Carpmart
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Jones’s Maiden Voyage
- Thread starter Jane NotRog
- Start date
The Coops
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In't clogs!In nose?
Rog NotJane
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You’re missing an apostrophe: in’t’ clogs.
Rog NotJane
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A légpárnás hajóm tele van angolnákkal.
We’d originally planned to follow the Danube from source to mouth but there was too much Germany and Austria in that plan so we abandoned it. Tonight though we’re parked up at our first camp site of the trip, right on the banks of the Danube: Gran Camping in Esztergom, Hungary.
The passage from Austria to Hungary could not be more stark. Austria is very tidy, modern in that Germanic way and you never see anyone. Hungary is a bit scruffy very ex-soviet feeling but full of life. There’s also a very different attitude to traffic laws. Trained by the UK’s cameras I stick to the mandated 70kmh which Mercedes remind me about every time I even think of exceeding it. We’re not allowed on the motorways because complicated toll laws so so we’re constantly being passed on narrow roads by massive trucks.
On the way to Esztergom we stopped at The Benedictine Monastery/winery of Pannohamia. We can’t comment on the wine (closed Tuesdays) or the churchy bits (no dogs and very hot at midday) but the view was superb.
The monks at Pannohamia follow St Benedict when it comes to partaking of their produce:
‘the quantity of wine monks may consume on a daily basis, this is known as "hemina". This term known as "hemina" is not a specific unit of measurement, but it is as much as the individual feels they can drink with a calm spirit and clear conscience.’ I will be using this explanation next time my GP asks how many units I drink.
Hungary has a notoriously difficult to speak language. We spent an age deciphering the parking machine at the monastery. Whilst we were there two sets of Dutch tried the same and just gave up. They’re normally quite intrepid travellers but British perseverance paid off. We’re now fully paid up members of the VoxPay service. Paying for parking took longer than the whole rest of the stop.
We’d originally planned to follow the Danube from source to mouth but there was too much Germany and Austria in that plan so we abandoned it. Tonight though we’re parked up at our first camp site of the trip, right on the banks of the Danube: Gran Camping in Esztergom, Hungary.
The passage from Austria to Hungary could not be more stark. Austria is very tidy, modern in that Germanic way and you never see anyone. Hungary is a bit scruffy very ex-soviet feeling but full of life. There’s also a very different attitude to traffic laws. Trained by the UK’s cameras I stick to the mandated 70kmh which Mercedes remind me about every time I even think of exceeding it. We’re not allowed on the motorways because complicated toll laws so so we’re constantly being passed on narrow roads by massive trucks.
On the way to Esztergom we stopped at The Benedictine Monastery/winery of Pannohamia. We can’t comment on the wine (closed Tuesdays) or the churchy bits (no dogs and very hot at midday) but the view was superb.
A big church with a view.
Jane took a turn around the scary treetop walk to re-enforce her new won normal fear of heights.Sadly not even the internet has photos that show how high this is.
The monks at Pannohamia follow St Benedict when it comes to partaking of their produce:
‘the quantity of wine monks may consume on a daily basis, this is known as "hemina". This term known as "hemina" is not a specific unit of measurement, but it is as much as the individual feels they can drink with a calm spirit and clear conscience.’ I will be using this explanation next time my GP asks how many units I drink.
Hungary has a notoriously difficult to speak language. We spent an age deciphering the parking machine at the monastery. Whilst we were there two sets of Dutch tried the same and just gave up. They’re normally quite intrepid travellers but British perseverance paid off. We’re now fully paid up members of the VoxPay service. Paying for parking took longer than the whole rest of the stop.
Non intrepid Dutch.
Then onto the floating village of Borodin-Hűtőtó (seems Hungarian is difficult to type never mind speak). Borodin-Hűtőtó is an artificial lake built to cool a power plant. Because of the power plant the lake didn’t freeze in winter so anglers built huts here to keep up the fishing in winter. The power plant is gone and the lake does now freeze but the fishing huts became holiday homes on stilts and remain. We had planned to stay by the lake but the parking was very small and not actually by the lake. It was also clear the locals were fed up with people blocking them in so we took a few photos and left.Would have used the drone if we’d had time.
