Hungary for Home ?

Well, our last post had us traveling across Austria to Hungary, on a Sunday morning. This was great because most of Austria is closed and they ban lorries from traveling (with some exceptions) on a Sunday, which makes the motorways and roads much quieter.

 

Back to what now seems as 'Good old Moson'. A sunny Sunday after noon in mid October with the temperature in the mid 20s. We 'bobbed' about in the spa and caught up with our domestic chores. Having saved our washing for over two weeks we were a bit 'put out' when we discovered the site washing machine in bits.

The solution was a lot of hand washing and the great 'wishy washy' line of Hungary.
Cathy had yet another round of teeth bashing on Monday, Wednesday with a final flourish on Friday. So you might think that this would be a bit boring - sat in the same place for a week - but we had been traveling long distances with few breaks. The time taken for teeth meant less time for getting around Italy, so we had to move on more quickly, more often than we would really like. The upshot is that it was great to be in one, quiet, nice place for a while.

On Tuesday we took on the Hungarian railway and arrived 45 min early for the train, which was on time, sleek and efficient, even if the platform had not changed much since the communist time.

Gyor is a medium sized city that would not be out of place anywhere in Austria or southern Germany. A beautiful and, after the head rush of Italy, wonderfully relaxed and quiet old center.

Where the inventor of the soda fountain was born, 'friad I didn't get a picture of the soda fountain fountain, but here is the collection at the tourist information office:

We liked it so much we came back after Cathy's next bout of treatment (got the trains sorted this time). The old station was a also one of the few remnants of the previous times - the 'Clackity Clack' of the announcement board brought back memories of inter-railing for Cathy.

The plan was to 'downsize' our, coffee and something sweet habit - hence the small offerings shown. But the cakes and pastries in Hungary are different from Italy, but good - particularly when influenced from Vienna. So the good intentions went out of the window, particularly as a nice soft cake, or soup is just the thing for sore teeth.








Exotic meals - this is liver dumpling soup - actually really nice but not easy to pronounce.

After the last treatment on Friday we headed West a short hop to a nice Austrian vine yard that sold wine and had parking for Camper vans. Next day we made it up to the Danube. Although it was cold and misty the river had a real charm and we managed to cycle a short way along the banks. More jade green Danube than blue, but still pretty.

Most Austrian road works (and yes there are a lot of them even on the key motorway tunnels) has a happy traffic cone wishing you a good journey at the end of the work - at least I think that is what the sign means.

Back into the mountains of Austria, clean, quiet, ordered - a nice change from Italy and just what we needed.

Of course it would drive you nuts in a week or so. For example the recycling is taken very seriously with all sorts of fines and punishments if you put the wrong thing in the wrong slot. So of course you see people surreptitiously sneaking black bags out of their boot at the motorway rest stops and putting them in the bins provided. Also here is an Austrian view as to what a local Spar shop should look like:

Wonderful, but a bit much?

Okay, now about the title, yes we are going from Hungary to home and yes we are beginning to miss things - Waitrose, vegetables, bitter beer, fires, the garden (guess which was on who's list), But, and its a BIG BUT - still enjoying our experiences and already planning future trips. Later we hope to post about our last stops across EU, but happy to be in a quiet Austrian Guesthouse site for now.