in 1989-90 in a peaceful change. They are probably still playing catch up with the rest of Europe.

I also took time to check on the internet who were famous Hungarians? There weren't many names that I recognised but I let you think about that and I will come back to name a few tomorrow. If you know any please let me know who they are.

I got to Komarom and also went to Komarno across the bridge. They are really the same town but for various reasons have ended up in different countries. Komarno is in Slovakia. I got a few more Euros out of a bank machine and came back to Hungary. I found the hotel and despite it being called the Aqua Hotel I was pleasantly surprised that it was part of a complex that included an open air Olympic size swimming pool and a couple of other fun pools. Fantastic. The sun was still shining and it didn't take me long to get my trunks on and into the pool. I dried off naturally on one of the sun beds.

I didn't eat out tonight. I managed to get the sardine tin open and had a sardine sandwich with a croissant I took from breakfast. I live in style!

Not too far again tomorrow. It's actually less than today. I go to Esztergom.

By the way, I checked a cycle shop website in Budapest and they have tyres like the ones I am currently using so all I need to do is to survive about another 150km on these tyres. Fingers crossed!

Song for the 'Three wheels on my wagon', I'm not sure who its by. Someone will tell me?


Photo 1, Proof of the Tanks look closely at the tarmac.
Photo 2, Rutted track, there was much worse. I was too busy falling off!
Photo 3, Fort Monostor.
Photo 4, Tunnels in the walls.
Photo 5, Display in the Barracks.
Photo 6, I remember this river. Is it the Danube? first time I've seen it all day.
Photo 7, Kamarno Museum with statue of someone called Jokia! He comes in handy when playing 'Its a Knockout'.
Photo 8, Komarom Town Hall. Nicest building in a dullish town.
Photo 9, The bike has to sleep with me, hope it doesn't snore!
Photo 10, Open air Olympic size swimming pool about 10 yards from my room. All part of the service.

Day 41 - Pondelok 20.mája 2013

Rest day in Bratislava.

I have found out what the grand building is (from yesterday's photos). It is the National Theatre of Slovakia.

Well last night I bottled out of watching a band. I did go for a meal at a Slovak pub and had my first beef goulash with sliced herby bread dumplings. Very good value. I had my meal and side salad and a bier for less than 10 euros. I wasn't sure whether I was really allowed a 'goulash' before I got to Hungary! I went to find the bar for the band and it was one of those places where no-one was around and you had to go through a door down some stairs and it had flock wallpaper. It didn't look too great so I gave it a miss. I was really tired anyway. The wonderful weather had turned to a thunder and lightening display. It did rain but not for too long. I was better off at the hostel, where I watched the world championship ice hockey final between Sweden and Switzerland with a Swiss lad. I didn't manage to stay up till the end but I found out this morning that it was 5-1 for Sweden. Incidentally, Ice Hockey is the favourite sport of Slovakia.

I had a great sleep. I obviously needed it. I had a nice slow start and had a bit do breakfast which is what I had left from yesterday's breakfast. I decided to take advantage of a free city walking tour that started at 11am. It's one f these where you give the guide a tip at the end. It was very good and I learned a lot about the history of the city and the country and how it has been a bit of a political football between the Czech's, Nazi's and the Communists. The pictures will tell their own story.

For lunch I had a bowl of potato and cabbage soup followed by a cheese and ham thing in breadcrumbs with potato and yoghurt dip. plus a side salad. It cost 4.40 euros.

I went pup to the Castle and took a few pictures then back to the city centre for an ice cream. Eventually I went back to the hostel and did my laundry. The people at he hostel are a massive mix. There are Americans, Aussies, Canadians, Russians, Turkish, Brazilian and probably several other nationalities but people are very friendly. The Danish man who is in my room is a bit strange, he travelled here yesterday and as far as I can tell he seems to sleep more of the time. I don't think he is an ethnic Scandinavian possibly naturalised from Turkey or somewhere like that. I think he's a bit odd so I won't be going out drinking with him or more importantly giving him this blog address after I have not been too nice to him! But why would you travel to a city for a weekend and then spend most of your time in bed. He was sleeping yesterday evening after he arrived, he was still in bed when I got up and he was in bed when I came back this afternoon.

I'm going out into town with two Aussies and an American. You will have to wait till tomorrow for an update. I shall ave to be careful as I have a good cycle ride tomorrow.


Photo 1, Bronze statue of a man at work.
Photo 2, Town Hall and Tower.
Photo 3, Plaque about the burning of a witch. It seemed similar to Pendle.
Photo 4, Blue Church in a Gaudi style.
Photo 5, Bratislava Castle.
Photo 6, View from the Castle across to the flats of the suburbs - very communist era!
Photo 7, Me and my new girlfriend!
Photo 8, Tram system looks a bit communist era as well.