Dinner was Iberican pork and spuds. Pre dinner entertainment was a game of Small World featuring Jane in her thematic tee shirt from Carnuntum. I won but we probably got at least one important rule wrong so it doesn’t count on the grand reckoning board of life.But the casting is in progress… Alea iacitur?
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- Sep 7, 2017
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We did a road trip in Hungary about 10 or 15 years ago, by car. I think it’s changed quite a bit under the current government from what I am told.
We gave up on the language and so did the sat nav, it would try to say place names but then just stop. We stayed in Székesfehérvár for a day or so, and despite nearly half an hour of constant repetition under the tutelage of a shop owner we still couldn’t say it.
We gave up on the language and so did the sat nav, it would try to say place names but then just stop. We stayed in Székesfehérvár for a day or so, and despite nearly half an hour of constant repetition under the tutelage of a shop owner we still couldn’t say it.
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Rog NotJane
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Jane has her Apple Siri voice set to “UK Female #2” who I suspect comes from Accrington. In fact, she sounds a lot like Jane Horrocks. She also has a robustly Lancastrian view of how any language should be pronounced. Garmin does seem to try but not very hard.
CaptainPaul
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Well done on your treetop walk Jane!
It's a bit early for some of my Carl Jung but who cares lol....
"Where your fear is, there is your task"
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Jane NotRog
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Well done on your treetop walk Jane!
It's a bit early for some of my Carl Jung but who cares lol....
"Where your fear is, there is your task"
I love that quote, thanks! I might embroider it on a T shirt.
It’s a shame we didn’t have a photo from the walkway - definitely the scariest thing I’ve done since treatment. Even Rog said he was nervous.
CaptainPaul
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Great thread, enjoy your trip 
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Sounds fun! If you are going through Hungary and haven't done it yet, the Musical Road is worth a short detour https://maps.app.goo.gl/YuK1Bkufpgwi1DGs8
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Jane NotRog
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Ah, thanks - sadly we’re a fair bit further on now, but might come back that way. But I’ve found another two and we might pass one!
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Jane NotRog
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Yesterday’s map…
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Jane NotRog
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I don’t think Rog mentioned, but we spent the night at the campsite at Esztergom on the Danube, west of Budapest. As Jones is now so well equipped in the bathroom department, we can’t review the facilities, but the site itself is leafy and the young man at reception is both easy on the eye and speaks good English. Win-win.
There was a torrential storm in the night, and while previous readers of our Denby blog will be relieved to know that we didn’t leave the awning out (we didn’t even put it up, I think Rog is still traumatised) we did leave the roof-light in the bathroom wide open. I awoke to discover Jones’s bathroom had had an upgrade - no longer just loo and shower - now we have a bath too!
The forecast for the day was a grey start with sun later, so we decided to take Flynn on the longish hike to the cathedral before it got dog-shatteringly hot. On our way, we wanted brunch. Well, more breakunch than brunch, as it was still before 10am. Our goal was a place called “Piac 42”, which is the market off-shoot of a Michelin-starred restaurant called, wait for it…, Restaurant 42. The bistro was supposed to open at 7am to serve honest grub to market stall holders and shoppers, in contrast to the 57 course tasting menu at Restaurant 42 for 53,000 florints per mouth*.
*More on florints later.
Even though we still like a posh nosh, in our declining years we have become bored with endless incy-wincy courses - when you’re 5 nibbles in, you’re full enough to be bored, and there’s still another 52 chef’s mini delights to go. Give me a pie like the one in Belgium any day.
Back on topic - there was a mysterious notice on the door of Piac 42, and a local passer-by helped us to decipher it. It had moved! We walked over to the new location, to find no sign of said bistro, and gave up on breakunch, moving more to a plan for blunch.
We took an indirect route to the cathedral up many steps.
Once we’d got there, we established that I got a bargain entrance fee as a pensioner, under half what Rog had to pay, but that it was immaterial as neither of us was allowed inside wearing shorts. Luckily the colour of our forints (or rather, our Apple Pay - Monzo is a fetching coral colour) changed their minds.
