An insanely busy week

We are still in town, but since I posted I haven't stopped. Last weekend was spent with our good friends Márti and Laci at their house in Csobánka. Before getting to them Roy and I went geocaching nearby and managed to get a couple of them. One was at the end of a good half hour's hike on a lovely pine wooded hill, the other on a sun drenched plateau, which was getting uncomfortably hot.

En route to my first cache of the day last Saturday

Once we have done that, a lunch place had to be found, which we did in the village of Pomáz. Then we slowly pootled towards their house to arrive there in the early afternoon.  It turns out they had a family crisis in the morning, so just as well we didn't arrive until hours later.  Attila, Laci's younger son, (aged 29), seemed to have disappeared. Laci was getting really stressed when somebody thought he might be next door. It transpired that he walked up a ladder in the little yard behind the kitchen and literally fell into next door's garden.  Then he went to sleep and didn't wake up until his father found him there.  Bit weird, if you ask me, and Roy was immediately thinking that some drugs were involved.  Possible, but not likely in my view, but what do I know?

Árpád the chief of the chieftains

We hung around, first in the garden and then indoors, as it got awfully hot again. Once the temperature was a bit less oppressive, we went on a hike, taking the dog for a walk and also finding a moving cache which was only about 300 yards from their house. We took it about 1200 metres from where it was and hidden it quite well behind a tree. After a cold supper we all fell into bed quite comatose.  The heat and the two hikes I had on that day definitely made me tired.

Froggie in the puddle inside a tree

On Sunday Márti, Laci and me went on a real hike of about 8.5km and picked up three caches, as well as got into a cave where I have already been, but Laci hasn't. After that we climbed right up onto a mountain top and proceeded to find several caches. The views were magnificent and we have even run into one of our mutual orienteering friends on top of one of the cols.

Márti and me in the woods

En route back to the house we found another cave, but as the cache was outside, we didn't do too much exploring there. when we got home we departed to a local restaurant for lunch where we had some good food and there we ran into Bozsa and Árpi, our other Csobánka friends, who have just finished their lunch and said hello. After lunch we dropped Laci and Márti near their house and motored home.

One of Márti's gorgeous orchids

In the evening I packed for my trip to the Balkans and went to bed quite early.  The following morning I had to catch the 7:20 bus to Pécs where I was to stay the first night, so that the three of us could start early enough the following morning. In the afternoon, however, I still had time to pick up 6 town caches, which were in the historic centre and were easy to walk round to.  Some of them were quite exciting and difficult, others easier.

The theatre at Pécs

In the later part of the afternoon Feri, who was our chauffeur took us outside the town for a few more caches, so considering we only cached in the afternoon, I picked up 12 of them in quite quick succession. Once we finished, I had a lovely dinner in a nice restaurant in King Street and went to bed early again.

The once Turkish mosque, now catholic church

Tuesday morning we departed on our Balkan adventure and that was such an amazing experience that I am still trying to work through it in my head.  First we crossed the River Drava and picked a cache up there. Then travelled through Croatia, picking up two caches, one at a chateau, another at a castle. Some motorway travel got us in three hours or so to Belgrade the capital of Serbia.

The Majláth chateau in Croatia

There two caches awaited us, one at an old tower overlooking the river, the other at the massive fort and castle, also overlooking the river Danube, impressing as it was. We also sat in a few traffic jams and had difficulty finding a parking place, but finally all was well, we found the caches and travelled on.

Belgrade fort

The next leg of our journey was very, very long, first boring on motorways, but then when we joined up with the river again, which was amazing, exciting and spectacular.  We followed the lower part of the Danube as it travelled through some impressive gorges, passing castles, amazing cliffs and cliff tops in an ever tighter gorge. The next cache was at an enormous castle right by the water, with some of its towers partly under water, as nearly 50 years ago the gorge was part flooded by a dam at its other end.

Galambóc (Golubac) castle

We went down on the Serbian side, sometimes at water level, at others a lot higher up. No towns on that side, only villages, but the views were to die for. At one place we left the river and went inland and only rejoined it at our Southernmost destination, in the town of Vidin in Bulgaria. By then it was getting dark and we still had the main cache, the raison d'etre of the whole trip to find. It is a travelling cache which follows the Danube from source to delta, but unfortunately we didn't have much luck in finding it.

Vidin at night

After many phone calls and other efforts we had the agreement of both the owner of the cache and the president of the geocaching club that we can replace it with another one and move that on. By the time we gave up looking for it, it was pitch dark and we were all done in.

The hotel was actually better than I expected for 19 Euros a night. It was clean and comfortable and even had very efficient air conditioning. The following morning we had breakfast and then travelled down river a further 23km to place it in a hollow tree quite close to the water. Then came probably the most gruelling drive I have ever had, thankfully only as a passenger. We gave up some of the caches on our list, because we realised that otherwise we wouldn't be able to catch the last train from Szeged, which was my trip home.

En route to the top of the rock wall above the Kazan straights

The one remaining one, however, was the very highlight of the trip. From high up above the Kazan-straights of the Danube we had the most incredible views over the river and the rock faces surrounding it. I have been to impressive places before, like Scotland, Niagara, the Himalaya, but this definitely took the biscuit. Although not recommended for those with vertigo. The walk to the top of the rock face was easy through the forest behind it, but looking down was pretty frightening if you didn't have the head for heights.

Muggins on top of the rocks

The rest of the day was spent dodging dead-ends, daft route choices by the GPS, traffic jams, long queues at borders and other such delights.  Finally, I did make my last train and was indoors by 10.30pm. The total tally of statistics were as follows: 1300km travelled in 5 countries, 23 caches gathered, 2 nights spent in hotels and no cooked food consumed right through. I was really pleased to be home and fell into bed like a felled tree.

The view

Today we had lunch with Ian, who suffered from the heat as much as we did.  This heatwave does not want to shift. In downtown it was well above 30 degrees Celsius again. I hope we can return to the village soon for a bit of peace and quiet, but there are still chores in town to be completed, so it will probably wont be until next Monday.

A short, but busy week in town

The day I posted last, Saturday, 19th, was still beautifully warm and the promised cold front didn't seem to arrive. Overnight the rain did arrive, but not with a bang, just with a drop in temperature of a few degrees. On Sunday the air was fresh and cool, so we could breathe again, although the week was forecast to warm up again. These short and not particularly dramatic cold fronts seem to do very little to take the force out of the deeply entrenched hot weather this year.  And the small amount of cooling down is nothing too exciting, as around the 20th August the weather seems to break in most years.

Wileyfox Swift 2X

We decided on Sunday, that as the food was lasting we wouldn't come back into town until Tuesday. We were enjoying the better, fresher air and Roy's gout was improving, albeit very slowly. Ian was due to arrive with my new phone and Roy's driving licence on Tuesday, so I arranged to see him on Wednesday, the day we were due to see Lois and Peter German to go out to lunch at the Zila together.

Roy, me, Peter and Lois at the Zila

Other than those two visits we had a myriad of things to do in town, lots of shopping and arranging things, as well as getting ready for my little geocaching trip with some friends South. For the weekend we were invited to stay with our friends Laci and Márti in Csobánka, to go hiking/geocaching and catching up as we haven't seen them to talk to for ages.  So there was a lot to be getting on with.

My salmon en croute

On Wednesday, Ian arrived bang on 10am, like he always does, and we had a nice chat, I took possession of my phone, Roy put his licence away and the post duly arrived. Ian needed help with a few things, which we went through and after his departure we drove to the Intercontinental to pick up Lois and Peter. Traffic was murder, but we managed to get round all road closures quite niftily.  It seems that they are digging up the whole city in the middle of the tourist season and while the school holidays are still going.  Insane!!!

Interior of the Zila where we had our lunch

The Zila was rather to their liking, which we thought would happen.  The atmosphere, the service and especially the food was first class. We had to wait a bit longer than usual for our food, but once it came, all waiting was proved to have been worth it. Lois and I had salmon en croute, and it was better than any we have ever had before. Usually there is a lot of fresh air between the pastry and the fish, which usually gets quite dry, even at the best restaurants.  Here, it was moist and filled the pastry fully. Roy had a long-horn kettle beef burger and Peter's rosé duck breast got all our juices going. We had a long chat about our lives and memories, which is always great, especially when the peope you are with had such an interesting life.

The Zila's front from the garden

I don't normally have a sweet, but I couldn't resist a chocolate mousse which was delicious, if somewhat too large. We could hardly move, we were all so full. Shame Lois and Peter only visit once a year, but we are already looking forward to seeing them next year. On our way back to their hotel I dropped in to see Zsófi to pick up Roy's Cholchicum drops for his gout, let us hope they help! After dropping Lois and Peter off, we journeyed to our usual organic supermarket for our washing and rinsing liquid, which we normally get there. Since then we found another, much nearer supplier, so we won't be going there again, unless we need them for something nobody else supplies.

My favourite health food and organic shop

Thursday was a very busy day, but I can report that the "to do" list is now considerably shorter. We started with my mobile company's shop, where a helpful young man took my SIM card out of my old phone and put it into the new one. The even older SIM card could not be put into it, because  it is too large, so that is still to be sorted. Then we went to our favourite organic shop close to the flat to get some probiotics and vitamin C and it was there that we spotted that we could get the washing and rinsing liquids with a lot less hassle, so next time we'll get them from there. We also tried to buy some thick socks for Roy in a nearby department store, but failed.  Wrong time of the year, we thought.  The only place we'll probably try later is an outdoor shop, they must have them all the year round, but at a price. I don't mind, as long as his tootsies are comfy.

If only you could get these!!

The next stop was the Western Railway Station underpass, where I usually buy all my phone, tablet, small laptop cases and it didn't disappoint.  For the princely figure of £5 I am now a proud owner of a large, white case for my new phone, so hopefully I should be able to spot it in the bottom of my bag easily!!  From the station we walked to my insurance company and bought travel insurance for my trip next week. That was only a tenner and while 3 days are not usually much to worry about, I thought that in Serbia and Bulgaria I should be insured.

The shield on the front of the hospital

Following that we hopped on a tram and walked to the market where I bought some nuts, although Brazil nuts are difficult to get, so that is still on the list. I will probably going to have to go to one of  the biggest ones for that. Finally, we ended up in the Regős for lunch: I had fish and chips and Roy had mushrooms in breadcrumbs.  After lunch we parted, Roy went home and I went to visit Robi, my ex-brother in law, who is now in hospital and being 91, will probably not leave there soon, if at all. I have last seen him about 10 or so years ago, but since then his cicrumstances have been rather awkward, so we didn't visit.  Recently he lost his wife and is now in this hospital for palliative care, so I thought he might like to see me.  I asked my newphew, András, to ask him and apparently he was happy to see me.

The Western Railway Station

Well, that was definitely true. He is in pretty bad state physically, but the big smile on his face told me that it was a good idea to go and see him. He seemed lucid, although kept repeating things, which probably gave away his anxiety over the visit. I only stayed 20 minutes, but I think I didn't tire him too much and he insisted that I come again.  Next time I will take some family photos, as he expressed an interest in them.

The latest trolley bus model with air conditioning

The trip home was a bit hot and with the city being dug up everywhere, the trolley buses are doing detours on batteries as well as have replacement buses at times. The latter was a disaster, as the trolley buses have efficient airconditioning, the ancient buses are like ovens.  Once I was at home I started playing with my new phone, which is nothing like I have ever had and in some cases I could not work out how to do things without some instructions.  Roy Googled for me how to answer calls, apparently you swipe it. It also turned out that my phone book in the old phone was not on the SIM card, but on the phone, so all those will have to be transferred by hand. That is a bit of a bummer, but at least it will give me a chance for tidying up that long out of date list, full of totally unneccesary names and numbers.

Fearne Cotton

 
This morning we watched Who Do You Think You Are and it was about Fearne Cotton's ancestry, which was fascinating.  Fearne herself turned out to be such a genuinely lovely person, it was yet another excellent episode in this, one of our absolute favourite, series. Today was supposed to be a day of geocaching on my own, but Roy came up with a brilliant idea of doing some of it tomorrow morning, before we visit Laci and Márti, as they are near them and this would save us driving to more or less the same place twice in two days.

Today I have a few more shopping trips out and the start of packing for Monday, so I'd better get off the computer and will post again in a week or so's time.

Another cold front (or not?), gout, cooking lecsó, visiting friends and geocaching (x2)

We eventually left BP on Sunday, as I couldn't get a bloody doctor to even just look at Roy's gouty foot in town. They were sending us here, there and everywhere, to avoid having to do something about it. En route to the village we popped in to the emergency service in a nearby village which was on our route and while there was no doctor there, the nurse gave us a prescription for the medication Roy had last time he had gout. On Monday morning I fetched it from the chemist's and we were hoping for the best.

Preparing lecsó

Still on the Sunday we made 5 bottles of lecsó from the cheap tomatoes and peppers we picked up from our favourite roadside veg shop. On Tuesday his foot was no better, but he still agreed to accompany me to do some geocaching in the Börzsöny mountains. The weather was pretty hot that day too, so this long awaited cool down was not happening. We managed to gather 4 caches, 1 at a ruined medieval watch tower, 1 at a ruined old monastery, then 1 at a spring and finally 1 at a nice little lake. The heat got so oppressive, that we decided to pack it up after just four and go to have lunch at our favourite restaurant in that district.

