We tried to hit Tihany on our way to Veszprém. It was about 2 pm and the place was hopping, tough find parking and just too many people to get any good photos. Fortunately, the place was just a 20-25 minute drive from Veszprém so we made a corporate decision to get up very early the next day and make the short drive. It was definitely the right call. We arrived around 9:30 am and the place was deserted. Got some great photos and saw a few neat things but in typical eastern European fashion, totally commercialized and yes...THE TACKY TOURIST TRAIN!! In spite of the commercialization, we enjoyed it. Tihany is located at the top of the mountain looking down at Lake Balaton. There were some great pave cycling trails in the area and lots of people making use of them. We stopped at a picnic table on the lake and had an early lunch. The lake is very murky and a dull shade of green. Not at all appealing.
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We left our friends Gregor and his father Janis after another great breakfast. I would highly recommend Hotel Panker if you ever in the Moravske-Toplice region of Slovenia. It is one of the finest family run pensions we have ever visited. Just like yesterday, they insisted Leslie & I make ourselves lunch with the breakfast leftovers from the buffet and this time we took them up on their offer. The drive to Lake Balaton was disappointing as far as I was concerned. Maybe because I have become so fond of Slovenia and it's refreshing surroundings. Lake Balaton itself is the epitome of a tourist trap. The lake itself is pretty big and I'm not sure whether the hazy skies had something to do with the unusual color of the lake but I was not impressed. I guess coming from the Okanagan region in British Columbia, anything would be a tough act to follow. We did not see one motor boat on this huge lake. There were quite a few large sailboats and lots of people fishing off the shore but a totally different environment compared to what you would see at Okanagan Lake. We stopped to view another castle in Keszthely but were once again very disappointed to see how poorly the place was maintained in comparison to castles in other countries, specifically France. We booked into our room in Veszprém and that was most definitely the most disappointing part of the day. Certainly nothing like the photos and description on the booking site and it was so tiny, as my father would say..."it was so small you stick the key in the door and break a window!" The location of the apartment couldn't be better, right in the centre of the historic village so that was about the only positive aspect of the overall experience. The village was fantastic and probably one of the best historic villages we have toured to date. We capped off the evening by dining at one of the local patio restaurants and it was fabulous. The portions were so huge even I could not finish my meal and that is highly unusual! The only thing better than the meal was the price tag which amounted to the same as a meal at McDonald's except we got wine and beer with our meal all for less than $20 including tip. I had veal wiener schnitzel and there must have been a pound of veal on my plate. We would go back for dinner tomorrow except we will be eating the leftovers from today's meal for dinner tomorrow. You get a great bang for your buck in Eastern Europe, especially in the rural areas. Falling in love all over again!! Slovenia is beautiful! We had a fabulous day today touring the small authentic villages of Western Hungary & Eastern Slovenia. The minute you crossed borders there was a definite distinction. The roads in Slovenia are in great shape, Hungarian rural roads, not so much. NO BORDER CROSSINGS...what a breeze. The old eastern style crossings are a literal joke, a total waste of tax payer dollars trying to maintain an archaic system totally out of step with today's European World. Our family run pension in Moravske-Toplice is outstanding. Gregor and his father Janis are amazing hosts, bending over backwards to meet your every wish. The breakfast is included and it is wonderful. They kept insisting we pack a lunch with the left over meat, cheese, vegis and buns we had for breakfast. Once again, we have established a new friendship we will never forget! Slovenia is immaculate. 90% of the home are meticulously maintained, lush manicured landscaping and pastel colored homes that look like they were painted yesterday. You cannot help but love amazing little country. The people are well educated and very proud of the culture. I think Slovenia has a very bright future ahead of them. Unfortunately, we made the decision to leave Slovenia probably a little prematurely, heading back through Hungary and then on to Slovakia. I think we could have easily spent another 4-5 days here but that will leave us an excuse to return one day. We seem to be zig zagging from one country to the next but my navigator insists we are having to circle back to get everything in. Today we traveled from Pecs to Moravske-Toplice, Slovenia. There apparently is lots to see in this region from old traditional Slovenian villages to thermal spas. Moravske-Toplice is in fact a thermal town with some 5 star resorts taking up most of this tiny little village. The place is hopping, parking lots are full and this spa thing seems to be a very popular activity in these parts. Our accommodations are great once again, staying in a family pension that was built by the father who is a master carpenter. Having a construction background, I was thoroughly impressed by the woodwork. From hand carved railings to the custom made furniture in the rooms, the place is truly impressive. The solid granite stairs extend the full three stories of the building and the cost of installing a similar installation in North America would cost you a small fortune. Not to break with tradition, Gregor, the eldest son of the owner greeted us at the door, helped us upstairs with our luggage and immediately invited us to the dining room to enjoy a glass or two of the tradition Slovenian moonshine. Once again, I did not let him down. I will have an iron stomach by the time we get home. We are certainly glad to be back in Slovenia and are looking forward to our short stint in this region. Our two days in Pecs was most enjoyable. We had a lovely apartment in the heart of the old town and it was perfect. Not often do you find 21st Century