*The abbreviation for forints is Ft. When I was perusing the menu of sub-cathedral parts that we could visit, I thought for a moment that the tower was 1,800 feet tall. No, that was just its cost.
So, shorts permitted, we were able to take it in turns to look inside the cathedral, which was having a little light DIY done.
The treasury was fantastic. The weight of gold was astounding in its own right, let alone all the precious and semi-precious stones, and the quality of the early medieval gold-work. My favourite part was the bishops’ chausibles - the embroidery was amazingly three dimensional.
There was also a piece of the true cross. I’m so glad they specified the true bit, as otherwise I’d have been pretty sure it was just a bit from an ambitious merchant’s least favourite cart. If anyone from the cathedral wants to contact me, I have plenty more true cross fragments in my wood-shed available for very fair prices.
Churching done, we walked back into town for blunch. We ignored a café called Kuzin (“Too standard, we want something more Hungarian”) and ended up having a panini down the road. Sigh.
Back at the market, this time we photographed the sign of the errant Piac 42, and found, of course, that it had become Kuzin. Ah well.
We did particularly well at the market - birch honey and garlic honey were definite winners.
Then there were chicken legs for the freezer, a variety of fresh veg, goat’s cheese, water melon, a paprika-chilli paste, a bucket of pickles and a little squeezy jar of frightening chilli sauce.
The afternoon was spent chilling, with the plan being to eat out later. But when we reexamined the local restaurants, and thought of a better destination for tomorrow, we changed our plans.
First another game of Small World (Rog won again, boo, hiss) and then I made a smoked trout, pea and sour cream pasta. Not bad, and adds a tick to the oily fish box. (Oily fish boxes have to be lined with foil, or they leak.)
After our rest day, we’ll be heading off for pastures new tomorrow.
There was a torrential storm in the night, and while previous readers of our Denby blog will be relieved to know that we didn’t leave the awning out (we didn’t even put it up, I think Rog is still traumatised) we did leave the roof-light in the bathroom wide open. I awoke to discover Jones’s bathroom had had an upgrade - no longer just loo and shower - now we have a bath too!
The forecast for the day was a grey start with sun later, so we decided to take Flynn on the longish hike to the cathedral before it got dog-shatteringly hot. On our way, we wanted brunch. Well, more breakunch than brunch, as it was still before 10am. Our goal was a place called “Piac 42”, which is the market off-shoot of a Michelin-starred restaurant called, wait for it…, Restaurant 42. The bistro was supposed to open at 7am to serve honest grub to market stall holders and shoppers, in contrast to the 57 course tasting menu at Restaurant 42 for 53,000 florints per mouth*.
*More on florints later.
Even though we still like a posh nosh, in our declining years we have become bored with endless incy-wincy courses - when you’re 5 nibbles in, you’re full enough to be bored, and there’s still another 52 chef’s mini delights to go. Give me a pie like the one in Belgium any day.
Back on topic - there was a mysterious notice on the door of Piac 42, and a local passer-by helped us to decipher it. It had moved! We walked over to the new location, to find no sign of said bistro, and gave up on breakunch, moving more to a plan for blunch.
We took an indirect route to the cathedral up many steps.
Once we’d got there, we established that I got a bargain entrance fee as a pensioner, under half what Rog had to pay, but that it was immaterial as neither of us was allowed inside wearing shorts. Luckily the colour of our forints (or rather, our Apple Pay - Monzo is a fetching coral colour) changed their minds.
*The abbreviation for forints is Ft. When I was perusing the menu of sub-cathedral parts that we could visit, I thought for a moment that the tower was 1,800 feet tall. No, that was just its cost.
So, shorts permitted, we were able to take it in turns to look inside the cathedral, which was having a little light DIY done.
The treasury was fantastic. The weight of gold was astounding in its own right, let alone all the precious and semi-precious stones, and the quality of the early medieval gold-work. My favourite part was the bishops’ chausibles - the embroidery was amazingly three dimensional.
