Scenes from Budapest

We spent the day enjoying Budapest’s wonders. Actually I should say Buda and Pest, the two parts of the City separated by the Danube and joined by 8 bridges. Buda is the older of the two, and they say Pest is more lively, but both have a rich heritage, and a vibrant buzz – Budapest is hopping. We walked the streets, crossed its bridges, admired its architecture, sampled some its wonderful food, enjoyed its street music (including klezmer) and then late in the afternoon took the waters at the Gellert Baths, one of the many thermal centres in the City. I am told that 70 million liters of 21-78 Celsius warm thermal water spring forth daily from Budapests 118 natural thermal springs. The Gellert is one of Budapest's oldest and most opulent baths, and we enjoyed the hot pools (36 and 38 C), steam baths (followed by cold plunges) and saunas. A visit to the baths is a throwback to a more leisurely time, a opprotunity to indulge oneself and just relax. They say that taking Budapests thermal waters has great health benefits, and even if it doesn’t, boy did it feel good.

At night we all went out for a great Italian meal, taught the restaurant how to make a Tom Collins (Wes’s favourite cocktail, which I now enjoy - just google it and make one for yourself) then Vince and I took some photos from the Castle promenade, which is just beside out hotel. As you can see, day or night, Budapest is the best.

A day of contrasts - and our arrival in Budapest

Today we rode from Esztergom to Budapest along the banks of the Danube. During the morning we started off on a well-paved bike path beside the river, which has grown to majestic proportions and is surrounded by mountains sloping down to the banks.

We crossed the Danube by ferry to Szob and continued to meander along its banks until the small town of Vac, where we had an enchanting lunch in the beautiful main square of the city (which Vince followed up with some impromptu sunbathing, see below). We then took another ferry back across part of the Danube to Szentendreis Sziget Island where we continued along dedicated bike paths across the island, to a bridge across the remaining part of the Danube and then followed the cycle path to Budapest. Along the way, we were enchanted by rolling fields, mountains which castles perched on high, wild flowers and the majesty of the river. This part of the Dnaube is as lovely as anything on my trip.

We were less enchanted by two fairly crowded muddy stretches near Budapest during which Maryse landed in the mud not once, but twice, thanks to little kids blocking her way. She ended up covered in mud, but with spirit (and thankfully her bones) unbroken. When we arrived in Budapest, at the Budapest Hilton hotel in the old part of the City (right beside the wonderful castle!) Maryse was quite the sight, looking like something straight out of an American Express ad – an adventurer, coming in from a brutal journey, ready for a bit of luxury. The hotel staff, to their credit, took it all in stride. Maryse, to her credit, was as good as new after a long hot soapy shower.

Tomorrow I get to sleep in a bit, rest and sightsee in this magnificent city. We are all ready for a rest. It feels wonderful to have reached my goal of Budapest, more on that tomorrow.

De Tata à Esztergom - par Maryse

Nous avons quitté Tata tôt ce matin, après une courte visite des ruines romaines reconstituées situées juste à côté de notre hôtel dans un très joli parc au bord du lac Cseke-Tò.







Peu après nous arrivions à Agostyan (Augustin) où nous avons acheté des fraises et des oranges exquises que nous avons dévorées en regardant passer le trafic des motoculteurs et autres tondeuses conduites par les villageois avec une dignité surprenante. Sans doute, nous trouvaient-ils tout aussi bizarres avec nos vélos, nos casques et nos accoutrements de cyclistes purs et durs.

Ensuite la grimpe a commencé. Entre Tata et Esztergom il y a une série d’imposantes collines de la chaîne des Gerecse que nous avons franchies, dans mon cas, à pas de tortue. La première montée faisait 5 bons kilomètres en lacets qui laissaient espérer que la fin était proche à chaque fois mais qui, hélas, au détour révélaient encore et toujours une route grimpante. La descente n’en fut que meilleure! Le spedomètre de Vince indiquait 65 kmH en descente. Deux autres montées, un peu moins pénibles, ont suivi avant que nous atteignions la vallée de l’autre côté et la plaine vallonnée de (petites) collines qui s’étend jusqu’au Danube que nous avons rejoint à Esztergom.

Grâce à un pneu crevé (Anne) galamment changé par Bill et la lenteur poussive avec laquelle je négociais les côtes, j’ai eu tout le loisir d’admirer le paysage y compris les talus pleins de fleurs sauvages qui bordaient la route ensoleillée: coquelicots, sauge, marguerites, sureaux. Tout est en fleurs en ce moment.

À Esztergom, nous sommes immédiatement allés visiter la basilique Szent Adalbert qui domine toute la ville et le Danube du haut d’un impressionnant contrefort rocheux auquel on accède par un escalier non moins impressionnant. La basilique qui date à l’origine de 997 est très belle même si elle a été détruite par les Turcs et reconstruite et que les vitraux ne sont plus que de simples vitres. Le point de vue sur le Danube à lui seul vaut le détour.

Encore ici comme partout en Hongrie, des fleurs. Certaines finissent à peine d’autres commencent bientôt : lavande, roses, potentilles, pervenches, pivoines, iris partout et même dans les maisons les plus humbles.

Pour couronner le tout, nous sommes descendus dans la ville et avons dégusté des gâteaux bien mérités dans un joli salon de thé. Rien de tel que de faire 60 km de côtes pour se déculpabiliser!

