We quickly checked out of our crummy hotel and headed to the middle of Estergom to look for breakfast. We bought apricots and sweet rolls at a Sunday market and ate them at a nearby cafe before hitting the road.
Today's ride was the best yet in Hungary. We were on a path right by the river for an hour, then crossed to the Slovak side by ferry. Waiting for the ferry we met a couple of cyclists from Belgium, Eddy and Inge Swaeb, and enjoyed sharing stories with them. They are a bit younger than we are, and we share the common interest of being active as long as our bodies allow it.
On the Slovak side of the river we spent about an hour on another beautiful bike path. Many many local people out enjoying the Sunday, on bikes and picknicking along the river. Another ferry took us back to Hungary, and we bid farewell to Eddy and Inge who carried on toward Budapest on the Danube's northwest side.
Once across the river we had a good lunch and then another hour or so of riding got us to our stopping point of Szentendre. We'd booked a hotel to make sure we didn't get stuck in a dump like last night, and I made the mistake of using Google to get to the hotel. We were on busy streets unnecessarily. In Europe, Google's bike route feature is unavailable.
Our hotel features a spa so we soaked in the jacuzzi for a while before settling down to watch the World Cup final match between France and Croatia. We favored Croatia for some reason, but France whupped them.
After the game we walked the length of the nearby pedestrian street and stopped at an outdoor restaurant for a good Hungarian dinner and listened to a group of four gypsy musicians there playing lively music.
We should reach Budapest tomorrow, and plan to stay there a few days planning our next adventure.
Our route into Hungary has been very interesting. Not always picturesque or easy riding. Hungary is not a very prosperous country yet. Many old buildings in poor repair and not much new construction. The bike paths and the roads are sometimes in rough shape. But the people are friendly, the food is good, and everything is inexpensive. Their currency, the Florin, is equivalent to about 3 1/2 cents US, so the prices are large numbers. But by the time you move the decimal point left two places and divide by three, things cost less half what we'd expect at home. The Hungarin language is a problem. No hint what the signs mean and the town names are often unpronounceable. But menus tend to be multilingual, something not widely found in Germany or Austria.
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