There was also a piece of the true cross. I’m so glad they specified the true bit, as otherwise I’d have been pretty sure it was just a bit from an ambitious merchant’s least favourite cart. If anyone from the cathedral wants to contact me, I have plenty more true cross fragments in my wood-shed available for very fair prices.
Churching done, we walked back into town for blunch. We ignored a café called Kuzin (“Too standard, we want something more Hungarian”) and ended up having a panini down the road. Sigh.
Back at the market, this time we photographed the sign of the errant Piac 42, and found, of course, that it had become Kuzin. Ah well.
We did particularly well at the market - birch honey and garlic honey were definite winners.
Then there were chicken legs for the freezer, a variety of fresh veg, goat’s cheese, water melon, a paprika-chilli paste, a bucket of pickles and a little squeezy jar of frightening chilli sauce.
The afternoon was spent chilling, with the plan being to eat out later. But when we reexamined the local restaurants, and thought of a better destination for tomorrow, we changed our plans.
First another game of Small World (Rog won again, boo, hiss) and then I made a smoked trout, pea and sour cream pasta. Not bad, and adds a tick to the oily fish box. (Oily fish boxes have to be lined with foil, or they leak.)
After our rest day, we’ll be heading off for pastures new tomorrow.
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Lenny HB
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- Oct 18, 2007
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You shouldn't leave Hungary without trying a Mad Dog
The Hungarian Camino starts in Esztergom.
And finishes in Harkany which does have a lovely hot therme. People had prescriptions for treatments there.
Walked it in September 2018, was quite interesting and free from pilgrims but not mosquitoes!
And finishes in Harkany which does have a lovely hot therme. People had prescriptions for treatments there.
Walked it in September 2018, was quite interesting and free from pilgrims but not mosquitoes!
Rog NotJane
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This? http://maddogcraftcider.com/en/home/You shouldn't leave Hungary without trying a Mad Dog
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Jane NotRog
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Lenny HB
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No, Vodka, raspberry syrup & tabasco.
You pour the raspberry syrup in the glass then the vodka which settles on top then add the tabasco which sinks down an settles on the syrup.
You down it in one, the neat vodka burns a bit then the tabasco gets you and finally soothed with the syrup.
Far nicer than it sounds.
Edit:
Stupid boy it's Poland where it's popular but they do drink it in Hungary as well.
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- Sep 7, 2017
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What a fabulous thread. We seem to no longer get excited by the idea of expensive fine dining, perhaps we have done too much or just have old digestive systems.
Most impressed you can sleep through heavy rain in your van too.
Lenny HB
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We always sleep well in the van with heavy rain & gale force winds.
Rog NotJane
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Not difficult to achieve.
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Jane NotRog
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I have earplugs so I can sleep through Rog’s heavy snoring!
Rog NotJane
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We took full advantage of the facilities at Gran Camping then set off for Malyinka via a musical road. But first we had an encounter with a dog agility course and then some corpses. It wouldn’t be Eastern Europe without desiccated corpses or piles of bones.
Vac is on the wrong side of the Danube which meant that the musical road was not to be Jones’ most exiting manoeuvre today by a long way; the Danube doesn’t have many bridges so we got our first (if you ignore Dover-Dunkirk which we do) ferry. €12 for 15 minutes across the river.
The corpses were discovered during routine maintenance of a Dominican Church in Vác in the 90s when a walled off crypt was discovered. There were 256 decorated coffins stacked on top of each other all containing naturally but accidentally mummified Hungarians originally buried in the C18. Each was buried wearing their Sunday best and with a few possessions. The coffins were labeled with their profession and age. In a tiny but fascinating museum, you can see three of the bodies, a lot more of the coffins and biographical information on the notable mummies. You are strictly forbidden from taking photos of the corpses so you’ll have to make do with seeing the coffins.
Our Hungarian Eurovision education complete, we continued to our stop for the night: an “off road” selection from P4N above Malyinka. The P4N entry says:
Although the views are still here, the tower has been taken. It wasn’t that steep either, I think you’d get a 2WD van up here if you had enough ground clearance. Still, Jones is now officially off road.
