HUNGARY, the name for my belly when visiting new countries

 Welcome to Grandma's House

In the little town on central Europe's biggest lake Balatön, there exists the lovely combo of pseudo-Disneyland and small sandy beaches (only minutes from Grandma's House).

An interesting location because as far as i could walk into the lake . . . i could WALK. . . on sand! I never got very deep for the seemingly half-mile i walked into lake Balatön. Thus you have kids playing Polo on thier feet way out there . . . 

 I stayed until i had my fill of the local foods, sites, and town is great, the 100% language barrier.  This little town where i rented a room from Grandma Maria was fun because its the first time i found no one who tried speaking English. Finally, a sense of being in another country. All the tourists were europeans too, so a WHOLE LOTTA NADA. Refreshing.

     The conclusion being, its entertaining to try and talk with people and usually with Maria i'd say random things and make lots of gestures to help her get a vague impression of what i'm expressing - it didn't work but sometimes i'd say something that made her laugh wildly . . . and she pet my beard. . . strange yet enjoyable.

 Then off to Budapest!!!

(standard travel attire: backpack, cloths in tot-bag to look like a "local" going to do his laundry, a beard (to also help me blend in with local homeless and not get hassled by loiterers), and ma'boots!

This was epic - everyday it rained around 3:30 for only 10 minutes. It starts with wind, lighting and thunder!

 

Then everyone goes running from rain-dust storms!

???(!)???

This Cathedral is wicked. Lots of strange carvings and symbols that would probably even freak Clowns out.

 

Dude - chillin'

Bridge - also chillin

Finnish Carpets and Tapestrys

Old Hungarian Bee Hives!

AWESOME armor!

* something called "art" *

On the last day i hiked up a hill and found wild Goji berries growing.

Paris is the next stop. . .

***A story about how i got to that big lake in Hungary***

And I have become acquainted with a friendly chap named Chance during the last 3 weeks of travel. Chance and i have had a few strange encounters with his mysterious foe named Fate. You see, chance has it that on the last night of my stay in the Zagreb hostel, my counter-side associate Izlatka stopped me on the way to bed and said, "your going to Budapest, yes?"
"Tomorrow morning, yes" i replied thinking she'd inform me that something incredible had delayed all trains like a tornado in Kansas, USA had flung debris clear across the Atlantic Ocean and now the railways are cluttered with midwest country houses, farm animals, and the trains will be inoperable due to a started little girl and her confused black mop-dog named Toto running around the Hungarian landscape claiming to have magical wishing power and demanding immunity to prosecution. . .
     Buuuuuuuuut, that was not the case. Instead, Izlakta continued, "i have a ticket for you"
"Oh?"
"Yes, a man just left the hostel and said he did not need this anymore," she handed me a German looking ticket pass. I opened it and INDEED it had the official print and stamped approvals of a legitimate ticket. From Croatia to Hungary, specifically Zagreb to Budapest, AND it was valid for a month! A 7 hour train ticket in my hands, for free. 

    So i took the ticket to my room, and snuggled my new cuddle companion to sleep, slept, woke, and crept to the train station after doing my daily ritual of a stroll through the Botanical Garden.

 However, as that unseen foe Fate would have it, i did not make it to Budapest. After 5 hours on the tracks i got off due to there being an extremely attractive (and large) freshwater lake nearby. I saw it from the window and whiffed the cool breeze full of negative ions with the synapses in my brain firing a complaint to my greater pre-frontal cerebral cortex saying, "get off". I did. And wandered town to find another old woman named Maria.

Thanks for tuning in.

Gastronomically yours,
tinker,
tailor,
adventurer,
not sailor -

Gulliver