Heviz and Budapest (Hungary)

---

What a difference a day makes! Our 5 days in Heviz were so relaxing and quiet after the busy bussle of being tourists in Vienna and Prague. The four of us just stopped and enjoyed a holiday in this small spa town at the end od Lake Balaton.

If you haven't experienced a European Spa then it is a memorable thing to do if you ever get the chance. Heviz is famous as having the largest European hot spring lake (the biggest in the world in is Rotorua) and the whole town is devoted to providing for people who come to 'take the waters'.

This spa is said to cure everything from a sore toe to arthritis and everyone takes it very seriously. No running, jumping or having fun here. Those in the water are quiet as they lie in the warm. slightly murky mineral water...as Ross kept saying "It's not Bondi is it?"
As for swimming - well it's not the done thing to do an Aussie crawl across the pool. Instead you enter the water (quietly) and with a gentle breaststroke swim to the nearest bar, suspended just above the water, and hang for 20 minutes or so! Moving (quietly) a little further can get you to a submerged bar where you can sit in the water or lean on it as you converse ( very quietly) with your group or simply keep on hanging for a while. The best prepared spa customers come complete with a blow up ring or a noodle so that they don't even have to move to a bar but can float quietly wherever they like.

A lifeguard?? sits in a rowboat and occasionally uses the oars to move (quietly) a little way. As few seem to vbe able to swim we were surprised to didn't have few customers. The other excitement happens when a guy in a rowboat comes out to clean the leaves of the waterlilies. After 3 hours of alternately hanging or lying on a deckchair next to the water you go home so relaxed and exhausted that you need a rest!! The day when we also had a massage we were all like jelly afterwards. Even hyperactive Ross fell under the spell of Heviz and by day five was saying how quickly 3 hours passed - doing basically nothng. Helen was amazed.


Touring took a back seat and we spent the days at the spa or wandering through town for a morning coffee. a little shopping and a couple of meals out. It was a fun time for the four of us before we threw ourselves back into serious touring - Ross and Helen were off to Devon and Cornwell before going to Wimbledon and Col and I were getting set to explore Turkey.

After our few days in Heviz we drove back into Budapest to the best location in Pest, right in the centre, near Deak Square. We found this apartment through Craig's list on the net and it was perfect for our needs- epecially as it rained most of the time and the square was the main transport hub in town so we could get most places without getting wet. We farewellled Ross and Helen after reminiscing about the fun and great adventures we'd shared on this trip and on others we've done together.

In Buda and Pest they celebrate the longest day with a festival of sound and light. This was spoiled by the weather, but we made our way to the Art Gallery in Buda Castle, where we heard a range of classics and jazz in most of the open spaces and small galleries. On the way home, wet but contented, the bus down the hill took us to places unknown. I (Col) recognised the modern 4/6 trams by their length (twice that of our light rail) and knew they went through to Octagon on Androssi, a boulevade like the Champs Elyse. About 10 steps below the footpath, you enter an art deco station on the oldest subway in Europe, built for the 1890's World Exhibition (after Eiffel built his tower and Ferris in Chigago built his wheel). A poetry reading was taking place on this platform and each station along the line had music or dance. Maybe city rail coud take note?

Other discoveries included the NY Guggenheim style circular modern art museum and a magnificent new concert hall where Tommy Emmauel is set down to play later in the year. The Victor Vassarely museum and we also returned to the fantastic history museuam to once again try to sort out the complex history of this part of the world where, in the past, borders changed by the hour it seems.

Off to Turkey next.

---

Photos

Light show at the art museum
Midsummer celebrations in Budapest

Timer for the spa
You had exactly 3 hours - any minutes over cost more!

Col with his noodle
Almost a prerequisite for the pool!

From our Heviz apartment
It was very peaceful there-surrounded by forests and only a short walk to the spa

Beautiful graveyard
This little church had the most carefully tended graves we'd ever seen. It overlooked the valley and the vineyards below.

Midnight in the underground
Poets, musicians and artists were at each station

The works
Musicians, trains and Col

Victor Vassarely gallery in Budapest
A huge collectionof his work through his career

A medieval feast
Dinner out with Paul (our heviz host) and his family in Budapest. They like big meals with lots of meat in Hungary