Monday (Day 3) required an early start, as biking was to begin today. As in the past, ran into a few from the group at breakfast (John, Phyllis, Nancy, Bill, Jesse, Helen, and Linda,) then the rest a little later in the lobby as we waited for the guides, Csaba and Zoltan, who showed up and started us with the de rigueur opening introductions, safety briefing, and route review. After getting my pedals mounted, we walked our bikes through the busy parts of the city to Hviezdoslavovo námestie, then rode to the SNP Most, walking up to the bike lane across the river where we remounted and rode across. With my nascent acrophobia this was not the happiest of events for me, but I did make it across, and once on land it was smoother sailing. After a short way negotiating streets, we reached a bike path along a dike and proceeded to our next stop, a restaurant at a dam across the Danube. With wind against us for most of this leg of the ride, we didn’t make especially good time. It was overcast most of the time, and toward the end there were occasional sprinkles, but we all reached the dam and had our first group lunch. While eating, the skies opened into a heavy rain, but by the time we had finished, the rain had stopped and although the ground was a little wet, there was no more precipitation for the rest of the day. The whitewater course through the dam was alas not being used for training that day. After lunch we remounted and continued on, soon reaching the border, where a couple of officers were checking traffic, probably in response to the refugee issue then front and center in Hungary. But they weren’t interested in cyclists, and we crossed from Slovakia into Hungary without incident. We continued through a basically rural countryside, and had our first example of Hungarian town character: dogs barking behind a fence. This was to be reprised in just about every town we rode through over the course of the tour. Ending up at a palinka manufactory, we had a tasting. Can’t say that palinka rang my bell, since all I could taste, as with most hard liquors, was the alcohol, but it is the national drink of Hungary. However the fruit from which it’s made was all first rate, and we sampled some of that, too. In any event I did pick up a bottle for my next visit to the Cones. After the tasting was done, we were bused to our first hotel, the Szidónia Kastélyszálloda in Röjtökmuzsaj. (Try saying that fast three times.) It was a fairly elegant country inn. That evening we had a delicious welcome dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.
The next day (Day 4) was a ride to the Pan-European Picnic Memorial and the town of Sopron. Passed through several towns with the requisite dogs and then some vineyards on a hillside with a view of the Lake Fertö region and Fertö-Hanság National Park, worth a stop for pictures. Continuing on we reached the town of Fertörákos and a long but doable hill, at the top of which I stopped to catch my breath. Then there was a long, glorious downhill at the bottom of which was a right turn to get to the picnic park. (Some people in the ecstasy of the downhill ride missed the turn and had to double back.) Another three of so kilometers of rolling terrain brought us to the park. There were remnants of the old Iron Curtain, and the place where in 1989 in the presence of sympathetic border guards, people crashed through the gate to escape to Austria, thus beginning the end of Soviet domination of east Europe. Zoltan and Csaba had prepared a picnic lunch for us, which went down well. After eating, the next leg was supposed to have heavier traffic, so some of us, including me, decided to take the van or a bus, and we came after a few km to Sopron. a town with a lot of medieval character. We wandered around the town for a while, then either boarded the bus and van (most of us,) or cycled (a few hardier souls) back to the Szidónia hotel. The choice that night was either to eat in the hotel again, or go to a Hungarian restaurant that the guides had suggested. It was a pretty unanimous decision for the latter, and it was a meal that was worth the trip. After returning to the hotel, I wandered the grounds a little, in part to walk off the dinner, and got disoriented in the dark, but eventually found my way back to the main entrance and so to bed.
Day 5 began with a short ride to Fertöd and Eszterhazy castle, the Hungarian Versailles and working home of Haydn. An all too brief excursion of the grounds was followed by a tour of the castle itself. Much opulent display as befit European nobility. Most of the castle was not open and restoration was also going on. During the second world war the castle played unwilling host to, at different times, the Germans and the Russians, neither of whom were gracious guests. We did see the rooms for concerts, and my impression was they were not especially conducive to music, as the hard walls gave them too much reverberation. But maybe in the 1700’s things were different. After we finished the tour, a waiting bus took us to Neszmely and the home of the Juhász family where we had a lesson in making strudel, a competition between two groups to make one, and lunch, capped by the strudels we had made and a couple others that were provided. After the filling lunch and a little recreation outside, it was back on the bus and on to Esztergom, site of the largest basilica in Hungary. After checking into our hotel, the Bazilika alatt Panzió, the afternoon ride started with a shuttle up into the hills, letting us off at the ruins of a medieval monastery. After that a short uphill ride led us to an 8 km downhill. Csaba warned us that on the last couple of tours there had been spills on the downhill, and that we should be careful. Unfortunately Paul had a very bad spill, which I saw as I was following slightly behind. He wasn’t really going too fast, but something caught his wheel and over he went. (Ultimatley he required stiches and a cast for a broken bone.) I stopped, soon joined by the Taylors. Penny and I got him out of the road and I picked up a lens from his glasses that had fallen out. Others behind stopped, but we waved them on as there was nothing they could do. Csaba riding sweep finally showed up and tried to call an ambulance, but there was no cell reception, so he went back up the hill until he got some, and instead finally called Zoltan who arrived with the van and took Paul and Penny and their bikes to the hospital in Esztergom, which, it turned out, was dirty and undermanned. (Paul did finally see a real doctor in Budapest.) After that I left, soon after followed by the Taylors and Csaba, and finished the downhill—carefully—then rode on back to Esztergom. The road was also something of an adventure, as we were heading west, and because of the delay the sun was low in the sky, right in the face of oncoming motorists, so I worried about someone not being able to see me from sun glare. But in the event nothing untoward happened, and the route back eventually put us on a bike path next to the river, at which point all was copacetic. After showering and changing, I had dinner at the restaurant next to the hotel with Tom and Lisa. After this unintentionally eventful day, it felt good to hit the sack.
