A good sign, barely outside Budapest and we spy a pair of nesting White Storks

A rest stop along the way for coffee

Soon we were in a national park that includes the "puszta," a large lowland plain that is home to the Great Bustard and other birds.

The wildflowers, such as this thistle, were as fascinating as the birds ...

And they sat still for the camera.

Poppies were every where ... whole fields of them.

The menu at the Szetiklósi Fogado in Kunszentmiklós included dishes with every part of the bull you can think of, and some you'd rather not.


 We opted for an authentic Hungarian Goulash and French Onion Soup, which came in a bread bowl.

Then back to the fields to look for more birds.

If this an Hungarian cow (and it was), I'd hate to see a bull.

Farm fields are also good birding sites.

And stork nesting sites.


 From left, Jimmy Lyons, guide Gerard Gorman of Probirder.com, Jack and Ruth Marie Lyons

The next day, it was off to Szentendre, mostly for shopping.

But it was a picturesque little village ...

... with a quaint alternative to orange hazard cones ....

... lots of things in blue and white ...

... and lovely old doors.

Then, it was off to rural Kalocsa, where another river ship was  moored a foot from our balcony.

The small village, has a pedestrian shopping street with huge old trees ...

... a fountain with a personality all its own ...

Hungary's largest women's prison ...

... and Lada cars, still running after decades.

This local woman who was selling strawberries, warm and fresh from the field. The flavor was fantastic!
HINT:

Kalocsa is the place to buy paprika. It even has a small Paprika Museum. The shop by the dock had a marvelous selection of the local products.

TOP