Beyond Vienna, 21 September 2017

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, and did I say rain? It has done nothing but rain the entire day, although it appears to have stopped for a moment at nearly 10.00 pm.

The Swan Whisperer went for a run this morning, in the rain. Then we drove from our overnight place on the Tihany peninsula to the town of Veszprem, where we went to the zoo, in the rain. 99.9% of the animals - all those that could - were sensibly indoors or if the rain so could not be seen, and the plan they gave us was not very accurate. And the café wouldn't take cards or euros, and we had no local currency. And it rained. I was exhausted.

So we drove to Budapest, in the rain. September is supposed to be the driest month here, so goodness knows what the rest of the year is like. Last time we were here it was October, and it was hot and sunny. Today, it has rained all day.

We arrived at the camp site, and haven't really left it, although the Swan Whisperer did go and find some currency. I cooked a delicious chickpea stew, and have been reading the new Jodi Taylor, which I commend to you.  It rained.

Beyond Vienna, 20 September 2017

I felt much better this morning, but still took it easy, and after a late breakfast we finally set off to explore the city, if such it can be called. The tourist part, in the middle, is tiny, and only takes about ten minutes to walk round. We started, though, by taking a tram across the bridge, which dropped us off at the edge of the Old Town.  We wandered hither and yon, and ended up in a café for coffee - the SW had a huge brownie, too!  How he could, after a huge breakfast, I do not know!

After this, we walked back to the far end and, in order not to waste our day tickets, we took another tram up to the main railway station (which we had been through before, but never seen from outside - still a touch Communist-era), and then a trolley-bus down to the river again. This cleverly dropped us outside the other main shopping mall in the city, which also had a huge supermarket, so we did some more shopping, and then got a tram back across the bridge to the motor home.

It was lunch time, so we had that, including ice creams we had bought in the supermarket, and then we set off for Hungary.  I was tired, so wrapped myself in my mermaid sleeping-bag and went to sleep, waking to reprogram the Satnav at the border to tell it it was all right to use toll roads again (I had bought the e-vignette before we left home), and then not until we arrived here, on the Tehany peninsula on Lake Balaton.

The SW has, needless to say, gone for a walk, so I am going to sit and knit and watch the sun go down....

Beyond Vienna, 19 September 2017

Yesterday was the only day of our holiday so far when it didn't rain. And that didn't last - the rain came in the night and has barely stopped all day.

We hadn't far to go today - only to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia which is nearer both Austria and Hungary than anywhere else, and at one stage acted as the administrative capital of the latter.  We told the sat-nav not to take us on toll roads as it seemed hardly worth buying a Slovakian vignette for such a short distance.

The aire is lovely - beside the Danube looking across it to the old town. However, I overdid it so badly yesterday that I couldn't face much more walking, so my exercise was limited to going to the big supermarket about 500 metres away.  And even that was too much, really - so annoying!  The Swan Whisperer did explore a bit, and we are hoping to have a walk round the town tomorrow, taking a tram or two to get there.

Beyond Vienna, 17 and 18 September 2017

Yesterday was a bit of a non-event, as far as I was concerned. I found I simply didn't have the energy to face walking round Passau, so stayed in the van and knitted while the SW went round on his own. We did drive a bit round it, to see the Inn and the Cathedral from a distance, but the town itself will have to wait for another time.  We then drove to Vienna, in the rain (as usual) stopping for lunch at a services (Landkreis, I think they call then, descendants of the old Marché restaurants we loved so much), and arrived at the camp site about 5:00 pm.

This morning we set off at about 10:30 and were in nice time to catch the bus that runs between the campsite and the nearest U-Bahn station.  We got as far as Praterstern, and the SW expressed a wish to revisit the theme park. I don't like theme parks, but I did want to go on the Riesenrad, the oldest Ferris wheel in the world, so we did that and also went on the little tourist train that takes you round the park.  Nothing appealed, although I thought their offer of 20 rides for €45 (€92 if bought individually) was great value.

