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:: And Back Again . . . |
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"matching tracksuits and everything" |
| The
Return Trip
|
Friday 22 to Sunday
24 August
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 Szentedre
(Friday 22 August)
Szentedre is a small town twenty kilometers north
of Budapest, on the western bank of the Danube.
There's supposedly a bike path all the way
from Budapest to Szentedre, but it was so poorly
marked that we almost lost it several times,
only to lose it for real eventually, only in
turn to find it accidentally twenty minutes
later.
That aside, Szentedre was a lovely town, from
what I saw of it — which admittedly wasn't
much. I wasn't feeling terribly well, so I
sat in a street-side cafe while Kinga bounced
through the town, taking pictures (none of
which, she now informs me, really capture the
spirit of the town).
I took a few pictures myself. Whether they capture
the spirit of the town or not, who knows. View
slide |
Esztergom
(Saturday 23 August)
The "big thing"
about Esztergom is simple: it's home to the
largest basilica in Hungary, and is considered
the capital of Hungarian Catholicism. It was,
at one point I believe, the actual capital. |
Sturovo
Just across the Danube from Esztergom
is the Slovakian city of Sturovo.
Slovakia being much cheaper
than Hungary, Kinga and I stayed
in Sturovo.
There doesn't seem to be much
in Sturovo except a large swimming
complex. But they have a nice
view across the river to Esztergom,
for the basilica, being on a
hill, is visible for kilometers.
And the Slovaks make use of
that in their Sturovo postcards. |
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|
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Of course I took a
few pictures while visiting
the basilica
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We
searched for it all week, but
it wasn't until the very last
day in Hungary that we found
a restaurant that serrved that
traditional Hungarian specialty:
fish soup.
I would hesitate
to call it "good,"
for it was entirely too fishy.
But I'm glad I tried it. I just
wish we'd shared a bowl, for
it cost a fortune. |
The
Red Eye . . .
Getting
back to Poland consisted of
three trains and a bike ride.
We left Sturovo at 8:35 in the
evening for a 256 km ride to
Zilina. Arriving at 11:30, we
had to wait until 2:40 for our
next train: a 39 km hop to Kralovany.
Where we waiting a half hour
for a 56 km but two-hour-long
trip to Trstena, the Slovakian
town just across the border
from where we live.
Looking
back on it, now that it's all
over, I think, "Nah, it
wasn't that bad." But sitting
in the train station in Zilina
for three hours, it seemed pretty
endless. |
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And apparently not just
for me . . . |
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