Thursday, April 17, 2014

Szeged, Hungary

John: We left Subotica, Serbia heading north to Hungary on an antiquated self-propelled one-coach train that barely made more than 20kms per hour on the ancient tracks.  Crossing the border we changed to a newer Hungarian self-propelled one-coach train and sped into Szeged, another town known for its Art Nouveau architecture.

Sun-Ling: For a city we had never heard of Szeged took us by surprise in the number of monumental buildings, the size of the university, the expanses of squares, not to mention the one and only reason we came here in the first place, the resplendent Art Nouveau buildings.  Why go to ___ (fill in the blank), when you can come to Szeged?! There is even a thermal spa right in the city center.  Last, but not the least, a mechanical clock that performs twice a day.

Never mind thatover half of the businesses were closed for Saturday PM and Sunday, tourist office included; our obligatory visit to the Hare Kristina vegetarian restaurant was a disaster; we have virtually zero comprehension in Hungarian, reading included; locals don't appear to be interested in English either. We were impressed nonetheless.

Our train...That's the engineer pointing out to me that I'm about to be run over by a speedy IC (InterCity) train pulling into the Subotica station. ;-)
Train from Subotica, Serbia to Szeged, Hungary

These small trains are pretty cool as not only can you see the engineer driving the train you can see out the front as well.
Train from Subotica, Serbia to Szeged, Hungary

Parked at the border... The spiffy Hungarian train at front right with the Serbian train to the back left. However, passengers cannot see out the front of the Hungarian train as there is a wall behind the engineer.
Train from Subotica, Serbia to Szeged, Hungary

Various Art Nouveau in Szeged.

Sun-Ling's fav building. Several times she just sat and gazed at it.
Szeged, Hungary

Szeged, Hungary

Szeged, Hungary

The Baths.
Szeged, Hungary

Sun-Ling's fav building at night.
Szeged, Hungary

Szeged has an Art Nouveau Jewish Synagogue. John was required to wear a yarmulke. Sun-Ling thought it was about time that he, not she, was the one who had to put on headgear or vestments to visit a place of worship.
Szeged, Hungary

Szeged, Hungary

The synagogue dome .
Szeged, Hungary

Szeged, Hungary


Stained glass windows in the synagogue.
Szeged, Hungary

More Art Nouveau.
Szeged, Hungary

Szeged, Hungary

Szeged, Hungary

The Water Tower.
Szeged, Hungary

The worst veggie burger I've ever eaten (from the local Hare Krishna restaurant); still pretty good;-)
Szeged, Hungary

But I was rewarded with a very tasty lángos - a Hungarian specialty. They don't have fried dough like this at the NC State Fair!
Szeged, Hungary

Tulips are blooming all over town; City Hall and National Theatre.
Szeged, Hungary

Szeged, Hungary

The Butterfly - a memorial to the 1956 revolution.
Szeged, Hungary

And they have a huge square with a huge church that faces a mechanical musical clock.
Szeged, Hungary

Szeged, Hungary

And more photos here.

5 comments:

Crash Eddy said...

I've been stuck using classic GM to compose OMV routes, the primary reason being that "new" GM did not allow three destinations in a route, only two end points. OMV always requires three, two ends and one between. Voila! "New" GM has been fixed and I switched to it this week.

NGM seems to be using better imagery via Earth than the prior sat photos. New useful feature is a "tilt the view" button. For something like the Water Tower, tilt springs it into 3D, very nice.

Kathy said...

So glad you liked Szeged! Yes, that was my favorite building too. I missed the baths and the inside of the synagogue - have to go back!

BTW, where are you staying?

Sun-Ling said...

@Kathy, getting into the synagogue was not trivial. It is closed on Saturday and Jewish holidays. Lucky for us, Passover didn't start until Monday. However, when we showed up on Sunday, well after opening hour, it was still tightly shut. We had to find the office, ring the doorbell, and roust the ticket lady to let us in.

We followed your footsteps and stayed at the Soleil. Nice place!

Unknown said...

Hey guys,
Nice pics! Szeged is a really nice city, I've also been there a couple of years ago and it's an amazing place. I have a question for you, the train from Szeged to Subotica is still running? I tried to find the timetable, but none. Maybe you can help me save the day. :-) Thanks! Safe travels!

john said...

Marius,

First, thanks for reading the blog!

We took a quick look online and could not find the timetable either and suspect but cannot confirm that there is no service. Subotica was in the news last Fall as being on the Migrant Trail. Just a guess that the border crossing has been closed.

My wife says there may be buses but it's hard to tell if they are actually running.

Will be interested to hear a report if you manage to make the trip or have any news about the transport situation.

Good luck, safe travels,

-john

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