Lake Balaton, Hungary 2017

Budapest

The train from Budapest to Lake Balaton was slow. In fact, I had to take 2 trains to get to my destination, a town of Keszthely. The lake is shaped like a long sausage and Keszthely is located at the farthest end from Budapest. The railroads go alongside both, north and south shores of the lake. I took the northern route and changed trains at a place called Tapolca. The train had only 2 carriages and looked like it came from an amusement park or a museum. The little train ran with all its might stopping every other minute at small stations and in late afternoon I was in Keszthely.

I do not know how to pronounce Keszthely. Hungarian is one of the most difficult European languages. The number of sibilants and consonants in a row are mind-boggling. The most popular foreign language in Hungary is German. Sometimes it took me a while to find an English speaking person or I resorted to gestures, but Hungarians were always helpful regardless of the spoken language.

Of course, I went to the lake right after I checked in into the hotel. In my childhood, I had a Hungarian stamp that depicted Lake Balaton. I remember that stamp very well although I sold my collection long ago before emigrating from Russia. The lake on the stamp was deep blue studded with white sails. And there it was – the real Lake Balaton. Its calm waters were deep blue and yachts with white sails were gliding in all directions. Ducks, swans, and fishermen were everywhere too.

I went for a walk and discovered that public access to the lake was limited to a few spots. Long stretches of its shores are owned by yacht clubs, restaurants, campsites and alike.  My dream of taking long walks and enjoying lake views at the same time did not come true. There is a bike path between the railway tracks and the lake, but it is too far from the shore and Lake Balaton is not visible from the path. I walked for hours anyway for no other reason than just to walk. Mature trees growing on both sides of the path, an occasional little train running past with a whistle, warm weather – all that created a perfect setting for walking, but I missed the lake views.

Keszthely and other towns around the lake looked like they were from the movies set before World War II. Time did not touch them since then. If it had not been for modern cars on the roads I’d have thought that I had been transferred into the 1930s when the wealthy came to Lake Balaton for the baths.

The most interesting place to visit in Keszthely is the Helicon Castle which is actually an 18^th-century palace. As in many other museums taking photos inside is prohibited. I can only refer those who want to see the palace interiors to its site Helicon Kastely. The library that consists of almost 90,000 volumes is very impressive.

After 2 days in Keszthely, it was time to move on. I took a 5 a.m. bus to a small town with another jawbreaking name of Szombathely. It was very early and a morning milky fog was so thick that the road was barely visible. In Szombathely, I walked from the bus station to the train station and bought a ticket for the train to Graz, Austria that was leaving in one hour.

It was not a direct train. I had to change at a small station with an even more difficult to pronounce name Szentgotthard which is at the border with Austria.

A police officer threw a quick glance into the carriage without stepping inside, waived to the train operator that everything was okay and we rolled into Austria. Nobody checked our passports. What a difference compared to the border formalities to enter Hungary! At noon I was in Graz.

Graz