First of all, Ali is correct, even in Hungary, houses do not cost $4,500. It should have been 10 Mil HUF.
This is a wonderful country – John thinks it is like England was 50 years ago. We have seen no graffatti or sense of violence but rather like a place you wish you came from. The streets are clean and the houses and gardens well maintained. Biggest bonus for us has been the cost of food and drink as it is even cheaper than Mexico and the quality is really good. It is truly cheaper to eat out than it is to cook at home so I have been taking advantage of that.
The town is really about 22,000 but with the summer tourists it swells to 210,000. John was told that there was no live entertainment in the restaurants but tonight there was a show near the beach. The Balaton is a shallow lake with reeds growing along much of its beaches but some areas have been cleared and sand placed for swimming and a promenade which had a dozen or so restaurants, many ice vendors and sundry,
As we are nearing the end of the Euro Rail Pass with days remaining, we decided to catch a train to nowhere which took as up 2 stops (the end of the line) to a village called Balatonszentgyorgy. The village consisted mostly of 3 streets but, it its credit, does have 3 bars; one of which was open with people already consuming at 10:30 AM. We passed very few people but more of their dogs and cats. We were regarded with some suspicion as we walked all the streets and the two shops before we boarded the train again to return to our starting point.
Back in Kaszthely by about noon, we decided to take a boat tour of the lake. There are competing entrepreneurs each charging 1.400 HUF for a one hour trip. Being torn, we picked the one closest to us only because it was the closest. It turned out to be a paddle wheeler and, with about 20 passengers paying $7/adult, we headed out. As I said earlier, the lake is very shallow and the edges are marshy. The north side of the lake does have some small hills but the south is absolutely flat. I suspect it is because of the shallowness, the water is murky but has a lot of wildlife with so many fish that the water almost boils with them. John saw a water snake and there are countless ducks and swans. At the shore we saw baby ducks in armada style following their mother as well as two baby swans (think they are called cygnets).
We found restaurant with Wi-Fi so we are able to check our emails and post to the blog. Our earlier attempt using the hotel’s computer was challenging as their keyboard has characters in locations I have never seen.
John loves it so much that he is already planning a return visit.
No graffiti or violence?? Have you got a treat in store when you get to England (and not a pleasent one!) Question. Is Johns razor broken or does he always look like that?? If so he will go down well in some places in Soho, London. One in particular, I think it's called Boy. No idea what goes on there but driving past tha e other day there were no women but lots of men in leather. Has John still got his Lederhosen, think it would be appropriate!! See you next Tuesday!!
ReplyDeleteJohn thinks that next Tuesday is some code as we are actually flying in on Sunday and hoping tp see you at the airport.
ReplyDeleteAs for the beard, there is an ongoing debate as to its continued existence. Do you want to put in your vote. John has considered as his tribute to you but only better.
See you SUNDAY,. July 18 at Heathrow.