Dodie accidentally found that her phone has a glove mode that allows it to respond to finger control without removing the gloves in the rain. Maybe yours has that feature too?

We have a Rube Goldberg sort of arrangement that we bring with us which consists of a three outlet North American plug and an adaptor. We haven’t needed to use it this year so it pretty much dead weight. I wish I could beam it to you! We do leave our electric toothbrushes at home, and this year we left the camera behind too. Keith’s new iPhone takes outstanding pictures.

Hey Mark, not as much as we thought. We did see a bunch of stuff on Orban when we visited the Iron curtain museum and it seemed to be pretty pro-Orban. Our impression is that his popularity is similar to Putin’s popularity with the Russian people. Ie: he wants to make a Hungary great again (and they like that) AND, he may be a son of a bitch but he’s OUR son of a bitch. There was a pretty scathing editorial in the
Washington Post yesterday by the editorial board where they implored the EU to punish him.

Thanks, we have pretty much concluded that we just need to have European chargers and agree with that suggestion. The problem is Dave’s random other items that were purchased in the US: toothbrush, electric shaver, camera. I have gently suggested he could manage with a regular toothbrush and a straight shaver but even I can’t suggest he leave his camera at home or purchase something different to use in
Europe! It’s to near and dear to his heart.

So happy it got sorted. Electronics are a blessing and a curse.

Are you hearing anything about the controversial (crazy?)Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán?

We passed through Sopron en route from Vienna to Budapest and we’re sorry that we couldn’t stay over. I’ve always wanted to go back for a longer look.

What an amazing hotel!!

Riding in vineyards is sublime in my opinion. It looks amazing.

Ah, adaptors. After several forgotten in hotels we discovered two things. We are in Europe enough that it pays to buy European chargers, and that the stupid adaptors are the most forgotten things in hotels. We have usually been able to borrow an adaptor from the front desk, and on several occasions they let us keep them. Hoping Dave is clean shaven soon!

We stayed in Szentgottard back in 1994, on our way from Budapest to Venice. We were there at almost exactly the same time of year too - 9/11. The next day we biked to Graz, through the same squash region. Back then they were harvested by hand with long pikes, maybe 15 feet long. Workers would spear them and then fling them into large mounds.

Looks like a very effective memory aid. We should try this technique!

I got a bit behind, but set aside some time today to catch up on your blog entries. I am so impressed by your attention to detail and the readability of your entries. It reveals both of your genuine passion for what you’re doing, for what you’re seeing and for each other. I’ll be very sorry when your trip ends.

We have been following your blog with interest, but find it frustrating that many times a very recent entry seems to be exactly the same as one that we read earlier in the day. Perhaps you are not aware of the tick box that indicates that an entry update is minor (spelling corrections, etc) and keeps the entry from rising to the top of the list. That place (top of the list) should be reserved for entirely new entries with new content. That way your eager readers will know you have new and exciting stuff to report.

I’m glad to hear you found each other!