A day of frustration that ended well

Sitting in the car park at Budapest this morning the first thing that needed to be done was to input the street address of our next hotel before we could set off.

Unfortunately Mrs GPS kept telling us that there was no such street in Subotica, but luckily we had noted the GPS co-ordinates for the hotel so we input that data instead and set off.

It was a very nice run down (or it may have been up!) the M5 to the border with Serbia at Roszke

On the way there was one "incident" when Sherry was driving as she went to pass another vehicle. The speed limit was 130kmph and she was doing around 125kmph when she pulled out into the fast lane to make the overtake.

As we passed the other vehicle she made comment to look how close the vehicle behind was so I looked in the side mirror but saw nothing - I turned to look out the rear windscreen and here was a Ford Focus literally sitting on our rear bumper waiting for us to get back into the slow lane so that he could continue his blast down the M5. Whether he made it to where he was going is problematical!

We had read that there is usually a delay at the border and that is indeed what occurred






Firstly you had to go through passport control and once you had achieved that





you drove forward about 300m and then had to go through Customs. From the time we pulled up in the queue until we had cleared Customs was an hour and a half.

It was extremely hot sitting in the car creeping forward every 5 or so minutes and the biggest frustration of our trip to date - unfortunately we will have to go through this again when we leave Serbia into Bosnia & Herzegovina and when we leave B&H and travel into Croatia and ....

Getting into Subotica was also a mission due to the accuracy of the GPS co-ordinates but that is another story suffice to say as we drove through very ordinary areas we concluded that Subotica wasn't going to be much of a place to spend an afternoon.

Some surprises were in store, firstly the hotel is of a very high standard and when we got out into the city centre we were pleasantly surprised.

Subotica first appeared in documents in 1391 as Zabatka and has had more than 200 name changes since!

There were numerous beautiful art nouveau buildings within walking distance of the city centre





The town hall was a stunning example situated adjacent to the park and then there


was the library.


In the Main Street "Korzo" was the Subotica Savings Bank Palace built in 1907


and further up the street the most stunning example of them all, Ferenc Raichle Family Palace completed in 1904 and inspired by Transylvanian folk art


The synagogue is regarded as being the most beautiful synagogue in this part of Europe.


Away from the buildings the shops were very uncluttered and of a high standard and there was also a monument to those residents who have won Olympic medals.


The city also has a few of the life like figures we have seen elsewhere and the


street signs repeat the name of each street three times - the top being Serbian Cyrillic script, the middle being normal Serbian and the lower in Hungarian.

This part of the world was caught up in the Yugoslavian conflicts of the 1990s when it broke up due to the internal conflicts known as the Bosnian War - we saw a plaque which remembered those from this area who lost their lives in this conflict.



The cost of living in this part of the world is an eye opener. As examples 2 cups of coffee purchased on the square cost slightly less than $NZ4 and our meal tonight which was 2 mains, 2 salad side dishes, and 2 bottles of mineral water was $NZ25 and one of the mains was a whole fish.

Tomorrow we head further south in Serbia to Novi Sad before crossing the border to Sarajevo the next day.

Millennium Walk

Today is our last in Budapest and after yesterday's scorching temperatures 28C feels decidedly cool not helped by a fairly stiff wind blowing through the city.

Our walk this morning was along the path of the Millennium Underground which was the first subway in Mainland Europe and completed in 1896 which coincidentally celebrated the 1000th year of Hungary's existence (hence the name).

The walk commenced at


which at the time of its completion in 1885 was considered a masterpiece of public planning. It is a World Heritage Site and tourist brochures champion it as the Champs Élysées of Budapest but it failed to live up to that in our humble view.

One of the first impressive buildings along the Utca is the State Opera House


(opened 125 years ago) and at the next intersection there is Budapest's Broadway


The Moulin Rouge and the Operett Theatre are virtually side by side.


One of the features around Budapest are the various life like figures in various


poses invariably being hugged or leaned on by tourists. In this area there is what


might be Hungary's walk of fame. Moving further north along Andrassy Avenue


there is an intersection shaped like an octagon & not unsurprisingly called the Oktogon - a bird would get a better appreciation of the shape than we did at ground level!

