The owner spoke only a few words of English, but we were able to negotiate an apartment for the four of us for 20000 Forints (~$112).  We think we understood that other than the apartment, the hotel was full.  Maybe this is high season after all.  We decided to skip breakfast the next day since it was not included in the rate and we still had the cheese from the day before.

The apartment was amazing!  There were two upstairs bedrooms with a view of the Basilica and a full bath with tub, shower and a washing machine.  Halfway down the steps built into the side of the hill was a strange stone room with a half bath.

Downstairs was a full kitchen with a refrigerator so cold that it slushed the drinks we put in it!  There was a sitting area with a TV and an area outside where we could lock our bikes.

We were tired and dirty again. (Even with the train ride, we still did 17 miles on the bikes.) But after freshening up again, we hurried out to do some sightseeing.

Dinner was at the Mély Tányér, around the corner from our apartment. 

We had the best dish of the trip here; the Hortobágyi Palacsinta, a crepe filled with ground *veal and swimming in a paprika cream sauce.  *Another translation problem here.  The English translation on the menu lists this ingredient as “vegal ragout”, leading us to believe it was a vegetarian dish.

Back at the apartment, we took some pictures in the curious stone room, and then retired to the den area for a glass of wine.  The Basilica looked very pretty out our bedroom window.

We had taken bread from the restaurant the night before, so we breakfasted on cheese toast and slushy Diet Cokes.  After saying our goodbyes to Gigolo, we bicycled out of town along the river, past the Basilica.

The guide book gave an option for a shorter route that required climbing (we don’t like that word) out of Esztergom.  We chose, instead to stay along the river to Bubanatvolgy and then follow the road toward Pilismarót, peeling off at the left turn to the ferry dock.

At the ferry dock, we encountered a couple from Switzerland who were biking a route similar to ours.  We exchanged stories about our trips.  The wife spoke very good English, but the husband not so much.  He had taken a pretty bad fall the day before.

The ferry was 320 Forints ($1.80) for each person and 320 Forints ($1.80) for each bicycle.   Someone comes around to collect the payment on the ferry.

Thinking that the river was the dividing line between Hungary and Slovakia, once we crossed over to Szob, we decided we needed to get some more Slovakian Korunas.  We found a bank in town with an ATM outside but when we tried the ATM machine, it seemed to be dispensing only Hungarian Forints.  We went into the bank, but they sent us back to the ATM.  We thought maybe the display was in Forints but it would actually dispense Korunas, so we tried withdrawing 5000 Forints.  We got Forints.  Frustrated, we rode away and stopped a few hundred yards later at the Popeye Restaurant.  Here we studied our map and realized that the river had stopped being the country divider just before the ferry so we were actually in Hungary!  Happily, we enjoyed some refreshments, knowing that we could pay for them.

It was a beautiful ride along the river to Nagymaros and we arrived just in time to see the Swiss couple on the ferry to Visegrád (they didn’t see us). 

Since we’d stopped here, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at Maros Étterem.  The HUGE veggie pizza had maize on it.  For future reference, one pizza is plenty for two or three people.  I had a wonderful Greek chicken salad.

The bike path continued along the river, so we decided to follow along rather than taking the ferry to Visegrad.  It was a beautiful day and a gorgeous ride. 

We rode on to Vác before taking the ferry across to Tahitótfalu on the island of Szentendrei Sziget in the middle of the river.  This ferry was 380 Forints (~$2.15) for each person and 380 Forints (~$2.15) for each bike.  Our bicycles had started to groan a bit so Tony managed to talk the ferry boat operator out of some oil.  I was skeptical that he would be able to communicate “oil” in Hungarian and thought that I had been proven right when I saw the man approaching with a screwdriver, but he used the screwdriver to apply the oil.

The people on the island seemed somewhat less friendly than some of the other areas.  We stopped for refreshments at Napsugár Sörözo but didn’t feel particularly welcome.

My knee was hurting again so Tony hung back with me while the others rode ahead.  We agreed to meet at the next ferry dock.  As we approached Szigetmonostor, I thought I could see the girls ahead of us but we couldn’t raise them on the walkie-talkies so we made the turn to the ferry dock.  When they weren’t at the ferry dock, we tried to contact them again; still no response.  As a last resort, we used our cell phone to contact them.  They had missed the turn and bumped through the town on the cobblestone streets causing the jostling to turn the volume down on the walkie-talkie. Tony rode back up to the turn off and led them back to the ferry.

I took advantage of the waiting time to study our Rick Steve’s guide for accommodations in the next town.  The cost of this ferry was 200 Forints (~$1.15) for each person and 200 Forints (~$1.15) for each bike.  The ferry took us from Szigetmonostor to Pismany and then it was a short ride to Szentendre where I immediately spotted Rick’s two recommendations.  We chose the Corner Panzió mainly because of Rick’s description of the rooms as “six cozy, woody rooms”.  They just happened to have two rooms left!  I guess we got lucky - high season here could have been a problem.  The price was €40 per room (we actually paid in Euro this time because we didn’t have enough Forints left).   The rooms had air conditioners but they seemed to be on a timer and didn’t run long enough to get the rooms very cool.  There was only one remote control for the air conditioners that was kept on the bookcase in the common area.

At the hotel, we met a dentist from New York who was traveling with her son for three weeks.  Her husband and other son had spent the previous two weeks with them, but she said that her husband always goes home after two weeks.  She said that even on their honeymoon he went home after two weeks and she stayed by herself.

