(With apologies for the slow upload of this episode!)
Continuing
our epic Danube River voyage – the Imperial Capitals of Europe – on the River
Duchess of Uniworld from Romania to Austria...
Hungary,
Part 1
We are now (sadly) past the half-way point
of our cruise, having glided through Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia, the
very heart of the Balkans, and it is time to move from east to central Europe.
Hungary was our next stop, and we had three
contrasting days in store. Our first port of call in Magyar territory was Mohacs (above), a seemingly typical riverside
town boasting its own medieval history and traditions – notably the weird and
wonderful Buso Festival each March, which celebrates the end of the Lent season
in suitably wild, costumed fashion (if you can imagine hordes of
sheepskin-festooned, masked and alcohol-fueled men rushing about wielding
sticks in comical fashion!).
Our enthusiastic guide for a morning stroll
through the town gave us the full Buso story while we visited the high street,
main church and town hall in leisurely succession before returning to the Duchess under our own guidance (via a
shop or two!).
After another excellent buffet lunch
(breakfast and lunch are always served buffet-style, with several specialities
each day), including a tempting array of Hungarian dishes, it was time to board
our next chariot (in the form of yet another comfortable coach) and head off
into the hinterland, destination Villanyi.
After the relatively rural,
near-subsistence levels we saw in much of Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and
Croatia, there was a definite difference in the air of wealth and prosperity in
the Hungarian landscape, with the likes of Burger King and British stores
Tesco, Spar and even Marks & Spencer all to be seen – signs of a healthy
middle class indeed!
Our first stopping point was the village of
Villanyi in the heart of Hungary’s famous wine region, seeded with German
grapes more than 300 years ago and still thriving today. It is also the very
opposite of the big, mass-produced wineries you see in much of Germany, France,
California and even Australia – individual family-owned holdings carved out of
the hillside and handed down from generation to generation.
The Borozo winery (above) was a classic example, a
business that had been in the family for almost 300 years and was still,
largely, a husband-and-wife concern. Their own wine cellar – one of several
dozen arranged in neat rows along the hillside – was not so much an underground
facility as the middle tier of a three-layer series of tunnels bored directly
into the side of the hill, with the actual vineyards on top.
We entered via a narrow frontage that
looked more like a row of garages but quickly discovered this unprepossessing
exterior led into a cellar-cool brick-lined tunnel that took us down and under
the hill. Full of barrels and thousands of bottles already laid down, our hosts
had lined up three wines and various snacks all set out for tasting – a rosé
and two reds, including a surprisingly vibrant and tasty Cabernet.
We sampled the flavourful trio as our
Hungarian host relayed a series of tasting notes via our guide/interpreter. The
tour finished by going up a level into their little café/wine bar, with the
inevitable opportunity to buy some of their produce. But, at just €11 for an
excellent Cab, we certainly weren’t short-changed.
Back on the coach, the gloomy weather
finally relented as we reached the outskirts of Pecs, Hungary’s fourth-largest city and another major surprise.
Here was a wonderful mix of new and old, a typical medieval settlement boasting
part of the original city walls and an amazing array of 17th, 18th
and 19th century churches, mansions and other buildings, all
boasting an eye-catching baroque and neo-Gothic style.
Our tour guide offered a non-stop stream of
commentary of Pecs’ long history and introduced us to two highly-regarded
museums, including one for the famous local porcelain that now commands a
serious price in the big-name stores of Europe.
Not wishing to miss our own exploration of
this surprising city, we opted to miss the museums in favour of more time to
wander – and what a wander it proved to be.
As well as more – and ever ingenious –
fountains than you could shake a Hungarian stick at, the central square (above) was a
real wow moment as we rounded a corner to discover this huge open space lined
on three sides by more of the classic period architecture and dominated on the
upper side by a church-turned-mosque-turned-reconverted-church, testimony to
the great push and shove of the Ottoman age, when the powerful Turkish empire
covered half of Europe before being fought to a standstill by the Habsburgs and
then gradually evicted.
Knowing nothing about Pecs in advance (and
precious little about the Ottoman empire either, to be honest), it proved a fascinating
couple of hours as we meandered along the mazy streets and admired this
overwhelming collection of period architecture (along with a delicious
gelato!).
The new face of the city could be seen in a
modern indoor shopping centre, along with brands like H&M, C&A and
Marks and Spencer, and it was clear Hungary itself is integrating itself into
the contemporary European scene much faster than its eastern neighbours.
All too soon, it was time to re-board our
coach to return to the ship at Fajsz, with the prospect of Budepest the next day, but our first impressions of Hungary are pretty positive...
