Adri's Palette

I don’t know if it was the long gloomy winter days, the lack of sunshine or a particularly though couple of days at work, but both my husband and I felt we needed some time off to relax and re-energize ourselves. So we made the decision not to stay at home over this holiday weekend, but travel south to Lake Balaton. Now, this destination is particularly popular in Hungary during the summer, but there were so many sporting and cultural events in the city of Keszthely, that we couldn’t resist and headed down despite the weather.

Our two days were jam packed. We went sightseeing at the Festetics Palace, saw the most incredible Coach Museum, cheered the marathon runners during the sporting events and had the chili tasting experience of my life (thank you again to our friends at Magaméri for this amazing opportunity!). But the one thing I will never forget is when we were just sitting on the docks and watched the waves.Even though it is not summer, and we were not even considering putting on a swimsuit in the gale, we headed down to the shore to see the lake. The beach seemed to be almost deserted. A lone tramp and some kids seemed to be the only people around. After a short stroll we sat down on a bench and started watching the waves.With the horizon softly blending into the waterline our attention was quickly overtaken by the rocks in the shoreline. They acted much like magnets. We watched as the stormy waves rose and fell, then crashed against them. The white froth that remained disappeared almost instantly so the rocks could welcomed yet another crashing wave. And then a flock of wild swans lazily paddled into our view. Swaying in the stormy water they seemed almost stoic.  They  were only disturbed by the insolent wild ducks who dared enter their territory.

I have no idea how much time we spent on the bench. I could only feel the time passing because the gale sometimes gave me a little shove. Yet I didn’t want to get up and leave. I felt hypnotized by the movement of the water, the bickering of the birds and the sound of the waves on the rocks. I felt more relaxed than in weeks. If it were not for the promise of some ice cream I think I would still be sitting there. And it would have been a shame, because the city had so much more to offer. Yet this moment is something I will surely keep in my heart and memories for ever!