Perfect Weekend

After about three weeks of rain, Saturday started hopefully. I walked to the bus station and took a bus to Szigetvar. This trip has been on my agenda for several days, but the weather didn't cooperate. The town is about 20 miles west of Pecs and according to the guidebooks has several interesting features.

I arrived about 11 AM. This town has a population of about 11, 000, and since it was approaching noon on Saturday, things were closing. The town was very quiet.

This town is all about Zrinyi. In 1566 his army of about 2000 held off the Ottomann army of 80,000- 100,000 for 22 days. This delayed the army arriving in Vienna and also the Ottoman sulemin died in the battle. When the water ran out the Hungarian army fought their way out of the castle and nearly all were killed.

This drawing in a museum gives a flavor of the battle.

The battle is a deep part of Hungarian history for nearly 300 years later Csontvary did this painting of the event.

Today this site is very peaceful. Above is the Almas Stream that one crosses between the town and the castle area. (The building in the distance are the Szigetvar Thermal Baths. My guidebook  is out of date and I didn't think to check if the baths were over the renovation. It would have been fun to try them out, but alas my swim suit and towel were in Pecs.)

Here is a view of the castle wall from the exterior complete with 20th century sculpture. I enjoyed walking in the grounds and climbing the walls. However, the mosquitoes were quite pesky so one had to keep walking fast. It was surprising how many there were at noon on a sunny day.

When the battle was lost, Szigetvar was ruled by the Ottoman empire for 122 years (less than the Pecs occupation).

A mosque was built in the castle area. It is now combined into one building with a summer home built later by Andrassy in the castle grounds, and the buildings are operated as a museum. It had a small, but interesting collection -- not as gory as the guidebook said.

I was intrigued to find costumes for Zrinyi, a Rock Musical.  This had been performed last September, the anniversary month of the battle. Hungarians remember history but at the same time don't turn it into something reverent and unchangeable. It was wonderful to see children's art objects in the museum as well as contemporary scupltures outdoors.

Other notable buildings in this town include the Town Hall

and the Cultural Center. The architect for the Cultural Center is Imre Makovecz, the same architect I wrote about in March when we visited Pazmany Peter University north of Budapest.

I returned on the 15:37 bus and it was crowded, standing room only for some passengers. I'm sure if we had more frequent public transportation in the States, people would use it just like they do here.

My route back from the bus station to the flat takes me through the Arkade. I had a calzone for lunch in Szigetvar, and so by 17:00 I was a bit hungry again. I stopped at my favorite place and had to work with th menu a bit. They are new and of course, with a new menu, comes higher prices.

This ice cream though was totally necessary for the name of it on the menu is Lorena. That is definitely the closest I'm every going to get to having a menu item with my name. I love cherries and chocolate, too!

By the time I got back to my flat, I was tired. I walked about 4 hours during this day, and a rest was definitely in order.

Later in the evening I went out for a bit of a walk, just to see what was happening. I found music in Jokai Ter. This group played something between pop rock and jazz -- very good. Szecheny Ter looked lovely too in the twilight. People were just out celebrating the end of the rain - nothing much special going on here, just enjoying finally getting out of the house without an umbrella.

This morning I took it easy, enjoying breakfast and cappucino. Then I wandered into the Csontvary Museum to take some photos. Stories from there will come later this week.

The Ditto train was just pulling up when I got out of the museum, so I went for a ride, doing a very touristy thing. Its route covers places I've walked many times, but one gets a bit of different perspective when sitting down and being a just a bit higher. Going up one street I've walked many times, I spied something on top of the bluff -- oh, that's where those restaurants are -- and that was my destination after the train ride.

As promised the view is spectacular. I decided to do this today because while the temperature was in the low 80s the humidity was low and I knew for sure today I'd be able to get a view that might nnot be possible on a muggy summer day.

After lunch up on the hillside, I went back to Szinhaz Ter for the Sunday afternoon concert. Through the rest of my stay there is a concert every Sunday afternoon and folk dancing every Wednesday evening. It does take a calendar to keep track of it all.

Really enjoyed this summer weekend.