Szentendre is a sleepy town of a few thousand people about 45 minutes away by car from Budapest. We were there as part of the Danube Bend tour to see the beautiful countryside stretching away from Budapest towards the Slovenian border. We crossed across briefly for a photo op - not really worth it on a cloudy day!
Actually its a town with two main large parallel streets - one on the river bank level and one higher up. The coach stops at the higher level and then we walk along the upper street which is devoid of tourists - its hot, its afternoon so every sensible person is at home in the shade. Only the tourists are looking around in this heat. The photographs reveal the desolateness of the town. Very few shops along the way until you reach the very centre. The main attraction is the Marzipan Museum - see my separate blog published on it. Until the end of the 16th century, Szentendre was
just a small village. However, its fortunes changed with the arrival of
outsiders: Serbs from the Balkans because of the wars against the Ottomans;
Dalmatians, Greeks, and Slovaks followed. Where people go, their own cultures
follow. Its not surprising but the beauty of the village is such that it
acquired a reputation as an artist’s village - a large number of art galleries,
studios, and workshops help Szentendre earn its reputation as an “Artists'
Village.”
The shops sell a variety of stuff - lots of red chillies in various packaging - chillies are a real hot favourite amongst Hungarians !! used in their various preparations. I think they are more like the Kasmhiri chilly - more for colour rather than spiciness. I did not try them. Along the main street in the central plaza or town square, there are a few people. They have mainly walked down from the small narrow little lanes which take you up the hill for a view and you take a circular route down.
Waiting in vain for customers. Perhaps the evening will bring in relief! A wonderful sight of an ancient working hand water pump.
The town has a beautiful long promenade for walking along the beach. Very well maintained. Near the boat quayside, there is a small square with restaurants.
I
n Budapest there was a celebration - Harley Davidson had invited bikers from USA and Europe for a weekend. They say that over 100,000 bikers were in Budapest for the weekend. The celebration was at the Puskas stadium. I dont know the numbers but everywhere you looked, and heard, you saw many bikers roaring by. We even saw some relaxing at Szentendre's beach !! The bikers had awesome machines, all brilliantly polished and maintained. I found the European bikers cleaner and better looking than their American counterparts ... but that's beside the point.
This was the cruise ship which took us back to Budapest taking a leisurely 90 minutes around the Danube's bends.
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Text and photographs are copyright of the author. No part of any article or photographs maybe transmitted or reproduced by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission. Do contact the author on email -- helpthesun@gmail.com