The funny names in Hungary

Søndag d. 21. januar 2018 - 23 . januar 2018                      (Update maj 2018)

Siofok - Veszprém 45 km
Veszprém - Kis Randzsa Kanal 79 km
Kis Randzsa Kanal - Hegyeshalom 54 km

Lidt før klokken 9 rullede vi afsted ud i de øde gader i Siofok, vi ville nå den lille færge der skulle brigne os over på nordsiden af Balatonsøen, så i første omgang cyklede vi videre mod vest. Det havde sneet lidt om natten og morgenen var frisk. Vi havde 16 kilometer til færgelejet, så det skulle ikke blive noget problem at nå færgen.
Vi betalte 2000 LEV som svare til 48,- kroner for turen, som tog hele 8 minutter. En hyggelig lille færge, hvor der også var et par biler der ville med til den anden side.
Da lagde til på Tihany halvøen kunne vi cykle afsted langs med søen ad en god cykelsti. Det var virkeligt smukt her og oppe på en bakke top kunne vi se det flotte Tihanyi Bencés Apátság som er et gammelt kloster, der stadig fungere som kloster og her undervises i den benediktiske orden og udover at klosteret er åben for turister, laves der vin, dyrkes urter og lægemidler. 
Vi cyklede mod hovedvej 73 og inden vi kom op til vejen, cyklede vi langs med søen, som nogen gange var lige ved siden af os og andre gange lidt længere væk. Da vi kom op til hovedvejen, cyklede vi langs vejen på cykelstien, som førte os ind til Balatonfüred, som er en af hovedbyerne ved Balaton søen. Her var restauranter helt ned til søen. Vandrestier og cykelstier var fint anlagt langs med søen og igen massevis af hoteller og guesthuse, samt sovenir butikker. I en af butikkerne købte Marianne en nøglering med det ungarske flag. Det var blevet et ritual og hun ville have en nøglering fra de sidste lande vi skulle cykle igennem.
Det var alt vi så til Balatonsøen, da vi atter satte kursen nordpå. Kort tid efter vi var kommet ud af Balatonfüred, så vi et dødt vildsvin, som lå i vejkanten da vi var undervejs opad bakke igennem et skovstykke. Et skægt syn, da vi jo ikke sådan ser vildsvin i Danmark.
Idag følte vi os trætte og undervejs kiggede vi på internettet for at se om der var et billigt sted vi kunne sove i Veszprém. Vi kunne se der var noget der hed Sport Hotel og den lå faktisk lige på vores vej, så det tog ikke længe for os at blive eninge om at der ville vi stoppe og høre om de havde et værelse.
Det der så bare tog lidt længere, var at få klarhed om de havde et værelse. Kvinden der stod i receptionen talte kun Ungarsk og hvis der er noget vi ikke forstår, så er det ungarsk.
Vi fik vist et værelse og udfra det kunne vi forstå at de havde plads til os. Så fik vi udleveret et registreringspapir, hvorpå alt stod på ungarsk. Den kunne vi jo lige udfylde, mente damen. Men vi vidste jo ikke hvad er stod på sedlen.
Til al held havde damen ringet til en ven, som kunne tysk og han kom til vores undsætning. Med hans hjælp fik vi udfyldt sedlen og han viste os hvilket væresle vi skulle have.
Resten af dagen lavede vi ingenting. Selvom vi havde haft en pausedag ved Balaton søen, følte vi os stadig trætte, så det var dejligt med en kort dag på cyklen og så bare ligge i en seng og slappe af.
Det var lige som om at vi var inden i en vejr rytme der hed: en dag overskyet og kedelig vejr, som så blev afløs af en dag med solskin og blå himmel. Så næste morgen, var der atter sol fra en skyfri himmel.
Fra Veszprém gik vejen opad. Vi fulgte vej 82, den snoede sig igennem et smukt landskab og det nød vi. Undervejs, så vi et skilt til et skisports sted. Vi tænkte: det kan da ikke passe, da vi kun var i 400 meters højde, men da vi kom længere frem på vejen, kunne vi se tilbage og op til noget der hed Sólyom Kiszálló. Her var der fuld gang i snekanonerne og vi kunne se en skilift. Så det var altså rigtigt.
