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No, we didn’t.
We slept until 07:30. At 09:00
we arrived at Mohacs in Hungary where we moored
alongside another ship. We chatted to the passengers
– they were all Americans and were on the
same journey to the Black Sea as us. |
We were quickly cleared by customs
and were allowed onshore by 10:00. The town was
very pleasant: not particularly historic or interesting
but bustling and the people seemed reasonably prosperous
and cheerful. We found a cash dispenser and got
some Hungarian Forints. We bought some post card
then made our way to the Post Office where, with
the aid of some hand gestures, we bought some stamps.
Admittedly, there was a delay while the lady behind
the counter tried to find out how much it was to
post a card to South Africa… We then posted
our cards: would they ever get there? (How could
I have doubted it – the efficiency of the
Hungarian Post Office meant that they arrived in
England only a week later!) |
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We visited a church
in the main square: modern but in the Byzantine
style – very interesting. |
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We made our way
back to the Viking Europe in time for lunch. I was
good and had a salad, but Bruce had the works including
pasta and pear tart. Then we were due to go on three
coaches to Pecs (pronounced "Pezh"). However,
only two turned up. Luckily, one was a double-decker
and we were able to squeeze on, not without some
difficulty for some of the more infirm passengers!
Nevertheless, it was the fitter ones who complained…
Our Hungarian guide introduced us to the driver,
Atilla (apparently a common name in Hungary).The
journey to Pecs took about 40 minutes, and we drove
through some very attractive and fertile countryside
with onions, corn, potatoes, apricots and other
crops. Houses were well-maintained and several of
them newly-built. Hungary was a good deal more prosperous
than I had expected form a former Soviet bloc country. |
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We got to
Pecs and walked from an old tower marking
the city walls designed to defend the city
from the Ottoman Empire (unsuccessfully –
it was invaded in [date] and was under occupation
until 1863.) |
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We walked
along the garden until we came to the cathedral
of St Stephen. Rebuilt in the 19th century,
in a neo-Romanesque style, it was dull. And
closed. |
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We then continued to
the main square with a grand town hall and
a church which had once been a mosque, but
was now a Catholic church. |
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We passed
a gate covered with locks. |
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Our guide
told us that it was a tradition for students
who were leaving for a university in another
town would leave a padlock on a gate to show
that their hearts were locked to Pecs forever
and that they would return. Charming! |
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Bruce and
I then slipped off to explore by ourselves.
We visited the catacombs under the cathedral.
They are apparently extensive, but only a
tiny fraction are open to view. Nevertheless,
the 1st century paintings are remarkably fresh
and fascinating. We then happily mooched around
the pedestrian streets in the warm sunshine
until it was time to get on the coach back
to the ship. |
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Before dinner,
we sat on the sun deck sipping G&T’s.
Later that evening, there was a problem leaving
customs and we were all made to file past the customs
officers as they checked our passports. (The story
goes that the customs officers wanted the ship to
leave by early evening because there was a big speedboat
show with fireworks planned along the river and
they wanted to get off work early. Our captain refused
because we are all off on the Pecs excursion, which
meant the customs officers had to work late...and
so they decided to delay us too by making every
person file past them. It felt a bit like Checkpoint
Charlie before the Berlin wall came down!) That
night André the chef prepared us a special
Hungarian meal including Parasztsaláta (salad
of pork loin and asparagus), Rablóhós
Nyáütve (mixed grill) and Grundel Palacsinta
(pancakes with raisins and nuts). Delicious! We
shared a table with Bob and Melaine. We talked politics
until they threw us out of the dining room. |
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