Monday 7th till Friday 11th October

Monday we took a train from Budapest to Siofok which is by Lake Balaton, we had booked into the Residence Wellness Hotel as we had enjoyed staying at the one at Matrahaza so much.

From the hotel it was less than a five min walk to the lake and perfect for me to catch up with some running 🙂

Biking near lake Balaton

On the Tuesday we hired some bikes and took a leisurely 43 mile ride along the Balaton lake bike route, the whole place was closed up for winter but I expect its hugely popular in summer.

It was disappointing to see how built up all the towns had become right down to the Lake edge making the bike route slightly in land but the ride was still very enjoyable.

We caught the train back to Siofok, the trains here are not very bike or even people friendly as its such a high steep couple of steps into the train so getting the bikes on was a bit of a challenge !

After dinner we made full use of the spa facilities .

Wednesday we took the bus to Heviz to sample the biggest natural Thermal Lake in Europe and what a great experience it was, one that will make me smile forever.

The water was not as warm as we expected it to be but the sight of dozens of retired people floating round a lake with bright frilly swim hats and floats was quite amusing ….

Swimming with the Lillies

I swam the whole way round the lake and swimming among the lilies was quite relaxing.

Thursday we hoped to take the ferry across to the other side of the lake but unfortunately its out of season so only running at the weekends.

So instead we walked into town and along the stretch of lake we had not done.

Then back to the hotel to enjoy the spa and another fantastic sports massage.

I even managed to fit in 3 runs by the Lake, a total of 9 miles and very enjoyable too !

Saturday 5th Sunday 6th October

A fantastic weekend of sightseeing in Budapest, no hop on hop off bus for us instead we picked up a copy of city walks and off we set …..

First on our list was Gellert Hill visiting the Central Market Hall on the way, which is the largest and most attractive market in the city.

The walk through the park up Gellert hill was lovely giving us great views of the city.

The sights included Statue of St Gellert,The Citadel and Liberty Statue .

Time for coffee then so we went in search of the world famous historic Gerbeaud Coffee house, a grand building with glittering chandeliers and marble topped tables.

Although it was expensive it was a real treat with such posh cakes presented so beautifully, I had a divine Apple strudel served with cinnamon ice cream vanilla sauce and whipped cream, while Geoff sampled an amazing looking caramel ice cream sundae.

Next it was Castle Hill, you could take the Buda Castle Funicular up but of course we choose to walk ..

More beautiful views and cobbled streets with such grand buildings, St Stephens Basilica, Fisherman’s Bastion, Matthias Church and The Royal Palace. On the way down we saw Matthias fountain too.

On our walk we had also been checking out the Turkish baths in the end we decided to try a smaller local one rather than the bigger touristy ones .

Shoes on the Danube

We spent a good three hours at Kiraly baths, where they had 3 medicinal baths a plunge pool and a sauna. Water temperature ranged from 40c to 26c though I thought the plunge pool was much colder than 26c ! Much to our amazement even in this local baths swim wear is now compulsory ….

We also walked over the amazing bridges, Elizabeth Bridge, Liberty Bridge and Chain Bridge

The most touching part of our sightseeing had to be the “shoes on the Danube ” sculpture , it honours the Jews who were killed in World War 2 , they were ordered to take off their shoes ,then shot so they fell into the river and were carried away.

Friday 4th October

As most of you will now know today was my Birthday …. 21 again 🙂

Waking up here in this beautiful relaxing place with Geoff made it a perfect day !

After another lovely breakfast, We spent the morning in the spa where Geoff had booked me a surprise massage.

I think the masseur Nick enjoyed inflicting pain on me, my shoulder blades were full of knots and he just kept saying “I know this hurts but it has to be done ”

Late afternoon we caught the bus back to Budapest for a weekend of sight seeing.

Duck in Pastry with Dill and Paprika Sauce

In the evening we enjoyed a meal at a typical Hungarian Restaurant, the Kacsa Restaurant, a lovely old world place with high ceilings and violin music, it all reminded me of something straight out of “Downton Abbey”

Some little bird even told them it was my birthday, so while the violinist played Happy Birthday the other dinners sang to me, much to my embarrassment !