Området vi cyklede igennem var Bakony skovene og her var virkeligt smukt. Vi skulle bevæge os op over et højdedrag, så vi kom op i næsten 500 meters højde. Men inden vi kom så højt op, cyklede vi igennem byen Zirc, som ligger midt imellem Balatonsøen og Gyór. Byen bliver kaldt hjertet i Balkony bjergene og har en hel del at byde på bl.a ligger der Zirc Arborétum, som dækker et areal af 18 hektar med sjældne planter og træer.
Foran parken ligger den smukke Nagyboldogasszony-Bazilika kirke og alt imens vi stod og kiggede på det flotte bygningsværk kom en hestevogn trilledne forbi. En mand kommenterede synet: Han sagde at det var ikke normalt man så hestevogne i Ungarn, lidt somom han ikke var stolt af at der stadig var nogen der brugte hestevogn. Vi sagde at vi syntes det var charmerede, da vi overhovedet ikke så dem mere i Danmark.
Efter Zirc fortsatte vi op ad bakke og endte i 500 meters højde, hvorefter at vi fløj ned af den smuk nedkørsel som gik igennem den flotte skov. Halvvejs nede stoppede vi for at nyde udsigten til slots ruinen - Seszneki Vár. Den var placeret på en bakketop, hvorfra der var udsigt over hele området.
Da vi var kommet ned i bunden af vejen, kom vi ud på et flad stykke og her åbnede landskabet sig op, så nu kunne vi se op til det kæmpe store Pannonhalma, som siges at være et af de ældste monumenter i Ungarn.
Hele dagen havde vi cyklet igennem store skovområder og nu var her ingen træer og det var så typisk. Altid først på dagen cyklede vi igennem perfekte områder, som var egnet til at slå lejr, men nu befandt vi os 20 kilometer fra Gyór og bebyggelsen blev tættere og tættere.
Vi valgte at dreje fra vejen og ind på en mindre vej da vi kom til landsbyen: Nýul. Men det hjalp ikke noget, her lå landsby på landsby og her skulle vi ikke gøre os håb om at finde et sted at sove.
Men da vi kryssede en bro der førte os over motorvejen, så vi et sted som så ud til at kunne bruges, så nu drejede vi ned af en grusvej og cyklede langs en kanal. For enden af grusvejen var der en lille bro, den kryssede vi og trak cyklerne ned ved siden af kanalen. Her var et fladt stykke under et træ. Perfekt til os og teltet, så det blev vores sted for en nat.
Da det blev mørkt, kunne vi se lys hele vejen rundt om os i en afstand af 1 til 2 kilometer og vi kunne høre summen fra motorvejen. Vi var mætte efter aftensmaden og glade efter en dejlig dag på cyklerne.
Vi havde sovet så godt og der var ingen af os der egentlig gad at stå op, men vi kom ud af soveposerne og alt imens at Marianne gik igang med at koge vand til morgenkaffen, begyndte det at sne. 
Store snefnug vrimler ud af himlen og vi tænkte at sådan bliver det nok hele dagen. Vi ville egentlig gerne have nået til Østrig denne dag, men da vi kom afsted og sneen gik over i at blive regn, var det ikke fordi at motivationen var stor. Vejret var deprimerende og koldt og vejene vi cyklede af havde ikke noget at byde på.
Et stop på en tankstation for at drikke kaffe var måske dagens højdepunkt. Kaffe er altid godt for moralen, for ikke at snakke om et toilet. I sne og regn er det ikke lige bagdelen man har lyst til at blotte.
Ialt nåede vi at cykle i 3 timer og 18 minutter inden vi nåede til Heyeshalom. Vi var godt våde og frøs. Tanken om at skulle campere var meget fjern, så vi fandt frem til det eneste sted i byen med overnatning, her fik vi et stort værelse til 4 personer, da alt andet var lejet ud. Mest af alt lignede værelset et stort omklædningsrum ved den lokale fodboldklub. Men der var tørt og varmt indenfor og masse af plads til at tørre vores ting.
