No ladies, I’m not talking about the Hungarian boys strutting their stuff at the thermal baths – and sorry but no photos of that either!  But I am talking about the small city of Pecs (pron. "Paich") in southern Hungary.

I felt like getting out of Budapest for the day and took a liking to this destination a little bit off the tourist trail.  With my rail pass it didn"t cost me a cent to get down there, and the three hour train ride gave me some views of rural Hungary.

Pecs is know for the Turkish legacy left behind from their invasion of the region back in the 1500’s.  For me the highlight was the Mecset Templom, a domed church in the main square that was originally built as a mosque.  You could definitely see the Turkish influence in its architecture, and some of the interior walls had been cleaned up to show the Islamic script written underneath the surface – very cool!  Apart from highlight such as that, Pecs just turned out to be a great small city to chill out in for the day.

I’ve spent the past few days exploring more of the city, and I like what I’ve seen.  Budapest has done a great job of keeping with the old while embracing change.

Greg and I caught a ferry up the Danube one day to the small village of Szentendre, to see what life is like outside the city.  It wasn’t THAT special and not much of a draw-card, but it was a pretty little town nonetheless with its many churches, cobbled streets and heaps of arts and crafts for the tourists that pour in during the summer months.

On the way back to the city from Szentendre, we took the time to track down my grandfather’s old address in Budapest (he grew up there before migrating to Australia before the Second World War).  We eventually found it in a slightly shabby suburb of Buda – amazingly the building still stands!

My grandfather’s old apartment at Kis. Rokus utca 3.

The next day we caught a tram and a bus out to Szoborpark (Statue Park), where some capitalist entrepreneur had the great idea of rounding up the disposed Communist statues spread around the country after the fall of communism.  It was a fascinating glimpse into what it must have been like in communist Hungary – and it didn’t sound like much fun…

   Check out the size of this guy!!

We rounded off the day with a visit to the fantastic local market where I gorged myself on all sorts of salami and spicy sausages and heaps of fresh veggies.  After that we headed across the river to go to one of the famous thermal baths in Budapest – the Gellert Furdo.  The baths are located in an Art Nouveau palace at the back of a majestic hotel and are AMAZING!  There were all sorts of baths, from an outdoor and indoor swimming pool to heated baths (up to 38 degC), three saunas of different temperatures (from 50 to 70 degC), a blisteringly hot steam room (80 degC – ouch!).  Oh and an icy 8 degC pool to go with it.

   
Aaaah, enjoying the delights of the Gellert Furdo thermal baths.

Neal, Greg and I spent the day exploring the Buda side of Budapest, which is on the western bank of the Danube.  Atop Castle Hill, an imposing citadel covering a decent sized hill, we explored the old Royal Palace, walked past many government buildings along the cobbled streets, saw a few impressive churches and wandered around the Disneyland-esque Fishermen’s Bastion with its conical-shaped towers.

    
The Royal Palace atop Castle Hill across the Danube from our hotel in Pest.

Looking towards the Parliament from Castle Hill.

    
                                                             Funicular railway up the hill.

    
Some of the many fountains and equestrian statues at the Royal Palace.

   
Cool phone box and a pink phone.            A street scene.

The Fishermen’s Bastion.

Some fantastic and intricate tiling on the roof of a cathedral.