accommodation in these historic spots. The village was pretty authentic and not commercialized like many of the other spots we have visited. Prices were very reasonable and the people were extremely friendly. One thing we have noticed in Hungary is the locals do not speak much English and don't seem to be interested in doing so. I can't say I blame them. We had a wonderful dinner last night at restaurant in the heart of town. Tomorrow we are headed to Slovenia again, being we are close to the border and thought we might as well hit some popular spots for a couple of days and then back to Hungary and heading south before turning west to enter Slovakia. We will probably be spending another 4-5 days in Hungary. The weather was quite a bit cooler today which was a bit of a treat considering the heat and humidity we have encountered for the past couple of months. A boring drive from Morahalom to Pecs this morning. Fortunately it was only 2 hours. Leslie booked us into a beautiful apartment right in the heart of the historical village. The place was very deceiving but when our host opened what looked like an old double door with her remote control and we drove into our spotless, modern underground parking stall surrounded by Mercedes & BMW's. Our little Peugeot looks out of place!! We got together with our hosts this afternoon and Atilla, a computer techie was trying to help us get out Outlook working again while Zsuszia worked with Leslie organizing the next leg of our trip. For some reason, we continue to have intermittent issues with our Outlook servers while traveling outside North America. After they left, we took a stroll to the historic village, just a few steps for our apartment. Sunday appears to be a very special day in eastern Europe, spending quality time with family, taking in the entertainment at the local town square and eating gelato. What more could you ask for? We spent a couple of hours touring, had our daily gelato and called it a day. We liked everything about the place and decided to extend our stay another day, giving us time to do some laundry and organize our next destination which is still in limbo. I think we may have discovered our favourite European country. The architecture is stunning and the place is absolutely spotless. The drivers are courteous and the roads are great. Accommodations are inexpensive and your get great value for your dollar. Not too many are offering breakfast but the rooms we have booked are always clean and nicely decorated. There is one major problem we have incurred with our bookings. 80% of the time the directions are terrible and we have spent up to an hour trying to find the place. We are using Booking.com and Airbnb and both seem to have the same problems directing us to the right location. We are finding very few people who speak English in Hungary. Most of the signs and directions are in Hungarian only and that can make things a little challenging. Today we traveled from Budapest to Kecskemet and then on to Szeged. Both are beautiful small cities with some amazing sites. We started to make our way to our studio in Morahalom and this had to be the worst directions to date. We stopped twice to ask locals for help and even they agreed that the place we were looking for was very difficult to find. Upon arrival, the complex looked like a ghost town. We were finally able to wave down a young lady and ask for help. She did not speak English and be began with talking loud and waving our hands. It is so funny but that seems to be the trick for most people attempting to get their message across in a foreign language. She finally gathered that we were guests with a booking and was able to track down a gal who I think was one of the maids. She did not speak English either so we had another round of talking loud and hand signals and she finally got on her cell phone and made a call. She handed the phone to me and I began speaking to a woman with broken English but at least we were communicating. She told me that we would have to come to another location and sign the registration documents and pay for the room. This did not have to be done immediately but we could do it on our way out tomorrow...VERY STRANGE SETUP! In spite of the hassle, the room was gorgeous with 2 flat screen tv's, 2 bathrooms, and 3 bedrooms. Way more than what we require. Oh well, just another part of the adventure. Our second day of touring Budapest was not near as exciting as yesterday's but still good. It was another hot and muggy day with temps reaching the mid 30C or for our American friends, mid to high 90's, too hot for walking the streets. I think we caught the highlights of the city yesterday and today was rather anticlimactic. Our first stop was the long walk Hero's Square, Vajdahunyad Castle, Szechenyi Bath House...VERY COOL! Then the long LONG return walk to the Parliament Buildings which were also very spectacular. We stopped for a great Turkish Lunch at popular spot and met a nice couple from Florida who were getting their son setup for his medical studies in Budapest. The father studied medicine at the very same university 40 years ago. After lunch we trudged along for another couple of hours and I am starting to get really hot, especially under the collar, if you know what I mean. Believe it our not, when your tired and sweating your bag off, the beautiful old buildings all start to look the same. This was the first time on our adventure that we used public transit and that was quite the experience. No air conditioning, no shocks or springs on a dated city bus that was likely in use during the communist reign was not a whole lot of fun, not to mention we were jammed in like sardines smelling sweaty arm pits and "SWASS"! We did make it back to the apartment by 4:30 and relaxed over a couple of cool cocktails. We loved Budapest but looking forward to spending some more quiet time in the country. |
Glen
I have always been a straight shooter and a go getter. Many have said Leslie must be a saint to have put up with me for over 40 years. We have been business partners since the day we got married and each played an intrigal roll in our business success. There is nothing more important to us than our Family & Friends. Our love of people and travel has allowed us to develop amazing friendships around the world. Archives
November 2017
Categories"The New Gineration"Disclaimer:
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