Gyor > Budapest 140km
[Originally posted Aug 29, 2014]
“So did he come into you ass up?” That’s not the question I was expecting from Katy. But it made sense. We were riding between the towns of Zsámbék and Páty on our way to Budapest and the damnedest thing happened. A giant bee or something had flown straight into my chest, apparently stinger in front, and had lodged right into my skin. It hurt like the dickens and I immediately looked down to see what appeared to be a miniature dart still stuck in my skin (I was riding shirtless today, as I have been lately, trying to remove this awful cyclist tan from my arms) and so I ripped it out to show Katy the evidence of my wound. It was just moments before that I heard Katy let out her own shriek of pain only to turn my head backwards to see her frantically trying to rip her shirt off to remove the offending agent. She complained that she had been stung and so I stopped pedaling and allowed the bike to coast for awhile (its easier to keep balance on the rear of our tandem when you don’t have to pedal) while she fixed her problem. I just thought to myself, whatever - how much could a bee sting really hurt? But then the same thing had happened to me and it was the worst stinging pain I can recall. I’m not sure what types of bees live on that short section of the highway but they aren’t too be messed with.
Along with these two near simultaneous attacks, Hungary has also been the land of other “firsts” that we hadn’t previously seen in Europe and weren’t exactly prepared for. The first “first” I’ll mention is poverty. On our way into Hungary we cycled on a bridge that went over a railroad track and the neighborhood along the railroad track had the all too familiar sights of what I became accustom to in Jamaica - dirt paths, rubbish looking fences, corrugated metal, people washing in the river. It was a familiar scene but one we hadn’t seen in the last 8 weeks. Later that night while getting ice cream in Győr a kid approached us and held out his hands asking for money. It kind of caught us guard.
Next, obesity. We saw little to no fat folks in western Europe. But then all of a sudden in Hungary they just started appearing. Walking into the supermarket, driving the mail truck, sitting on the side of the road. Large round fat people. When we asked our WS host Andi why she thought obesity was prevalent in Hungary she cited poverty as the region. “Yes, the poor people just eat a lot of bread and so they get bigger. It used to be okay but now people are realizing that being so fat isn’t good so people are trying to eat better.”
And the other big change that has reared its ugly head right in our way is potholes. Now I’m not talking about the gigantic-man-eating-Ann-Arbor-
On a different topic - yesterday was Katy’s birthday. I tried to get her to take the train from Gyor to Budapest (pronounced Budapesht) so she could spend the day at the thermal hot springs enjoying a spa and massage instead of the 140km ride of the day, but she refused. So it was a quick ride (we were on a time crunch to meet our WS host by 3:30) so we cranked out 140km in just under 6 hours. It was a grind, especially when the hills showed up.
Dinner was a delicious 8 course meal at Csalogany 26. I’ve never had 8 courses before (unless you count refilling your bowl with more cereal and milk a course) and it was rather tasty. And then an evening walk along the Danube. It’s nice to be on the road.
Hungary. Lots of corn.
The best part of the day is always the "middle of nowhere" part.
On the road again.
Getting closer and closer to the source of this lifesaving cuisine.
Parliament builiding, Pest. FYI - Budapest used to be 2 cities, Buda on the west of the Danube and Pest on the East until they were officially joined in 1873.
The Danube.
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