We wanted to visit the Lake Balaton in Hungary but were not able to get any accommodation organized online. We later saw a poster advertising a marathon and festival there so that may have been the reason why. Instead we caught a bus to Gyor. The modern looking bus left on time but then stopped outside a restaurant a few minutes away from the bus station where the driver got some food in plastic containers and no passengers got on. There was no air conditioning and the windows didn't open so it was stuffy in the 30+ temperatures. Houses and transport cater more for cold weather than hot!
After passing many fields of wheat, corn, and sunflowers and many stops later we arrived in Gyor. We were unable to find any hostels on our usual internet sites and managed to find a new site with a 3 star hotel that was cheaper than a hostel would be and it was lovely.
There are several categories of eating places in Hungary we read. Etterems are expensive restaurants with lots of choices of dishes, stuffy waiters and expensive prices. They serve venison, veal, trout, salmon, goose liver, turkey, frogs and the usual meat dishes. They also charge more to sit outside and a steak is more expensive than in New Zealand. Vendeglo are smaller and serve homestyle regional dishes but we only saw one of these! Etkezde are cheaper tiny places with a counter and sometimes a couple of tables. Grill serve wraps or kebabs and some grilled meats. Cafes and kavehaz serve desserts, tea, coffee and a huge range of alcohol.
It seems the habit here to eat a main meal in the middle of the day and blackboards had specials advertising Meal A and Meal B specials. In the evening it seems more common to have a drink or beer and dessert or ice cream. The torts look incredible.
Other than wander around the narrow streets there was not a lot to do in Gyor but it was nice to be in a quiet small town and watch the locals fishing on the river, sun bathing at the pools (they were outside heated ones), and going about their daily business.
It was also a time to get some photo CDs burnt and book an online flight from Split in Croatia to Gatwick in September. Sometimes we have to spend more time planning the next move than we do visiting the sights!
