“Rain Rain Go Away” (Nursery Rhyme)
Day 8 – Sunday 14th May 2023 – Košice to Debrecen (via Tokaj)
I woke early, and skipping breakfast, left my hotel at 7:20am for the short walk across the park to Košice station. I was catching the 0801 train, which eventually was going on to Budapest, but I was only going to catch it to Miskolc, a short distance over the Hungarian border. At around the same time as my train to Hungary, the departure board at Košice was also showing a train making the short journey across the Ukrainian border to Chop. Although it was early on a Sunday morning there was a shop open at the station where I bought myself some water for the journey. Unlike when I had arrived in Košice, my train was going from a regular platform within the station, and when I went to find it the train was already waiting, so I got on board. There were virtually no other passengers on the train when it left Košice on time at 0801 and I had a compartment to myself. The train crossed into Hungary after about 20 minutes and at its first stop a few passengers got on, including an elderly man who came and sat in my compartment.
After 80 minutes I was due to change at Miskolc-Tiszai, where I had 10 minutes to make my connection. Although my train from Slovakia was a few minutes late approaching Miskolc, I was not too concerned about making the connection, as the Hungarian railways website said that my next train was running about 10 minutes late. So when I arrived in Miskolc, I didn’t hurry to the platform from which my next train was due to depart, but paused to take a few photos of the station on the way, to be somewhat surprised when I got to the platform to see my next train arriving bang on time.
Although my trains in Hungary required compulsory reservations, which I had made before departing on the trip, travel for EU citizens over the age of 65 should be free on production of an ID card. On boarding the train I found a frail elderly woman sitting in my reserved seat, but since there were a number of other vacant seats nearby, I went in sat in one of those instead. After my problems with getting free travel in Slovakia, I was relieved that when the ticket inspector came round, he was satisfied when I just showed him my reservation and my ID card. The train arrived on time at Tokaj station at 1008, where I got off.
Tokaj station is about a mile and a half from the centre of the town and it took me about 25 minutes to walk there. My first stop was at the town museum, where I bought a combination ticket for both the museums in the town. The town museum is located in the Karacsony House, the former home of a rich merchant, and is on several floors with a small garden behind it. As all the descriptions of the exhibits in the museum were in Hungarian, I was given an English language booklet to carry round with me providing details of the main items in each room and an overall history of the house.
Tokaj is the centre of the Hungarian wine region and is famous for producing a sweet dessert wine, although these days the local wineries produce a variety of wines in different styles. The next museum I went to was devoted to Tokaj wine and the more general history of wine production. While the first museum in Tokaj I visited had been rather old fashioned, the wine museum was very modern. It was located in a new building and had numerous interactive displays which allowed you to choose your language. When I left the wine museum I felt that I could not leave the area without trying the local produce, so I called in at one of the many wineries to sample a glass of Tokaj wine.
Once I had finished my wine, it was time to make the long walk back to Tokaj station. Unfortunately, there had been an accident earlier in the week which had closed the line to Debrecen beyond the first stop from Tokaj. So the train I caught terminated at Nyíregyháza, where I hoped that onward replacement buses would be provided. I don’t know whether I have a particularly authoritative demeanour, but in my carriage there was a large group of young people, and the adult in charge, despite being Hungarian, quizzed me about the arrangements for onward travel which I answered to the best of my knowledge. On leaving the station at Nyíregyháza there was a fleet of buses waiting to convey passengers to Debrecen, along with a railway employee in a peaked cap to send them on their way. Each bus filled up quickly and before long we were ready to go, arriving in Debrecen only 20 minutes later than the original scheduled time for the train.
For the past week of my travels, the weather forecast each day had predicted rain for the next day, but thankfully it had never materialised. On arrival in Debrecen, the rain finally came. So rather than walking to my hotel I caught a tram, which like all public transport in Hungary was free for me to use, as an over 65 year old EU citizen. My hotel was near the Reformed Great Church of Debrecen and I just quickly left my bag at the hotel, so that I could visit the Deri Museum, knowing that it would be closed the following morning.
The Deri Museum had good reviews as one of the major museums of Hungary. Maybe because I am a regular visitor to the British Museum, I found it a little disappointing. It is a world museum, rather than having a focus on local history. The first few galleries portrayed rituals associated with death in various ancient cultures. Somewhat oddly, the final gallery of my tour of the museum was devoted to the French colony of Reunion, although I failed to see any particular connection with Debrecen or Hungary.
In the evening, I found a modern restaurant which served good food. For starter I had cheese and onion soup served in a hollowed out loaf of bread. My main course was duck with pear and chestnut.
Day 9 – Monday 15th May 2023 – Debrecen to Budapest
The hotel room I stayed in in Debrecen was the most palatial of the whole trip, despite being one of the cheapest and also including breakfast in the price. After breakfast I crossed the road to the Reformed Great Church of Debrecen. As well as visiting the interior of this Protestant church, one could climb the towers to various levels – exploring the space between the top of the interior dome and the outside roof, or walking across the roof between the two towers.