We had dinner at Új Muvész where we tried their version of Hortobágyi Palacsinta.  It was good, but different.  The crepe was filled with something that was the consistency of stew.  The 10% tip was included on our bill, something we had not encountered in the smaller, less touristy towns.

We wandered around after dinner and who should we find but the Swiss couple again!  The husband said something to his wife and she translated that he did not recognize us because we had changed clothes.

Back at our hotel, we shared a glass of wine and some travel stories with the New York dentist and her son before retiring for the evening.  Including our walk around town, it was a 36 mile day for us.

We agreed to meet early the next morning to ride the short distance to the train station (we wanted to catch an early train so we could get to Budapest in time to do some sightseeing.)  We had been told by numerous people that it was not advisable to try to ride our bicycles into Budapest.  The train station was just a few miles out of Szentendre along a stream where a painter had set up his easel.

We got a few more Forints from the ATM at the train station.  Our train tickets cost 480 Forints (~$2.70) for each person and 230 Forints (~$1.25) for each bike.  There was a bicycle painted on the train platform.  When the train pulled up, the door where the painted bicycle was had a wide opening so we decided it would not be necessary to take the backpacks off of the bicycles.  I put my bike on the train and then turned around to help the others.   I wasn’t much help since my bike fell over behind me causing me to trip and fall.  We finally got the bikes loaded and settled into our seats.  There was a sign showing that the bicycle car would only allow 4 bikes.   Something to keep in mind for future trips when our group might be larger.

We were riding to the end of the line, so we knew we would have plenty of time to unload the bikes.   Once off of the train, we noted that there was no bike ramp out of the station.  There were only two options.  Carry the bikes up the stairs or ride up the escalator with them.  We chose the escalator.  Tony went up first, followed by one of the girls.  I waited until they were almost to the top and then stepped on, holding the bicycle brakes.  The backpack made the back of the bike so heavy that I couldn’t keep it from rolling backward, taking me with it.  I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I think the front wheel turned and came off of the ground, knocking me down.  It seemed like I tumbled forever, in slow motion.  Somehow the bike got on top of me.  I could hear one of the girls screaming, “OH MY GOD!” and I thought I must be dying.  Finally a little Hungarian man pressed the emergency stop button and leapt over the handrail.  He lifted the bike up enough for me to get out from under it.   By then, Tony had made it back down and helped me get up the steps.  We were all pretty shaken up by the experience and I had a few battle scars but was not hurt badly.  I thanked my Hungarian Hero and we went on our way.

The first thing we saw was the impressive Parliament building.

Next, we passed a beautiful church.

Just across the chain bridge, we spotted our refuge for the night, the Intercontinental Hotel.  It was a bit of a splurge for us, but was worth it after riding bikes all week.  This was the only hotel reservation we had for the entire trip - we decided that it would be nice to have a "known" for the last night of this adventure.

Each room had a wonderful view overlooking the Danube.

We dropped our bags and took the bikes to the Yellow Zebra to turn them in.  The Yellow Zebra and Pedal Power have reciprocal agreements so that you can rent from one and return to the other (for an additional fee).  The Yellow Zebra recommended a nice restaurant for lunch, the Belvárosi Lugas Étterem.  I had roasted vegetables and grilled cheese.

There was a beautiful church across the street from the restaurant.

We stopped in to take a look at the lobby of the Opera and then went to the House of Terror, a museum showing the horrendous treatment by the Nazis and later, the Communists.

Afterwards, we walked down to Heroes Square where there were statues of Hungary’s historic figures.

While we were gawking at the statues we were approached by a local television crew and asked about our opinion of the public restrooms in Budapest.  They were disappointed when we answered that we had not tried them.

Next, we took the Metro back to the river.  The same tickets work for the Metro, trams and buses.  At the Metro station you can buy a variety of ticket types.  A single ticket is 230 Forints (~$1.25).  A short ride of 3 stops or less on the Metro is slightly cheaper, and a ticket that includes a transfer is slightly more expensive.  Unlimited ride tickets are available at the main Metro stops.  The Metro stations were very fancy, decorated with tile, oak and brass.

It started to rain so we found a place to sit under an umbrella at Habana Cafe Grill and enjoy a glass of wine when who should happen by but our friends, the Swiss couple!  They commented that it really IS a small world.

Take a shortened extension cord for the airplane. The reconfigured planes have a 110 outlet, but large plugs (like the iGO) won’t fit in the space.
40 and 50 mile a day is a bit much.
    We should “target” about 25 miles a day, which would give us time to do a little sightseeing in the towns we end up in;
            or worse case, ride to the next town if “this” town doesn’t have rooms/restaurants/etc.
Pack even lighter.
    The new dress code is very nonrev adventure-trip friendly (zip off leg pants, tennis shoes). Nylon, nylon, nylon.
             We washed “today’s” clothes in the hotel sink each day, and they were dry by morning; one flying outfit and 2 sets of biking clothes.
There is no point in carrying spare rechargeable batteries when you are already carrying a recharger and batteries that recharge in 15 minutes!
The rental bikes come with:
     A pump; don’t need to carry one.
     A tool kit; don’t need to carry one.
     A bike lock; don’t need to carry one.
Make sure everybody knows how to reset the walkie-talkies, in case they get “changed” on the road.
Don't assume that just because a bicycle path is named after a waterway (i.e. Danube Bicycle Path) that it runs along the river.
Don't be too frightened by warnings of High Season!  Be adventurous!
Pay attention to whether the tip is included in your dining bill.  Especially in the more touristy towns.

And the most important lesson?
  NEVER try to take a bicycle up an escalator!