Fenyvesallé 13

Itinerary:

• We run straight along the avenue on the Z+ and then the Z trail to Fenékpuszta.
• We circle the Festetics castle from the south, then return to the avenue where we get back to our starting point on the Z and then the Z+ trail.

Detailed description of the route

We join the avenue by turning left at the end of Vaszary Kolos utca, on the Z+ trail. The dirt road is comfortable and wide, with two pairs of wheel tracks: depending on our preference, we can alternate between running on the grass or on the wheel tracks. Soon we reach the last houses, and the world opens up on both sides: to the right, the hills of Zala, to the left, Keszthely city center beyond the fields. We pass a mini dog cemetery, then reach a crossroads where the Z+ trail ends; from here, we continue on the Z trail joining from the left, from Keszthely, all the way to the Fenékpuszta turning point.

Soon we arrive at the intersection of the avenue and Szendreytelepi road's asphalt, from where we continue running among houses and farm buildings. After the next intersection, turn right, where a marble memorial plaque on the wall of a beautiful, underused large house informs us that "In this house, Béla Bartók stayed and recorded 41 Hungarian folk songs collected in the area in 1906." On the left is the long building with 17 windows, the birthplace of Szendrey Júlia, Petőfi's lover and wife, which has a memorial room at one end.

Another intersection follows, and we run past the last facilities: to the right a water tower and riding hall, to the left a dairy farm can be seen. From this point, the tree line narrows, its width decreasing approximately to the section closer to the town. However, now follows the most spectacular and atmospheric section, which lasts until the crossroads with the busy road bypassing Keszthely. Be careful crossing the busy road!

We continue running on the wilder, sparser, more incomplete, bushier section of the tree line. When reaching the Fenékpuszta area, at a crossroads where the Z trail turns left, we go straight. We pass the abandoned small agricultural buildings of the former estate and concrete basins that once served unknown purposes, then at the far corner of the large field on the left, we also turn left towards the Fenékpuszta buildings, then before them to the right towards the tall chimney. At the chimney, we turn left, and then once more left, bypassing the former stables of the Festetics family, who have centuries-old traditions in horse breeding and horse racing (where even the feeding bowls and water troughs were made of marble).

We rejoin the Z trail and now run on the Balaton side past the sad state of the castle's main entrance. Nearing the upper end of the farm, we pass on the right the ruins of an ancient Roman fort, Valcum granary, then its basilica, then turn left at a giant centuries-old oak tree to close the Fenékpuszta loop, and return to the starting point on the familiar route.