Biking and hiking up to Szigliget Castle, Hungary

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Travel gives you the opportunity to have some really remarkable days, and they’re often momentous for reasons that you’d never expect. When Masayo and I awoke today on our first morning in the town of Balatongyörök in central Hungary, we didn’t quite know that we were in for a day of adventure and beauty but also of periods of acute embarrassment.

Well-meaning bulls in a china shop, that was us today. In the plus column, my blood sugars were almost perfect all day. Probably thanks to the exercise that we undertook through the soft and cold Hungarian countryside near mighty Lake Balaton.

The day began with a BG reading of 152; the high from last night well-taken care of. Our first breakfast at Villa Astoria would prove the first diabetic challenge of the day.

Downstairs in the dining area was a table all set for us – we are the only customers here in this obscure town in the off-season. The meal was one of the most extensive we’ve seen on this trip: muesli, yogurt, bread, cheese, ham, sausage, coffee, juice, honey, ham, butter… it was like breakfast’s greatest hits. I couldn’t think of anything missing.

The owner of the guesthouse was popping in and out making sure we had everything we needed. He told us that he was the former CEO of an international shipping company, and was used to staying in really nice places himself. Now retired, he’d recently opened this guesthouse as a hobby and also as a way to let people enjoy the comfort he’d known but for a fraction of the cost.

Breakfast made good on this – it was sumptuous and endless. There was no way I could finish all this, but I reared up and took a big Humalog shot for it anyway. We were planning on biking to a nearby castle afterwards so I figured that would help control my blood glucose somewhat. (It was still hard to calculate a dose for though.)

Coffeegate

During the meal came our first inept catastrophe. We each wanted a second cup of coffee, so I put my mug on the nearby coffee maker, stuck in a coffee pod, and pressed the button and went back to continue eating while it brewed.

The owner came in a couple minutes later and made an instant dash for the coffee maker – coffee was overflowing my cop and running all over the machine and soaking the tablecloth. Visibly controlling his irritation, the guy explained that there was a full pot on our table; the machine was in case we wanted another pot, not another cup.

Sure enough, there was our own personal coffee pot, right next to my plate in front of me. We are so used to dingier self-service type places that it never occurred to us that we were being properly served, upper-class style. We apologized repeatedly, and he assured us that it was ok as he removed the entire tablecloth and took it away to wash the dirt of us rubes off.

To Szigliget Castle

The day’s plan was to use the guesthouse bicycles and ride about nine kilometers to the nearby town of Szigliget and hike up to its ancient hilltop castle. And it was a perfect day for such an excursion, cold but sunny.

Having all recovered from Coffeegate, we got the bikes from the owner and Masayo and I started down the roads. For most of the way to Szigliget there are roadside paths which follow the dramatic contours of the hills beside Lake Balaton. Occasionally there were nice views of the lake, and traffic was so light that we basically had the area all to ourselves. The morning sun was throwing long, spidery shadows across the path that passed under quiet green trees as we drew closer and closer to the castle.

Finally as we rode around a bend, Szigliget Castle was visible high on a distant hill across a wide field. Our destination!

In the small town of Szigliget itself we chained the bikes up outside of a closed tourist office, then walked through the winding streets to a small grocery for snacks: water and cinnamon rolls. Outside I checked my blood sugar and was 120. Perfect, after that huge breakfast and the bike ride! I ate a Mars bar though, since our exercise was just beginning.

There are several staircases that lead up the steep hillside, past churches, houses, and narrow little roads, to the castle. When we reached Szigliget Castle there was an entrance gate and we were pleased to see it was open. (Unlike some Slovakian castles I could mention.) Admission was about $2.40 and we seemed to be the only visitors.

Szigliget Castle dates from the 1100s, and now consists of partially reconstructed ruins mostly in dark, rounded stones. Crumbled walls can be seen and some of the castle’s original rooms have been restored, with their wooden implements and sturdy construction evident in the simple, effective displays. Walkways lead up and down the undulating ground, and signs (in English) give helpful explanations.

But the castle itself is only half the reward for hiking up from town – the views in all directions is astounding. To the south lies Lake Balaton, over which the mid-afternoon sun was already setting and glinting brightly off of the wide, calm surface. On the other side, sweeping vistas towards rows of hills showed vast networks of farms and yards that disappeared into blue mist.

While at the castle I checked my BG again – you have to do so more often when you’re doing something unusual. I was pleased to find I was 97, still doing excellently today. Exercise really makes BG behave.

Having had our fill of Szigliget Castle and its romantic location on the top of central Hungary, we hiked back down and unchained our bikes for the ride home. I ate my cinnamon roll, without insulin, on the way.

Back to Balatongyörök

As the path veered from the main road and took us nearer the edge of Lake Balaton, I got off to see how my diabetes was doing after the cinnamon roll. It was 131 – just outside of my 70~130 range, but obviously I’d take it! It made for a nice BG selfie, too.

Laundrygate

Back at Villa Astoria we immediately set out to embarrass ourselves and annoy the owner again. But this time it wasn’t as much our fault. Really!

He had said we could use the washing machine in the garage, and that was great for us because we’ve been doing hand-washing with our Scrubba bag the entire trip. Would be nice to have everything “professionally” cleaned. There was even a drier, what luxury!

The guy’s assistant, and friendly young guy who didn’t speak any English, helped us downstairs with our large laundry load and started showing us how to use the machine. We didn’t really understand his instructions, but did get that it would take about thirty minutes.

We smiled and thanked him and went back to the room. Half an hour later we trudged back downstairs but the washing machine was still pumping away. The owner finally came in, looked it over, and exasperated said that we had chosen some energy-intensive 2-hour super cycle. Remembering the coffee spill we gently suggested that this time it was the assistant’s fault. It seemed to work; he muttered that the assistant hadn’t used this machine before as he reset it for us to the proper cycle.

Having made nuisances of ourselves again we snuck out and went by bicycle back to Magyaros Csárdás, the restaurant we ate at yesterday and still the only place I know of in town that’s open.

I had fish with vegetables and potatoes plus another draft beer. As yesterday the food was rather amazing. I assumed the fish came directly from Lake Balaton. Wherever it was from, the spices and the mix of flavors and textures were fantastic. The homey, folk-art-themed atmosphere of the place made it all perfect.

Having had excellent blood sugars all day I was nervous about a meal that included potatoes and beer and unknown sauce. I guessed at my Humalog shot, and after dinner back in the room checked to see what I’d been able to accomplish.

It was 174, and it felt like a “good” 174 – not one that was rising higher. I was still a little hungry so I tempted fate by having a beer and Snickers from the minibar plus three more units of Humalog.

If it doesn’t work out for me, well that’s tomorrow morning’s problem. For today, I had great blood sugars and got to see a stupendous and virtually unknown castle in the vast and cool air of the Hungarian December by bike. Tomorrow we’ll be leaving Hungary and entering Slovenia. But tonight we could sleep well and happily.

Who can argue with a great day like this, when the travel gods and the diabetes gods come together?

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