Vac to Budapest: Hungary's hospitality is memorable...
We left our Pension at Vac refreshed and eager to proceed to Budapest. Vac has large pedestrian walkways, a beautiful town square with statues and fountains and interesting architecture. We don't see the level of prosperity or the town infrastructure we saw in Western Europe. It feels like these towns are emerging from more difficult times. The town's park and promenade along the Danube stretches for a long distance and provides a most gracious way to enter the town.
Riding the ferry across the Danube from Vac A cold wet morning, Mary Ellen is taking shelter in the only spot available.
It was interesting watching them load this large, heavy truck onto the ferry. The back of the truck scraped the ramp getting on and off the ferry. The crew adjusted the angle of the ferry several times before loading the truck. Quite a difference from an earlier ferry we took - we had to load our bike as the ferry was still moving!
We stopped in the town of Szentendre. By now, the weather has cleared and it feels like a summer day. Crowds of people were enjoying the promenade. We explored the town and were a bit culture shocked by the large crowds of tourists after having spent the day cycling in solitude through rural areas.
I met this Dutch man who used to own his own bike shop in Holland. He was very interested in our bike.
The town of Szetendre was quite interesting and full of history but very touristy. It is quite close to Budapest and we met busloads of people who were here on day trips. We also met a group who were going to embark on a River Cruise the next day from Budapest Hungary to Passau Germany. They have a nice trip ahead of them.
As per the Bikleine map, we were trying to avoid a more scenic route that had bad surface for loaded bikes with trailers. They didin't mention the stairs though.
The ever present graffitti and the much appreciated bike trail going under the bridge. We will miss this consideration for cyclists when we return home to Canada.
All through Europe we have seen canoe/kayak clubs and schools for young kayakers along the rivers. No wonder European countries do so well in the olympics.
As we approached Budapest, we were wondering where we would stay. For the past few weeks, we have been unable to get internet and it has proven difficult to book accomodation and keep up with emails and our journal. At the guesthouse in Vac, we saw a brochure for an Ibis Hotel in a central location - we'll head there if we don't get too lost.
As were approaching Budapest we became confused about what road to take. Mary Ellen asked a young woman for directions. Instead, the woman said follow me and I will guide you into Budapest. As we didn't have accomodation booked, we suggested the address of an Ibis Hotel.
We are so grateful to her for her help. As with so many cyclists, we got lost outside of Budapest and she graciously offered to guide us to our destination. Her boyfriend was also most eager to help. A wonderful introduction to Budapest.
After our helpful guides left us (now dark), we discovered that the Ibis Hotel that they took us to was now torn down and an empty lot. We wandered the streets for a few hours looking for accomodation and met this young man who stopped us to talk about recumbent bikes. Initially, we were a bit hesitant as to his intentiosn, but we had a lovely conversation. As he said, it is his dream to have a recumbent bike someday and he stops and talks to anyone he sees with a bike like ours.
Ah yes, we now have accommodation and we are tucking into some wonderful Turkish food at a nearby restaurant. This area is full of Turkish cafeteria style eateries - we have never seen such impressive food in such quantity and price available.
