Anyone for a new do?

Since Thursday I have been in Héviz. Héviz is slightly odd as it has a disproportionate number of hairdressers. I thought Bulkington, the village I grew up in had a lot, but it is nothing put to Héviz! It's located about 4 miles west of Keszthely, the largest town on the western edge of Lake Balaton. I had originally wanted to stay in Keszthely but the accommodation there was too expensive so I ended up in Héviz  instead which I think actually turned out well. This area is very German and I'll explain why in today's history lesson! Before Germany's reunification, people in DDR were permitted to travel to Hungary because it was under communist rule at that time. People in the FDR could travel where they wished and so families and friends who were unable to cross the Berlin Wall to see each other, would holiday in the Lake Balaton area. As such, German is as common as Hungarian in this area (which I'm finding immensely helpful!!).

The main attraction of Héviz (other than its hairdressers) is its lake, which my guidebook says is the world's largest thermal water lake but the information boards in the lake's pavilion says that the largest is actually in Rotorua in New Zealand but that it's not possible to bathe in it (although from my last trip I know they have other very lovely pools!) so I guess that really it's the largest bathable thermal lake in the world. Having checked out the weather forecast, I decided that the best day to visit would be Friday and I had the most perfect day. I had a little lie-in and then following breakfast I made my way through the beautiful gardens... 

...to the lake. 

After sussing the place out, I went and got changed, then hired my styrofoam float (which I know as a noodle) and made my way into the soothing waters of Lake Heviz where I proceeded to just float in 27-ish degrees water. It was bliss. This is the lake...

It has water lilies growing on its surface which bloom in September, so by chance I totally picked the right month to be here! 

After floating for two and a half hours, I got dressed and then went and sat in the grounds for a while and had an iced coffee which had both cream and ice cream! Yum!

From there, I went and had pizza and spent the rest of the day reading, As I said, it was just the most perfect day.

On Saturday, I went to Keszthely. There are a number of attractions in Keszthely (details later) but my main reason for visiting was the Festetics Palace, originally home to the Festetics family. 

The earliest parts of the palace date to 1745, its construction initiated by György Festetic. 

The family lived in the palace until 1944 when it was occupied initially by the German and then the Soviet armies. Nothing much happened after they left until the Hungarian cultural ministry took posession in the 1960s and it became a museum from 1974. The palace was beautiful although quite a mix - there were some areas there were quite drab but then other areas that were stunning, of which some are below.

The library was really quite amazing as it survived the occupation during the war as it had been boarded up so when they tore that wall down it was still really well preserved and even now its 80,000 volumes are still catalogued according the original scheme.

After the palace, I spent some time wandering around the gardens...

Before looking round the carriages exhibition....

Being grey and black this was my favourite!

The other attractions I mentioned that Keszthely has are the Balaton Museum (which was closed)

Fo Tér and Church (Tér means Square)

Kossuth Street

And Lake Balaton

Which possesses one of the genuine sandy beaches on the lake

Yep, that was my thought too!

After enjoying all that, I made my way back to Heviz and being a German area kaffee and kuchen is popular, so far be it from me to break with such a tradition...

Today, I had been planning a moochy day at the Panzio, but a change in the weather forecast to similar to Friday meant that the lake was calling to me again! Far be it from me to resist so I went for just a couple of hours as I hadn't factored in the weekend and children and the fact that children + water = screaming so whilst it was still amazing, it wasn't quite so relaxing this time!!

On my way home, I called in a cemetery that is close to where I'm saying. I find cemeteries fascinating, this one particularly so as the gravestones appear to have even engraved before the people have died! 

I guess that's future planning for you...

I just wonder what happens if they either a) divorce; or b) one spouse dies and the remaining one remarries and wants to be buried with that husband/wife. Answers on a postcard...