Puszta Great Plains & Kecskemet Day Trip from Budapest

Thu 8th September

Sunrise 6:12am – Sunset 7:10pm

Weather Forecast:   32c and sunny        

Steps:                        7,722              5.33 km                                

I woke just before the alarm went off at 6am. A very good nights sleep of 8+ hours.  I went down to breakfast and was back in my room before 7:30.

My system is telling me that I need to do a back up but I think my back up drive is kaput. We shall see. Yep, it’s kaput.

I went down to reception at 8:15 and had just sat down when Val & Poolsuk walked in.  At 8:30 a person from Cityrama came in and after looking at our documents, he wasn’t there to pick us up. 9 o’clock rolled on and I decided to phone the local company to find our what was happening (we had been told that we would be picked up at 8:30am).  As I was speaking to the lady, one of the hotel staff came along and said that our driver was waiting down in the  hotels parking area. Told the lady not to worry and we trundled off downstairs, to be driven to the Sofitel Chain Bridge, which is where the 20 seater?? van was waiting. That is a 10 minute walk from my hotel.  We could have walked there.

There were 10 of us on the tour. Muriel & Derek from Perth, a lady from the UK and 2 couples from Mumbai plus we three.  Our local guide was a lady named Helena.

As we drove out of Budapest, she pointed out various buildings etc and once we were out of the city, filled us in with some of the history of Hungary and some statistics.

We arrived in Keckesemet at 10:25 and Helena continued to point out buildings, churchs etc as we walked towards the main square.  One of the first things I saw when we alighted from the van was this.

 There are a number of churches surrounding the main square

 and one of them started ring their bells at 10.45 and continued off and on for the next 20 minutes and then at 11am another one chimed in with the hour.  Very musical but made it difficult to hear what Helena was saying, so I just gave up.
We came to a café and indulged in ice cream or coffee & cake before continuing on our walk.

Near the end of the square and across the road is the art nouveau Cifra Palace. 

A little along the lines of a Gaudi building.  There was also a bronze relief.

Back to the bus at 11:30 that took us to Tanyacsarda.  

First up was a welcome drink with a scone.  After partaking in that, we then had a horse and buggy ride around part of the property.  After that was a demo of a horse stampede

and we then walked to another area of the property to watch a demo of whip cracking and horse racing (not the betting kind) and how their animals respond to requests, that are not the norm for horses. Then some fast buggy drive by’s and more horsemanship. 

After that we walked through the stables

and then went and had lunch. 

Goulash soup, main dish of meat, hot vegetables & rice & a salad and then finished with a flambé desert, which looked a bit like breads and butter pudding but it wasn’t.

We departed there at 3pm and were back in Budapest around 4ish.  Most of us chose to get off at the Market Hall.  I bought some grapes & bananas.  The post office was just across the road, so I bought some stamps and then walked back to the hotel. Vati utca, starts at the post office, so I only had a 10 minutes walk. Val & Poolsuk turned off to the left, shortly after we started walking, as their apartment was very close by.

I was back at the hotel around 5pm.

I didn’t walk as far today and my feet are grateful.  If I had a bath at this hotel, I would be having a soak tonight but I don’t, so I can’t.