Hungary, September 24 - October 4:
"Chalk Man" (whom we never met) was a big help, with helpful arrows along the way! Notice the arrow and the letters ATM on the pavement. Apparently, we are not the only disoriented cyclists in these parts! Too bad Chalk Man didn't leave a currency converter at the ATM. We accidentally took out $1000 instead of $100. Then again, we didn't need another ATM in Hungary!
EuroVelo Route 6? Yup, right, ug, here, after two hours of cycling in circles through automotive industrial parks and flea markets. Funny the signage isn't quite up to snuff! It's quiet though!
View from Esztergom Basilica along the Danube River. Campsites are sure getting quiet - perhaps fall is catching up to us ...!!
Now the trail is better and the locals are out on errands. Notice the flowers.
Budapest beckons.
Hot springs spa in Budapest
Tile work in plaza, St. Stephen Basilica in downtown Budapest
We pressed on into Hungary with fall weather chasing us. The nights are noticeably cooler and longer now, and our first night found the campsite closed for the season. Instead, we followed the light to a lovely horse farm with rooms. Our first taste of Hungarian hospitality was delicious, two large pieces of lovely birthday cake from a family celebration of our hosts! We carried on through many small towns and countryside to reach the city of Gyor. We loved Gyor - they have restored all their gorgeous buildings downtown, with lovely squares and pedestrian walkways. They held off the rain until we were settled into a sweet hotel for the night, and we lucked out and were there for a Roma festival of dance and music that was top notch. It was an outdoor festival that held the crowd captivated, even through bouts of heavy rain.
We loved Gyor, but we didn't have fun leaving. It took us 2 hours to wind our way, lost, through the suburbs and auto plants, only to find our signed trail turn to a muddy road after a few kilometres. After faking our mountain biking prowess, the surface improved and we sailed into Tata, once again just in time to escape a deluge of rain and dropping temperatures. We arrived in town at the same time as did Sarah and Mike, British cyclists heading our way - we ducked into a pensione together and then enjoyed a nice dinner sharing cycling stories. We also cycled on to Esztergom the next day together. It was a mixed day of busy roads, one stretch of lovely countryside and then a bit more... well, mud puddles!
We camped in Esztergom, getting in early enough to visit their famous basilica and enjoyed a great dinner out. We have been eating in restaurants many nights because the camping is mostly closed and the weather a bit cool. The ride from Esztergom to Sentendre was our best in Hungary - and lo and behold, we again met Mike and Sarah at the ferry, joined by another cycling couple from Madrid. This part of the route includes the scenic Danube Bend where the river turns south and heads into Budapest. Large hills line the river here, with vineyards and ancient castles, and the trail is well signed and in reasonable condition. From Esztergom to Budapest, the ride was unexciting, traversing kilometres of city, and the trail was difficult to find in places. We were impressed with the riding in Budapest, though. We had heard that it was horrendous in the past, but now they have lots of trails, cycle tracks and bike lanes. Way to go, Hungary! In fact, most of the urban areas that we encountered in Hungary had extensive cycling infrastructure. Although not perfectly engineered, it was humbling as Canadians to see what a great job of providing for cyclists a relatively poor country like Hungary does. Hungary more than any place we have visited so far inspires us to do better for cyclists in Canada.
We had a restful time in Budapest, enjoyed the great location, kitchen, visitors and staff at the Red Bus Hostel. Our bikes liked it, too! They got parked inside for a change and got to thoroughly dry out. Luckily, Sue had cleaned most of the mud off the bikes before entering Budapest! We also got a chance to give ourselves a good cleansing too, as we enjoyed the Turkish-influenced bath culture at one of the four major hot spring spas in town: saunas, steam baths, some 15 or so pools of different temperatures, plus one with circular waves and bubbling jets that kept the fun quotient high for all the bathers of many ages. Ian enjoyed the agricultural museum (forestry, farming, gathering, fishing, hunting, conservation, plus traditional breeds of livestock), while we both marvelled at the city bike show's penny farthings, cycle taxis, scavenger hunt around town, plus kids doing bike tricks.
We found the free (except tips) walking tours were informative, giving us a tour of the core of downtown and up to the heights of old Buda, plus a window into the changes from early tough communism to a later, lighter version. The magnificent parliament caught the afternoon light along the riverbank, but the nearby shoes as memorials brought up past Nazi horrors. Hungary has had to endure so many foreign powers coming through over the centuries and continues to struggle as it emerges into self-determination - the local elections took place while we were there, with conservative councillors being the most successful.
On the Sunday we visited a Unitarian church service downtown (in Hungarian, of course), and chatted with a few congregation members and the minister afterwards. The latter had visited the First Unitarian church in Toronto, and was very knowledgeable about connections between Unitarians in North America and in eastern Europe. We also connected in the city with Ian's Uncle Jack and Aunt Gail, who had just finished up a Danube River cruise that had started in Amsterdam. Over a fancy breakfast at their hotel next to the Opera, we shared news, stories and reflections and were glad to meet up with family from home!
After our rendezvous, we packed up our gear and boarded the supposedly direct train for Llubljana, Slovenia for a fateful "three hour cruise" of nearly Gilligan's Island proportions. We had chosen this train since we could not make the logistics work to spend an extra day around central Europe's largest Lake Belaton. However, around 5 pm, we were informed by the conductor via another passenger that we would have to change trains, with a half hour bus connection in between! Well, they said they didn't have room for the bikes on the bus, but we eventually got them to fit, then had a half hour wait at a countryside station as it started getting dark, and then joined a young professional Latin dance couple in the next train's compartment. Three stops later, we had to move all of our gear and bikes back three cars, and then do it again at the border with Slovenia. We now think that the train systems (and the ticket agents back in Budpapest) still leave alot to be desired! Still, we admire the Hungarian people, their courage and persistence, and the fact that much is starting to change for the better.