However, we contented ourselves with the Riesenrad, which was fabulous, and great views all over Vienna.  Then we caught a tram into the city centre and found a random restaurant for a sausage lunch (the poor SW ordered the wrong thing, and ended up with a plate of luncheon meat!), and then we walked across the Rathausplatz to get a tram and then a tube down to Gasometer, the old gasholders that have been repurposed as a shopping mall. But the area has been redeveloped, and although the gas-holders are still there, you can't really see them in all their glory any more, so we came away, and got off the tube at the Stefansplatz, where we had a most enormous and delicious ice cream sundae each. And so back to the campsite, catching the bus by the skin of our teeth, and a small shop in the local garage which has a convenience store attached. I am exhausted now, and hope I will recover before tomorrow!

The SW, meanwhile, has crossed the city to have a quick look at the Schönbrunn palace, and had only just got back. It's a good thing neither of us really wants any supper, isn't it?

Beyond Vienna, 16 September 2011

When we were nearly ready to leave this morning, we found that someone had left what we thought at first was a bag of rubbish beside our van, but on closer investigation, it turned out to be three bread rolls!  I believe this is a thing on that campsite, and very nice of them, too.

Sadly, the water dispenser was broken and we could only get 10 litres at a time, for 10 cents each, and we only had 3 10c pieces between us. Still, 30 litres is 30 litres, and enough to do us until tomorrow, if we are careful.

Our first port of call was a supermarket, and then we continued down the A3, further and further, stopping once for lunch and then a diversion to Regensburg, which we wandered round in the rain, and have decided to visit properly next time we are in this part of the world, before or after Oberstdorf next year.

Then on, and our first glimpse of the Danube, or Donau as they call it in this part of the world - it will be our companion for the next few days, to Vienna and beyond.  We crossed it a couple of times coming to Passau, too, where we are spending the night in an aire just out of town.  Just beside the Danube - we can hear ducks!  And earlier today, on our way to the supermarket, we saw a red squirrel! 

Beyond Vienna, 15 September 2017

It was a great deal lighter this morning at 07:30 than it had been the previous day, showing how the time zone works. Or something. The Swan Whisperer went for a run and came back and said that he had seen "people out jogging with their dogs, but no other serious runners!"

After breakfast we both went for walks in different directions - I don't know where he went, but I went down to the river and walked along there a bit, then back via the supermarket.

Then I made salad for lunch, and we set off shortly after noon. The rest of the day was spent driving down the A3, which took longer than it should have due to road works and rain. I slept most of the way once we had stopped for lunch.

 

We are now parked up in an aire provided by a motorhome factory just outside a place called Schlüsselfeld, which is very nice. Quite quiet, flat, there are services (badly needed, as the loo had somehow got displaced, and its cupboard needed a serious wash!) and there could be electricity, but for one night it's not worth it.  Risotto for supper!

Beyond Vienna, 14 September 2017

There was really nothing to keep us in Ronquières - or in Belgium, for that matter - so we set off betimes and the Swan Whisperer drove across Belgium and Germany while I slept!  If there is one thing I like better than an afternoon nap,  it's a morning one!  Seriously, though, we made good time and arrived in Königswinter in time for lunch. We had a little trouble finding the motorhome parking we knew was there, but found it in the end.

After lunch, we went out to explore. I went to the Drachenfels on the little train that goes up and down - the oldest cog railway in Germany, apparently. I remember it from my stay here almost 50 years ago, but I am not sure we ever used it then, preferring to walk up and down the mountain.  I can't do that now, and was irritated to find that, when using my trekking poles, my legs coped better than my lungs. Still, it didn't matter.

On the train going to there were only me and another English couple, but up at the top there were loads of tourists of different nationalities.  The SW, who had elected to walk up, arrived fairly soon, and we wandered round the various viewpoints. Then he went off to walk down the other side of the hill and back along the river, while I caught the train back down and walked back along the main shopping drag.

 

Back to the van, and I was cold, so made tea and filled a Thermos for the SW so he could make his when he came in, but he wasn't long behind. Then we both read for awhile until it was time to go out for a meal. It was raining, and not a pleasant evening. We ended up in a sports café, but the food was delicious!  Still raining and rather cold, so an early night is called for!