Nu var der kun 4 kilometer til grænsen til Østrig og lidt mere end 80 kilometer til Wien. Så vi satsede på at nå til Wien næste dag og det så vi frem til, eftersom vi havde været der før og for Marianne var det helt specielt, da hun havde boet i Wien i 3 år, da hun var ung.

Sunday, January 21, 2018 - 23. January 2018                       (Updated may 2018)

Siofok - Veszprém 45 km
Veszprém - Kis Randzsa Kanal 79 km
Kis Randzsa Channel - Hegyeshalom 54 km

Just before 9 o'clock we rolled out into the deserted streets of Siofok, we wanted to reach the small ferry that should take us across to the north side of Lake Balaton, so we initially rode futher to the west. It had snowed a little at night and the morning was fresh. We had 16 kilometers to the ferry bay so it would be no problem getting there in time.
We paid 2000 LEV, which corresponds to 48, - kroner for the trip, and it took 8 minutes. A nice little ferry, where there were also a couple of cars that wanted to go to the other side.
Then arriving on the Tihany peninsula we could ride along the lake on a good bike path. It was really beautiful here and on a hill top we could see the beautiful Tihanyi Bencés Apátság which is an old monastery still functioning as a monastery and taught here in the benedictic order and besides the monastery is open to tourists, wine is made and Herbs are grown.
We rode towards highway 73 and before we got up to the road, we rode along the lake, which was sometimes right next to us and sometimes a little further away. When we reached the main road, we cycled along the road on the bike path, which led us to Balatonfüred, which is one of the main towns of Lake Balaton. Here were restaurants all the way down to the lake. Hiking trails and bike paths were nicely landscaped along the lake and again lots of hotels and guesthouses, as well as sovenir shops. In one of the stores, Marianne bought a key ring with the Hungarian flag. It had become a ritual and she wanted a key ring from the last countries we would cycle through.
That's all we saw of Lake Balaton as we headed north again. Shortly after we had come out of Balatonfüred, we saw a dead wild boar, lying on the roadside as we were heading up a hill through a forest. A sad sight and wiered sight for us, as we do not see wild boar in Denmark.
Today we felt tired and on the way we looked on the internet to see if there was a cheap place we could sleep in Veszprém. We could see there was something called Sport Hotel and it actually lay on our way so it did not take long for us to agree that we would stop and hear if they had a room.
What just took a little longer was to get it clear if they had a room. The woman standing at the reception spoke only Hungarian and if there is something we do not understand, then it is Hungarian.
We were shown a room and from that we could understand that they had room for us. Then we were handed a registration paper on which everything was in Hungarian. We could fill out the form, "said the lady. But we did not know what it said.
Fortunately, the lady had called a friend who could speak German and he came to our rescue. With his help, we filled out the note and he showed us the room we should have.
The rest of the day we did nothing. Even though we had a break at Lake Balaton, we still felt tired so it was nice to have a short day on the bike and just lay in a bed and relax.
It was as though we were in a weather rhythm: one day cloudy and dull weather, which was then replaced by a day of sunshine and blue skies. So the next morning there was sun again from a cloudless sky.
From Veszprém the road went up. We followed road 82, it wandered through a beautiful landscape and we enjoyed it. Along the way, we saw a sign for a ski resort. We thought, it could not be because we were only at 400 meters, but when we got a little futer up the road, we could look back and up at something called Sólyom Kiszálló. Here the snow cannons were all on duty and we could see a ski lift. So it was true.
The area we rode through was the Bakony forests and it was really beautiful. We had to move up above a hill so we reached an altitude of almost 500 meters. But before we got so high we cycled through the city of Zirc, which lies between Balaton and Gyor. The city is called the heart of the Balkony mountains and has a lot to offer, including Zirc Arborétum, which covers an area of ​​18 hectares with rare plants and trees.
In front of the park is the beautiful Nagyboldogasszony-Bazilika church and as we stood and looked at the beautiful building, a horse-drawn carriage passed us. One man commented on the view: He said that it was not normal to see horse cars in Hungary, just as he was not proud of anyone still using a carriage. We said we thought it was charming because we did not see them anymore in Denmark.
