We had noticed for some time that one Mog tyre was wearing more than the others and we wanted to get it looked at when we were in Budapest. I had emailed the all-knowing Frank at Atkinson Vos about the problem and he had given us some pointers and suggestions. We phoned the Mercedes dealership in Budapest and were told to take it into them in a few days time. We were staying on the outskirts of the city and caught the local train into the centre for a spot of sightseeing and shopping.
Having arrived in the centre we surfaced from the subway directly in front of the stunning parliament building! We shopped until we dropped and, having bought what we thought were the correct tickets, started to make our way back to the campsite. We needed to change trains on the underground system and were approached by some ticket inspectors who, once they saw our tickets, told us they were going to fine us as we were travelling without valid tickets! I showed them again our tickets and told them that we had bought them at a ticket booth about an hour ago and that we were obviously sold the wrong tickets. They were so definite in the fact that we must be purposely avoiding paying and that we were fare dodging and wouldn’t even discuss it. I wouldn’t have minded so much if we were actually trying to avoid paying but we weren’t! We offered to pay the difference or go and get a new ticket but they kept saying that we had to pay a fine. I asked to see the supervisor but they wouldn’t let us do that either. They just kept repeating that we must pay a fine – this wasn’t a language problem as one of them spoke perfect English. I did get rather cross at this point and told them that it was a genuine mistake and that we had only just arrived in the city – I then pointed out that the only other people receiving fines were also tourists (a group of three backpackers were behind us also being fined) and so it could be a problem with the way they display the ticket information. We ended up paying one fine and not two as I argued that as we needed two tickets each if I gave Oz my ticket then he would have two and only I would be travelling without a ticket!! I ended the altercation with the comment that Romania (a country disliked by Hungarians) was much nicer and had much friendlier people!! A small victory but I feel a victory nevertheless!
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Budapest Parliament building and a rather funky ice cream vending machine we found at the train station!Click to enlarge images. |
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The following day we returned to the city (with the correct tickets!) and instead of going to see anything of the city’s cultural centres we headed for the Bodies... The Exhibition which I had wanted to go to in London and we had seen it advertised locally. This amazing exhibition displays real human bodies in various postures revealing how different parts of the body works i.e. the skin is removed to show the group of muscles working to throw a ball. It was intriguing to peer into the inside of a body and get close to what was going on inside. The exhibition features mostly Chinese men who died or were executed in prison. We took an audio tour which provided in-depth details of each display and it was fascinating.
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Images from the Bodies Exhibiton. Click to enlarge. |
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Heading off from the campsite the next day we found our way through the city to get to the Mercedes Benz dealership and workshop. Once there, we went to sign the Mog over to the experts and were told to book it in and come back in a few days! Hmm... I think something was lost in the conversation I had had a few days before!! Once we said that we thought that we were booked in, they whisked the Mog into the workshop and performed the necessary surgery to get it roadworthy again – the drag link had failed at the ball joint if anyone is interested! Just a couple of hours later they presented me with a bill the size of a small South American country’s debt (no, really... it was actually very reasonable) and we waved goodbye to Budapest and pointed the Mog southwest to Lake Balaton.
Just outside the city boundary is the rather intriguing Statue Park - a park where you can wander about and look at Lenin, marvel at Marx or stare at Stalin! Containing over 40 statues, busts and plaques commemorating (or should that be commiserating?) the communist era, they have been collected from other socialist state scrap-heaps as well as from Hungary. The most famous exhibit is ‘Stalin Boots’ (formerly the whole of Stalin!). This statue came under attack from rebels against the communist cause, who scaled the enormous statue on the night of 23rd October 1956 and hacked through the statue just below the knees! The remaining boots came to represent the struggle of the people against the communist machine and remained in place until the end of communism in Hungary in 1989.
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Statue Park, Budapest. Communist memorabilia at its best!Click to enlarge any image |
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Signs for hotels with names like Hotel Paradise, Hotel Flamingo and Hotel Margareta started appearing by the roadside with great regularity so we knew that we were closing in on the Lake Balaton area! We wanted to get to the furthest end of the 77 kilometre long lake and so ploughed on ignoring tempting signs for ‘wellness centres’ and ‘recreational areas’. We finally found a lovely site with the all important lakeside access for canoe launching and swimming... also included were baby owls who screeched in the night – bonus! We spent a very relaxing few days by the lake canoeing, cycling and swimming and with Oz disappearing up a large hill for a spot of mountain biking while I indulged in a well earned facial and massage!
Having spent time at the lake we decided that a swim in the sea would be nice so packed up and wandered towards Croatia...
More soon, Kate, Oz and the Mog.