Grape harvest

Last Thursday Rosa came to prepare for her yoga camp and we were harvesting the last apples and packing them away for winter. After a while she went off to Hatvan to do some last minute shopping when my phone went. It was Pityu asking where we are. I told him that we are in Bér and asked him why? He then shocked me by saying that he is expecting us in Monoszló that day and that I told him we were coming.  No such thing, quite the opposite, I definitely told him that because of Rosa's yoga camp we can't come until Friday.

David and I in the vineyard

He sounded so dejected that I asked him how important was it that we came straight away? He said very. Why, I asked? We can't play bridge with just 3! I thought that was so sweet that after asking Roy, who was in agreement, I promised that we should be there by evening. What a mad dash that was. I had to phone Rosa and tell her that we won't be there when she returned from shopping. We threw a few things into a couple of bags and drove off.

Ági and Pityu at breakfast

We had to stop at the flat to drop a few things off that would have been daft carrying all the way to Monoszló and back without any reason and also to pick up a few things that we needed at the harvest. Thankfully all the jams on the road were in the opposite direction and finally we arrived about 7pm in Monoszló.

The bridge party

Pityu and Laci were already there. We got fed and watered, as usual, and once David arrived from work in Veszprém the bridge started. I was totally cream crackered and retired by 10pm, but the four of them played until about 1am. The harvest was going to start the following morning, so I thought I would need my beauty sleep, or I would not survive. The pattern of the weekend was food, drink, work, more food and drink, a bit more work, a lot more food and drink and then bridge.  Sleep did not feature much in the program, which ended up nearly killing Roy and me, but we didn't mind. The quality of the hospitality and the loveliness of our friends made up for sleepless nights.

Zsolt, our 6ft 4inch astronomer

Friday was the first day of work and we were pretty much undermanned. Some people got ill, others had courses they could not get out of, so the numbers were not quite up to scratch.  However, we made up for it with enthusiasm. I was detailed to one of the picking teams, while Roy was operating the large wheel of the mashing machine. As my knee was still not perfect, I was given a low stool to sit on whenever the grapes were hanging low, which helped a bit.

Muggins on her little stool

Pityu has two separate bits of an enormous commonly growing vineyard. He owns 2 long and 2 short rows in one bit and then on the other side of his press house 22 rows which are about middle length. We all had snips, although some bunches came away without cutting. Unfortunately the furthest 4 or 5 rows were pretty much obliterated by the deer, as the forest is very close and they like grapes.

The pink grapes...

... and the lovely blue ones

Further down, however, there were rows where we could stay put for 15 minutes and fill 2 buckets with grapes. Currently I have more bits of me that hurts than bits that don't hurt. Reaching up with both arms at once (one for holding the bunch and the other for cutting it off) plays havoc not just with your arms, but your low back as well. Also, often the bunches dropped, so there was a lot of bending down to the ground picking them up. My knee held up very well, didn't swell up and only hurt a bit by the end of the day.

4 varieties all together

The press

Pityu, as usual, always cooked too much, plied us with wine, spritzers, pálinka and all manner of other drinks. Roy and I were among the slow drinkers, but some of the other guys were putting it away like there was no tomorrow. The machinery Pityu has is somewhat rustic, but does the job. We were picking into buckets and then somebody with a hopper on their back came to collect it. He took them to Roy's masher, after which they brought out the press and pressed the mashed grapes manually. Hard work indeed!

David and Roy working the press

Zsolt with grapes on his back and in his hand

The types of grape were a mystery to me, but there were definitely at least 5 different ones. Two looking like green were Green Vertellini and Juhfark (means sheep's tail). Funnily enough the Juhfark bunches had a bend in them, making them look just like sheep's tails. Then there were some vaguely pink ones, nicely browny red ones and finally the black ones. As I am on a diet of sugar free food, I wasn't supposed to eat too many of them. I was a very good girl on day 1, but by Saturday, when we were in the bit with the pink grapes in, I had to have some and they were gorgeous.

