Friday Aug. 1 Day 17:

There was a little unexpected rain in the night. Got up later showered and had a nice breakfast.

I sent Nancy and Steve the method for getting on Skype. They will hopefully be on it at 8 pm our time.

The program today is dictated by how well Gyorgyi can walk. She says the ankle is better but does not want to put more stress on it. As a result we are off to Valencai To, a lake not far from Budafok.

I am asked whether I want to go to the strand (beach) or the furdo (spa bath), I said it was up to them.

We arrive at the lake but drive away from it... toward the spa bath.


Jansci and Gyorgyi in front of Spa Bath
It is very popular for all ages of people; but you do see older couples, one helping the other to get into the spa or pools.

Unfortunately, I am told not to bring wallet or camera into the spa so we rent a safe and are given a key. This is typical for Hungarian spas or pools. Some people do bring cell phones or cameras but only a few.

The men are on one side the women the other. We get lockers for our cloths...just drop in 100 HUF coin. It is returned strangely enough when we return.

Gyorgyi had trouble getting a change locker. It took her 3 times to get one and had to get someone to get her extra money back.

Big Spa Bath

The first spa is inside. It is a huge pool but only 120 cm deep. The temperature is 36 C... body temp is 37 C. So it feels very relaxing. We sit and lie relax in the water for over 30 min. Then we are off to another inside spa. This one has water jets and showers of different sorts.

We are there for 15-20 minutes. Then we go outside to other pools. The first is popular for all ages and there are different areas, some with currents and some with a slide etc. We relax there for 20 minutes. Then we are off to a second outside pool. Lastly we go back inside to the first pool and relax for another 15 minutes.

Enough of the pools. Our skin is quite wrinkled and we get dressed and get our stuff out of the safe.

By this time it is close to 2 pm and we have missed ebed (the large noon lunch). We head to a favourite and inexpensive restaurant. Jancsi and I will share a roasted Heck. What the heck is this ? A sea fish of some sort. It is quite large. We also order a large sausage. Gyorgyi goes for the bean soup that is a guylas with large beans. It is very hot so she has to let it cool.

The fish is more than enough for two people. We also split the sausage 3 ways. There is about half a loaf of white bread sliced by hand. I am the only one to get a beer since Jancsi is driving. The others order bottled water. There are also my favourite pickle but they are not as nice as some I have had but still good.

Lastly we have a retes (flaky outside with a stuffing inside). I have walnut, Gyorgyi has the cottage cheese and Jancsi the shredded cabbage. All of these stuffings are very very much Hungarian. Each serving is huge. I am completely stuffed.

Gyorgyi and Tom-Valencai To

After the 'lunch' we go for a short walk on a long pier into the lake. Valencai To is a small lake and you can see from one end to the other and from one side to the other. Maybe it is 5 km by 3 km. The water is about 25 C or so. Some people are swimming there are some sail boats. A very pleasant lake.

We travel back to Budafok via hwy. 7 not the super hwy. M7. Along the way we stop for a water melon “Magyar dinya”. The place we stop is the cheapest one that we saw on the way in, 69 HUF/kilo. The melon is huge about 10 kg. I saw a Magnum bar so I can't resist.

We stop near Budafok at a TESCO and shop. I have volunteered to cook omelets tomorrow morning so we need gumba (mushrooms) and there are other needs as well. This Tesco is very large, clean and about 2 years old. There are other types of stores in the mall as well.

We get back to the house and immediately have watermelon. It is nice and we are all very thirsty.

After the melon everyone goes for a nap.

The sound of thunder wakens us. There is lots of thunder, a rainbow and little wind....no rain. The storm moves away.

After a beer and some brandy, I am off to see if anyone is on Skype.

Success, Nancy and Steve were able to Skype us and after a few things to correct we had a good picture (at out end) and it was stable on the netbook. It was nice to see them and Gyorgyi, Jancsi and I were able to use it too. Skype is amazing. Still a few bugs but it works. Of course being 6 hours ahead of Canada is something you have to take into consideration.