Godspeed to Olympos, Fri, 01 Sep 2023 | written by Simon
Simon at a City, Temple in Europe, Hungary

  • What a way to celebrate a King!

I left Berlin on Wednesday and promptly arrived to Wrocław where I met up with Paulina and Przemek.

On Thursday I completed my German class, did some shopping and drove South. I was hoping to make it all the way to Serbia but due to some delays at the beginning and I had to make a stop by Szeged, the southernmost city of Hungary.

I mean, it wasn’t much of a change of plan, since ‘arriving to Serbia’ was literally all I have planned so far. Did I mention that I love traveling with the van and not knowing where I will end up on the next day?

The forced stop turned out to be a fantastic decision. Szeged is a fairly small city, has a very chill atmosphere, and I think I really needed that after all the driving and after leaving Berlin.

Despite being quite small, Szeged has quite a lot to offer. Apparently, it has the best university in all of Hungary, or so the banners profess. I also has a whole lot of really interesting sculptures that you wouldn’t expect, including butterflies and people carrying a massive moth which is a symbol of Hungarian liberation and the protests of 1956. There are also many really interesting buildings with some of the most fantastic roofs I’ve seen: dragon scale tiles but also finely sculptured turrets. And then there’s Hungary’s own Gaudi: Ede Magyar was a modernist Art Nouveau architect who build quite a lot of very interesting buildings and I had a privilege to see one of them today.

The sacred architecture is also really interesting. Build at the beginning of the 20th century, the new synagogue is a Neo-medievalist building lit by a beautiful dome with stained glass windows. Meanwhile, the Votive Church of St Mary, or the cathedral of Szeged, also build at the beginning of the 20th century, is entirely covered with Art Nouveau paintings and frescos, giving it a very distinct modernist feel.

Szeged is also a city of water. Not only is it based on a river and the river walk is really beautiful and littered with sculptures, but also it has an old and a new set of thermal baths. The old Anne’s Baths are based in the city centre and look positively Victorian. The new one I’ve only seen from a distance – or rather I saw a massive tower with slides that must be some of the longest ever. Finally, there are two huge water pressure towers that couldn’t be more different: one dainty and decorated, built in early 20th century, and the other a brutalist mushroom of pure concrete.

Since I already made a stop in Hungary, I could not leave the country without having a famous hungarians too or gulash so I stepped in the restaurant for one.

Finally it was time to go. I set out towards the Serbian border and got reminded why the European Union is so amazing. The queue was not that long going my way, but on the way back… I am just glad I’m going to take a different route.

And now on to Novi Sad. When I stop, maybe I’ll finally figure out what it is that I actually want to see in Serbia. You know, make a plan or something.