Breakfast

Lunch al fresco

By the end of Saturday we managed to pick all the grapes, but the pressing wasn't going nearly so well. It is very physical hard work and there were not too many people with the strength (other than Zsolt) who could carry on non-stop. So they had to leave a large part of it to Sunday. Roy and I had to rest as we were as good as done in. Some people, a lot younger than us, were doing the same. Most of us left by 4pm, some going home, others elsewhere.

We had a really exciting adventure on our way home, as David, who is a very good friend and whom we love dearly, showed us the house and land he is buying in Balatonalmádi. Most things that I have heard about this property were not exactly positive, but after looking it up on the map I thought it must have some beautiful views. And it most certainly did. The house stands on a plot about 1 and quarter acres. It's an eclectic piece of DIY mess, but while it does not look very pretty, it has potential and what is there seems solid, mostly stone built and the roof looks good and dry too.

Ági with David's house behind her

A tree of pots for decoration

That enormous ground is mostly grass, but with some vines and fruit trees on it. Unfortunately the people have lived there for decades and even though they have already taken away a lot of their stuff, it is still giving the impressions of a junk yard. Having said that I was not nearly as much bothered by that as Ági, David's other half. Both Roy and I have imagination and we can see how nice this will be once someone with flair, imagination and a bit of money improved it.  David is really enthusiastic and I am sure he'll love it. He is planning to move in next April when his lease on his current place expires and I am sure he'll do it. I remember when we camped out in a half renovated house and loved it.

The junkyard

And finally the views

View

View

After saying good bye to him land Pityu we journeyed on to town taking Ági with us. We took her home and were indoors by 8pm.

View

View

Geocaching Festival, car service, knee and TV

The main event of the last week was the Geocaching Festival and Competition. Last Thursday we travelled in to town, in time to park up, make sandwiches and pack for the trip. I was travelling with Gabi and Mariann by bus the following morning. The trip was 2 and half hours, which I spent mostly reading my book as the other two sat somewhere miles away from me. (shades of Gizi, I thought!)

The Castle of Sirok

Gyuri was there, right by the bus stop waiting for us, and we got going around 10:15am. There was a small amount of tension in the air, partly because I felt somewhat aggrieved at Mariann's planning (taking us into areas where I have already got all caches), partly because Gyuri was tetchy and a bit irritable, probably because he wasn't feeling very well.

The Festival event centre

Mariann wanted to go to the baths in Bükkszék, so we had to hurry up as much as possible. We visited a lovely castle, or to be more exact, I stayed in the car, due to my knee and the fact that I have already been there with Gyuri 18 months ago. It has now become obvious, that when Mariann does the planning, she makes no effort to take the route to where others haven't yet been either. It is all about herself. She is not as pernicious as Gizi, but she is also quite selfish and occasionally muddle headed and negligent.

Mariann on our balcony

I have already decided that never will I trust her with booking the accommodation ever again, but now I will also have to do all my own planning, or I won't go with them. Gyuri can be excused, as he is a sick man, but Mariann has no such excuse and I will have to be careful in future. Especially, that I have also discovered that rather than just caching, we are also going to places where Gabi is doing sightseeing, irrespective of caching. I am perfectly OK with that, provided that is agreed with all of us, not done surreptitiously as Mariann thinks fit. The  sad thing is, that I am always so careful not to be unfair to others, but now, having realised that I do not receive the same consideration from others, I will have to start being selfish myself. Such is life!

The wild pear tree at the top

The baths were gorgeous, although I always have to be careful, due to my heart condition, not to be in the hot water for too long. I did the usual 5 minutes in, 10 minutes out routine and that worked. When I was out, I sat on the side of the pool, so that my knee was in the water, but the rest of me was out. Later on, I realised that I should have been completely out, as the water at Bükkszék was too strong and made my knee worse. In the long term it probably does good, but initially, it was a bit drastic for my poor damaged ligaments.

