This day got off to a bizarre start.  We had planned to leave town early, but did not actually leave until 11!  We started out well, arriving for breakfast at 7:30; but breakfast didn't actually begin until 8 so we went back up to our room.  When we returned, we had fine selections to choose from: Rachael had a cheese, egg and paprika omelet, and I had a plate of cheese and meats - and we both enjoyed exceptional coffee.

At 9 we cleared out of the hotel and entered into a two hour fruitless excursion to place a call to Laurie and Alan back at our hotel back in Vienna.  We wanted to warn them against getting locked out of their room but still inside the building when they checked out.  (Rachael and I only vaguely remember what this was about, but we had some sort of scare or near-miss and almost trapped ourselves when we left the hotel ourselves for the last time).  First, we made three passes through town trying to find the post office so we could buy a phone card.  This required three requests for directions, until we finally stopped in at the city center and bought a city map.  Then, card in hand, we took two more passes through town to find a phone booth that accepted cards.  When we finally did, it was right by our hotel - and, as Rachael noted, it was right next to a coin operated booth we hadn't seen before; so we didn't really need a phone card after all.  Finally, I made a number of attempts, all unsuccessful, to connect to Vienna.  At last we gave up on the concept and headed out of town, feeling stupid, frustrated and anxious about our friends.  I'm sure the townfolk of Kapuvar were bemused by our numerous passes through their little community.

We wisely decided to avoid the highway today, even if it meant missing the Danube Bend.  Instead of our original plan, we struck off to the south for a day of flat riding through very quiet villages on nearly traffic-free roads.  Along the way, we went through Tet, Lovaszpatona, Gic, Kisber and any number of smaller places before wearily reaching Tata, 140 km away.  We enjoyed lengthy stretches of long, straight passages interspersed with modest climbs and descents through lightly rolling foothills.

Throughout the day, our ride was punctuated by colorful everyday sights and activities - , horse-drawn wagons, villagers working the fields or bicycling along, utensils in tow; a car stopping to harvest a rabbit road kill.  We stopped for a not-too scenic lunch at a store in  Tet.  I had a bag of milk (it's sold in plastic bags here, not cardboard containers or bottles), yogurt, and an apple; and Rachael had yogurt, a dish of ice cream, coke, and something else I can't recall.  Later we pulled in at a roadside stand - a small trailer with two outdoor tables and canopies - for a bee, three glasses of water for Rachael, and more ice cream.

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Amazingly enough, we managed the entire distance for Tata, even after our late start this morning.  I thought we had no chance of getting this far at all, and was expecting us to spend the night in Kisbar - close enough to Budapest that we can get there tomorrow by the direct route, but not by the Danube Bend.  From Tata though, we can go along the Bend on a long but not unreasonable day.

Dinner was terrific, once we found it (it is remarkable how difficult it is to orient oneself faced with such a foreign language).  We settled in at an intriguing downstairs, cellar-like place, where we enjoyed cordon bleu, beef casserole and side dishes chased down by a carafe of wine, and serenaded by a pair of pop musicians.  A great end to a long day.

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