Our last stop in Hungary was to the delightfully untouristy university town of Szeged. We even had cloudy weather which was very welcome after the Turkish heat of Pecs. We stayed on a campsite on the banks of the great Tisza river. Initially we thought what a dump(!) place looked like it could do with a severe makeover. Then we crossed the river into town and noticed the flood levels marked on a wall. The highest level by far was reached in April 2006. It far superseded the great flood of 1879 which destroyed half of the city. Our campsite had obviously been totally submerged 15 months ago, only the very tops of the roofs would have been visible above the water, no wonder it looked so bedraggled.
Our guide book recommended the Serbian Orthodox Church, but it took a little finding, a plain building, tucked away behind the main Catholic Cathedral. A very old man with a very impressive beard greeted us and, having taken our 40p, hurried inside to switch on the lights and music. Suddenly we went from a dim silence, to find we were surrounded by reds and golds, giant chandeliers and a chorus of what we can only assume is Serbian Orthodox Church music. The whole front of the church was decorated with a beautiful gold tree with saints hanging from it. As the only visitors it seemed a shame there were not more people to appreciate this place, but then I guess the experience would have been very different had the church been full of other flash happy visitors.
Back at the ranch our pitch included admission to the outdoor thermal baths, still not very eggy but rather green. As the day had been so grey the baths were almost empty. We therefore had a great big pond to ourselves. The sun came out just before it set and we swam (no officials around to enforce dipping) up and down parting the leaves and bugs, it was a really nice end to the day and our Hungarian excursion.
Our guide book recommended the Serbian Orthodox Church, but it took a little finding, a plain building, tucked away behind the main Catholic Cathedral. A very old man with a very impressive beard greeted us and, having taken our 40p, hurried inside to switch on the lights and music. Suddenly we went from a dim silence, to find we were surrounded by reds and golds, giant chandeliers and a chorus of what we can only assume is Serbian Orthodox Church music. The whole front of the church was decorated with a beautiful gold tree with saints hanging from it. As the only visitors it seemed a shame there were not more people to appreciate this place, but then I guess the experience would have been very different had the church been full of other flash happy visitors.
Back at the ranch our pitch included admission to the outdoor thermal baths, still not very eggy but rather green. As the day had been so grey the baths were almost empty. We therefore had a great big pond to ourselves. The sun came out just before it set and we swam (no officials around to enforce dipping) up and down parting the leaves and bugs, it was a really nice end to the day and our Hungarian excursion.
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