Mediieval chapel

The B&B was lovely with an old fashioned, friendly, chatty and extremely helpful nice lady owner. There was tension here as well, as Gyuri took exception to me taking the other downstairs room, next to Mariann and Gabi. He demands mollycoddling, which Mariann gives him, but I don't even mollycoddle my own husband, so why should I do that to him? He would have had the heart to send me upstairs with my dodgy knee, just because he is the alfa male and feels that is his due. Also because he favours Mariann and Gabi and wanted to be next to them. Funnily enough, I only took the room because the owner said that the mattress is very hard there and I like hard beds and wanted to spare him the agony. When I offered it back to him, seeing how upset he got, he grumpily said: "You are the oldest, you have it!" I feel the end of a beautiful friendship coming on here, which is sad, but again - Such is life!!

Fishing lake

On Saturday we got up early and arrived at the Geocaching Festival among the first people. We got our T-shirts, had chats with several people and then departed for the day's geocaching. Unfortunately, my knee started hurting a bit, so I decided that I will only go up to caches, which are not too far or too steep to get to. I missed out a couple, but the first one I went to was really worth it. About a third of a mile out of a village, on top of a hill were a large cross and a lovely wild pear tree. The views were to die for. Shame my new camera doesn't take panoramic pictures, but I took a few nice ones all the same.

Medieval decoration on a church

There were some interesting rock formations, some lovely lakes, which were really reservoirs, but over the years the vegetation had grown up round them and many little weekend cottages were built, so they al looked very natural. My favourite on this day was a gorgeous medieval chapel, which looked rather too drastically rebuilt, but I loved it all the same.

The Hungting Lodge as our base

We finished the day at a cache by a round cemetery chapel, which looked cute, but was locked, so we couldn't see inside. This cache was found by Gabi and me, as both Mariann and Gyuri stayed at the car this time. The atmosphere was electric when we got back and an extremely grumpy Gyuri said that he had enough and we are going home. Never mind their promise to come with me to mend one of my caches which wasn't very far, he decided and that was that. Roy and I are going for a 3 day away trip at the end of October to Gyula, which is right by where Gyuri lives, but I very much doubt that I will talk to him or have anything to do with him then. I think I had enough!

Gyuri at the church door

Back in town I had a restful Sunday, trying to get over the privations of the trip and also nursing my knee that was pretty stiff and painful again. It could have been the walking, or the baths, or anything else, but what was funny was that it hurt in different places and in a different way from how it has been so far. Unfathomable, knees, and as it is the first time I had something like this, I was a bit stumped. I decided that I must have an ultrasound of it, as it might need some special attention and it is time that it had it.

Linnmon IKEA table for £15

On Sunday afternoon we also went to IKEA and bought a computer table, which was ridiculously cheap and easy to transport. Once the computer arrives, we will need some rejigging upstairs between the bedrooms and the bathroom. This is basically the landing, which isn't large, but I think we worked out how we will both be able to have a computer desk/table and not be in each other's way. Where Roy is now, I will be at, with the new table and another piece of furniture from downstairs which has always been in the way there anyway. Roy will move to the other end of the space, with his computer and desk. The only extra we will have to buy is an external WiFi card, like the one he has in the village, so my new machine will be on the cable and he will be on WiFi. Hopefully this will work, and I will report on this next time. 

One of the funniest episodes with the two Whitehalls

On Monday morning we left very early, as the car was due for its yearly service and MOT. While waiting for the car, we watched some more episodes of Who Do You Think You Are, which is back again. The bill was £300, which considering it was combined service, MOT and the cleaning of the air conditioning unit, wasn't too bad. Another £100 worth of Tesco shopping latter we were back home quickly.

Holliday Grainger is brilliant in The Capture

In the afternoon I managed to book a couple of appointments for my knee ultrasound and an abdominal ultrasound as well, as I have been having some strange gurglings in the nether regions, so while on the phone I booked that as well. Those two came to nearly another £100, so the day was shaping up to be one of about £500 worth of stuff. Such is life! (This is becoming repetitive!!)

