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I spent the last hour before my departure from the hostel talking to two guys, one from Germany and one from Romania, where I will be in a few days, so he gave me a few advices. Then I was off to take the metro to another Budapest station.

It’s another radious day, ideal for today’s ride along the coast of Lake Balaton! My goal was to go along the Western side today, and see the Eastern one on the way back in two days. However, it’s only after booking my return trip and when approaching the lake that I realized that I messed up for today: I am taking the same route. Bah, maybe tomorrow I’ll go for a day trip on the West coast.

Lake Balaton is gargantuan. At over 5,000 km², it is the largest of Central Europe. However, it is all in length, at no less than 78 km, but you can always see the opposite side.

I arrive in Keszthely just in time for lunch, where I found some delicious gnocchi bolognese. What? It was written « compose your own pasta ». Don’t judge me! After meeting with my Airbnb host, who was very kind and helpful, I went back out, with the only aim to have a lazy beach afternoon. I even wore my swimsuit.

However, the closest point of the Balaton was not a beach but more a lakeside park, even though people were sunbathing and some swimming. I walked for an eternity to another beach further East. Of course, I didn’t check, it was a paying one. Ahhhh!

By now I had already walk almost an hour but I had little choice than to go back to the park and stay there, walking six kilometers more than I would have liked today. I can very well picture the Devil’s dance, giggling at my misfortune.

Anyway, that’s first World problems and I’m over-dramatizing for narrative purpose. At 5 PM, I was finally lying under a tree, kinda sunbathing (I need to buy sunscreen soon). I stayed there for a good hour and a half, which is quite a performance for me, until it was getting colder.

I walked back the same way, through a beautiful forested park and a cute pedestrian street. Keszthely is a very picturesque little town, if I may say so myself. I quickly walked to Festetics Palace to sneak a picture or two with the sunset. It’s impressive that such a massive building is found on a relatively unknown little town like this. It’s not a medieval castle though, it dates from the early 19th century, in Baroque style.

And here we go… first mosquitoes of the year.