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| The hero of the peak |
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| Callum, Alex, Roy and Meaghan in the valley |
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| The hermit's cave Callum didn't want to go in |
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| Grandad and Callum in the forest |
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| The glorious view from the top |
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| Alex near the cache |
The first little hike with Callum up the steep hill above the Remete Ravine was both successful and not. We got to Máriaremete with the bus and walked to the start of the ravine and through it with no problems. We also climbed up (including Roy!!!) quite easily, but the last 50 metres had beaten all but Alex and me. Callum had the energy, but got a bit frightened of the steepness, while Meaghan and Roy had decided to sit out the last rocky bit. Alex and I found the cache, photographed the glorious views and took the cache box down to Callum to rummage in.
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| Awaiting our food at Náncsi Néni's |
En route home we had lunch in Náncsi Néni's famous restaurant, which proved to be every bit as good as its reputation suggested. There were only two downsides: 1. it was hellishly expensive, due to fairly high prices and everybody eating and drinking too much; 2. my less than brilliant night's sleep afterwards due to the amount and richness of the food I consumed. Still, I don't regret going there, I never mind paying over the odds when the goods are worth it and as I have been planning going there for years, it was worth every penny and tummy ache, it was that good.
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| Callum on the slide |
The next day we went to the Aquarena in Mogyoród, which was another visit I wanted to make for years and which turned out OK, but still a bit of a disappointment. We were less than lucky with the weather: still in the middle of a heatwave we managed to pick a cloudy day, which while not cold, was a tad chilly by the end of our visit. Callum was also very conflicted about the large slides, some of which looked positively dangerous to me. Alex tried them all, but Callum only did a few of the smaller, slower ones. He agonised for ages over them, as he was afraid of them while unable to accept the fact that he was going to miss something he really wanted to do. Still, it was a reasonably successful day.
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| Captain's mate at the helm |
Wednesday was a very pleasant day, not too hot and full of exciting activities. Tibor, our river boat captain friend had invited us to join his boat on the river and offered to let Callum drive the boat. That was rather exciting, although later on the traffic got so busy on the river that Tibor had to take back the helm for safety reasons. We did a full run from the North to the South, got out at one place to have a little play in a park and then got back for a couple of stops up North again, to finally depart for the Great Central Market, where we did a bit of shopping and had lunch. We thanked Tibor for a lovely time and arranged with him and his wife to visit them while they are on holiday in the Mátra in
August. Roy and I see Tibor occasionally, but we have not seen his wife, Klári, for a long number of years.
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| Callum in the market |
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| Roy and his lángos |
Lunch in the Market was lángos for most of us, which we were hankering after for a while. They made a very good lángos where we bought it, so it was well worth it. The Market is unfortunately is less and less a real market for the locals to shop at and more and more a tourist attraction, but thankfully, the prices are still good and the quality of merchandise excellent.
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| In the corner at the Regős |
In the evening we had a lovely dinner in the Regős, one of our favourite restaurants about 15 minute walk from the flat. Last time we couldn't get in without a reservation, so this time I made sure we had one. The environment, the service, the food and everything else is still so nice there, that it counts as one of the secure places you can always take guests and be sure not to be disappointed.
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| A small banana split for Callum 's lunch |
Thursday was an away day again, as Alex had the idea to go to Szentendre, about an hour's motoring North of the city. It is billed as the town of artists and it is definitely full of galleries and workshops, which we couldn't visit this time due to Callum being with us. Still, the town itself is so pretty, that there was plenty to see just walking about. The heat on that day was really oppressive, so in spite of the proximity of the river we were all suffering. Consequently, after about an hour and half we left Szentendre and went to the nearby Pilis hills for lunch in Pilisszentkereszt at the Emma Restaurant, a place we got to know on our visits to Bozsa and Árpi in the last year. It was a good decision and we had a lovely meal on the terrace, away from the heat of lower down the hill.
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| The boys in the Balaton |
And on the Friday we got into the car (after packing up enough stuff to look like we were moving house) and departed South to the Balaton. That was also Alex and Meaghan's idea and what a brilliant one it was. They didn't know, but since they were last with us, we met a very good friend Pityu, who has a house not far from the lake and we asked him to put us up for a night. He said yes and the trip was on.
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| Dinner at Pityu's |
We didn't get going until quite late, so we had to stop for lunch before having a swim in the lake. Quite by accident, we picked on a roadside inn, which had a fantastic terrace and lovely food. Having filled our tummies, we motored on until the beach that we got to know on one of our previous visits to Pityu and it was ace. Callum was somewhat perturbed by vegetation in the lake, which tickled his legs, but very soon he was having a good splash about and cooled down, as we all did. Meaghan bought him a crocodile, which served as a lilo and he was well away with him in the water. We stayed there until about 5pm and then drove to Pityu's place.