Apple Harvest no. 3

I also had an e-mail telling me that my new desktop computer is done, but I won't now have time to fetch it before next Monday, as I also had another phone call, telling me that Pityu's grape harvest has been brought forward by a week, so we are off to Monoszló on Friday. This, unfortunately, will make us absent while Rosa has her yoga camp at our place, but that is OK, as she is very competent and will cope on her own, I'm sure. The other downside is, unfortunately, that I will miss two concerts as well: 1. a free one in a neighbouring village and 2. the season opener at the Palace of the Arts with Bozsa. Shame, but such is life!!! (this is getting irritating!!)

This morning I have watched the 3rd episode of BBC's The Capture which is brilliant. I am not sure how true all this stuff about digital manipulation of video evidence is, but if a tenth of it is true, I agree with the presumed purpose of the mini-series, (other than to entertain), i.e. putting it out into the public domain, that you should take all so called "incontrovertible" evidence over anything with a very large pinch of salt. In brave 21st century England you should consider that whatever you are watching with your own eyes, could still be lying. I think there are 3 more episodes and I await them with bated breath, it's that exciting. The script, the acting and the direction/photography are all excellent and I wonder how they are going to wrap it up. We'll see!

Another gorgeous lake on our caching trip

The rest of today will be taken up by gathering and burning of walnut leaves, harvesting the last two apple trees, wrapping the apples and putting them away, plus sorting some clothing, as we ended up with too much in town and need a bit more here. Anything that is superfluous, will go to charity.

Small remnant of ancient castle

Tomorrow Rosa is coming to clean and set up the Bunkhouse for her yoga group and we'll have to show her the tricks over opening, locking up, turning the water off and such things as she will need to know in our absence. We'll leave about 4pm tomorrow, so that we arrive late enough not to have to pay for parking, but early enough to be in for Bozsa who is coming for my concert ticket for Árpi, whom she can now take with her to the concert, while I will be in Monoszló.

Circular chapel in an old cemetery

Next week in town I will have the medical appointments, the picking up of the new desktop computer, buying a few other bits and bobs for the computer and finally, going to the Blood Transfusion Centre with Feri, so that he can give blood and I can find the geocache hidden there. I will report about all this next week or the one after (depending on the hectic nature of life around here).

Bence, F1x2, house meeting, Lyle's op and harvesting

A couple of days after our Szekszárd trip, we were back in Bér. But before that, let me tell you about my meeting with Bence. He is a really lovely young man, whom I had a nice long chat with in a café near the flat. He is keen to learn about Marxism, and as he is already involved in left wing politics, surrounded by like-minded youngsters, I think my association with him will be good for both of us. He can learn from me and I can learn from him. Hopefully Levi will be back from the country soon and then we can have a good meeting, planning future activities.

A troubled looking Lewis Hamilton

The Sundays at both ends of  last week had F1 races in them, so I have been spoilt. Unfortunately Lewis did not win either of them, but he managed a 2nd and a 3rd, so I am not complaining. Both races were fascinating, exciting and full of overtaking, so irrespective of results, they were worth watching.

A red beauty from the courtyard

In Bér we had a lot of stuff to do, partly because the grapes and several fruit trees needed harvesting, partly because we both had a fair amount of admin to deal with and also because we were having guests from Anna. Roy managed to mow the grass again, plus pick up and burn walnut leaves and rotting fruit. It really looks great now, although we had a couple of days of torrential rain, so it has started growing again.

Anna's guests were of the virtual types, i.e. we didn't see or hear them. I managed to buy some travel insurance for the cruise over the phone and also deal with Leigh by e-mail re: the August cruise. I think we found the one we want, it is a 7-night cruise out of Venice on the Rhapsody of the Seas, to Kotor and the Greek Islands and back. This will leave us some flexibility to perhaps spend a couple of days in Venice afterwards as well, but we'll see. We can't  book it until Meaghan knows her holiday dates.

The Rhapsody of the Seas

I spoke to Szabolcs about building us 3 new desktop computers, and he agreed. Dylan, who is now the sole owner of the business, rang back and on Thursday I popped along to pay for the first one. They are building it as I write this and I hope to pick it up, along with a brand new monitor, when we are in town next.

