We left the Balaton Lake area and travelled on towards Budapest. On the way we stopped at a town called Tapolca, where there is a lake in the caves underneath the town. [This is a limestone area, like much of Hungary seems to be; are an abundance of caves and, most of all, hot springs – this really does seem to be the spa capital of Europe.] We visited the caves, where you paddle your own canoe – well, flat-bottomed metal boat, (made of metal so it doesn't fall apart when you hit the sides of the cave – as you do!).
This was a very pleasant town and a lovely way to spend an hour paddling under the town.
We also stopped off at a town with a beautiful 'altstadt' (the German word seems, uncharacteristically, much more succinct than 'historic-town-centre' in English).
The town was called
I wasn't even going to try to write it down!!
We then went on to Budapest, staying in a campsite quite near the centre. We were very pleased to discover that transport (on bus, trolley-bus, tram, train, and metro) is free for over 65s, so we were able to hop on and off to please ourselves without having to pay out for a travel-card. We were wondering if a copy of our passports would be OK, but we were twice asked for our tickets by a ticket-inspector, who was perfectly happy – together with the evidence our grey hair provides, no doubt!
We arrived in the evening of 30th April, and the next day is, of course, a public holiday, so the place was packed, but they squezzed us in a corner, which we were pleased about
They don't just do 1st May, but the 2nd as well – but we didn't see any 'red flags flying there' during our time in Budapest'!! We did see a lot of people enjoying sunny days (yes! on a publc holiday!!)
We also realised just how much Hungary is at the centre of Europe – there were people on the campsite from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Romania, Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Austria, Hungary itself, Bonsia & Herzegovenia – oh! and one from the UK! And, contrary to what some people might have us believe, none of the people there had two heads!!
One day we went for lunch at an all-you-can-eat place, at a cost of £16.50 each! And – all you can drink!! Yes, anything but spirits. The only restriction was a time-limit of 3 hours – plenty of time for us to have our fill.
What made it for us, though, was the young couple sitting next to us, who turned out to be Russian – they spoke very good English (well we'd have been stuck if we'd had to rely on our Russian wouldn't we?!). We had a really good chat with them, including some subjects which could have been 'difficult' – and agreed that politicians are the problem, not the people. We've not had the chance to talk to any Russians before, and it was nice to meet such a normal, sensible couple.
Budapest is a small city, but with a great many places of interest to see. We have plenty of photos of grand buildings, including this one
You may not have guessed that this is the synagogue. Built in 'eastern' style, but in a period after the Turks (Ottomans) had 'left' the country; Why would they choose the architecture of a former occupying power??!
Some people have strange ways of enjoying their days off in the sun
We also came across a quite extraordinary clock
I wasn't far out when I had said I thought it was an egg-timer. In fact it measures not 3 minutes, but a year! At the end of the year it is rotated half-a turn on the rollers on which it sits, ready for the next year. If you carefully guage the amount of sand which has passed through, you can see we were there on 4th May!
We have since travelled on to Eger (of which more later) and then to Borsodbota, which is in the Bukk (meaning beech) national park, where we are on a very pleasant and peaceful campsite enjoying excellent weather and catching up, again, with the domestic chores.
PS – the cuckoo is following us wherever we go, we are sure it must be the same one who was with us in the Arctic last summer – he/she sounds the same?!