After Zirc, we continued uphill and ended at 500 meters, after which we flew down the beautiful downhill through the beautiful forest. Halfway down we stopped to enjoy the view of the castle ruin - Seszneki Vár. It was located on a hilltop from where there was view of the whole area.
When we reached the bottom of the road, we reached a flat piece and here the landscape opened up, so now we could see the huge Pannonhalma, which is said to be one of the oldest monuments in Hungary.
Throughout the day we had cycled through large forest areas and now there were no trees and it was so typical. Always at the start of the day we cycled through perfect areas that were suitable for camp, but now we were 20 kilometers from Gyor and the settlement became closer and closer.
We chose to turn from the road and into a smaller road when we came to the village: Nyul. But it did not help, village lay after village and here we would not be able to find a place to sleep.
But when we crossed a bridge that led us across the highway, we saw a place that seemed to be useable, so now we turned down a gravel road and cycled along a canal. At the end of the gravel road there was a small bridge, we crossed and pulled the bikes down next to the canal. Here was a flat piece under a tree. Perfect for us and the tent so it became our place for the night.
When it got dark, we could see lights all around us at a distance of 1 to 2 kilometers and we could hear the car noise from the highway in the distance. We were fed up form dinner and could look back at a nice day on the bikes.
We had slept so well and there was none of us who really wanted to get up, but we got out of the sleeping bags and while Marianne started boiling water for the morning coffee, it started to snow.
Big snowflakes overflow from the sky and we thought that would go on all day. We would really like to have reached Austria this day, but when we got on our way the snow turned into rain, the motivation was not great. The weather was depressing and cold and the roads we were cycling had nothing to offer.
A stop at a gas station to drink coffee might be the highlight of the day. Coffee is always good for our morale, not to mention a toilet. In snow and rain it's not the butt you want to put outside.
In total, we cycled for 3 hours and 18 minutes before reaching Heyeshalom. We were well wet and froze. The idea of ​​having to camp was very remote, so we found the only place in town with accommodation, here we got a large room for 4 people because everything else was sold out. Most of all, the room looked like a large dressing room at the local football club. But it was dry and hot inside and plenty of room to dry our stuff.
Now it was only 4 kilometers to the border of Austria and just over 80 kilometers to Vienna. So we decided to go to Vienna the next day and we were exited because we had been there before and for Marianne it was very special when she had lived in Vienna for 3 years when she was young.

Hungry for Liquorice in Hungary

Torsdag d. 18.januar 2018 - Lørdag d. 20. Januar 2018                  (Update maj 2018)

Baja - 13 kilometer før Simontornya 85 km
Simontornya - Siofok
Pause i Siofok (Balaton søen)

Dagen startede tidligt i Baja. Ezther og Roland var allerede oppe klokken 5;45 og kort tid efter stod vi også op og begyndte at pakke vores ting sammen. Vi havde lavet en aftale om at vi skulle cykle senest klokken 08;00, fordi Ezther skulle undervise i engelsk og de første elever ville komme omkring klokken 08;00.
Så desværre blev det kun et kort visit ved familien i Baja, men vi var meget taknemmelige for at de i det hele taget havde haft tid og overskud til at byde os velkommen, midt i deres travle hverdag.
En sød historie der fulgte med Roland og Ezther, var at de havde mødt hinanden for 25 år siden i Viborg. Her havde de været på idrætshøjskole i 1 månede. Siden da har de ikke været i Danmark, men som de sagde, nu havde de snart 25 års jubilæum og det var en god grund til at komme til Danmark.
Roland og børnene kørte lidt efter syv og vi var klar inden otte og fik sagt farvel og tak til Ezther, hvorefter vi cyklede op i byen og fandt en tankstation. Eftersom det var tidligere end normalt for os, kunne vi hurtigt blive eninge om at vi skulle have en kop kaffe inden vi cyklede afsted fra Baja. 
