Balaton to Vezprem, 36 km. We left the cyclepath around Lake Balaton at Balatonalmadi, another small tourist village along the lake. Tom checked with the tourist information about routes, as it looked like we wuld be riding highway. However we followed the directions, riding smaller and smaller roads, uphill of course, thinking we were about to be lost again, when we saw a rail trail sign and ended up riding a very nice dirt road up to the town of Szentkiralyszabadja. (Really!). Rail trails, or old railroad beds converted to hike/bike trails, are great because they usually ascend using a gentle grade. So although I had been dreading the uphill climb on a highway, we ended up riding a great section along farms and fields. We had a little more uphill to the town of Vezprem, which has an old medieval center including ramparts from an old castle. King Saint Stephen, who christianized Hungary about 99. AD, came here with his wife Gisella - see the picture of Erich in front of their statues. On a more gruesome note, apparently in 1996, a bishop had the rather strange idea of reunitin King Stephen and Queen Gisella by bringing together their preserved hands... So King Stephen's handbone was brought from Budapest and Gisella's arm was brought from Germany and there was a ceremony in which their hand bones were fit together to commemrate the anniversary of their wedding. The holy relic thing is still a little outside of my realm of understanding. Anyway we ended the day at a camping ground right next to the zoo, so we could hear camel groans and see rhinos and zebras from our campsite. These particular camels seemed to be experiencing a great deal of indigestion...you get the idea.
Vezprem to Pannohalma, 78 km.
Lots of up and down through forests, along a fairly busy highway and then cutting off on a quieter side road - all beautiful countryside. We stopped to eat lunch at what looked like a Veteran's Memorial statue, which we see in almost every town. A man was raking and sweeping up newly cut grass , and at first I thought he was going to be upset at us for eating there. Instead he came over and talked to us in Hungarian for about five minutes. I think maybe he was explaining the memorial and that sort of ceremony was going to happen, or maybe he was critiquing our lunch. But he just kept smiling and talking very sincerely, even though we didn't understand a word of it. He refused our offer of a sandwich, indicating he was already full by patting his stomach. He kept working and talking to us, and we kept eating and smiling back, and we all waved like old friends when we pulled out.
We were headed to see Pannohalma Abbey, which is an old Benedictine monastery set on a hilltop. We had to ride up a steep uphill past the abbey and then down the other side to find camping. Note: Beware of campgrounds called "Scenic" or "Overlook", or in this case,Panorama Camping" turned out to be a stiff push uphill.
Pannohalma to Gyor, A short 24 km. We started the day by touring Pannohalma Abbey. This is another UNESCO world heritage site, established in 996 by King Stephen and still housing a small number of monks and an elite boarding school. We had to take a tour rather than just wandering, and the church and courtyards were pretty, but the library was stunning, with thousands of old books as well as globes and other antique items. Since Tom is a library fan, it was hard to get him out of there.
We then rode the short distance to Gyor, a nice city. Since we celebrated our 5000 km mark here, we stayed in a hotel which was a converted convent, very nice. And had two ice cream cones each, as well as dinner out at a restaurant on a barge on the river.
We then push on through Hungary...more from down the road.
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