Something like this, I think

On Thursday last week I had to pop back to town on my own, as there was a house meeting, as well as the visit to Dylan's and to the bank. The house meeting was important as it was time to decide about allowing air conditioners on the courtyard wall and a permit to have AirB&B's in the block. Both were voted in, which I am glad about as global warming is robbing me of my sleep in all the summers when I have to be in town. Next year we are having air conditioning in the flat, which knowing our luck will result in a cold and rainy summer.

I have also managed to catch someone in at the Buják Forestry Office, to ask about the forester whose memorial I spotted by a path some years ago, and where I was thinking of putting a cache. Unfortunately, in this country, where the concept of maintenance is not very well known or practiced, one can be sure of not finding something a few years after seeing it in the first place. Apparently, the memorial is no longer there, as it had fallen down due to lack of maintenance. No cache there, then!

And then we come to the main events of this week, which were the grape harvest, the apple harvest and Lyle's op.  Starting with the last one: Lyle was having a Whipple procedure, which is a complicated and long operation dealing with a tumor on one's pancreas, also growing into other organs nearby. Well, I am happy to report that the op took "only" 4 hours, instead of the expected 8 and the last time I heard he was recovering well.

First half of our apples this zear

The harvesting, which Roy and I did the last two days, was a bit exhausting, but great fun. We picked all our grapes and about half of our apples. The grapes were trodden by me into liquid and put in the cefre, the apples were sorted into: 1. good enough to wrap in paper and put away for winter, 2. to be eaten now and 3. either thrown away or given to someone in the village. There were about 20 kilos to deal with, about 2/3 was put away, a kilo or so is awaiting us to eat them and the rest was partly put on the compost heap and about a sackful was given our neighbour across the road. Ostensibly for their pigs, but who knows, they might even bake with some of them or preserve them. Some people even use apples for pálinka, I don't care, but I am glad to be shot of them.

In lieu of a press

Finally, I have two reports to make: one about the weather, the other about my knee. The weather has finally turned cold. We have been having night time temperatures in the low tens and last night there was even a couple of hours when it was 9 degrees Celsius outside. Let us hope that our very persistent heatwave is well and truly finished. As for our knee, the news are less good. It hurts more now, than it did before the Szekszárd trip. The main reason is probably that it was too soon to spend so much time on it while away from home. Also, I do have dodgy knees even when they are not injured, so it could have been exarcebated by that, plus I started having sneezes and coughs and a blocked nose last week, so if that was a viral cold, that might have had a go at it as well.  Anyway, I am a bit upset, as it was getting so good and it is bad again.

White grapes on top of the red

And finally, finally, on Monday we had a visit from Rosa and her father, who turned out to be a lovely guy. They couldn't stay for too long, but we enjoyed their company for about an hour or so  and next week we are having Rosa's yoga camp in the Bunkhouse, so we will see more of her then.

Wrapped safely for winter

We are off to town tomorrow afternoon, as I am having a couple of days away on Friday and Saturday with Mariann, Gabi and Gyuri at the geocaching festival and competition. We are not competing, just caching in the area and will drop in on Saturday to show our faces and log the event cache. The car is going for its annual service on Monday and at the end of that day we should hopefully be back in Bér.

Levi, Bence, the knee brace and the trip to Szekszárd

Unfortunately, the meeting fixed up with Levi and Bence on Friday before last had never happened (again). Their lifestyle is even more hectic than ours, and they are here, there and everywhere all the time. I keep trying, one of these days I am sure I'll catch up with them. Postscript: I am having a meeting with just Bence today at 2pm. Should it really happen, I will tell you all about it in the next post. :)

Muggins at the Fritz Winery

I have just been told off by Roy for not ordering my computer before we went away. The little chap, who said he could build it, told me that he had nothing to do this week, so I suppose I should have grabbed him. Somehow getting ready for the trip to Szekszárd made me forget it. I hope to have a brand new desk top computer, as I am heartily sick of this laptop and shops no longer sell them. I will keep the laptop for watching TV and such like, but would prefer a new desk top. We will also have to buy a desk for it, but I have already decided where it goes. I'll chase Roy away from where he is at the moment at the top of the stairs and he will go to the bit outside the box room, while I'll have his place, but with a fitted bench extension where all my junk will go.

