Good-bye Vienna, on to Sopron, Hungary

Day 34
We didn't have to catch our train until 4:00, so we had some more time in Vienna. We decided to head out to see the Danube.

Church on the Danube.

Rollerblading is still very popular in Europe.

The Danube

Nicole had asked how much luggage we packed. We each have a big backpack and a small backpack. Nicole, the answers to the rest of your questions are under your questions in the Neckargemund post.

While waiting for our train to Sopron, fans from a visiting soccer team arrived. They were very loud and were setting off flares. Lots of police, some wearing helmets, arrived quickly. You can see the police on the platform closest to us and the rowdie fans on the next platform.

After arriving in Sopron, we met up with our excellent host, Gabi. We took a walk around the city and then settled into a wine cellar for dinner. Thankfully Gabi was able to translate for us because everything was written in Hungarian and German. We avoided the stomach and lungs but trusted Gabi that the brains would be delicious for a starter. It was actually pretty good, but I don't think it's something I would want to eat all the time. After dinner some of Gabi's friends came over and we spent the night hanging out with them. It was really nice to get to hang out with some locals for a change.

Gabi and me

Brains on bread-yum!

Day 35

We started the day off with another walk around the city so that we could see it in the daylight. It is a very cute town.

Old Roman walls.

Center of Sopron

There are lots of neat doors that lead to courtyards off of the main roads.

Next we headed to Lake Neusiedl/Lake Ferto. We were on the Neusiedl side. Ferto is what it is called on the Austrian side. It was very cold for a day at the lake but there were still lots of people kite surfing on the lake. We also walked along a boardwalk over the lake where there were really cute houses that sit on the water.

After the lake we stopped at the source of a mineral spring. The company bottles and sells the water but they also have this interesting fountain where the water is pumped straight from the source. The water smells horrible and tasted a little funny but Gabi promised it was good for us.

After the refresing water, we headed to the forest to meet up with some of Gabi's friends for a nice hike. The forest was beautiful. Along our walk we searched for chestnuts to roast later. We hiked to a lookout tower where we had a great view and could see the lake we had been earlier.

On our way down we hiked down a mountain bike path that some local boys had built. The path was crazy. It was hard enough to hike down, I can't imagine attempting it on a bike. Notice in the picture that one of the trees has been wrapped; it was not very thick or soft. I'm not sure if they were attempting to keep the bikers or the tree safe.

After a long hike we stopped at a place near the forest that sold Langos. Langos is a traditional Hungarian bread deep fried and then covered with various toppings. According to Gabi the best is with garlic, cheese and sour cream.

After our long day we crashed back at Gabi's flat and roasted chestnuts. I had never had roasted chestnuts before; they were quite tasty!

Chestnuts roasting in a toaster oven