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You say sorna I say sauna

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Today we do a guided tour of Helsinki. We are hooked up with a bunch of septics so politics is off the table. We see a bunch more of big buildings. Traditional game of throwing boulder into tree ?The happiest people in the world?  In the afternoon we have a booking at the Loyly suana; Helsinki has a population of 5 million people and 3 million saunas. We stop for a nutritious lunch. The sauna is not a rudy nudy type so there is some degree of decorum. It turns out to be excessively hot inside these sweatboxes and the hardcore types follow up with a dip into the freezing Baltic-not this little black duck! We stroll back into the centre for the traditional Hofmann last day of holiday ritual-the buying of a new suitcase(2 this time). We dine at the aptly named Bastard Burger establishment. FIN
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Saying Hello to Helsinki

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  Today is a free day to tool about in Helsinki thanks to a strike at Helsinki airport. The friendly guy at the front desk has given me a map to follow for a walking tour. We have a traditional Finnish breakfast of pickled herring presented in 17 different ways accompanied by a fine slice of rye bread. The Finnish language is related to Hungarian and so is made up of a series of guttural grunting noises. Our first stop is some sort of Baltic seaside market where we eat a local specialty of teeny weeeny fish served holus bolus with boiled potatoes-quite flavoursome. We walk past various big and not so old churches and buildings and eventually end up at the Ooodi public library. This is a kind of communal get together joint, complete with 3D printers, workspaces, game places and even music studios where you can borrow guitars(if you are a local😵) Quintessential Finnish literature At this stage we are shagged out and return to our digs for a well earned rest and sleep.
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Goodbye Central Europa, Hello Nordic Noir

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 We have only half a day to do Budapest-more than enough! We are totally rooted after yesterday's traumas so we have a late start. Great b'fast at the hotel and then a perambulation around this fine city. My mother once told me that a Hungarian could go into a revolving door behind you and come out in front of you! We wander the streets semi-aimlessly with frequent stops for exotic flavoured ice-cream. Then it is time to pack up and make our way to the airport, which is overflowing with Urotrash. We are separated on the plane and I am sitting next to a moron who spends the whole trip watching music videos on his phone while playing air guitar and air drums😡. Helsinki airport is hygeinic and the taxi to our hotel is without pecc.
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A not ferry good experience

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 Our last day of riding and following a small glitch in the navigation, when I try to do yesterday's ride backwards we are on our way for the 68km epic journey. Today is Sunday and the route is clogged with Urotrash all out for a dip in the beautiful blue Danube of Vienna. We are surprised that we need to do 2 ferry crossings en root. 1 The svelte ferrymeister We arrive all hot and bothered at Szetendre , a town we have visited on another trip; I would have been happy to forgo the 2nd visit. We arrive at 1:30 and our ferry into Budapest leaves at 5pm. We have a light Greek lunch and then wander the streets aimlessly among the hordes of UTs. Then we discover the hidden gem of Sztendre- The marzipan Museum, where all the exhibits are created from marzipan-the only other exhibit I have seen to equal this display would be Mosconi's Marble Masterpiece in Gundagai! We somehow manage to get our bikes and ourselves onto the ferry. The ride was pleasant enough but getting off once aga...
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