Day 25 Esztergom, Hungary. A Great Taste of Hungary

Joan's View

Since today was a short ride, only 23 miles, we slept in a bit. The route today was either riding on highway or bike path along highway. There were several nice small towns that we passed through along the way. It was still bumpy and especially on the highway where the trucks created uneven pavement. I would have really liked having Jan's front seat suspension system on the ride today and yesterday.

→→→→→→→→→→→→
The biggest event happening to us today was a message and picture from our host, Andrea, in Budapest. She has our bags!!!  Woohoo! Celebration! Amen! Alleluia! This hold up by Hungarian customs was never anticipated, so we plan to give Andrea a big hug and thank you because she did one heck of a job getting Hungarian customs to expedite our bags. Even our bags for our personal items were in those black cases. It is a happy day! That picture is a beautiful sight.

We received the message from Andrea as we were riding. There are a few signs to share from our ride today also. We still see signs of German influence here in Hungary, that we now know dates back to the Habsburgs. One sign that we saw often was Gruss Gott. It has several interpretations, but mostly it is a greeting and means God bless you. We saw it often inGermany and Austria, and we still see it here in Hungary.

Another sign that we see lots of in Hungary is this Michelin man sign. The interpretation I found online is, "Take Me Kids." I'm hoping that it has more to do with school safety though?











At one point, the bike path turned brick and smooth, with dividing lanes. That was a treat for about a mile.

We found our airbnb, and it's another nice one, with a patio and garden to enjoy. Since we got in a little early, we decided to explore Esztergom. Turns out Esztergom is another great Hungarian city. We first walked to the amazing Cathedral which is the largest church in Hungary, the tallest building in Hungary and the seat of the Catholic church in Hungary. The altarpiece is the largest painting in the world painted on a single piece of canvas. Coincidently, we met our cycling friend, Michael, while he was visiting the cathedral too. Tony & Michael decided to climb the 413 steps to the Dome to enjoy the view of the city and Slovakia just across the river. I hung out on a stone terrace overlooking Slovakia while tour groups stopped to cover some topics there.

Our next stop was the nearby ancient castle. We walked around it and through some secret passages that Robin Hood must have used. I made Tony pose by some other noisy objects.















We headed back into town to find the Puzzle Bar, a top attraction in the city. I know my family would love this place except that the games were in languages other than what any of us speak. After I nailed a wooden puzzle, Tony willingly offered to play any game that I could find in English. I found some Smurf dominoes so we played some Mexican train dominoes in honor of Tisha. Frogs were missing from this set though, Tisha. We just piled up Smurfs instead.

From there, we went to this amazing restaurant that our host recommended called Mediterraneo. We sat outside under umbrellas and enjoyed the warm air. The food was trained chef prepared with wonderful flavor and award winning presentation. 

For such a short ride today, our day was full. Tomorrow is our last day of riding so we will savor the day.

Tony's Extras

First of all, just so you all know, I won in Dominos and texted Tisha immediately. Yea me. 😀 Our kids would be so proud of me. 👍

The picture to the right is for my neighbor, Bud. It shows you where to go for fishing. The picture to the left is a home where they grow their own vegetables and grapes. It seems  that out in the country Hungarians live such a simple life. We were listening to Rick Steves audios the last couple of days. Rick Steves is a guy who travels all over Europe and talks about his journeys. He said that many people in Hungary grow their own grapes and make their own wine. It is neat to see a simple life.

Since we got here early and there was a patio, I decided to walk and get a bottle of wine so that I could sit out on the patio and enjoy looking at our private garden. The wine store was a few feet away. When I got there, they had wine for 397 and the lady pointed at their expensive wine. It was 925. Divide that by 300 to get dollars. The cheaper wine was a little over $1 per bottle. I decided to splurge since our luggage made it and go for the expense stuff at $3 per bottle. You've got to love the prices here in Hungary.

 The picture to the left is the world's largest canvas painting. The picture to the right is a big side altar, one of the biggest side altars I've ever seen.

 These two pictures are from up on the dome. The Danube upstream and the Danube downstream. It was a beautiful view of both Hungary on one side and Slovakia on the other side. Tomorrow is our last day of riding. Bummer. It has been wonderful trip so far.