I was lucky enough last week to get a couple invites down to Balaton with two sets of friends, the Freidays in Siofok, and then Akos and Nori in Balatonalmadi. The Freiday kids kept me busy as an unofficial nanny, taking them swimming and reading them stories on the beach. Then Abi distracted me playing paddy-cake while Noah sneakily painted my big toe pink with glitter under the table. Noah also took great glee in covering me with blue kids's suntan lotion like a giant smurf. The beach in our area was nice, uncrowded and full of shady trees. In Almadi, we became regulars at Laliba's langos stand, imbibing vast amounts of cold szurkebarat and olasz rizling froccs. The back was feeling good, and I swam an average of 2km every day when not finishing Alistair Reynold's "Absolution Gap." By the way, my friend Betti's company is looking for Norwegian and Dutch speakers if anyone is looking for a job.