Driving to Bulgaria - Day 2 - Hungary

The second day of our drive to Bulgaria started out much like our first day--high-speed driving on the perfectly engineered autobahn, surrounded by perfectly engineered German cars. We passed through Vienna, crossed the border into Hungary, and continued on to Budapest. Even in that first stretch of Hungary the roads and their occupants (cars and drivers alike) were decidedly well-built and maintained.

Turning south from Budapest, things started to look a bit different. For one thing, there were LOTS of wind farms. So much so that in my mind now, all of southern Hungary is pretty much one big wind farm. Note also the cracks in the road--you would never see that on a major highway in Germany or Austria. After being in Germany for 8 months or so, this actually seemed kind of shabby to us. Little did we know what lay ahead.

We started to feel really far from home when we saw this Bosnian truck. As the cars got shabbier and the landscape flatter, we started to feel a strange sense of kinship whenever we saw a car on the road with German plates.

Another sign we weren't in Germany any more: a car that was a) more than 5 years old and b) parked at an angle up onto the curb.

We had heard Romania could be pretty rough, so we wanted to spend the night in Hungary. We stopped in the last city before Romania--Szeged, near the point where Hungary, Romania, and Serbia come together. It proved to be a delightful town, with many beautiful old buildings contrasted with many young college students.

The town beach on the Tisza River was a favorite hangout.

There were also many lovely outdoor cafes, several with live music.

Our destination was the Hotel Tisza, named for the river.

Although it was a bit rough around the edges, it had a beautiful lobby, complete with marble columns and gilded banisters.

The hallways were equally majestic. The rooms, not so much, but we did pay a little extra to have a window air conditioner so we could get a good night's sleep.

On the way out of town the next morning, I spotted this street sign--clearly depicting a father and daughter! Oddly progressive for an old Hungarian city.

Tune in next time for Driving to Bulgaria - Day 3 - Romania.