The happy owner of the scooter

Before I tell you all about our recent trip, let me introduce to you my latest acquisition: a cute little scooter, which we bought in Decathlon, even though we have only gone in to buy a knee brace. While waiting for the ordered item to be located, we started looking around. FATAL!!! The scooters were nearby and I fell in love with the idea. We bought it there and then, folded it up and took it home. I love it!!

The cute little blue and white chapel

I have even tried it out while going for a cache three quarters of a mile away from the car park a few days ago. There was about 700 metres of hard road, followed by about 400 metres of scrappy woodland path. I used the scooter on the road, then collapsed it and hid it behind a fallen tree. Once I came back from the cache I tried to re-assemble it without success. It was a bit of a bind having to carry it back, but I got rescued by a small truck where the driver was willing to give me a lift back to Roy and the car. Roy gave me a thorough lesson on how to collapse and then re-assemble it, so hopefully I should not get stuck like that again.

The first lookout tower of many on this trip

So now for the trip to Szekszárd and the surrounding area. It is in Tolna County in the South, near the Danube and only about an hour from Pécs. We have never been to that area before, so it was time to go and have a look. The region includes a much protected area of flood plain forest, called Gemenc. That place has a little narrow gauge railway, so we were going to go on that as well, provided it was still running.

An existing monastery in the Szekszárd hills

We bought a motorway pass, so we bombed down on the M6 and started caching very close to our destination. This was yet another trip where churches and chapels dominated the geocaching scene. First one was a cute little, beautifully renovated blue and white chapel quite close to the road. Then we moved on to several villages up in the hills and visited lakes, reservoirs, abandoned monasteries, lookout towers, stages of the cross, some more churches and finally a biggish town on the other side of the hills.

A big fishing lake near Grábóc

Unfortunately, as I hate multi caches, nowadays, after having found more than 2000 geocaches already, more and more places have only multis left. And as I have deliberately left them previously, now more than half of what we did were multis. With weather being in the 30+ range, that was hard going. In the meantime I was trying to look after my poor twisted knee as well, so things were not easy. Amazingly, the knee was coping quite well, although I had to be very careful where and how I put my foot down.

Our B&B

About  5 o'clock we went to our pre-booked B&B, the White Cow, which I had good feelings about. And I was right. It is a delightful, renovated and extended old press house. The owner is a builder and when the building industry collapsed in the credit crunch, he decided to renovate and extend his own press house next to his vineyard to open it as a B&B as a means of basic income.  It is now very popular and they seem to live pretty well on it.

The Takler Restaurant at night

We got the best room in the house where we had a king sized bed, en suite bathroom, TV, WiFi, a little kitchen and a balcony for the princely figure of £40 per room per night. The only thing you had to be really careful about is not to hit your head on the sloping walls, as we were in the attic space. The owners are really lovely, friendly and the place is spotlessly clean and comfortable. I am sure we will be back.

Little diesel engine pulling logs instead of tourists

The second day was supposed to be spent in and closely around the town of  Szekszárd with Karesz and Feri, but something happened and they changed it to Friday. So we decided to go to Gemenc on the Thursday and try to have a little railway trip and look around in that ancient forest. There are red deer and boar there, so I was really excited. Well, the place did not disappoint. The choo choo train was really sweet, we met a lovely Hungarian/UK family and chatted while puffing along and then had a good walk without too much trouble.  Normally the mosquitoes are fierce, but having put on bug repellent, it was bearable.

A curious looking stag behind bars :(

We even got lost a bit, as en route back to the car, the train made an unscheduled stop round the place where they have a lot of deer and boar, so we got off to go to the second cache, which was not far. We missed the right path and instead of walking 200 yards, we did about 2km. Still, it was exciting, especially when we met some wild boar piglets outside the fencing. Thankfully, even my knee didn't complain much.

