Written by: Balázs
We woke up in Kecskemet on 22nd March. The alarm went off around 7:30, which might sound a bit strange for many of you: we are on vacation and still we have to get up early! We need some time to get ourselves ready, have some breakfast and leave on time, so that we can do the kilometres we planned!
Our host, Etelka made us fried-eggs (the egg yolk was not fried completely, just the way we like it!) and baked potatoes with bread and tea. We had a lovely breakfast and she also told us everything about the hows of raising chicken.
It was almost 11 a.m. when we could start off. There were a few drivers who sounded the horn and waved to us, maybe they saw us in the news last night…? :)
We stopped at Kiskunfelegyhaza to have a bite. The weather changed a bit, the air kind of cooled down. It was not that bad, but is was not pleasant at all.
The gas stations are the best places in town to stop by when you need to go. Sometimes the staff are nice too, they look at our bikes and start asking questions, where are we going, what are we doing. Some of them just laugh and tell us how crazy we are.
In between Kiskunfelegyhaza and Kistelek we saw a guy on the right side of the road. The night before we received a message from Karcsi Ballagi (The name of his blog/ community is Bringaval barhova on Facebook) letting us know that he was about to cycle home from Szeged and he would like to meet us in person. We recognised him, although we had never met before. He really is a nice guy, we talked a bit, took a picture together and said goodbye. He was the first cyclist we met on our journey. :)
It was a nice ride to Szeged. It was really weird, I spent 6 years in this town while studying at the University, and now I am back.
We stayed at one of my friends’ place in Szőreg, outside Szeged. Andris, Bazsi and Pusi (THE boys) were busy with campfire, Mesi and Dori, the girls were just back from the greengrocer. The little Dorka was there too, Bazsi’s and Dori’s daughter. We had a lovely beef stew (bogrács gulyás for those really into Hungarian cuisine) with some wine.
The next morning the whole company had breakfast together. We decided to re-think what we really need for the trip; that is how an extra jumper, a pair of trousers got out from our bags. I finally fixed the lights at the back of my bike, because I didn’t have time for that.
We spent the day in town, we met Peti (we were studying in the same university). He is a social worker, he works with underprivileged young people. We talked on the phone weeks before, and I offered our laptop that we don’t use as a support for anybody in need. He knew a young guy, called Gyula who studies at the university and works with Peti, and who needs some help, as he is underprivileged too. There was no question, Gyula has to get our laptop! We hope that he will find it useful!
Once we said goodbye, we went straight to “Kapca” to taste their famous hamburgers. Homemade rolls, coleslaw, chips… Lovely combination and a huge portion! You have to visit Kapca when you’re in Szeged!
We met Bea, and ex-classmate of mine, and one of my ex-teachers, called Sanyi. It was an unexpected meeting, but really funny. Short after that we had another meeting –that was a fixed appointment- with a journalist of the local newspaper, Delmagyar. After the quick interview we had to rush back to the house where stayed at, because the photographer of the newspaper had to take pictures of us with the loaded bikes. What a day!
We popped down to the nearest shop at night, then we all sat together and talked. It was great to be with friends that night.