Roy's chopping onions with the mixer

Wednesday was the day that Hilary and John were due to visit and as I had to fetch them from Hatvan, I also did a bit of food shopping before their train arrived. As it was even hotter than before neither of us felt like cooking, so after a nice long chat and a drink, we took the two of them to Palotás to another favourite restaurant we occasionally visit. As it happens, there is a fast and convenient bus to BP that stops at Palotás, so after lunch we put them on it and said good bye to both of them.  It was nice to see Hilary, as we saw John as recently as February, but Hilary we have definitely not seen at all for at least 3 or 4 years. The bus also saved us from having to take them back all the way to Hatvan.

One of the views in the Börzsöny

On Thursday I took Roy to the village doctor, who has only started the week before and was therefore a bit lost. The nurse/assistant, who would have known where  everything was, was still on holiday, so he couldn't even give us a prescription or referral notes. Still, he was friendly and tried to be helpful and confirmed that Roy needs a  blood test to find out his uric acid levels. I by then decided that I'll take him back to the private clinic where he had been before in town when we are back there.

The beautiful Börzsöny

I was lucky that by Thursday the weather forecast confirmed that my second visit of the week to the Börzsöny mountains was on, as the forecast cold front was not due to arrive until Saturday afternoon, I rested up in readiness for my geocaching hike with my friend Zsuzsi. She was coming from BP, me from Bér, we met in Márianosztra, where one of the caches was and where we left the cars to catch the little narrow gauge train to the top of the mountain range, as I did the previous week.

A lake in the Börzsöny

This time we travelled to the very top at Nagyirtáspuszta, and the plan was to more or less follow a ridge all the way back to the car at the bottom.  This was thankfully level or downhill, but it also included some climbs to peaks that arose out of the ridge in 4 places. Our first cache was commemorating a nice gentleman who in the 1960's established a hiking route to the double top of our first mountain. This was a 3 parter cache, the first two parts on each of the two tops and the third part on the next mountaintop a bit further South.

John, Hilary and Roy waiting for the bus in Palotás

Márianosztra cathedral

After this came the second cache which was on top of the next mountain, called Bald Mountain.  It definitely was bald, all the trees were missing off its top, but only facing South.  The views all along that ridge, and especially at the tops, were magnificent. We could see for anything between 10 to 25 miles in all directions.

Zsuzsi on the narrow gauge railway

Finally, the last cache was in the village where we left our cars and for that, unfortunately, we had to make a 2km detour. I tried to find the first part early in the morning before Zsuzsi turned up in time for the departure of the train, but could not find it.  Thankfully, the owner of the cache, whom I rang up, told me what was on it, ie.: the co-ordinates of the second part.  However, when the cache was placed, the second part could easily be accessed from the first part by walking on the side of the prison, which has existed there in the former monastery for centuries.  Recently, however, they built a new fence and gate on the side of the building and the route thus got blocked.

A delicious fruit of the forest

The cross on Bald Mountain

The Danube from 20km away

The one-armed Jesus looking down on the village

We, fortunately, were coming from the top of the mountain, so at least we only had to do half of the detour, but we had other problems too with this one. Just where the GPS showed that we had to turn left, there were big signs saying: Keep out, area patrolled with guns and dogs! Needless to say we didn't go that way, but eventually found a way through a bit further up, so we got our final cache.

The spa hotel in the forest from a long way away

The prison cemetery up in the woods

On our  way through the village back to the cars, we fell upon a public drinking water pump and had lots of it, as well as a good wash in that heat as well. We said goodbye to each other with Zsuzsi and went our separate ways. I motored home in good speed, so including a stop for petrol I was at home before 6pm.

Another gorgeous view in the Börzsöny

We are off into town on Monday or Tuesday: we have an appointment with some friends from London, we have to meet up with Ian while he is in town, then visit the clinic with Roy's gout as well as getting some homeopathic medicine for his foot from Zsófi. Additionally, I might go back to the Börzsöny for a last time to pick up another 4, 5, 6 or 7 caches, depending on time, effort and the weather.

PS: We are still waiting for the current cold front and rain. The weather patterns have gone for a burton. Ahhhhh!!

Cold front (or not?), a visit to friends and lots of geocaching

On last Sunday the long expected cold front arrived with lot of rain and wind. It was so utterly refreshing that I didn't mind even feeling cold. On Monday we decided to return to town via visiting our friends Tibi and Klári in the Mátra, where they were spending a week on holiday. We have seen Tibi recently when we took Callum on the river and we had a trip in Tibi's boat. However, we haven't seen Klári in many a year as she works in Dublin and does not spend too much time at home.

