Weekend in Pécs (Part 1)

I have a Hungarian friend called Aron, who I've been studying with and written a project with, and since he's staying at his parent's apartment in Pécs [pronounced "pea-ch", well, almost] at the moment, while he waits to start his internship, I thought it would be a good opportunity to visit him.  First of all I had to catch the train from Budapest Déli station (on the Buda side).

I always imagine that journeys are going to be stressful events and sometimes they are. This however was really quite straightforward. It was Friday afternoon, and the queue for the ticket office was long - there are a few ticket machines outside the office, but the queue for them was also long, so I took a deep breath and stood in line. Thankfully it was a relatively speedy process, and apart from a rotund middle-aged woman who kept trying to subtly shuffle her way forward, it all went smoothly. A good tip to remember is that there's a 50% discount on student tickets, so the ticket was only 2000HUF (about 7-8 euros) for a second-class ticket in intercity train ... and of course, remember your student card - I showed my Danish one, which seemed to be fine.

The train itself was really very comfortable ... I was a little bit surprised to be honest. After what some Hungarian friends had said, I half expected it to be cramped with no leg room and overcrowded, however the seats were comfortable, there was air conditioning, and there was plenty of leg room. The only thing I thought was a little strange was that there was no carpet - I don't whether they were in the middle of refurbishing the carriage, but after about 30 seconds I didn't think about it again. I'd like to tell you about the journey and the sights on the way, however to be honest I fell asleep for most of the 3 hour journey.

When I arrived in Pécs, Aron was there to meet me and we wandered up to the town centre - Aron was keen to explain the history of the town and show me the beautiful local delights. On leaving the train station you wouldn't think that there was much beauty in Pécs to be honest - the buildings weren't well looked after and it was all a bit run-down - it reminded me of derelict streets on the outskirts of Manchester or Birmingham, well, okay, maybe not that bad. But still, after 5 minutes we approached the main square and shopping street, and it was beautiful - it was full of life, with a mixture of people drinking coffee, sitting by the fountain, chatting and having fun, all set to the backdrop of a mosque/church (it had been used by different groups in its history), fountains and baroque/neo-classical buildings.

After we had visited a few bars and cafés (just to start the weekend in the right way :-) we went to get something to eat and that's when something amazing happened ... it looked like a simple, everyday kebab shop on the outside, however in that kebab shop, with it's KFC-esque, cheap, red plastic illuminated sign and a heating system which meant that the climate was that of a rain forest, they produce magic. I bought a chicken kebab (with everything) which I can only describe as THE best kebab I've ever eaten - it was delicious - it was (to coin a phrase) legendary. While I can't remember the name of the shop (I was in shock at the time), I do remember where it was (on Rákötczi üt, next to a mall, and opposite a small shop). If you want to see it on Google Maps just click here. It's on the south side of the street, opposite the angelic light (seriously, look at the map).

Once we'd eaten our heavenly kebabs, we found a nice bar/café in the square and had a few drinks and a chat, and periodically listening to the cheers as Hungary beat Sweden 2-1. It was a great atmosphere. Then we walked to Aron's parent's apartment, where Aron showed me to my room and mentioned that we had to be up early to look at some properties with his Dad. Feeling exhausted at this point I went to sleep as my head hit the pillow, unaware of the adventures that tomorrow had in store (see Part 2).

Before the Beginning

The best place to start is often at the beginning, however I'd like to start before then, since it will hopefully be of some help to anyone else who is thinking of moving to Budapest.

The story then starts 13 hours before the beginning, with me getting dropped off at Berlin Hauptbanhoff by a friend in an old white Volkswagen Polo. I was a little early and so it didn't surprise me when I looked up at the departure board and couldn't see the direct train from Berlin to Budapest listed. So I waited patiently, as any polite Englishman would ... 15 minutes passed or approximately four songs (Rolling Stones: Beast of Burden, Lilly Allen: The Fear, Imogen Heap: Hide and Seek, Bill Withers: Use Me). Ok, there's a long queue at the information desk and I've got two ridiculously heavy bags, so I can't be bothered to drag them around and stand in line ... as you'll no doubt encounter throughout this diary forward-slash alternative travel guide, many of my actions are based upon my loathing of queues and doing anything to avoid them. Anyway, the helpful people at Deutsche Rail or whatever they're called have paper timetable which list the platform number that trains depart from. This could never happen in England since you never know in advance how late the train will be or whether it will turn into a bus.

After making my way to the platform and a short wait the train arrived on time, and I waited patiently for everyone to board, safe in the knowledge that I'd reserved a seat. I have quite a few German friends, who are all very nice, however the Germans I met on this train, well, they were a moody bunch. I made my way to my reserved seat - if I'm going to be sitting on a train for 12 hours, I don't want to have to keep moving seats. The two girls, one of whom was sitting in the seat I'd reserved wasn't particularly pleased when I said that I'd reserved the seat and, very politely I'll add, asked if I could sit down. "Uh, it only says it MIGHT be reserved" she barked, in the tone of an alcoholic Irish sailor with a German accent, "Yes, well I'm afraid I've reserved it - sorry", I replied in my most apologetic voice. "Uh, well thank you SO much", she growled as her and her friend dragged their rucksacks out of the way. I resisted the urge to slap her verbally and decided that it was probably best to just let this miserable thing leave without incident. Fortunately I had no contact with these girls again who found seats close by in the same compartment, however right opposite me a young Hungarian couple politely asked a classically German man, with black hair and a green sweater, probably in his early 30s, if they could have their seats. He made the sour thing I'd been dealing with look positively sweet. He complained for several minutes before relinquishing his seat, and for the next 6-7 hours he would pass and make snide remarks to them. He was also much odder than the sour thing ... he seemed to befriend a young German couple, and then when they were obviously bored of his conversation after an hour or so they waited until he was in the toilet, and then escaped to the buffet car. He then paraded up and down the compartment, quizzing people as to whether they'd seen the couple. I had only understood a little of what he was saying, but from the expressions on the German couple's faces, he was obviously unaware of how boring his thoughts really were.

The rest of the journey was relatively uneventful. Some beautiful countryside, with mist rising from mountain forests, and an impressive array of graffiti and street art in different places. I spent most of the time either reading, playing sudoku, listening to music or sleeping. I'd had the foresight to make sandwiches the previous night (ham and cheese baguettes with a good helping of mustard) as well as buy yoghurt, which I quickly realised that I would need a spoon to eat it. In one of those McGyver moments, I decided to fashion a spoon out of the silver foil that my sandwiches had been rapped in. The result was an unusual, yet very usable, spoon.

Finally, after 12 hours ... well, actually more like 12 1/2 hours due to a delay, I arrived at Keleti Station in Budapest, and even though I'd technically been in Hungary for just over an hour, you could say that this is the beginning.