Tankstationen havde bord og stole så vi kunne sidde indenfor og nyde kaffen,Baja  alt imens vi tog et kig på dagens rute. Baja ligger lige ved Donau og dermed kunne vi cykle et stykke af EuroVelo6 ruten, som går langs med Donau.
Vi fandt vejen ned til Donau med det samme og nu kunne vi cykle af sted med solens stråler fra en klar blå himmel. Vi nød turen langs floden hvor store høje træer voksede og stien snoede sig igennem landskabet.
Vi så flere steder som egnede sig til at campere også selvom der stod skilte om at man ikke måtte slå telt op.
Men vi ville ikke slå lejr så tideligt på dagen og fortsatte. Efter 26 kilometer skulle vi krydsse Donau over en bro og vi regnede med at kunne cykle ud på hovedvejen da vi kom på den anden side. Men nej, her ver et stort hegn og vi måtte fortsætte langs med floden lidt endnu.
På maps. me kunne vi se at der kom en sidevej 3 kilometer længere fremme og den ville vi prøve at cykle ned af.
Det endte med at vi cyklede lidt zig zag for at komme tilbage på rette vej igen. Men ved at vi tog de små veje kom vi igennem en masse små samfund, hvor alting forgik i et roligt tempo. Landsbyerne bød på små købmænd, kirker, et posthus og endda et pizzaria et af stederne. Navene på landsbyerne undlod vi at udtale, specielt når navene var Bogyiszlo´ eller Simontornya.
Efter vi havde nydt de små veje og landsbyerne, endte vi på en travl hovedvej og endte med at blive stoppet af poilitiet. Hvad nu ???? Måtte vi ikke cykle på vejen eller hvad var der galt. Det var ingen af delene, faktiak ville de opfordre os til at tage cykel vest på, så vi var lettere at se for trafikanterne. Men vi havde ingen vest, men Marianne havde hendes gule overtræk til rygsækken og det var politiet tilfreds med at vi tog på.
Efter nogle kilometer på hovedvejen, kunne vi dreje fra og atter komme på en mindre vej. Nu cyklede vi virkelig ude på landet og havde udsigt over store markområder. På et tidspunkt kom vi forbi et sted hvor der holdte en masse lastbiler, de var ved at blive lastet med sukkerroer, det så ud til at roerne næsten lige var blevet høstet. Det virkede bare mærkeligt at de blev høstet i Januar.
Vi fortsatte et par kilometer efter lastbilerne og drejede ned af en lille markvej, der førte os ned til et meget gammelt træ og et buskads, hvor vi fandt et sted vi kunne sætte teltet op. Vi lå godt gemt af vejen og i læ af nogle murbrokker, da det så ud til at der havde været et hus her for mange år siden.
Vi var faktisk så godt gemt, at jeg næste ikke kunne finde tilbage til hvor vi var, da jeg var gået ud for at tage nogle billeder af solned gangen.
Det skulle vise sig at være det perfekte sted vi havde fundet. Senere på aftenen blæste det op og det lød næsten som en storm der rasede hen over os. Vinden piskede og hev godt i træerne og det blev ved i et par timer. 
Vi tænkte, hvor var vi heldige at vi ikke havde sovet på en åben mark, for så var vi fløjet væk.
Nogle dage efter vi havde sovet i budskset, kunne vi læse at der havde været en forfærdelig storm der havde ramt Tyskland og Holland og vi tænkte om det havde haft noget at gøre med stormen den nat.
Pga. af vinden, var teltet næsten tørt og der havde ikke dannet sig meget kondens inde i teltet.. Flere af den slags steder ville vi gerne finde på vores vej videre mod Danmark.
Turen denne dag bragte os igennem flere små landsbyer og undervejs kunne vi se små klynger af huse på bakke skråningerne og markerne havde flotte brune nuancer. Først kom vi igennem Simontornya og kort tid efter byen begyndte det at regne. Regnen fortsatte i 1,5 time, heldigvis ikke en tung regn, så da det stoppede, gik der ikke længe inden vi blev tørre. Da vi nåede til byen Enying, ville vi se om der var en cafe´ hvor vi kunne sætte os ind og få kaffe og en bolle.
