There are four medieval towns upriver from Budapest, within range of a possible day trip. Each has its proponents. We thought it would be better to see one well rather than seeing three or four of them for just a few minutes each.
And so bright and early one morning, we took a boat to Szentendre.
A side benefit of this mini-cruise (it took maybe an hour and a quarter) is that it provides wonderful views of Buda (lit by the morning sun) and Pest (in moody shadow) as the boat goes by.
The royal palace
Turul (eagle) statue
Szechenyi Hid — Chain Bridge
Calvinist Church
Matthias Church
Parliament Building
A prosperous city — the old and the new
At last we left central Budapest.
Margit Hid — Margaret Bridge
We passed an area that had been popular for summer camps early in the twentieth century and now was becoming popular again.
summer houses on the river
The scenery became bucolic–and then Szentendre came into view!
peaceful river view
First sight of Szentendre!
Our pier was just north of town, so we had good views of the whole town from the river before we disembarked.
Pretty as it is from the river, the town was even more charming from within.
You may have noticed from these photos that even though we arrived early in the morning, there were still a lot of tourists around. Szentendre is like that. It’s clean and cute and quaint, and it’s full of art galleries and restaurants and tourists. Hard to know which came first. But look, what have we here?
It’s a file of children with their teachers going to the park at the top of the hill! Eventually we get to the park too, though by a different route.
It’s a lovely park with good views over the rooftops. And it’s made even lovelier by the children playing there.
Lunchtime! We’d scouted out the whole historic town center, and we knew where we wanted to go–the Promenade Vendeglo (Tavern). With a terrace and umbrella’ed tables, and a river view–this was the place for us!
The owner (I think he was the owner), it turned out, spoke enough English to make us feel welcome. When we went to order a glass of wine, we embarked on a whole conversation about the unique and characteristic wines of Hungary and where they’re grown. (Looked to me like they might be growing some of them right here!)
This brings us at last to the part of this post where I can’t resist including a few details that I couldn’t quite fit in anywhere else yet didn’t want to part with.
Doorways and storefronts…
Yeah, I know…peppers, my favorite. But Hungary is noted for paprika, and what do you think paprika is?
Finally, a stairway adorable beyond words…