Tibi leading the way

After packing up and putting on warm clothing (!!!) we set off for the Mátra and arrived around 11am. To our surprise there were 4 of them as Klári's mother and brother were there with them.  It was the first time we have seen them and they turned out a couple of lovely people, just as nice as Klári herself.

The sanatorium in the woods

Before lunch Tibi and I went to get a nearby cache, which was only about 15-20 minutes away, but that was a lovely walk. The view from the top, near the cache, was spectacular over one of the biggest sanatoria in the country. Wooded hills for as long as your eye can see, lovely environment! The weather, however, was disappointing. The cool breeze didn't last long and by the time we got back the cold front had fizzled out.

Blue rose in the garden of a neaby hotel

After lunch we visited two more caches, one in a lovely little park in the nearby town, the other by a spring which was reached after about a mile's walk. Roy suffered a bit on the way back, and we didn't find the cache, but it was still a lovely outing. About 4pm we took our leave and had an uneventful, if somewhat hot, trip back into town.

The rain shelter where the cache wasn't

On Tuesday I had my appointment with my homeopath and for the first time in a long while she was pleased with my results. Most things were either still OK or improved and she had only a few minor concerns, so I was happy too. As my liver seemed a bit under strees, I am back on spoonfuls of thistle seed oil and have to also eat a minimum of two brazil nuts daily for selenium, of which I am a bit depleted.  Other than that I'm fine!!!

The Rákos stream

One bit of fun and games this week included trying to open a new fixed rate bond online, which seems OK every time, but then fails to register.  Finally I had to accept defeat, so sent the form in, albeit about 6 weeks late, by post.  We'll see what happens!!

The St. Stephen's Church in Nagybörzsöny

After my appointment I went to a service place for ASUS to see if they can repair or replace the keyboard on my travelling laptop. No luck, unfortunately, so I am now awaiting a phone call, should they have been able to locate a replacement keyboard. Such is life! Serves me right trying to kill flies with a swat on the keyboard.

A cute little old Diesel engine

On Wednesday I had a nice little hike within the city, which was fascinating. Recently somebody put out a 3 parter geocache on a patch of greenery, fairly close to houses and old, abandoned industrial plants. The length of the walk was 5km and it was rather hot, but we managed to stay mostly in the shade. It is amazing how much wild life, both flora and fauna, remains in cities.

An embarrassment of choice in hiking routes

And finally, the big event of this week was the big  geocaching hike in the Börzsöny mountains. There was a promise of yet another cold front, but this one is still to arrive, so we set off very early to avoid the worst of the heat. We went by car to a village which has a narrow gauge railway up into the hills, and having caught that to its first station, we saved about 2 miles in distance and 100m of climb.

A weird little silver coloured mushroom in the forest

There were 7 caches we were after and as the day progressed it got hotter and hotter. I reckon that this mass of hot air and no wind that has now been stuck here for about 2 months on and off, will take a very massive quantity of cold air, strong wind and low pressure to shift and until that happens, we will carry on sweating.

Saw many of these pretty butterflies

The first cache was a 3 parter, introducing the village first, followed by a climb to a top to get the co-ordinates of the box at the end.  That turned out to be situated near the mountain switchback of the railway track about 2 miles away.  Then we took off for a place up in the hills which commemorates a writer who liked to hunt snipe there, followed by a 4 parter which took us to 4 springs from the old days. The next challenge was to get to the top of the next mountain where there was a beautiful view, but the cache itself was a couple hundred yards away amongst some rocks.

One of the prettier views on the hike

We got lost en route to the next one, because we wanted to short cut and then took the wrong path.  Never mind, we turned back and had an exciting, very steep descent to another set of rocks by a stream and path.  The last cache was on the next ridge after which we returned to the car.  Parched and quite hot we fell onto the first shop we spotted and bought copious bottles of cold water.  It was so nice just to cuddle the bottles for their coolness.

Most of our hike used these rough, forestry roads

En route home we picked up one more cache by a spring, very close to another narrow gauge railway line and then off home. I stood under the shower for about half an hour to cool down and get clean. Needless to say I was in bed and in the land of nod by 9.15pm and as the cold front has still not hit, we are hiding indoors waiting for rain today. Return to the village is planned for Monday.

Lunch was taken sitting on this log, with the cache behind me