Thursday’s ride started by crossing the bridge over the Danube to Slovakia. One look at the bridge the previous day convinced me the narrowness of the bike path and the height were not going to be comfortable for me, so I got a ride in the van to the opposite side of the bridge where I started my own cycling adventure that day. Continued up a long gradual climb to the top of a hill, then a long coast down the other side to the town of Salka. Shortly thereafter we crossed the border into Hungary again. There was what clearly was once a no-man’s land at the border, though whatever fences and obstacles that had been there were now gone. There was however a customs station on the Hungarian side where Zoltan thought we might be stopped, but fortunately we passed right through. Continuing on, we crossed a narrow gauge railroad next to a yard. Csaba said it led to a quarry where political prisoners were held, some of whom were worked to death in the finest tradition of totalitarian government. It was extremely hot that day, and about this time the heat started to have an effect on me, and the rest of the ride, for me at least, was a slog. Soon we were back to a bike path along the Danube, but I had to stop several times because of the heat. Finally reached the ferry at Nagymaros, where there was a cafe. The Coke I had there was a lifesaver. From the shore one could see Visegrád castle on a hill on the other side of the river. The whole group then got on the ferry and crossed to Visegrád on the opposite shore. Some of us took the van to a picnic spot and the rest rode. There was a nice Hungarian meal a chef and his assistants were cooking there, and we all had a good feast. After the lunch we either rode the van back to the Visegrád ferry landing where some of us took the van back to Esztergom, some took a local bus, and a couple hardy souls actually rode back with Zoltan. Once back at the hotel, a shower felt good. Refreshed, I decided to check out the basilica, and met Penny on the way, so we explored it together. That evening was another group dinner at a local restaurant. Another good meal.
Friday, Day 7, was perhaps my favorite day of the tour (though by a narrow margin!) We had to again cross the bridge at Esztergom, where once agin I wimped out and took the van, but just on the other side of the bridge was a boat landing, and we were treated to a boat ride down the Danube as far as Naygmaros, where we mounted our bikes and continued downstream on a combination of bike paths and streets as far as the town of Vác where there was another ferry landing. While waiting for the ferry, we had time to wander Vác, a pretty little town, with a street bazaar going on behind the church. Then it was back to the ferry and another Danube crossing to Szentendre Island where a short bike ride brought us to Bodor Major ranch. Here we had yet another wonderful lunch—there was absolutely no hope of burning off any weight on this trip—and a horse show after that depicted in some way Hungarian history. It was initially a little corny with a Roman charioteer, but we got into it as it progressed. John, Mary Ann, and Linda got to play a minor part in the shebang, and the horseman standing astride two horses while managing a troika in front was certainly a highlight. After the horse show it back on the bikes, heading across the island to the opposite bank of the Danube, this time over a bridge. Continuing south along streets we got to the town of Szentendre. At this point some of us took a cab on to the next hotel (the Holiday Beach Budapest, shaped like a ship,) some the van, and some continued there on the bikes. We checked in and saw a wedding going on outside. After freshening up some of us got together in the restaurant to talk. The guides had suggested a Greek restaurant a short distance away for dinner, but word came back that it was closed—later proven erroneous when Zoltan came back with a bunch of take-out from the Greek place—so we all ended up eating at the hotel restaurant. A good meal nonetheless. And the morning and the evening were the seventh day, after which we rested.