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| 4 pork chops, a cauliflower and a giant pepper on the BBQ | |
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The usual bridge party was unfortunately cancelled as Pityu's daughter and her friend didn't arrive until gone midnight, but everything else we are used to when at Pityu's place, like the plentiful booze and food, was provided again. Anyone with a friend or relative that needs fattening up after an illness or accident, I can wholeheartedly recommend Pityu, as the one downside ever when visiting him is to dissuade him from permanently refilling your glass and feeding you endless platefuls of food. He is such a lovely man, we both love him dearly and the next visit for after the harvest in October is fixed up already.
Saturday was a long boring drive that had taken up most of the day. First we had to drive back to town, as Alex forgot his running shoes and we were slightly worried about getting caught up in the road closures associated with the Pride march, but thankfully we managed to avoid that. Then we drove to the village via a supermarket, where we did some shopping and finally arrived in Bér. Alex treated us to a BBQ, which was delicious and which we ate in the gazebo in the garden.
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| Callum and the emoji ball |
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| Having fun with Daddy in the pool |
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| Daddy and Callum in the hot end |
Sunday was another first, in this week of firsts, and it was such a treat! Normally, when the Mill is open we go there for lunch or dinner and we planned to take the family there too. However, we have never yet tried the fitness suite at the Mill, and decided to have a go, so Callum could have a splash and we could try it out as well. Roy, as usual, respectfully declined, as he gets very bored in water in no time at all, but the rest of us had such a good time and it set us up for a nice lunch. We have even taken Callum to find the geocache amongst the rocks at the Mill, so that was a really successful day. At the end of it we decided that we must do the jacuzzi and pool again before the Canadian mob leaves and Anna said that while they are not normally open during the week, she will come up and let us in if we give her a ring.
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| Some of the stock at the Fabogár |
On Monday we went to Pásztó and the first place we visited there was our favourite woodworkers's place called Fabogár. We didn't know, but they have demolished the old shop building and are in the process of building a new one, so the shop was crammed into another smaller building next to the factory. The lady was really sweet there and recognised us straight away, even though we haven't been for ages. We did some good shopping both for ourselves and the family, especially that the factory had developed a few new colours and patterns while we haven't been. After a quick shop in SPAR we drove over to Szurdokpüspöki to the Fenyves Restaurant for lunch, which was yet another success for all. We sat outside on the terrace, surrounded by lovely tall pine trees and had some lovely food and drink.
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| The Fenyves terrace |
Finally, yesterday was another day at home, but full of exciting experiences for all. The first thing to happen was Callum and Roy disappearing into the workshop and after the sound of drilling and hammering I had to go and see what was going on. They were making a wooden railway engine out of scrap wood, including a bit of a tree from the garden. Now I understood why Roy bought some little wooden wheels at Fabogár the day before. They finished it in no time at all and the train engine looks really cute. They are taking it home to sand down and paint and I am really looking forward to see how it'll look after being finished in Canada.
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| Callum with the screwdriver |
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| Mummy with a screwdriver |
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| The finished article |
After a quick salad lunch we returned to the Mill for another splash in the wellness suite, which was just as good as before. However, not before I made a valiant attempt at buying two coach tickets for Alex and me to take us from Malpensa Airport to Turin to catch the train to Bardonecchia on the 17th. Needless to say the Italian web site, even though it was in English, was a nightmare to navigate. After about 3 goes, eventually I found myself the proud owner of two pieces of paper, which entitle us to catch the 1pm bus on that day. All I fear now is the plane being late and us missing it, but such is life, especially in Italy that hopefully that shouldn't make any difference. Touch wood!!!!
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| Alex, Meaghan and the curry |
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| The chicken curry |
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| The vegetable curry |
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| The chicken goujons disappearing fast |
In the evening Alex and Roy made a curry and we happily munched away on it, while Callum had chicken goujons, especially made for him by his Grandad. We find that being in the village makes everyone sleep very well, so we will only return to town on Thursday, which is my birthday and have a special dinner at the Kéhly, a lovely old fashioned restaurant in Óbuda. That is a place we discovered one day in a part of town that is full of ugly, 1960's tower blocks, but thankfully, when demolishing that lovely part of town, (town planning includes such vandalism in these parts!!!), they managed to leave a few nice old buildings.
Next post is probably not for a while, but hopefully if the WiFi still operates at Ginny's in Nevache, a longish post from there, while I am on my own, is a possibility. I will have about 48 hours on my own, as Alex by then would have departed for his Executive Committee meeting and Ginny and Richard are taking a relative up to one of the glaciers for a hike. That should make for an interesting time, but considering how exhausted I am from all this non-stop activity already, I think I will welcome the rest.
