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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 6h

Nearly home now. This was my somewhat convoluted route.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 9h

Sadly, I'm now on my way home.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 10h

You can visit the former ÁVH (secret police) headquarters in Budapest. I remembered that Misha Glenny, who, like me, is wary of Fidesz's rewriting of Hungarian hisotry, did so in his BBC radio series The Invention of Hungary. Apart from the usual claims about lost Hungarian territory, it was good.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 13h

Paid a visit this morning to the Museum of Fine Arts, primarily because they have a special exhibition of William Blake prints. I'm a fan of Blake as an artist and a poet. Given most of the exhibits came from The Tate, why didn't I see it in the UK. Well for one I had the whole exhibition to myself.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 16h

Day 9. As I last visited Budapest only a couple of years ago, I'm using it as a staging post.
The Szechenyi bridge across the Danube was closed last time I was here. Designed by an Englishman, William Tierney Clark, who was also responsible for the similar chain bridge across the Thames at Marlow.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

Researching the recent history of where I have just been, has led me to discover that the excellent Norma Percy documentary series 'The Death of Yugoslavia' is available again on BBC iPlayer.
(Even if you are not in the UK, you can use a VPN to access it, as I have been doing.)

The Death of Yugoslavia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you. There is so much to learn about Europe. I am doing my best to understand, and counteract the worst forms of nationalism.

EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

You seem to be far more knowledgeable than I am on many things. May I ask what country you are from?

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

The price of a mundane semi in many parts of London. (My understanding though is that buying property in Belgium has even more bureaucratic hurdles than in the UK.)

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

Is this really from the official Deutsche Bahn Youtube channel. If so, who says the Germans have no sense of humour?

Der Bahn Song

YouTube video by Deutsche Bahn

youtu.be

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

@lewisbaston.bsky.social
@jonworth.eu
An update to your experiences of Osijek - Pécs:
Trains now run every two hours and are timed to connect, so the whole journey takes 90 minutes. (It helps that Croatia is now in Schengen.) MAV (but not HŽPP) will sell you an online ticket for the whole journey.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

From one great station to another. My train from Pécs has brought me to Budapest Keleti.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

Pécs is stuffed with lots of interesting museums and galleries, such that I could have spent several days there. Sadly, it is time to leave, but I have the consolation that Pécs railway station is a work of art in itself.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

The Zsolnay factory in Pécs has been producing porcelain since the mid-19th century. There is a museum displaying its wares from various periods. Egyptian motifs seem to be a recurring favourite.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

There is an Early Christian necropolis in Pécs, dating from the 4th century, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

From Christianity to Islam. The Jokováli Hassan Pasha Mosque is still a funtional mosque. (Pécs also has a synagogue which is still in use, but unfortunately I can't visit it while I'm here because it is closed for the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.)

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

The early bird also catches the organist in full flow. (Sound on.)

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 1d

Day 8. An early mortning visit to magnificent Pécs cathedral, before anywhere else has opened. Good views across Pécs from the tower.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 2d

Széchenyi Square at night.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 2d

I have come Pécs, the fifth largest city in Hungary, with a rich multicultural heritage, having been ruled by the Ottoman Empire for 150 years.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 2d

The train has now crossed into Hungary, travelling at what seems three times the speed of the Croatian train (or maybe it just rattles more).

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 2d

The connection was made with a minute to spare at Beli Mantasir, transferring on to a museum-piece one car diesel Hungarian train, even though I am still in Croatia. I was the only passenger to make the transfer.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 2d

Leaving Osijek on a train that has a ridiculously short connection time with the next service I want to catch. I 'believe' the connection should be held - I hope so.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 2d

In 1991, a red Fico car tried to block a column of Jugoslav Army tanks from entering Osijek city centre, but was crushed. This memorial at the same junction depicts the red Fico getting its revenge.

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EuropeExplored @europeexplored.bsky.social · 2d

Within the old town, there are a couple of museums: the Museum of Slavonia (which I found a little disappointing) and the Archaeology Museum (which I am normally less interested in, but thought was very good).

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