Day 19: A Welcome Distraction

Esztergom to Budapest (67km)

Regular readers will remember that on day 1, I managed to fall out of the kayak, destroying my passport in the process. After the new one arrived in Scotland, I had a few delivery options to choose from. I went with option 3: A couple of family members will fly out to Budapest and deliver the passport to you by hand. So it was with excitement that I set off from Esztergom for Budapest, a few hours before my mum and sister would be flying to the same destination.

It was around 70km to Budapest and the day that started off pleasant became a bit of a drag by the end of it. I decided to take a small shortcut, which almost certainly saved time but meant that I was no longer on the main strand of the Danube, as a result, the distance markers were no longer present and I wasn’t sure how far I’d gone. I quite like knowing the exact distance I’ve gone each day and how I’ve got to go and not knowing for a couple of hours was quite frustrating. When I eventually did re-join the main river, I had actually gone further than I thought which perked my spirits back up.

Unlike Vienna and Bratislava, Budapest is built completely around the river and immediately impressive, even from a great distance. I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to exit the river in the centre of the town, never mind find a place to leave the kayak, so I decided to get out a couple of kilometres up the river, found a suitable spot and walked into town. I only booked the hotel when I arrived in Budapest and was almost there when I got a message from the owner saying that it would be an hour and a half until it’s ready. It was already around 6pm so I headed to the nearby McDonalds for a pre-dinner snack. I then met the owner at the agreed time and we headed upstairs. It turned out that the hotel was actually just an apartment, more suitable for Airbnb and that the delay in it being ready was due to the previous residents, a South Korean couple, still being there when I booked it. I wasn’t sure if they were already planned to leave or my arrival had resulted in their eviction, either way, they seemed very friendly about it when replaced them in the apartment. Just as everything was sorted out, I received a text confirming that Amy and Mum had arrived at their hotel, I headed there immediately.

The sight of my new passport was wonderful, but even better was having family there. It actually hasn’t been that long since my parents waved me off in Ulm but it feels like quite a long time, particularly since I’ve been almost comprehensively surrounded by people that don’t speak my language ever since. I’m going to spend the day here tomorrow, although as is customary, my mum seems to have brought the rain.