Balaton Lake, Hungary

We had the option to stay on board as long as we liked as long as we exited our rooms by 8:30 am. So finished packing and went for breakfast; then hung out in the lounge watching the pouring rain until 11:00. The metro station was across a busy street from the ship and a short ride (and 3.37 CA$) took us to the train depot where we bought tickets for the noon direct train to Balatonfured. 2nd class seats were comfortable and we took up a mini-cabin of 5 seats with our luggage. Train was quite empty, but noisy with a large youth contingent blasting quite an eclectic selection of music.

Nice, if rainy, scenery and we arrived at our station. After a brief attempt at taking the bus, we opted for a taxi instead (2500 Hungarian Forint = $13). The Aura Hotel includes 1/2 board (breakfast and dinner) and has a lovely spa with lots of pools and saunas and a nice solarium area. There’s an outdoor pool as well, but not the appropriate weather.

We swam a bit and then dinner, which included a buffet of appys, soups, salads, cheeses and desserts plus a menu main course. We both opted for the sirloin, which was a bit tough, but otherwise the meal was lovely. And we both had the Dreher beer - Steve the draft and me the Bak.