Szia!!

It was a lovely reunion when Marty met me at Budapest train station after a bit of an epic overnight train ride from Italy to get there. He showed me the ropes of the deluxe appartment where we would stay for the next 3 weeks and hours later we were bicycle shopping and watching the sun set over the Danube River from the Buda Castle (beer in hand), with the delights of Budapest's architecture shining in the dusk light. Sweet introduction! The next afternoon and evening and ...early morning were spent at the Sziget Festival on an island in the middle of the Danube. The highlight was seeing The Gotan Project from Paris play live, and the super danceable gypsy bands through the night.

The Gotan Project at Sziget Festival

We explored the city well, Marty showing me the highlights of his home town; the super efficient transport network that the majority not minority use (ohhh Australia you have a LOT of work to do), the beautiful old buildings, the Turkish baths, the nearby hills, villages along the Danube, all the bicycle shops we could possibly need and the cheap tasty treats of hungarian food. Marty's wonderful family were ever so patient with my lack of Hungarian language and were so very generous, kind and open to seeing our hundreds of photos from the trip so far, they are very patient indeed. We did some fun day trips with the kids, including an outdoor heritage museum and a wicked waterpark in which we have no pictures because we had way too much fun to stop for that.

Heroes Square, Budapest

Marty's cousins' kids (Panni, Nori, Andris) at the open air museum

I wont ramble about the amount of time we spent looking for our perfect bikes to carry us and alllll our stuff for the next 3 months... but we found them (pics in next entry) eventually and took them on a trip to Lake Balaton to meet Marty's cousin(s) Aron, Gabor, and girlfriends Melinda and Melinda where we spent 4 fabulous days in a very adorable family home with magic views of the lake.

Captain Aron and first officer Marty on the Balaton

Thanks to Arons expertise we spent 2 days sailing in all possible weather conditions, we even broke a sail in the strong winds. It was fabulous. A day lazing on the lake and a day cycling (after a night of good food and wine thanks to Gabor and Melinda!) 88km around the eastern half of the lake. A great test ride for the body and the bikes. We decided to buy new saddles.



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