The next intersection is Kodaly korond which is encircled by four town houses & is


also difficult to photograph as my effort shows.

The avenue ends at Heroes' Square, the largest square (ter) in the city and known for the Millennium Monument erected in 1896 to commemorate the 1000 year


history of the Magyars. On either side of the monument are two substantial


buildings - on the left side is the Museum of Fine Arts and on the right side is the


Art Gallery. Crossing the bridge behind the colonnade takes one to City Park which houses


Vajdahunyad Castle. In the grounds of the castle a group were practicing for some


concert so we enjoyed a few minutes of their practice performance. We also saw a
guy playing the Hang, a unique instrument developed in recent times by a firm in Switzerland.


The Hang (the inventors say it is not a drum) gives off a unique sound as the YouTube clip at http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=9oEskFSLxSU demonstrates. When we googled to try and find out what the instrument was we found that it can only be brought directly from the manufacturers and then you have to go to Bern to have a personal appointment - no wonder on Ebay one being sold had a bid of $US4000 and that bid had not triggered the reserve!

In the afternoon we wandered around the inner city area of Pest and walked along the banks of the Danube looking back to the area in Buda we had been yesterday.

We wished to get a tram to move about 3 kms further east along the river but could not find anywhere to buy a ticket - even around 7 or so different locals standing at tram stops that we asked didn't have a clue where to get them - and we were unwilling to test whether we would get away with travelling without a ticket so we walked to where we had intended to go.

A message for the transport operator here in Budapest - make it easy for tourists and locals to buy tram tickets and you may find your revenue increases!

One of the challenges of touring like we are is not being left with useless coins in the pocket as you move from country to country and the currency changes - but that is another story.

Tomorrow we move on into Serbia for two nights - could/should be interesting.

We survived...

...a scorching 38C day in Budapest today. As I write the blog at 8.30 pm the temperature is still being recorded as 36C!

Our first port of call was to Central Market Hall, but on the way we passed a stunning synagogue in the Jewish Quarter and further along the road the


National Museum.


The market is the oldest and largest indoor market in Budapest and consists of 3 floors, though one of them was very bare of stalls, with various stalls selling all sorts of produce as well as souvenirs






Retiring to the apartment for lunch and to rehydrate we then went on our own Castle Hill Walking Tour.

Please come along for the ride!

Catching the no 16 bus took us to the Funicular which we intended to take us up the hill but having got off the bus we found that it was closed today for maintenance!


That left us with the only option and that was a walk up the hill which we achieved after assisting each other. At the top there is Sandor Palace an example of


Classicist architecture and which, as it is the Prime Minister's office is subject to


a pair of sentries at two doors. Next to the palace is the National Dance Theatre


built in 1736 as a baroque style church. We then walked from Disz ter up to the


Holy Trinity Column (1713) which is adjacent to the 700 year old Matthias Church


Then after a few more steps you come to Fisherman's Bastion built between 1890 &


1905 and which gave stunning views out over Pest including Parliament House





The bastion allowed us to meet up with a group of ladies from China who made up a rowing team (or that us what we think one indicated)


Around the corner there is a former Dominican cloister the ruins of which have been


retained as part of the Hilton Hotel.

At the northern end of the area is Vienna Gate & near to that is a Zsolany-tiled


neo-Romanesque building housing the National Archives. (The furthest in the photo


above). 50 or so metres away around the next corner was Maria Magdalena


Tower which are ruins of a 13th century Franciscan Church. In Orszaghaz Utca


buildings 18, 20, & 22 date back to the 14th century.

After taking a few turns we were back at Disz ter in desperate need of rehydration which was achieve in a pleasant cafe.

Soon we were off again heading for the former Royal Palace, which now houses


among other things the Hungarian National Gallery, and has a very appealing


"arrangement" on one of the entry points. Passing out of the palace grounds we came to the end of our tour around Castle Hill - there were some quite stunning buildings and views but begorrah it was hot!

Back down at river level we had a nice view of the Parliament on the other side of


the Danube.

A no 41 tram followed by a no 47 got us back to our accommodation which we were glad to reach and hit the ON button on the air conditioning unit remote!