Hungary. Part I
Map
February 15–16, 2015
Driving around Hungary is pleasant. But travelers need to mentally prepare themselves for the fact that there’s no second Budapest in the country: all the other cities evolved under the socialist model, where drab high-rises were valued more than beautiful old buildings. The roads here are good, though.
Székesfehérvár
Map
A typical city in Hungary works like this. First, you’re driving through nature, surrounded by fields and forests.
Then you begin to see single-story buildings on both sides of the road.
Then the first church appears.
After that, there’ll be a ring of khrushchyovvkas (Soviet prefab five-story housing blocks).
The first tower block appears shortly thereafter.
Then a lot of tower blocks.
There’s absolutely nothing to do here so far. Not a single person in the world would want to travel to another country to see a view like this:
Everyone wants to see a view like this (now we’re already getting close to downtown):
Here we finally have various eye-pleasing details, such as this bracket with insulators, for instance.
Or cozy vine-swathed windows.
Or a smoking table.
The old quarter will be somewhere around here.
Not every city has ruined theirs, luckily.
The laws of life are completely different here.
It’s as though people become transformed in the old city.
The surrounding beauty changes them somehow.
You come across a shop window like this—and divine grace envelops you.
You see a street sign like this—and the eye rejoices.
You discover a utility sign shrine such as this one—and the soul sings. The inventive approach to dealing with a shortage of large twos and small fives is priceless all on its own.
Győr
Map
The city has preserved one baroque pedestrian leisure street, which serves as the center of attraction for all life here.
And this is why we love Europe.
A street sign.
There isn’t really much to see beyond the tourist area.
|