The lookout tower at Gemenc

After this we went to a nearby town and a couple of villages to get their geocaches and that went off well too. The only problem we had was at the Northern end of Gemenc Forest, where due to flooding the train no longer goes and all the facilities there looked totally dead and abandoned.  It was getting late afternoon and Roy was worried about being locked in, so we abandoned that one and went home.

Roy and my trout

The sensation that evening was the restaurant where we went for dinner. The previous night, on the recommendations of our hostess, we visited the Fritz Winery, where the food and service was good, but nothing out of he ordinary. However, on the second night, the also on the recommendation of the hostess, we walked to the Takler Wine Estate, which was a different kettle of fish. Enormous, large estate with elegant but not gaudy style, extremely good atmosphere, place full of young people, the service is superb and the food and drink just so good that I can't think for words for it.

Roy's rose duck breast

I also re-discovered my love of spritzers. They have a rose wine made on the estate which the waiter said was made of Pinot Noir, which is not good enough for a high quality red wine, so they just make rose out of it. I had a spritzer half and half and the first 2dl did not touch the sides. I had another one and that tasted just as good.

The tower made of vines and wheat above Szekszárd 

Roy had duck breast, which was commented about by Alex as "Oh wow, I never have it that good!" It looked and tasted out of this world. I had trout and an unusual, but delicious mixture of bulgur wheat salad, with rocket, baby tomatoes and a few other great ingredients. The only trouble en route back to the B&B was that we had to walk along a busy road, so after getting a bit anxious the night before, we brought our high visibility vests (a new use for the gillet jaune) and felt a lot safer.

The three disgraces?

On the third day, Friday, we had to have an early breakfast, so that we could fetch the boys from the station by 8am. I dread to think what time those two had to get up, as they had a 3 hour train journey from BP. We started with the hills, as we thought that there will be some climbing involved and it would be better to do that before the temperatures climbed beyond 30 Celsius. As it happened, most of the caches in those hills were drive-in.

This makes excellent Szekszárd red

We had churches (again), chapels, springs, views from vineyards, trips through narrow lanes bordered by 20 foot high loess walls, some more lookout towers, rows of cellars and two long town multis in Szekszárd itself. All of it was both interesting, fun and aggravation all in one. The heat didn't help, neither did the fact that some were hidden so well that we had to be very bloody minded not to throw in the towel through sheer frustration. Still, the boys are exceptionally stubborn, which is good, as I would have given up a lot sooner once or twice during the day.

An old wine related building in Szekszárd

Once we finished the town, we ventured a bit further, met some lovely people harvesting their grapes already, picked a few ourselves and they tasted like honey, and finished by an old chateau, which is now a winery. Long and tiring, but very enjoyable day indeed at the end of which we put the boys back on their train, went home, had a shower and walked to the Takler Wine Estate again for dinner.  This time the place was totally empty, which was very different from the day before. We got a table in the air conditioned inside restaurant, which was much appreciated. The food, drink and service was just as good as the night before and we staggered home full.

Modern church in Paks

And then the final day we got up, had breakfast, packed and departed in the direction of Paks. I looked up 5 caches to be done on the way home, which we duly did. Churches and chapels dominated again, as well as the accursed multis. Paks has a 7-parter which we enjoyed in parts and not in others. The heat was horrendous, but we struggled through it and saw some lovely sites. My favourite will forever be the atmosphere down by the river, with its slow moving water, fishermen, young people canoodling, one young woman just sitting on the bank telephone in hand and the cache was found quite easily too.

Down by the Danube in Paks

Before we left Paks we found a lovely old square surrounded by wine cellars. They were all well maintained and/or renovated and provided a good backdrop to our lunch. There was a pub on site, but it was closed for lunch (only in Hungary!!), but suddenly the publican appeared for a few minutes and we quickly bought a coke for Roy.

Cellars

We got home by 5pm and hit the deck pretty soon after that. Fantastic little holiday, a good few caches found, new territories explored and 2 marvellous establishments: The White Cow B&B and the Takler Wine Estate discovered. We will certainly be back!!