When we were in Budapest, we took a few day trips out of the city to check out some other areas of Hungary. First on our list was Lake Balaton, which was about 2.5 hours Southwest of Budapest. We had read about it and it is Hungary's hot spot vacation destination. Some of the towns are known for their crazy parties and nightlife, and others are known for their hiking trails and beauty. We opted for option two. We took a train into a town on the North called Balatonfured and arrived late morning. We couldn't wait to check out this super cool place!
There was literally no one there. No one. We walked out of the small train station and the streets were just vacant. There were some people working on patios of cool places we had read about to eat, and a bunch of closed bars and restaurants. We realized that this was a summer town, NOT a spring town! Literally hunderds of thousands of people visit the lake every year. And it must be in June, July and August.
We walked for a bit and then happily found a waterfront area with some open restaurants that was really beautiful. I definitely did not feel like I was in Hungary! People were dressed fairly nice, and we totally looked like scuz buckets because we were planning on hiking later. Lunch was great, and then we took off to find the bus to Tihany, a small little town with hiking trails on the river.
Well, we got there and there was no one there either. And the town was under contruction with large machines and sledge hammers everywhere. So funny! We visited the tourist center on top of a hill, and never found the cool trails we wanted to walk. We actually wound up on someone's property thinking it was a trail! That would be my fault. By the time we realized there was a house at the end of the driveway we were walking on, we just gave up, used their trees as a restroom, and did our own thing for a while. Just another adventure in traveling, I guess!
Lake Balaton, Hungary |
A giant turkey leg at the restaurant we ate at- we didn't ask, but really wanted to. |
Early afternoon cocktails on the lake |
Hungary is ALL ABOUT the Paprika! It's everywhere, and on everything. |
Hiking on our not trail in Tihany. |
One other little half-day trip that we took was to a small town called Szentendre. I have no idea how that is pronounced. It was only 13 miles North of Budapest and had cute little shops and restaurants. One thing about this place is that there didn't seem to be too many rules for children. Bethanne and I literally saw small kids just running around, up and down city steps, at the church, through town.... it was like Pleasure Island! It think they were on their version of recess from school, but it was pretty funny. Guess there's not a lot of kidnapping incidents in Szentendre.
It took us forever to decide where we were going to eat, and we finally decided on a little restaurant where we ordered sandwiches. But it was funny when they came out- it was just a large piece of bread with a thin slice of meat and melted cheese. But it was good!
I'm not sure what the lesser of two evils would be for the places we visited. I can't stand hoards of tourists, so maybe I'm happy that we were there when it was quiet, despite missing out on things I think would be open or more lively during the higher tourist season. Regardless, they were both beautiful!
Szentendre |
My Hungarian ham "sandwich". |
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