Day 8 was Saturday, but by this time the day of the week had ceased to register; it was just the next day of biking. In the morning after breakfast we were shuttled up a hill for another downhill ride. But first there was another hill to climb. I started up, but eventually realized it was going to be more than I could handle, so I walked up the rest of the hill, about a km. (Later I discovered my seat had fallen somewhat, so I wasn’t getting full power on the downstroke, but didn’t realize this until later. In any event, it was better for me to walk.) Some other people walked, and some better bikers were able to ride all the way up. Once at the top of the hill, there was an 8-9 km downhill where pedaling was less important that braking. Some of the road was covered with sand, and the edge of the road fell off sharply for long stretches, so the ride downhill was not without potential peril, but overall the road was in decent condition and this time nobody fell. At the bottom was a gate that we crossed over, then a short ride to the museum at Skanzen. This was a collection of mock-ups of life from the different areas of Hungary. After an hour or so of exploring the Skanzen museum, we saddled up again and continued on to Szentendre town, where we parked our bikes and explored the town. It was market day, and the grand weekly bazaar was in full swing. Had lunch at an outdoor grill (shish kabob and a sausage) then wandered the town. There was an amazing museum featuring the work of a sculptor who made microscopic creations in gold. Yes, you had to view them through a microscope! One was camels passing through the eye of a needle, which I especially enjoyed. (Perhaps the rich stand a chance of reaching heaven after all.) After wandering the town for a while, the Ohioans, Linda, and myself remounted and rode the last leg back to the hotel. Not having taken advantage of any pools to this point, I decided that this was my last chance, so I tried one of the hotel pools. (There were three of various shapes.) The water was really cold, so I didn’t stay in very long, but it was nice to have done it. That night we had our farewell dinner at the hotel. Unlike previous tours, Csaba and Zoltan had arranged for some entertainment. A two violin/one bass viol combo entertained us with gypsy, Hungarian, and other music; a couple of dancers did Hungarian folk dancing, and a singer vocalized, the latter two accompanied by the combo. Csaba gave each of us a VBT/Szentendre fridge magnet made by an artisan of that town as a souvenir. It was yet another good meal, soup to nuts. As we were about to break up however, some damn fool who’d had a glass of wine too many and who should have known better, got up and serenaded the ladies with some Rodgers and Hart. Richard and Lorenz are probably still turning in their graves. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable evening, and it was with some regret that we knew that tomorrow would be the last ride.
That night it rained, and it was still raining in the morning. Fortunately by the time we finished breakfast and had had our route review, it had stopped, though we put on our rain jackets just in case. Today’s ride was to be relatively short, though no less interesting for that. Starting from the hotel we rode the bike path down the right bank stopping at a rather whimsical, and for the day apropos, statue of people holding umbrellas. From there we crossed the Danube half way on a bridge to Margaret Island (Margit-sziget.) Because of my acrophobia, I had to walk. Margaret Island was a lovely park with no traffic. From there we crossed another bridge to the left bank and Pest. The bike path here was wider, so I could handle the riding. Once there Csaba took us on a sightseeing ride past the Parliament building and through the city, passing St. Stephen’s Basilica (Szent István Bazilika) and then to Andrassy St. (Andrássy út,) the Broadway of Budapest. We turned up Andrassy and soon ran into a street fair that necessitated a detour to a parallel street, finally coming back to Andrassy and riding our last to where we were staying, the Hotel Mamaison Andrassy. Check-in was most accomodating, and they even had our transit passes ready. This part of town was embassy alley; the South Korean was just across the street from the hotel. Here we bid a reluctant good-bye to Csaba and Zoltan, who had been nothing short of terrific throughout the tour. After getting my luggage up to my room and changing into street clothes, I set out down Andrassy in search of an ATM and finally found one at Oktagon, a main intersection on Andrassy. From there I enjoyed walking back through the street fair, taking a few pictures and grabbing a slice of Hungarian pizza for lunch. (I recall there was a gelato stop somewhere along the way as well.) Finally ran into John and Phyllis Taylor and as we were chatting, Linda showed up as well. A little more fair-going, then back to the hotel to freshen up for the evening. I’d gotten a ticket for the ballet for that evening prior to the trip, and in the course of the tour others had asked me my plans for Budapest, and when they found out about the ballet, they wanted to go as well. The concierge at the hotel was able to arrange for the extra tickets, so I ended up accompanied by John and Phyllis Taylor, Linda, John Dsurney, Mary Ann McGrath, and Gary and Doris Itzkowitz. The concierge suggested we dine at a place called Paprika on Dózsa Görgy út where the food was indeed good, but I neglected to inform the waitress that we had a curtain to make, so we got some cross looks when things were delayed and we asked if our order could be expedited. We did get our food, which alas we could not linger over, and then had to hump it to get to the theater, which we did just in time. There were four one act modern ballets on the program, not all to my taste, but enjoyable in nonetheless. (It does seem to be the case however that curtain calls in Budapest are required to be interminable.) John D. had vision problems, so he and Mary Ann left early. When the program had finished, getting back to the hotel was less frantic. We got the M2 metro at Eastern Railway station (Keléti pályaudvar), which I was to visit later, changed to the M1 up Andrassy at Deák Ferenc tér, and got off a block from the hotel. It had been a terrific day, and if there was to be no more biking, it was exciting to know that Budapest was ready to be explored.