Day 32 21st June Slovenia - Budapest

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Day 32 21st June Slovenia - Budapest

The day dawned bright – very bright – it was going to be a scorcher and we were to spend most of it in Big Bess traversing from Slovenia into Croatia and up into Hungary. It was a long but easy ride as most of it was on motorways – rather expensive and new motorways doubtless funded by the European Union (or, to be more precise, our taxes!).

Our ultimate destination was just north of Budapest where there was a suitable camping in the suburbs with a computer train ‘into town’. On the way we took a diversion for me to take in the Herend Porcelain Factory which is south east of Budapest. However, before I bore you all with porcelain facts let me just give you a taster of our journey there….

Motorways and plenty of them. Borders with stern (do they teach them NOT to smile?) guards trying to look officious but in reality chatting amongst themselves. Changing countryside – interesting one this - Croatia looked untidy compared with Slovenia and then Hungary looked positively scruffy compared with Croatia. Hungary is very hot in the summer and the countryside running up to Budapest reflects this climate – long gone were the verdant hills and small fields & meadows. We were passing through large tranches of flat agricultural land and then we came to Lake Balaton….

Lake Balaton is the Hungarians equivalent to the seaside. Being a landlocked country this is their favourite holiday destination – a shallow (3m deep) lake nearly 80kms in length. It is warm and remarkably clean with a milky green colour. It is also very ‘seasidey’ and full of grockle shops. It is here that I saw, to my horror, that TESCO is ‘in’ Hungary.

Now, I know that TESCO are trying to take over the world and particularly that they are holding a database on all that we (who hold clubcards) eat & drink and all our little habits (when we go on-line to order, how many chocolate bars we eat when we buy petrol………oh yes, Big Brother IS watching you!). However, the shock of seeing a Tesco sign so far from ‘home’ came out of the blue. This shock was only compounded when we started seeing Tesco superstores and Tesco lorries. I was later to discover that Tesco are the second biggest supermarket in Hungary. Oh dear. It is a certainty that I am going to cut up my clubcard on return home. But I digress….

FANNY decided that we should ‘walk on water’ (see photo) whereas in reality it was a short ferry ride – another mark in the Log of Lorry achievement. Soon we reached the little town of Herend …

Herend porcelain was founded in 1826 but gained international notoriety in 1851 when our very own Queen Victoria ordered a dinner service. It is exquisite porcelain and every single piece, to this day, is done by hand. We took the last ‘tour’ of the mini factory that they run for us tourists and we found that we were on our own – our guide, although charming & informative, regrettably reminded us of someone out of the Adams family but, hey, perhaps that’s a compliment to some! Her looks did not distract from the incredible work and the beauty of the finished porcelain. It was a fascinating insight into the work that goes into each piece of porcelain, the cost of which DOES reflect the time, care and skill that it takes. Lovely 😊


From Herend it was a dash to le camping north of Budapest. Negotiating our way round their equivalent of the M25 was a test for FANNY and MAP but eventually we arrived to a shady site on the edges of the Danube. Budapest awaits.

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