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Sunday, August 25th - Balatonkenese to Keszthely, 9682 km
The boys are up early and setting about the preparations for the day in a very business like way. I get the distinct impression that they have both served time in the military, based on their neatness and efficiency. We are given breakfast at the hotel – bread rolls, coffee and jam. As I am loading up my bike, Eero taps on my shoulder. “Here, have a slice of cheese,” he says paring me off a thick slab of yellow rubber. “One thing I hate about Europe is that they sure don’t know how to do breakfast.”
Off we go around the northernmost tip of the lake, the cliffs above us mostly in shadow still and the sun and breeze behind us. We are riding along at a quasi-brink pace in the same formation as yesterday, with Jan leading and Eero bringing up the rear.
The lake is large--about 14 km across and 77 km long as the crow flies, shaped like tubular balloon, long and rounded at each end --but there is nothing remarkable about it except the few cliffs we passed at the start. Being the only big lake in
eastern Europe, it is surrounded by cabins and vacation tourist towns. We pass through a string of hamlets along the shore, with names like Balatonfured, Balatonudari, Balatonakali, Balatonrendes and Balatongyoruk, as if everyone needs to be constantly reminded that they are by Lake Balaton. Even the road we are riding on is called Balaton.
We see a lot of tartar bread plant, which grows nowhere else in Europe. It has been eaten in times of famine instead of bread.
At the far end of the lake we reach Keszthely, set on the western tip of the lake. It is small, but definitely more lively than Balatonkenese. This town has a history and lots of crafts, especially garments and lace. We ride by the local castle and through the town looking for accommodation. There is a youth hostel here, the only one along the lake we have seen, so we check in. Dinner consists of donairs and ice cream from small shops we find in the town’s centre. I buy some lace for Mom that I will send home from a bigger town, perhaps Graz.
When we return we see two other cyclists signing in, Mathias and Jochen. They are German. Mathias being a small, wiry, determined blond and Jochen being a taller, gentler fellow. They are both in mid-20s, Jan’s age. We chat with them and find out they are headed towards Graz. Eero suggests that they ride with us for the first half of the day tomorrow, before we split towards our separate destinations. I’ve been touring solo each day since Amsterdam except one. Suddenly I have four cycling partners, if only for half a day.
PHOTO 1: Lake Balaton
PHOTO 2: church on bluff overlooking the lake
PHOTO 3: in Balatonfured
PHOTO 4: tartar bread plant
PHOTO 5: wave watcher, near Keszthely
PHOTO 6: Castle Keszthely
PHOTO 7: Keszthely church
PHOTO 9: town centre of Keszthely
PHOTO 10: Keszthely lace
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