Article Seven
Hevis
I am sure that I have written up this section before…perhaps I did, then forgot to save it?…simply closed the computer down thereby losing the last entry?
However, we went to the Travel Agency and they could not/would not help us with any tour information because we have our own car! We searched around in the Information Centre but could find nothing about Hevis and surrounds printed in English.
On Sunday morning, there was an “Introductory” meeting at the main hotel Café to enlighten the latest batch of Time-share people what Hevis is all about. Wrong again. This was a talk by another (hotel related) Travel Agency, which were flogging local tours and special event tours. We received brochures in English, which we have been using and signed up for a Medieval Knights/Horses and Dinner show next Wednesday night at a nearby Castle. We also booked a water cruise on Lake Balaton, which sees all the main places of interest from the water…lunch and Hungarian wine tasting is included.
As usual, Pat has been doing all the shops over and has arrived at the conclusion that most of the apparel on show has been ‘on-show’ for many moons and is in fact old and out of fashion! Worse still, is the discovery that the prices being asked for clothing, etc are just a smidgin higher than Brisbane…so why bother to buy anything? We won’t!
Had dinner at the Local (hotel) restaurant…baked potatoes that were half raw or ‘glassy’ and almost without taste when compared with Russian spuds! Pork medallions sans any sauce or cooking treatment…lousy! Pat had battered fish, two huge pieces placed over a mountain of potato salad smothered in sweet (store-bought) mayonnaise…fish was good but she left the rest. Not a good start to our Hungarian culinary investigations.
Saturday and Sunday we drove to towns within 100 k of Hevis. This was mainly to sightsee the countryside and to see what the other towns had to offer…not very much. Hevis is here only because of the Spa. All towns we visited on Sunday, except Hevis, were, amazingly, shut! Nothing open at all! Church bells were ringing everywhere, which may explain something. Back to Hevis if only to have a beer.
Revisited the Internet Café we found in Hevis where I was able to access my email…No way could I access Hotmail (in English, the Australian version) no matter what we did. Then we discovered that the WI/FI is set up to some weird European protocol…my Toshiba could not even ‘find’ a WI/FI network when we were sitting in the centre of the hot-spot??? However, I was able to access my Bank site, settle a few bills and refinance my Nab Visa card!
Today, Monday 10th, we walked down to the Spa and all through it after paying about AUD$5 each for a twenty minute “Visit-Time” electronic, wristwatch-style security device. This we were able to use to access various Spa areas turnstiles after a Dragon sent us back to the main desk to get overshoe-wraps for our ‘dirty’ footwear. The Chermans, walk from their hotel(s) in their brothel-creepers (flat sole, with a wrap over the toes beach sandals) and straight through into the Spa…so much for their ‘clean-floor’ policy!
Talking of feet, last night I decided to cut the damaged toenails on my newly damaged left foot (Truck-bar/Ute collision where I was dragged by my ute almost ripping off a few toenails) and no problems with trimming the second and third toe nails. When I tried to trim the big toe-nail it simply lifted almost completely off…so…being stupid, I assumed (makes an ass of me) that only a little bit of flesh was restraining the toenail from complete separation. Wrong again! When I ripped it away with great bravado, I discovered that the nail was still connected to the quick all down one side and halfway across the base of the nail. I told God all about it in no uncertain terms, then wrapped the now profusely bleeding, nail-less big toe with toilet paper and spent the next twenty minutes wiping up the blood spots all through the apartment! No wonder torturers favoured tearing-off their victim’s finger and toe nails…the pain is mind-boggling severe!!!
As a consequence, I now have a very badly damaged and very sore, throbbing toe. All appeared OK when I arose this morning and was OK all through Breakfast. However, during the walk to the Hevis Spa and on to (yet) another supermarket which has to be investigated! I realised that my toe was in fact starting to throb, swelling and because I was favouring my left foot, I began to get cramps in my left leg! Back to the apartment to lie down. Patricia has decided to go visit the Post Office. Later today, I may try to access the Internet again?
Hevis is populated by very few young people…they, in the main are apparently students and they man all the shops, cafes and hotels and many are on Holiday accommodation cleaning teams. The main population is visiting German and Italian Tourists who have come to “Take the Hevis Waters”. ‘Taking’ means lolling around in the water, supported by plastic tubes and tyres and very little else. Most appear to be in their late seventies or mid eighties. Many on crutches and/or walking frames and a few drive around in electric wheel chairs.
