Pecs, Hungary

We had our first encounter with Soviet-era infrastructure on the train ride from Budapest to Pecs. Unsurprisingly running late (due to unforeseen broken ticket machines on the Metro) we arrived at the train station hot and sweaty and barely in time to catch the final train of the day to Pecs. We hopped on the train and were immediately faced with brutally hot and cramped conditions on a train that was far older than me. Needless to say we were eager to disembark 4 hours later in Pecs.

While I had never heard of Pecs until stumbling across it a few weeks ago in a guidebook, it turned out to be a fantastic stop on our journey towards the Adriatic coast. Recently named as Europe's Cultural Capital for 2010, Pecs oozed charm. It also showcased the multicultural legacy of southwestern Hungary. Our hotel was next to a beautiful and massive old synagogue, the main square was dominated by the 'Mosque Church' whose steeple features a cross atop a crescent moon, and rising above the city is the massive Basilica of St Peter.

In addition to wandering around, sampling gelato and coffee at various cafes, touring some of the old churches and museums, and hiking up and around the turrets of the old city walls, we were also lucky to experience Pecs' Gastronomy Festival! We had a great night full of sampling Hungarian wines (deservedly not famous), amazing food (lots of fried stuff in red sauces and some amazing grilled sugared donuts, like round Hungarian churros), and live music and dance. It was another great night.

Main Square, Pecs

Budapest, Hungary - Summer Adventures begin!

Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria. Give up? The countries that border Hungary.

We arrived for our summer tour through the Balkans in Budapest on Saturday afternoon. After a quick trip to the ATM for some Hungarian Forint (Hungary is EU but not Euro, though equally expensive it turns out) we quickly settled into life in strikingly beautiful central Budapest. We were fortunate enough to land here on Midsummers Eve and found festivals celebrating the longest day of the year. After a quick nap, we ventured out and found some numerous awesome sidewalk cafes full of Euro Cup fans, fantastic goulash, and not enough air-conditioning. For Midsummer, Budapest was holding a MuseumFest and kept all its museums open until 2am. So after some drinks, festive soccer, and a great dinner at a restaurant called Mensa we found ourselves venturing through the Hungarian National Gallery at 1 in the morning, contemplating our good fortune on our first day of summer.

As the frequent comparisons suggest, Budapest reminds me a lot of Prague. The Danube winds through the middle of town, dividing the two halves of Buda and Pest which merged in 1000 to found the current capital. Buda is dominated by Castle Hill, which rises quickly up from the riverbanks. It has beautiful old churches, winding streets, and views of town. We stayed in Pest which had more hotels, restaurants, cafes, and pedestrian shopping streets.

In addition to just wandering and running around town (a summer of health has begun to try to remove some of the excesses of business school), some of my highlights of Budapest were nightly viewings of Euro Cup games with avid fans, great Hungarian food - sausages, salami, goulash, mustard, sauerkraut, pork, and paprika everything, and a trip to the baths. Budapest has a huge bathing tradition, and we spent one evening in the huge public baths in the city's main park, rotating between pools to cool down and warm up, and all the while playing in the bubbling jets.

For a while in the early 20th century, Budapest was called Paris of the East. While I expected to see more signs of the country's occupied past (the new republic is less then 20 years old and for a number of years received less attention and investment than its central European peers), Budapest today was a booming, clean, expensive, culturally and visually impressive metropolis. It was an awesome place to begin our summer adventures.

Hungarian Parliament

View across the Danube