Marianne gik ind til en lokal bager og spurgte både på tysk og engelsk og der var en café, hvor vi kunne sidde. Hverken bager mutter eller den unge pige der stod i butikken forstod, hvad vi søgte efter, så vi valgte at købe en bolle i et supermarked og stod så udenfor under et halvtag og spiste den alt imens vi kunne følge med i hvad der skete i Enying.
Efter vores lille pause, tjekkede vi maps.me og kunne se at der var en tankstation 11 kilometer længere fremme på vores vej. Så det blev vores mål. Da vi nåede til tankstationen, var vi også utrolig tæt på Balaton søen, jeg havde faktisk troet at vi kunne se søen, når vi kom derhen. Men ikke i første omgang.
Imens vi sad inde på tankstationen, skulle vi beslutte os for hvad vi ville. Først kiggede vi på hoteller og overnatning i både Balatonkenese og Balatonfüzfö, men hold nu op hvor var alt bare dyrt de steder og det ville vi ikke betale, så vi kiggede på byen Siofok, som ligger på den sydlige side af Balaton søen.
her fandt vi et pensionat til 180,- kr pr nat. (Unio Guesthouse). Stedet kunne tilbyde privat værelser med en lille balkon og eget bad og så havde vi adgang til køkken, så vi kunne selv lave mad. Perfekt tænkte vi og bookede to nætter på nettet.
Fra tankstationen skulle vi først cykle tilbage af den vej vi lige var kommet, men kun et par kilometer og derefter kunne vi følge en cykelsti, der gik langs med søen. og snart kunne vi se ud over den smukke sø.
Vi kunne godt blive enige om at her var sikkert mange mennesker om sommeren, overalt var der hoteller, guesthouses, cafe´er osv men alt sammen var lukket pga. sæsonen. Faktisk minder alt lidt om en spøgelses by, når huse og cafeér står øde hen.
Men vi kunne godt forestille os at kun få måeder længere fremme på året, ville alt startet op igen til en travl sæson.
Det skulle efter sigende være meget populært at cykle rundt om søen, ad den fine anlagte cykelsti. Hvilket vi godt kan forstå, da vejen er aller mest flad og derved egner sig til familier med børn også.
Fra tank stationen havde vi 16 kilometer inden vi nåede Guesthouse Unio. Et par kilometer før kom vi forbi en lille købmand. Her shoppede vi til to dages forbrug og til Marianne´s store glæde havde de importeret ladkridser fra Haribo Tyskland, for var der noget Marianne savnede så var det ladkridser. Det var faktisk Heidi der fandt dem og I kan tro Marianne´s smil blev stor da hun så poserne. Vi måtte hellere købe 4 poser også slevom det nok ville give ondt i maven, eftersom det var mere end 1 år siden vi havde fået ladkrisser.
Fra købmanden fandt vi hurtigt hen til overnatningsstedet, vi måtte lige vente 10 minutter inden ejeren af stedet kom og låste os ind og tog imod betaling.
Stedet lå i anden række fra søen, så vi havde kun 200 m ned til stien, som gik langs søen. Men nu havde vi bare lyst til at spise lakridsser og snack og så måtte en tur langs med søen vente til næste dag.
Næste morgen vågnede vi til flot blå himmel og solskin, så efter vi havde nydt vores morgenmad, som bestod af rundstykker og kaffe, gik vi en tur langs med søen.
Hele Siofok strækker sig over en lang stribe langs med sydsiden af søen og her ligger alle mulig former for overnatning. Da vi gik langs med stien ved søen, mødte vi en del mennesker, men sikkert ikke en brøkdel af de mennesker som ville være her om sommeren. Vi kunne godt se hvorfor at Balaton søen er så populær. Lige meget hvor man ville overnatte ville der være tæt til alting. Indkøb, cafeér, cykeludlejning, spisesteder og beværtninger osv....Søen er 77 kilometer lang og 14 kilometer bred og her er rig mulighed for at bade, sejle og dyrke andre vandsports aktiviteter. Alt hvad en regulær turist kan ønske sig. Vi må tilstå at vi var glade for at det var udenfor høj sæsonen vi var her, så vi kunne opleve tingene i ro og fred.