Demain, nous longeons le Danube jusqu’à Budapest et j’ai bien l’intention de continuer à faire le train dans la roue de Vince et de Claude sur le terrain bien plat qui borde la rivière.

Comme dit Wes : Budabust or Pest!

Good-Natured Vince - A Rock and Roll Type of Guy

As we prepared to leave Gyor this morning, we decided to play a little joke on Vince Mercier, who has shown amazing speed and endurance on his bike. Serge and I gathered up a number of fairly large rocks, put them into a plastic bag and placed them at the bottom of his rear bike bag. We then started out from Gyor to the city of Tata, and as usual Vince was rolling out in front, noting however that his bike didn't feel quite as it usually did and somehow seemed a little heavier. It was only after about an hour of riding, and Vince fiddling around with his bike trying to understand why it felt different, that he finally decided to have a look in his bike bag and found a plastic bag full of rocks. Always the sportsman, Vince took it all in stride without rancor or grudge (although I must admit I'm going to check my bike bag before we ride tomorrow). We all had a good laugh, including Vince, and we rolled on.

It doesn't take long to notice differences between Hungary and the other countries we have passed through. It's obvious that Hungary does not enjoy the affluence of Germany and Austria, the roads are often in need of repair, many of the cycling routes run on or beside roads, as opposed to the separate well maintained cycling paths we enjoyed in Germany and Austria, and the villages and towns, while picturesque, are not affluent and buildings are often in need of repair. That said, the people are wonderful, always willing to help, the food has been great and the prices very reasonable. 

My entry into Hungary was special, I'm only two generations removed from this land, and even though I don't speak the language, Hungary is part of my heritage. As a child I listened to my mother and my beloved grandmother Margaret speak Hungarian. Many of the foods remind me of my grandmother (and mother) and it's strange knowing that if history had been different, I might have been one of the people I am cyling by.

Once we arrived in Tata this afternoon, we decided to try out a local thermal bath, so we drove about 20 kms to a small town called Komarom and tried out the Komaroni Gyogyfurdo Szauna Belepo and it was, as my friend Claude Lamarre put it, a cultural experience. This sauna was searingly hot and the Hungarian way is to sit 10 minutes in the sauna, immerse yourself for a minute in an ice-cold pool, relax on a reclining chair for a few minutes and then repeat the whole process five more times. Needless to say, we were incapable of doing this and after two repetitions we were ready for a good Hungarian dinner.

Tomorrow we continue our cycle to Budapest, and we expect to arrive there on Friday.

One last note for today, I received early this morning a notification that the following comment had been posted on the May 5 blog entry:

"Lorsque j'ai vu l'article de La Presse à votre sujet, cela faisait 5 jours qu'on m'avait diagnostiqué une leucémie lymphoblastique aigue (LLA) à l'âge de 41 ans. Il va sans dire que votre histoire m'interpelle et que j'espère de m'en sortir aussi bien."   JF

While I don't know JF (the person who left this comment), I hope he is well, and if you are reading this I wish you the best. We will think positive thoughts for you as we continue our ride, and I hope that you and I will one day be able to meet and celebrate life together.

Grateful in Gyor; Hungry in Hungary - by Vince Mercier

Thankfully Bill is very much alive and so my blog is dedicated to the “real” Bill Brock.

When I told people who didn’t know Bill that I was joining him and a few others to cycle in Austria and Hungary, almost everyone exclaimed that sounds like a great trip. When I told people who knew Bill (and our friend Wes) that I was going to cycle with them in Austria and Hungary, most people exclaimed “WHY?”

As you may have read previously, Air Canada/Austrian Air managed to lose my bike. Bill couldn’t wait to yell at someone. His motto, from Al Capone, which applies to the way he litigates: “You get more with a nice word and a gun than with a nice word alone.” He told me he couldn’t wait to get back to the office; I promise to email the return date to the Montreal litigation group so you can all call in sick.

Bill has also amply demonstrated his second favourite saying, care of our partner Gillian Stacey, “You’re only young once, but you can be immature forever.

A couple of quotes to illustrate the point:

1. The faster we get “Hungary”, the faster we get lunch

2.  the one about how Budweiser and sex in a canoe are similar in that they are both [a swear word that starts with an F in both English and French and should not be used in a blog] close to water
3. The problem with being an atheist is you have no-one to talk during sex

4. There were so many Germans in Charles de Gaulle airport after the Icelandic volcano that the French Government considered surrendering

5. If a man does something wrong and there is no woman around to see it, is it really wrong?







Bill has acquired a new nickname, the “Seagull”. Simply order food while sitting next to Bill and you’ll immediately understand.

I’d post some pictures from our ride today from the Hungarian countryside, but there’s a reason it’s the Austro-Hungarian empire, and not the Hungarian-Austrian empire. No castles today- only rain and a couple of former communists smoking incessantly (and no I’m not referring to the storks).

Kidding aside, Gyor is a beautiful city, and we had a fabulous dinner in the main square (Bill is sitting at the other end of the table) with a fabulous $25 bottle of Hungarian Cabernet Sauvignon!

I’m absolutely delighted to be here celebrating life with Bill and Maryse, my good friend Wes and his daughter Anne, and my new friends Claude and Serge.