We are parked up this evening in Szeged, Hungary on the most dilapidated campsite we have ever stayed on. We've driven away from worst than this in the past but there aren't too many campsites on the route we are taking and the next one would have been another couple of hours drive so here we are. Needless to say we'll be using our on board facilities tonight. We have the place to ourselves, not surprisingly, but there is a happy ending to every story. After a bite of lunch we walked into the town which didn't look too promising as we drove in and we stumbled across an annual festival. Not any old festival but a wine festival. Stall after stall promoting wines from Hungary together with craft and food stalls. Well, we had to sample the wines, red, white, rose, sweet, dry. If I told you it was a hard task you wouldn't believe me. Of course we had to buy some strudel too and some marzipan cakes so despite an unpromising start the day ended quite well. Szeged also has a museum but we didn't have time to visit.
Yesterday we went to the National Museum in Budapest which was fascinating. A history of Hungary from 2000AD to the present time. The changes of the borders and the efforts over the centuries to maintain a nation state are enlightening to people like us, living on an Island as we do. We spent four hours in the museum, where everything displayed was translated into English, before setting off for the Market with it's wrought iron roof and where the ground floor sold an amazing variety of meat and vegetables and the upper floor was mostly crafts directed toward the tourist, together with authentic food stalls doing a roaring trade. It poured down all day so we were unable to explore more of Budapest but hopefully the weather will be better when we come back this way.
Tomorrow we are heading south into Romania. We have a campsite picked out and I'm praying there will be a TV nearby where I can watch the Cup Final or at least a strong WiFi signal so I can stream it. Wish me luck eh?
Here are a few photos from the last few days.
Detail inside Matthias church showing the oldest carving in Budapest
Matthias Church
Count Dracular's Tombstone (possibly)
These tombstone carvings in the National Museum Budapest are from the 2nd century AD
Sausages anyone?
Chillies?
The Market in Budapest
Our Campsite today
Royalty in Budapest
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment