I left Keeley
sleeping while I ventured down to another delicious breakfast the same as
yesterday’s. It was after 10 before she awoke, but thankfully was feeling much
better- the antibiotics must be starting to work. Thank goodness I don’t have
to drive!
We packed the car,
paid the bill, and set off for Heviz. It was the most pleasant drive we’ve had.
Keeley actually said she was ENJOYING it. We were keeping a look out for the
border so we could get a vignette for Hungary. After asking at two petrol
stations, we finally saw the booth with “vignette” written on it. I hopped out
of the car to encounter the first person this trip who spoke no English! I
managed to work out that credit card was no good: he needed 12.50 euro in cash,
and did I get a vignette? No, I got a scrappy receipt!
We called into
Aldi on our way and stocked up on groceries again, plus bought a box of
cookies, which we ate while driving. Not a cookie fan, but these were so
moorish we couldn’t stop eating. We have a kitchen in our apartment with pots
and pans, plates, cups and cutlery, as well as a toaster, kettle, fridge,
hotplates and microwave. What else could we want? Well, maybe a point to plug
them all in! There was one double point in the whole kitchen (the fridge is
plugged into one) so there’s a bit of plug-pulling going on.
Keeley had read
there were Christmas markets nearby so off we set towards Keszthely in the hope
of finding them. We found where they
will be in a few days’ time, but at the moment there are just a few food stalls
set up in the square, with a roof of Christmas lights and a beautifully
decorated tree. We did walk down a very pretty, but freezing, street mall
decorated for Christmas until we came to an empty, but posh-looking restaurant.
The smells of the food stalls at the Christmas market had made us hungry and
the walk back had made us even hungrier. Do we eat here or head back to Heviz?
Keeley decides, eat here!
In the warmth of
the restaurant, we take off almost all our layers and are still hot! Keeley
ordered mushroom soup and breaded camembert with blackcurrant sauce, while I
thought I’d try Hungarian goulash and chicken kebab with Roquefort sauce.
Keeley ordered fries as a side and I ordered grilled vegetables. This was a case
of our eyes were definitely bigger than our bellies, figuratively speaking, as
we were quite full after the huge bowls of soup with fresh bread! We tried hard
to finish our mains, but failed! Thank you, Stacey, for the tip about the Tupperware
container as a doggy bag. I loaded all of the grilled vegies into mine and had
some of them in my omelette this morning, (see photo) and enough left over for
breakfast tomorrow as well.
Today, we headed
off to the Lake Heviz spa. What can I say? We’ve been thorough spoilt on our
spa trail! We didn’t expect it to be as good as Rogner Bad Blumau- nowhere
could be- but we thought it would be ok. Fortunately it was only about $10
Australian entry, and that’s about all it was worth.
We paid, were
given magnetic wristbands, found the lockers, chose lockers, undressed, put all
of our gear in the lockers, but were unable to lock them! Apparently, what we
had to do was scan the wristband and it would allocate us numbered
lockers. I couldn’t even find my nominated
locker! Keeley eventually found it, and I had to transfer all of my gear to the
new locker. Not happy, Jan. I took out my frustration on poor Keeley who walked
off saying, “You can find your own way to the bloody lake then,” which of
course, I couldn’t. I wandered round and round the locker area, encountering
old men is various stages of undress, until finally I gave up and went back to
reception and through that way. As it turned out, you had to go through the toilets to get to the
lake! Even less happy, Jan.
After finally
reaching the lake, we thought we’d try the inside pool first as there were
dozens of people already in it. It must be good! They were all hanging on for
dear life to a bar around the edge and when a bell rang, they moved forward one
space. There was even a line up to get on
this bar! What the…?
We clambered down
the stairs with our pool noodles wrapped around us (they were provided at our
apartment) and tentatively dipped our feet in, expecting it to be hot. Well, it
was warm, but nowhere near the temperatures of any of the thermes we’ve encountered so far. And it stunk! The
sulphuric fumes quickly overcame us, so we wanted to get outside into the lake
proper. We floated around in the middle looking for a way out, but the whole underneath
of the building was enclosed, so we climbed out and found an exit, braved the
cold- it was 5C and raining, and stepped off the stairs into the lake. Brrrrr! Not
keen to swim amongst the lily-pads so swam out to the middle. Maybe there’s a
hot spot further out where those people were. So I swam fast to warm up but
could not find any hot spots, nor even a warm spot. I’ve never been a Polar
Bear and wasn’t about to start now.
Once I told Keeley
it was 38 metres deep, (she’s scared the Loch Ness monster has long-lost
relatives in these parts), she made a beeline for the stairs followed closely
by me, not because of the depth, but because I was still freezing! We climbed
the stairs, and went inside to get a towel. They were approximately $5 to hire
and were the size of tea-towels. I decided we’d share my microfibre one. We stretched out on the chaise longues near
the heaters, thinking we’d warm up. The heaters were less than useless, and
eventually I gave in and went to hire a bathrobe to fend off the cold.
Unfortunately for me, you didn’t scan your wristband as we have done in other
spas for any extra purchases, but had to pay in Hungarian cash! I had to stay
bathrobe-less!
We had purchased a
relaxing and rejuvenating massage when we entered, and now was the time to
indulge ourselves. Keeley also booked what she thought was a facial, as the
hand and foot treatments were all booked out.
We had the massage
first- my masseuse was Miss Fairy Fingers- my back was full of knots which are
all still there- and Keeley’s masseur was the Hulk himself! She’s battered and
bruised and swears she’s NEVER having another massage (it was her first!) I
should have had him!
The “facial”
turned out to be a facial massage, which was nice, but my skin really needs a
good exfoliation, not a massage!
Oh God, don’t I
sound just like Elizabeth?
Things did not
improve when we arrived back at our apartment. We had purchased a can of what I
thought was tuna yesterday and turns out to be tuna salad. Brave little Keeley
ate it for dinner, even though she said it tasted like catfood. I had a taste, to
prove it wasn’t catfood, but I’ve paid the price of my skepticism as I’m
burping it up right now and feeling quite ill!
Tomorrow has to be
a better day…
Good to know about the magnetic wrist bands.
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