Lake Balaton - Keszthely
We made a bee line down to Balaton as Jenny had been here before as a teenager and we had hopes of getting the canoe out on the lake for the first time. After a solid day of driving we found our campsite and collapsed in the local bar drinking beer that seemed to taste of heaven! The next morning we went down to the lake and realised that there was no paddling to be done - the wind was far too strong and the lake too much like a sea. So instead we went for a wander around the town to see some sites, eat some cake and visit the tourist info - all mandatory components of a town visit!
After some intriguing cake, some very helpful tourist info people and a circuit of the above palace we retired to our campsite to cook PIZZA on the Cobb!!! This was very exciting for us.. in fact, so exciting that Jenny got a bit carried away and built a topping that consisted of all her favouritest ever toppings all combined in to one...it's hard work this camping malarkey!
The next day we decided to go to the healing waters of Heviz's hot lake to fix all our aching bones. It was a chilly but very sunny day so we cycled from the campsite to Heviz on some lovely cycle paths including a monster down hill on which we had to shout "weeeeeeeee" and stick our legs out at right angles (ok maybe that was just Jenny!).. When we got to the lake we realised that people really do take this healing thing seriously and so we hired ourselves a couple of rubber rings and joined what we thought was the in-water queue to get out to the outside area. After a few strange rings of bells, after which everyone moved one place along we realised that this was either the slowest queue in the world or we were in the wrong (very strange) place! Eventually we found our way out to this.....
....and spent a couple of hours alternately relaxing in the lake and freeeeezing on the lake side! What was needed after all this "goodness" was some booze..so we collected our bikes and made our way to the wine region which was just up the road - handy!
In the interests of research we tasted a reasonable number of wines and had a lovely spot of lunch and cake before purchasing our premium, top quality wines ....!
Although one of them may look like something that Ollie might temporarily store in a bottle if he couldn't face getting out of the tent in the middle of the night..... they actually tasted really quite nice! (And no, thankfully Ollie's bladder can last the night!) So, thermal lakes and healing wines done.. it was time to move on.
Pecs
Firstly, sorry Pecs, what we're about to say is totally unfair on you as a town, c'est la vie! So, we arrived at our campsite in Pecs and got a bad feeling as soon as we pulled into the gates but we knew we had no other option. The campsite itself was essentially someone's front garden with a few concrete slabs thrown down, in a distinctly industrial part of the suburbs. The owner ushered us into the "parlour" (picture some very old and faded dolls, a huge crucifix and a school desk in the corner) where she made us read the rules of the campsite. Not a great first impression! As soon as we set up the tent we decided to head down into the town, which, according to the information leaflet (given at the same time as the rules of operation) was a mere 1.5km away - easily walkable so we thought. 1 hour later, and having inhaled the fumes of most of Hungary's lorries we reached the town and found our way to a cafe where we were served 2 cokes by the grumpiest waitress known to man (yes - grumpier than a Parisian waiter serving beans to a vegetarian!).
To do it some justice, the town centre is beautiful and we managed to find an english guide book to Transylvania so we could plan our escape in an ice cream shop where we were served by an altogether friendlier waitress!
On our return to the campsite we noticed the graffiti on the campsite sign saying "Nazi-Camp" - no comment!
The first part of our escape plan was to head back north to Lake Tisza to see if there was any canoeing to be had up there..
Lake Tisza
It took us 3 attempts to find a campsite at lake Tisza and after our last experience we were determined to get somewhere nice. The first looked lovely but was closed, the 2nd looked lovely but had a rock concert going on next door and the 3rd filled us with dread when we first pulled in but then turned into the perfect campsite as we peered around the corner. A field, good toilets and no rules of operation - simple really! They also happened to sell beer which is always a bonus!
We spent a lovely couple of days at Lake Tisza, relaxing at the campsite, cycling on the cycle tracks and meandering along the paths by the lake side but still the canoeing evaded us as it was just too windy. One day soon!
Hungary rescued itself at the last minute and gave us a lovely relaxing bank holiday weekend. Time to stock up with garlic and holy water - here comes Dracula country!
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