Day 10 - Bucsu Budapest, Zdravo Hrvatski (Monday 22nd April 2024)

Today it’s seven days since we arrived in this fabulous city. We weren’t sure what to expect but took it on faith that it was a city worth visiting. We were not disappointed at all. Indeed, the promises of those many people were met and exceeded. It’s a very attractive city with its many broad, tree-lined streets and avenues, its many grand buildings, its many little lane-ways and its air of culture and grace. We’ll happily join those people who suggested to us that Budapest is a “must visit” destination. You must add it to your future travel plans. At 9:00am our 16-seater bus pulled away from the City Hotel Budapest as we bade farewell to one of the world’s great cities.

Today is the true start of our Balkan adventure. Over the next two weeks we’ll be visiting Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and the Croatia again. All the names of our travelling companions have almost been put to the right faces. I reckon we’ll have it sorted by tomorrow morning. Only a few to left to lock in.

The Croatian town of Osijek is today’s destination, only a few hours south of Budapest. Were staying in the area of town referred to as “the fortress” because was once where the troops of the Austrian army were stationed when the citizens of Olijek were subjects of the Habsburg Empire. The town of about 100,00 people is located on the banks of the Drava river a tributary of the Danube. It’s a very big river in its own right, flowing 750kms from the South Tyrol, high up in the mountains on the Austrian/Italian border.

 

Our home for the next two nights is the Maksimilian Guest House - lovely hotel hidden behind a set of enormous wooden doors. Our room is large and very comfortable with a view to a pretty little courtyard below. After our rooms were allocated the group headed on foot into the centre of town, just 20 minutes walk away. The centre of town is dominated by a large, open public square which has beautiful Roman Catholic church in one corner. Our stomachs were beginning to rumble so Ivana guided us to a restaurant on a barge anchored by the river. Our table provided a panoramic view across the river while we enjoyed first quality meals, wine and service. People wandered off in different directions after the main part of the meal was finished. Some stayed on for desert! Kerry and I strolled back into the town square, found an ATM to get a few Euros in our pocket, and then visited the aforementioned church.

 

 

The spectacular red-brick exterior and very tall spire were matched by the spectacular interior. Enormous stained glass windows on the northern, southern and western sides of the church were filtering the light of the sun which was beginning to set for the day. The eastern end of the church was dominated by the pipes of a massive organ. What seemed like an extraordinarily high ceiling was covered in drawings of religious figures. Not quite the Sistine Chapel but that’ll give you the picture. The silence in the church was almost deafening. Not a sound crept in from the outside world, while the smallest sound made within the church could be heard with crystal clear clarity. For fifteen minutes we enjoyed this visual and aural spectacle and then made our way back to “the fortress” as dusk was approaching. A coffee in the main square of “the fortress” with Sasha and Mel and the a beer in the hotel courtyard with Polly, Rob, Guido and Ivana capped off a very pleasant afternoon in this lovely Croatian town.