Travelling around Hungary

On our return back to Hungary we visited a few smaller towns of note.  First Harkany, almost on the Croatian border of Hungary where the bathing craze is the big drawcard once again.  Here the water is hotter than at Heviz and has the richest sulphuric content in Hungary.  It is supposed to be very therapeutic for swollen joints.  To my great dismay my silver rings turned black.  I rubbed them with toothpaste and restored them to their former shiny glory but I forgot to photograph the black version.

This photo is taken at the strand or swimming pool part of the baths.  All those bodies and the crowd - aren't my Australian viewers grateful for our relatively uncrowded swimming pools?

This is in the thermal part of the pools.  Far less crowded and slightly more expensive than the strand part.

They have great water streams which act as a massage in the water.  A lovely feeling.

We next visited Pecs, also very near the Croatian border and a very pleasant city to visit with an illustrious past and monuments.  The oval shaped inner town is virtually pedestrian-only.  There is a strong Turkish influence in its buildings.

The Mosque Church in Szechenyi Ter in the heart of the old town.

The Mausoleum.

St Peter's Basilica.

On leaving Pecs we came across a number of stork nests on the power poles.  We could not resist capturing them.

These rather large babies are waiting for dinner that their parents dutifully provide.

We next visited Szeged which is very near the Romanian border and is the largest city in the Southern Plain of Hungary.  It is an old city but in 1879 the River Tisza swelled its banks and almost wiped Szeged off the map.  All but 300 houses were destroyed and the city was rebuilt with foreign assistance between 1880 and 1883.  As a result, like Chicago, the city has an architectural uniformity unknown in most other European cities.  The leafy broad avenues that ring the city in an almost perfect circle are named after the European cities that helped bring Szeged back to life.  It is an important university town and students marched here in 1956 before their classmates in Budapest did.

The wonderful Votive Church.

Almost all Hungarian cities have a Szechenyi Square.  This is the one in Szeged.

The compulsory "beautiful building" in every town.

The guide books describe the New Synagogue in Szeged as the most compelling Hungarian Art Nouveau style.  It is the most beautiful Jewish house of worship in Hungary (Budapest Dohany Street Synagogue eat your heart out) and apparently still very much in use.

The cupola, decorated with stars and flowers representing Infinity and Faith, appears to float skywards.

It is the most beautiful synagogue I have seen.