23-36 deg C, another beautiful day, with a very bitey sun in the late afternoon
Ride: 40km; total: 115km
Walk G: 7km; total: 82km
Walk W: 8km; total: 78km
Vác has been a settlement for thousands of years. It is in Pest county, Hungary with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The archaic spelling of the name is Vácz. Settlement in Vác dating as far back as the Roman Empire has been found. The origin of its name is debated. One hypothesis says that the name comes from a Hungarian tribal name "Vath". Vác is a commercial center as well as a popular summer resort for citizens of Budapest.
After breakfast we packed up, paid the bill, attached the panniers to the bikes and rode away from the hotel at 8:45am. While we were a bit sad to be leaving this lovely hotel and city, we are just as keen to get touring for real. We stopped for a few photo opportunities along the way, and had ‘mornos’ about an hour out of Vac. We missed an EV6 sign along the way and ended up in the quaint little town of Szentendre.
The paths ridden today were mainly very good. There were a few sections of cobbles, a bit of gravel, sealed sections that look like Queensland highways (horrible), but in the main we were on smooth sealed bike paths, some very new ones. To get to Vac, we had to cross the river on a ferry. In all other countries we’ve cycled in, all ferries, with the exception of one in Germany, have been free. Not this one, and we didn’t have any HUF nor €. We offered to pay in AUD, but the ferryman was having none of it. A lovely Hungarian couple, paid for us in HUF. We tried to give them some Aussie dollars but they declined. Apparently this is one of a few ferries that do not have an Eftpos machine. How very generous of the couple. We had a good chat with them on ferry ride and they were doing a day ride from Budapest and back again on different sides of the river. They came on the same side as us, and said the way they would go home is much nicer.
Our hotel is not far from the ferry landing and we were soon checking in at 1:30pm. The process took forever as the only data that comes across from Booking.com is your name and the date/s of your stay. Not only did they want copies of our passports, but also our mother’s maiden names, and our permanent address in Australia. It was 20 mins before we got the key to our room!
We unpacked a few things, had a wash, then a rest. We set out on foot about 3:30pm and the sun was not yet at its hottest. We didn’t let it dictate how much we wandered, we just stuck to the shady side of the roads. We saw most of the things we wanted to, then strolled home.
Dinner was had, blogging and Fb postings were completed before retiring for the night. We haven’t turned the TV on once since arriving in Hungary, and haven’t missed it all.
B,ogger is playing silly buggers again, so this is all the photos you’re getting. You miss out of the best from Greg.
Leaving Budapest
Somewhere in Budapest
Lunch stop
On the ferry, the couple who paid for us is sitting to the right.
Vacz Hotel, room #4
Vác Cathedral
Holy Trinity Statue
Dominican Church
Town Hall
András Chazar Education Institute for Deaf-Mutes
Vienna or Upper Gate
Triumphal Arch
A nice lime-green building
Sometimes you just gotta stop and take a picture of a flower
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