The change-rooms at the Spa are unisex! A quick look into this geriatric melee of aging, grey, sagging breasts, buttocks and huge bellies plus dangling sexual components almost justifies Hitler’s extermination program against the elderly Jews. What a horrible sight! One I will never forget and what bugs me…I am almost of the same age as those lumps of past-date humans!
Article Eight
Tuesday/ Hevis
Duly at 1200 a big ten seater van arrived at the pick-up point and we are away on our ‘Lake Balaton’ sight-seeing drive. This entails driving up the northern side of the lake…on our way here, we drove down the auto-ban on the southern side. Most of the scenery is high rocky table-top hills and neat rows of evenly spaced houses guarding endless vineyard rows of now ripe grapes. Large gangs of pickers are evident in many vineyards as we drive past.
We are impressed by the neatness, smart-as-a-pin appearance of al the Hungarian villages and houses. Everything appears freshly painted or cleaned down, there is no graffiti and new buildings are going up in every town. On we went until we could actually see the lake and eventually we were allowed out of the van for a ‘photo-op’ at a scenic high point. The lake is about 74 km long and varies in width from about 2 km up to 15 km. It is very shallow, fed by one river and there is a man made channel allowing excess lake water to be discharged into another lower river to prevent flooding.
Being shallow, there are often large waves whipped up by sudden storms. The locals have installed a series of flashing strobe beacons at strategic points around the lake so that a boat, no matter where it is on the lake, can see one or more of these beacons. If a dangerous storm is approaching, the beacons flash-rate changes and indicates how many minutes the boat has to get to a safe place. Very neat idea and should be considered for various waterways in Australia or any other area where storm warnings are needed.
ON, on and stopped for lunch for a typical Hungarian meal…vegetable and mushroom soup loaded with paprika, chicken drumsticks in a paprika flavoured (and coloured) stodgy gravy accompanied by some sort of potato based noodle…one comment from a diner was that he had the same noodles in Budapest with chocolate sauce and ice cream! Versatile people these Hungarians. Desert was a crepe with crushed or ground almonds inside under a splurge of black chocolate sauce. This was the best part of the meal for me! Besides the two pints of local draft beer which was excellent!
Down the lake further and we are off on a boat trip which we are informed is ‘extrs’ irrespective of what we were told or what was/is on the brochure…so like tourists everywhere, we simply paid the additional fee and road around on a 50 passenger river boat for about 30 minutes. The boat trip was supposed to be of an hour’s duration but we spent half of this time waiting for another tour group to make up a viable number for the boat operator?
What did we see? Well, not much other than the same villages, houses and vineyards from the lake and the few bigger towns we saw from the bus. On point of interest is a very high road bridge (which we drove over on the way down) which spans a complete valley and is over 50 metres high in the middle and, is about 2 km long! Very impressive either viewing or driving over it. I remember remarking as we drove over it, not to look down because the shock of its height could cause one to run off the road!
Boat trip done, we visited an ancient abbey where the first two kings of Hungary are buried. Of particular appeal to me were the photographs of the Hungarian Royal Crown(s), religious gold crosses, challises and goblets of solid gold studded with uncut gem stones. These artefacts date from the 10th century before artisans learned how to cut and polish gem stones. One such golden cross contains 6 kilograms of gold and hundreds of sea-pearls and gemstones of all varieties. It is recognised as one of the five most valuable religious artefacts in the world. This cross and the royal coronation crown now reside somewhere in the Hungarian house of Parliament.
Religious tour component completed, we again travel through vineyards and country roads to a wine tasting held at a vineyard still owned by the “Esterhazy”. This family were famous throughout history and during the reign of the Austria-Hungarian Empire for their support of the arts and artists including many famous composers like Bach, Handel and Mozart, etc. who were retained by the family as their resident ‘music-master’ to write and perform music for social occasions.
This vineyard produces only white wines. The first we tasted was a rather insipid even bitter white something! The second could pass as a reasonable Chablis. The third was definitely a chardonnay and the final taste, something called “Grey Monk” was a much sweeter moselle style wine which, the general consensus agreed would be very good with the addition of a few ‘educating-bubbles’ or sparkles.
Then the not so long drive home. We nearly won the delivery lottery this time. Usually, Pat and I, are for some reason, are always the last to be delivered back to our hotel after any tour anywhere! This time we were the second delivery. Bingo. Shock horror, the whole town has been shut down and it is only eight o’clock at night…there are a few bars still open and some restaurants but nothing else…luckily I bought some salami and beer earlier on in the day! So after a salami sandwich and a large can of something very nice…a local beer, twas off to bed.
