Pécs, Day 1
We took a quick trip to Pécs, a city in the south of Hungary. It took almost three hours on the train, but Pécs is one of the cities I really wanted to visit while in Hungary. We left after gymnastics so we didn’t get there until around 3, which only left an hour or two of light before the long dark evening set in. There were several cool buildings and statues on our walk from the train station to the apartment, including what looks like a fingernail! The streets are really lovely and quaint with brightly colored buildings.
Our apartment was right in the middle of town a block from Széchenyi tér, the big central square with the Christmas market. When booking we wrote that we would check in between 3:00 and 4:00. However, the renters thought we meant AM, not PM since military time is mostly used throughout Europe (although I have heard it said the ‘regular’ about half the time). After messaging them several times to get the codes to get into the building, we realized that they were expecting us to not come until the middle of the night and therefore hadn’t cleaned the place from the last renters yet and they were not nearby to do it! Luckily they had some extra sheets and covers, and we just went up, moved the used dishes and pizza boxes the last renters left out (tip—please wash the dishes you use before leaving! We always do), and changed the sheets on the beds for us. The renters refunded most of the cost, and even though the place wasn’t cleaned we at least had clean sheets which is all that mattered for one night. I was thankful the renters let us still stay and we didn’t get left out on the street!
Széchenyi tér had a church at one end and a mosque/church hybrid thing at the other end (more on that tomorrow) with a Christmas market in the middle! We quickly walked through the market so we could see a few things outside before it got dark.
After taking a picture with this guy reading a book, we walked to the Barbican, a circular bastion built to defend from the Turks in the 15th century. You can walk up to the top, but we decided not to. I wanted to see the Angster monument, as an ode to the Angster József & Son Organ and Harmonium Factory located in Pécs. This is supposed to be open 24 hours, but was behind a locked gate. I put my phone through the gate to get a quick picture of the monument. Apparently you can listen to interviews and compositions for the organ by covering the light sensor buttons located in the arm-rests of the benches, but we didn’t get to try that because we couldn’t get to the statue.
One of the best sights in Pécs is the Basilica. I liked how the light was hitting the top of the towers as it was setting. The small white church is across the plaza from the Basilica, and the yellow building is beside it. On the other side are these covered alcoves with old statues of the 12 apostles. These were originally on the Basilica, but were made with the wrong type of material and ended up disintegrating from the weather elements so were moved under cover.
The inside of the Basilica is gorgeous with lots of gold. I like the archways on either side of the front alter area. Even though it was a Friday, there was only one other couple in the entire church.
Going down these stairs took us to the underground area of the Basilica. It looks a little creepy with all of the reliefs around the entrance and looks like you are going down into a crypt. However, the lower level is beautiful with arches standing atop of columns. There are three metal replicas of the church from different time periods. You can see the development of the church across the centuries.
We were able to climb up the tower right as the sun was setting. The problem is that the lights in the tower were not working! JonPaul and I used our phone flashlights to climb the stairs and luckily no one slipped. The view from the top with the sun setting in the background was worth it though!
Leaving the Basilica we saw the tower all lit up. Only one tower has purple lights, the others aren’t lit. We also walked by two places where people put love locks. The metal statue closest to the Basilica looks like it is just beginning to collect locks, but the fence on the walk toward Széchenyi tér is covered! There are locks upon locks upon locks, and you can’t even see most of the fence. We have seen lots of love locks on our trips, but this is the most we’ve seen in one place.
We walked back to the Christmas Market in Széchenyi tér. On the side of the Mosque of Pasha Qasim was projected images that changed every few seconds, all drawn by children. They were really cute. There was also a band playing traditional Hungarian music and of course Willow had to do some dancing. On the other end of the market was a big Christmas tree (another photo op) and a stationary light projection on one of the big buildings. It was lively, crowded, pretty, and cold!
Right next to our apartment was one of the most recommended restaurants, Korhely Étterem. This reminded us of a Hungarian Texas Roadhouse with the peanuts and straw on the floor. There were some pretty good burgers, and the kids had chicken strips. And of course there is always beer! Ronin and Zoey really liked the peanuts. After dinner we went back to the apartment and got ready for our day tomorrow.