Senere fik vi handlet mere ind, vi skulle jo nødig gå ned på mad.
Ellers gik denne dag med små projekter, som at tørre vores telt og soveposer. Vi kiggede nærmere på hvad vej vi skulle cykle næste dag og fandt ud af at hvis vi fortsatte videre mod vest ville vi komme til byen Szantod, hvorfra vi kunne tage en lille færge til nordsiden af søen og på den måde skulle vi ikke cykle tilbage af samme vej vi var kommet til Siofok. Vi tjekkede også om færgen sejlede. Det gjorde den, så næste dags start var planlagt.

English

Thursday, January 18, 2018 - Saturday, January 20, 2018                 (Update may 2018)

Baja - 13 kilometers before Simontornya 85 km
Simontornya - Siofok 71 km
Break in Siofok (Lake Balaton)

The day started early in Baja. Ezther and Roland were already up at 5:45 and shortly thereafter we also got up and began to pack our things. We had made an agrement that we should ride at 08:00 at the latest because Ezther had to teach English and the first students would come around 08:00.
So unfortunately, it was only a short visit at the Baja family, but we were very grateful for the fact that they generally had the time to welcome us in the midst of their busy lives.
A sweet story that followed Roland and Ezther was that they had met each other 25 years ago in Viborg, Denmark. Here they had been at the gymnasium for 1 month. Since then they have not been in Denmark, but as they said, they soon had 25 years anniversary and that was a good reason to go back to Denmark.
Roland and the children drove after seven and we were ready before eight and said goodbye to Ezther, after which we rode up into the city and found a gas station. As it was earlier than normal for us, we could quickly agree that we needed a cup of coffee before we rode off from Baja.
The gas station had a table and chairs so we could sit inside and enjoy the coffee, all the while we took a look at today's route. Baja is located just off the Danube and thus we could cycle a piece of the EuroVelo6 route, which runs along the Danube.
We found the way down to the Danube immediately and now we could ride with the sun's rays from a clear blue sky. We enjoyed the trip along the river where big tall trees grew and the trail waved through the landscape.
We saw several places that were suitable for camping even though there were signs that you were not allowed to pitch a tent.
But we did not want to set camp that early in the day and continued. After 26 kilometers we crossed the Danube across a bridge and we figured to be able to ride the main road when we arrived on the other side. But no, here's a big fence and we had to go along the river still a bit.
On maps.me we could see that there was a side road 3 kilometers further ahead and we would try to ride down that way.
We ended up cycling a little zig zag to get back on track again. But by taking the small roads we came through a lot of small communities, where everything went on at a quiet pace. The villages offered small merchants, churches, a post office and even a pizzaria in one of the places. The names of the villages we failed to pronounce, especially when the names were Bogyiszlo' or Simontornya.
After we had enjoyed the small roads and villages, we ended up on a busy highway and ended up being stopped by the police. What now ???? Were we not allowed to ride on the highway or what was wrong? It was not part of the fact, they would encourage us to ride with a bike west so we were easier to notice for other road users. But we did not have a vest, but Marianne had her yellow cover to the backpack and if we used that the police was happy and let us go.
After a couple of kilometers on the main road, we could turn off onto a smaller road. Now we really cycled in the countryside and had a view of large land areas. At one point we passed by a place where a lot of lorries held, they were being loaded with sugar beet, it seemed that the beetles had just been harvested. It seemed strange that they were harvested in January.
We continued for a couple of kilometers after the trucks and turned down a small field road that led us down to a very old tree and a bush where we found somewhere we could put the tent up. We were well tucked away from the road and laughed at some rubble when it appeared that there had been a house many years ago.
In fact, we were so tucked away that I nearly could not find back to where we were when I went out to take some pictures of the sunset.
It would turn out to be the perfect place we had found. Later in the evening the wind got strong and it almost sounded like a storm raging over us. The wind whipped and rose well in the trees and it lasted for a couple of hours.
We thought how lucky we were not sleeping on an open field, because then we had flown away.
