August 29, 2015
To Esztergom and then to Szentendre: Catching up with friends
I left the campsite in the morning, after spending some tea talking with another bike tourist, Ian who was with his 7 year old son. Ian is originally Scottish, if I got it right, but has lived in Budapest for 15 years. I rode to Esztergom, an 11 mile ride, expecting a short day and time to play tourist and see the Basilica. I tried to find the tourist office, but it no longer exists, and I tried to find a new SIM card. The shops all close around lunchtime on Saturday, so I wasn't successful with that either.
Then I rode to the campsite. A couple things happened there. First, I got onto their Wi-Fi and found I had an email from Jason, a friend who lives in Budapest. Then I talked with reception at the campsite. They told me there is a big rock festival tonight, and suggested that I'd I wanted to sleep then I shouldn't stay there. They did let me use their phone to call Jason, who e-mailed his phone number.
Jason said that the best way to get to his place, which is in the village of Nagykovasci just outside the city, was from Szetendre. Szetendre is in the opposite direction from the campsite I was at last night.
I took a quick look around town, which was pretty crazy with tourists, and took off.
I rode past last night's campsite, and on to Visegrad where there is another castle. I had thought about stopping, but it was also overrun with tourists, so I just took some pictures from the road.
This is the last weekend before Hungarian schools start, so people are trying to squeeze the last bit out of summer.
I stopped for a late lunch outside of Szentendre. I asked for a large cold water, and got the usual small bottle of slightly chilled mineral water. The Ukrainian dumplings with sour cream, though were very satisfying.
I went on to the campsite outside the city, and got onto their wifi and found I had an email from Jason saying he was heading into Szentendre, and that we could meet at the main square. So off I went. Neither one of us knew that there was a wine festival going on so that some roads were closed, and that their was a marching band playing in the main square. It was all pretty insane, but we did manage to find each other. We agreed it was too busy there, and put my bike and panniers into the back of his car and drove back to his home in Nagykovasci. Jason and his wife Kara and daughter Anna Grace welcomed me, fed me dinner and lots of cold water.
I'm going to spend a few days here resting and relaxing and re-organizing, and also seeing some of Budapest and the village. I'll probably not update this journal on a daily basis, so don't worry if you don't see any updates.
Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 1,829 km (1,136 miles)
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