Alison, the kids and I spent a week in Budapest a dozen years ago, so we decided that we would not go back there, because we felt it wasn't the best use of our time to repeat places. Budapest was a good place to visit, so Alison booked us in for two weeks in Hungary. We were coming from Romania, so it made sense to stay in the eastern side.
Now most of you won't know much about Hungary, but it was settled by the Huns after Attila's death. They liked it, and were able to conquer it, because the open spaces suit a horse nomad nation. Later their medieval descendants were able to conquer the hilly parts around, but the east of the country is pretty much entirely the Great Hungarian Plain.
And it is pretty planar. There's none of that "rolling" plain nonsense. It's just flat.
However, while the countryside doesn't vary much in height, it is quite pleasing on the eye. It is far from empty – being fertile, it is full of towns – and the farming is mixed, rather than miles of just one crop. There are trees and forests too.
It also doesn't drain very well and there are only a couple of rivers, which means that there are frequent marshy spots, both big and small. I suspect most of the forest areas are left in trees because they are too wet to farm well. These wetlands areas support quite a lot of bird life, and we saw from the trains a whole host of bird species, as well as the occasional deer. The large number of shooting huts, raised on piles, reflect that abundance.
The towns we went to were a mixed bag. Hungary was long prosperous, didn't get too badly damaged in WWII, and the Communist government didn't build too many ugly tower blocks or boastful central city palaces. The result is that most of the town centres remain quite pretty.
Szeged, was particularly nice, as the centre is full of Art Nouveau buildings due to a flood in the late 19th century that required the rebuilding of almost the entire town centre. Almost all the government buildings were built in a consistent style of brick and plaster from the rebuilding that I found very pleasant.
The towns we went to differed in their interest, but sometimes if they were weren't very interesting we were able to see some places nearby. So when in Eger, which has a famous castle and a few churches, but little else, we went to a a couple of nearby places.
However, it did depend on where the towns were relative to the plain. Eger is on the northern edge, so it backed onto hills, which meant vineyards and forests to walk in. Pecs is on the southern edge, so there was a castle on a hill in a nearby village and vineyards again.
However Szolnok is in the middle of the plain. We ran out of things to do there quickly, and everywhere around was also in the middle of the plain. It's not the worst place we have visited – Biela Podlaska in Poland (in the middle of flat Poland) takes some beating – but it is up there.
For us on this trip, days with not much to do aren't that much of a problem. Since we had spare time I had my hair cut, we got some washing done, and generally we caught up on everyday things that still need doing. Travelling for so long is exhausting, and it is actually quite a relief to have days when we don't charge from sight to sight.
For a short trip where using your time efficiently is important it would be different. If you do visit Hungary – and really there is no reason not to, apart from their bizarre language – it's probably best not to spend too much time in the towns in the middle of the Plain. The ones on the edge are where the interest is.
Now most of you won't know much about Hungary, but it was settled by the Huns after Attila's death. They liked it, and were able to conquer it, because the open spaces suit a horse nomad nation. Later their medieval descendants were able to conquer the hilly parts around, but the east of the country is pretty much entirely the Great Hungarian Plain.
And it is pretty planar. There's none of that "rolling" plain nonsense. It's just flat.
Hundreds of kilometres of this.
However, while the countryside doesn't vary much in height, it is quite pleasing on the eye. It is far from empty – being fertile, it is full of towns – and the farming is mixed, rather than miles of just one crop. There are trees and forests too.
It also doesn't drain very well and there are only a couple of rivers, which means that there are frequent marshy spots, both big and small. I suspect most of the forest areas are left in trees because they are too wet to farm well. These wetlands areas support quite a lot of bird life, and we saw from the trains a whole host of bird species, as well as the occasional deer. The large number of shooting huts, raised on piles, reflect that abundance.
The towns we went to were a mixed bag. Hungary was long prosperous, didn't get too badly damaged in WWII, and the Communist government didn't build too many ugly tower blocks or boastful central city palaces. The result is that most of the town centres remain quite pretty.
Szeged, was particularly nice, as the centre is full of Art Nouveau buildings due to a flood in the late 19th century that required the rebuilding of almost the entire town centre. Almost all the government buildings were built in a consistent style of brick and plaster from the rebuilding that I found very pleasant.
Not many NZ high schools look this good. The inside is also Art Nouveau.
The towns we went to differed in their interest, but sometimes if they were weren't very interesting we were able to see some places nearby. So when in Eger, which has a famous castle and a few churches, but little else, we went to a a couple of nearby places.
However, it did depend on where the towns were relative to the plain. Eger is on the northern edge, so it backed onto hills, which meant vineyards and forests to walk in. Pecs is on the southern edge, so there was a castle on a hill in a nearby village and vineyards again.
However Szolnok is in the middle of the plain. We ran out of things to do there quickly, and everywhere around was also in the middle of the plain. It's not the worst place we have visited – Biela Podlaska in Poland (in the middle of flat Poland) takes some beating – but it is up there.
For us on this trip, days with not much to do aren't that much of a problem. Since we had spare time I had my hair cut, we got some washing done, and generally we caught up on everyday things that still need doing. Travelling for so long is exhausting, and it is actually quite a relief to have days when we don't charge from sight to sight.
For a short trip where using your time efficiently is important it would be different. If you do visit Hungary – and really there is no reason not to, apart from their bizarre language – it's probably best not to spend too much time in the towns in the middle of the Plain. The ones on the edge are where the interest is.
Long periods in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do but ride your horse and shoot things....no wonder they got good at it and were so keen to travel elsewhere
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