Back in Keszthely. This is the place we come between adventures to rest up. Keszthely is a resort town, pretty much interchangeable with any other resort town. You could take Keszthely and drop it on the Oregon Coast and nothing would look amiss except the narrow streets and the funky old buildings.
After breakfast every morning, I get to take a great walk. I usually start by walking past the train station, with the little major triad chimes that go off every time a train arrives or leaves. If I am there early enough I can see the guys on the steam engine preparing for the day trip to whatever tourist attraction they go to every day.
Turn the corner, and you are on the "Boardwalk" heading for the paid beach. It is fun to walk past the stores in the morning. It is a lot like watching a festival come to life, people in adjoining booths catching up as they place their displays out. The "Ettrem" or restaurants here serve the culinary delight, "Ketchup Pizza." Anything with a red sauce is done using German-style Ketchup. A little more spicy than what you are used to, but still Ketchup. (Since my family will inevitably at this point bring up that I should be right at home, having eaten ketchup sandwiches as a kid, I will point out that Zia used to eat mustard sandwiches. See, we were made for each other.)
At the end of the Boardwalk is the booth to enter the paid beach. Balaton is very shallow, an excellent place to swim with children. You can go out hundreds of meters and still only be standing on a fine sandy bottom in water to your waist. There is a dock that goes out to deeper water for swimmers. The early arrivers are just getting here to claim the choice spots on the sandy beach.
Because several letters came inquiring, I hate to break this to you guys, but every guy wears a speedo on the beach. So if you don’t want to stick our like a sore thumb, you acquire a speedo. As the Admiral said, "If the natives are rubbing blue mud in their navels, I rub blue mud in mine." Zia seems to be enjoying it immensely.
From there, if the mosquito population has abated for the day, I’ll walk out the other dock to where the Balaton Cruises leave. You have your choice of three different boats taking different kind of sightseeing adventures around the lake. There is a restroom here if you need it, but make sure you have a 100 ft coin with you. Most public restrooms are pay toilets.
From the lake on most days I will drift towards the "Centrum," the center square. This takes me past the restaurant that advertises the quality of the cooking based upon the head cooks weight (165 kilos today, must be good...), and up a narrow street to the center square.
To your left is a great old church that is now part of the Agricultural College. The right is Kossuth Lajos Utca (Koh-shoot Loy-osh Oo-tza), a blocked off pedestrian plaza. Kossuth was the chief spokesman for the revolution in 1848, and is, dubiously, a national hero. Most towns in Hungary have a street named after him. The pedestrian plaza is a great place to people watch. A wide, tree lined, marble and brick street, the break from cars is welcome. The stores offer a wide variety of stuff to the shopper, like women’s clothes, lingerie, money changers, women’s clothes, lingerie, swim suits, women’s clothes, lingerie, tourist trinkets, women’s clothes, lingerie, folk clothing, women’s clothes, lingerie, coffee and gelatto, women’s clothes, and lingerie. One afternoon, we were enjoying an iced coffee here when a familiar tune came over the muzak. "Jingle Bell Rock" did nothing to cool us off, but it did elicit a chuckle from us both.
From here it is short, two block walk to the Festetics Castle. Through a big wrought-iron gate is a big courtyard with the standard flowers and fountain. The castle is about a block long, with a tall "onion dome" on the top, the most recognizable landmark in the city. The left side is blocky, with lots of ornate detail around the windows. The right side is more rounded and simpler. There is a courtyard on the other side, that we have not checked out yet, where they put on Shakespeare productions al-fresco, and Johann Strauss gets his due in the ballroom upstairs once a week or so.
From here, I usually turn around and head for home. Sometimes I get enthusiastic and go farther, but, hey, I’m on vacation.
*****
I’ll probably get in trouble for this, but, what is it with women and shoes? I have visited six different shoe stores today with Zia and Vera because the shoes that Zia has for the stuff this weekend don’t look right, and the ones she does have are comfortable. I don’t get it...
Dave
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