Some days after we had slept in the mess, we could read that there had been a terrible storm that had hit Germany and Holland and we thought it had something to do with the storm that night.
Due to the wind, the tent was almost dry and no condensation had formed in the tent. Several of these places would we like to find our way to Denmark.
The trip this day brought us through several small villages and along the way we could see small clusters of houses on the hill slopes and the fields had beautiful brown shades. First we came through Simontornya and soon it started to rain. The rain continued for 1.5 hours, luckily not a heavy rain, so when it stopped, it did not take long before we got dry. When we reached the city of Enying, we wanted to see if there was a cafe where we could sit and get coffee and a bun.
Marianne went to a local baker and asked in German and English if there was a cafe where we could sit. Neither baker's mother nor the young girl standing in the store understood what we were looking for so we chose to buy a bun in a supermarket and then stood outside and ate the bun while we could follow what happened in Enying .
After our little break, we checked maps.me and saw that there was a gas station 11 kilometers further on our way. So it became our goal. When we reached the gas station we were also very close to Lake Balaton, I actually thought we could see the lake when we got there. But not in the first place.
As we sat at the gas station, we had to decide where we wanted to go and stay. First we looked at hotels and accommodation in both Balatonkenese and Balatonfüzfö, but everything was just expensive and we would not pay something that expensive,so we looked at the town of Siofok, which is on the southern side of Lake Balaton.
Here we found a pension for 180, - kr per night. (Unio Guesthouse). The place could offer private rooms with a small balcony and private bathroom and then we had access to a kitchen so we could cook ourselves. Perfectly we thought and booked two nights online.
From the service station we had to ride back the road we just came from but only a couple of kilometers and then we could follow a cycle path that went along the lake. and soon we could look out over the beautiful lake.
We could imagen that there were probably many people in the summer, everywhere there were hotels, guesthouses, cafés etc but everything was closed due to the season. In fact, everything reminded us of a ghost town when houses and cafes were deserted.
But we could imagine that only a few more months later this year, everything would start again for a busy season.
It should be very popular to cycle around the lake, along the beautifully landscaped cycle path. Which we can understand, as the road is very flat and thus suitable for families with children as well.
From the gas station we had 16 kilometers before reaching Guesthouse Unio. A few kilometers before we passed a small grocery store. Here we bought for two days of consumption and for Marianne's great pleasure they had imported Liquorice from Haribo Germany, this candy was something Marianne missed, so badly. It was actually Heidi who found them and you can believe Marianne's smile became great when she saw the bags. We would rather buy 4 bags also even it would probably make our stomach hurt, since it was more than 1 year since we had got some of that candy.
From the grocery store we found the accommodation, we just had to wait 10 minutes before the owner of the place came and locked us in and received payment.
The place was in the second row from the lake, so we only had 200m down the path that went along the lake. But now we just wanted to eat liquorice and snack and then a trip along the lake could wait until the next day.
The next morning, we woke up to beautiful blue sky and sunshine, so after we had enjoyed our breakfast, which consisted of rolls and nice coffee, we went for a walk along the lake.
The entire Siofok extends over a long line along the southern side of the lake and here are all possible forms of accommodation. As we walked along the trail by the lake, we met a couple of people, but certainly not a fraction of the people who would be here in the summer. We could see why the Lake Balaton is so popular. No matter where you would stay, it would be close to everything. Shopping, cafes, bicycle rentals, eateries and pubs etc .... The lake is 77 kilometers long and 14 kilometers wide and there is ample opportunity for swimming, sailing and cultivating other water sports activities. Everything a regular tourist may want. We must confess that we were happy that it was outside the high season we were here so we could experience things in peace and our pace.
Later we shopped some more food, we did not like the thourght of going  down for food. ;-)
Otherwise, this day went on with small projects like drying our tent and sleeping bags. We looked at what road we would cycle the next day and found that if we continued on to the west we would come to the town of Szantod, from which we could take a small ferry to the north side of the lake and thus we should not ride back along the same road we had reached Siofok. We also checked if the ferry was on scedule. It was so the next day's start was set.