Dinner was down the hill at Iszkor in Malyinka village which boasts a Michelin licky face. I’m pretty sure that the licky face is the sweet spot for eating out for us. It’s not fifteen tiny courses and gels, it is very well cooked, probably local and not expensive - although Michelin’s definition of not expensive and ours are diverging.
Iszkor served us fried cow’s feet, wild boar croquettes and chicken legs stuffed with duck liver. The owner suggested that given that order, we might not need the bread and pickles we also asked for.
We’d left Flynn in the van but Jones can run aircon off the lithium batteries so he was - if anything - a little chilly when we got back. We drank tea looking over the village before locking up for the night.
Did not fall off. Honest.
Vac is on the wrong side of the Danube which meant that the musical road was not to be Jones’ most exiting manoeuvre today by a long way; the Danube doesn’t have many bridges so we got our first (if you ignore Dover-Dunkirk which we do) ferry. €12 for 15 minutes across the river.
The corpses were discovered during routine maintenance of a Dominican Church in Vác in the 90s when a walled off crypt was discovered. There were 256 decorated coffins stacked on top of each other all containing naturally but accidentally mummified Hungarians originally buried in the C18. Each was buried wearing their Sunday best and with a few possessions. The coffins were labeled with their profession and age. In a tiny but fascinating museum, you can see three of the bodies, a lot more of the coffins and biographical information on the notable mummies. You are strictly forbidden from taking photos of the corpses so you’ll have to make do with seeing the coffins.
Oops.
From Vác to the musical road. The musical road is one of three singing sidewalks we know about in Hungary. In Mundus, Jane’s app, they’re labelled Musical Road 1, Musical Road 2 and our chosen tuneful tarmac: Musical Road 3. MR3 plays “Játszhatunk pattogós játékot?” by Ismerős Arcok. I believe this was Hungary’s 1983 entry in to the Eurovision Song Contest (nil points from the UK). Sadly Jones’ knobbly Goodrich tyres generate a fair amount of their own “music” so Ismerős Arcok were rather muted on this rendition. More countries should do this. Who wouldn’t like to drive a car over Elton John and Kiki Dee?Our Hungarian Eurovision education complete, we continued to our stop for the night: an “off road” selection from P4N above Malyinka. The P4N entry says:
Although the views are still here, the tower has been taken. It wasn’t that steep either, I think you’d get a 2WD van up here if you had enough ground clearance. Still, Jones is now officially off road.
Dinner was down the hill at Iszkor in Malyinka village which boasts a Michelin licky face. I’m pretty sure that the licky face is the sweet spot for eating out for us. It’s not fifteen tiny courses and gels, it is very well cooked, probably local and not expensive - although Michelin’s definition of not expensive and ours are diverging.
Going down hill
Iszkor served us fried cow’s feet, wild boar croquettes and chicken legs stuffed with duck liver. The owner suggested that given that order, we might not need the bread and pickles we also asked for.
A cows foot. Must have stepped in some breadcrumbs.
It was really good. Just under a hundred quid including four rounds of drinks and a pud: local cottage cheese turned into a baked Alaska type dome thing.We’d left Flynn in the van but Jones can run aircon off the lithium batteries so he was - if anything - a little chilly when we got back. We drank tea looking over the village before locking up for the night.
…and so to bed.
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Rog NotJane
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Wanders from Glos this was buried with one of the corpses:
As MHF Physics Committee’s senior historian, please could you give it a quick check to see if we need to black-list this museum.
As MHF Physics Committee’s senior historian, please could you give it a quick check to see if we need to black-list this museum.
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Jane NotRog
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Just adding a photo of the restaurant - it was a lovely place.
It has a very nice atmosphere from that picture.
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My indigenous Polish friends have never heard of it.
Are you sure it was not invented by Polish cocktail barmen in tourist areas like Krakow?
Bit like Bailey's, which was never known in Ireland until the marketing men got involved
Lenny HB
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It was Krakow.
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