"Hungary's trashy, I kinda dig it"

I've always had this weird superstitious thing that when things are going great, and you, for instance, have the  "BEST DAY EVER" it is just the calm before the storm and things will eventually start to go down hill. I guess it is an ebb and flow kind of perspective on life. I've been waiting for as long as I can remember for this niggling feeling to be put to rest. However, I'm sad to say Hungary has not freed me from my ebb and flow perspective. 

After leaving the magical gem that is Bled we set off for Hungary. I've been to Budapest and remember it as being beautiful and one of my favorite European trips that I took last year, so I was hopeful. Instead of hauling ass to the capital we thought it would be best to hit up the countryside and pitch a tent at Lake Balaton. On the ferry ride to France we met a Hungarian man who even suggested the Lake. We were hopeful and in good spirits. The sunshine was out, we were riding the Bled high, all was going according to plan. 

Hundreds of kilometers later we were waiting in line for the ferry that would take us across the lake to the camp site. The campground's website boasted about a huge water slide, restaurants, showers, etc. basically the works, camping with some class, if you will. What we didn't expect was the Jersey Shore does Lake Balaton. Tents were piled on top of each other, there was a tattoo parlor, a mini golf course, a bar with creepy men sporting socks and sandals, men, women and children rocking the mullet, a massive water slide that didn't go into the lake, but instead into a piss pool - it was car camping at its worst. Too many people, no open spaces. The beauty of it all is that I suggested camping. If you know me at all, you'll know this was a big moment for me. 

We quickly went to sleep only to be woken up by the rain. We quickly packed up our gear, threw the tent on top of Meghan and I in the backseat so it could "air dry" and pointed east towards the Ukrainian border.Hungary did us dirty.

Ukraine was our first "official border". We've heard that border crossings can take hours and sometimes days, so we were prepared to wait it out. We stocked up on food 10 miles before the border and got comfortable. We saw the line for the border much sooner then we saw the border itself, people were stood outside of their cars and it was at a standstill. We swiftly passed through the Hungarian exit border and joined the masses in Hungarian/Ukrainian purgatory. Then to our delight we get told to follow a car that drives past the miles of cars lining up and we end up second in line to be checked into Ukraine. The guy we got told to follow, we later found out, was some official and somehow we got put into his entourage. We handed over our passports to the obligatory grumpy, cold border guard, got approval and even scooted right past customs, which is a small miracle in itself considering the state of our car.  You've seen the pictures, it doesn't look good. What could have been an all day affair was a painless two hours. Ebb, flow, ebb...to Lviv.