From the church I walked the short distance to the Reformed College of Debrecen. I had bought a ticket to visit it with my ticket for the church. It is still a functioning college, and there were students coming and going along the corridors. The ticket was to visit some of the historic parts of the college, however when I first tried to access these all the relevant doors were locked shut. I was almost about to give up, when I decided to go in to the current student library, which proved to be the location where you had to ask someone to open up the other parts. I was given my own personal guided tour, albeit with the narrative provided by some laminated sheets I was handed. I visited an old school room, the old library and chapel, and a small museum, each one of which was opened up for me and locked again on my departure.
As I had time, and it was not raining, I decided to walk back to the station in Debrecen, to give me a chance to look a bit more at the architecture of the city. As I got close to the station yet again it began to rain. My train to Budapest was due to leave at 1207. It normally would have come from Nyíregyháza, where I had caught the replacement bus the previous day, but since the line was still closed it was waiting in the platform when I arrived at the station. For the first time since I had been in Hungary I managed to sit in the seat which had been reserved for me. I had noticed that all the trains I had booked had given me the same seat reservation, which previously had always already been occupied when I boarded. I realised this was probably because it was the seat at the end of the carriage reserved for frail and disabled passengers. I don’t know if I was always assigned this seat because I was booking free travel as an over 65 year old.
The train arrived punctually at Budapest Nyugati at 1437, from where I caught a tram to the hotel that I had booked. Leaving my bag, I set out to explore the city. It was my first time in Budapest since 1983. I recall that back then it was a fairly bustling city, but as I often find when revisiting places in the former Eastern Bloc after a long gap I am not prepared for the culture shock of how much they have changed.
My first stop was at St Stephen’s Basilica, built in the 19th century in honour of St Stephen (Istvan), the first king of Hungary. Unlike the Reformed Great Church of Debrecen, this is a Catholic church. In a side altar there are the rather gruesome remains of one of St Stephen’s hands on display.
When I left the Basilica it was threatening to rain, so I wanted to make sure that I was not too far from any shelter. I decided to catch the Budapest metro to the other side of the Danube. I also got free travel on the metro, but I wanted to check what I should do at the ticket barriers. As it turned out there was a squad of ticket inspectors checking everybody entering, but they were happy when I flashed my ID card at them. I then walked along the Danube getting good views of the Hungarian parliament on the other bank, before catching a bus back to my hotel.
Before going out to dinner I had a drink in the hotel bar. While there I overheard a couple of conversations of people trying to check into the hotel. I am very careful in planning my trips in advance, but from what I heard it would seem that not everyone is so attentive. First a couple arrived, who had inadvertently booked (and paid for on a non-refundable basis) two rooms and four breakfasts per day for their stay, despite only intending to book one room. Then a solo traveller arrived who was looking for another hotel, but had given up and asked to check-in to this establishment. However, they complained bitterly when quoted the price (which was about twice the rate I had paid) and set off again to try to find somewhere else.
Taking an umbrella with me to fend off the threatening rain I went to find dinner. I ventured a little way from the city centre, hoping that by doing so my chosen restaurant would be less busy. However, when I arrived there was a queue outside and I had to wait for a little while for a table to become available. Once seated I dined on paprika beef goulash.
Day 10 – Tuesday 16th May 2023 – Budapest
I got up fairly early and caught the metro from the Pest to the Buda side of the city. Once there I climbed up to the Castle Hill district. At that time of the morning it was fairly empty apart from a large number of soldiers, some dressed in historic costumes, who were making their way to the main church, where there was some kind of service about to begin. After about half an hour my exploration of Castle Hill was interrupted when it started to rain quite hard. Not wishing to get soaked, I tried to find shelter in one of the arches in the exterior of the castle, waiting for the Royal Castle Museum to open at 10am.
10 o’clock came and went without the entrance to the castle where I was waiting showing any signs of opening. About 10 minutes later someone emerged from inside to open up, beckoning that I should go inside. However while he was fixing open the outer doors, he let the inner door close behind him, locking us both out, leading to further delay before I could enter.
The Royal Castle was worth waiting for. In addition to the general entrance I also bought a timed ticket to visit St Stephen’s Hall in the heart of castle. In the Royal Castle you can see the remains of the former castle and it also contains a historical museum telling the story of the building and the city more generally. Completely destroyed in World War II it is still being reconstructed. St Stephen’s Hall, a lavishly ornate room for which you are issued a dedicated audio-guide, was only reopened in 2021.
When I left the Royal Castle, after spending several hours there, it was still raining as hard as ever. It was not a day for wandering about, but even so I decided not to use the over-priced funicular railway to descend off Castle Hill (which is about the only public transport in Hungary that would not have been free for me to use). I caught a tram and then a bus to bring me to the Hungarian National Museum on the Pest side of the Danube.
The permanent collections of the Hungarian National Museum tell the story of the country from ancient times up to the present day. I found the modern history the most interesting. The loss of Hungarian territory after the first World War still seems to rankle in the national conciousness. From my admittedly limited knowledge of Hungarian history, I also felt that there was a degree of airbrushing of some things that were portrayed – for example, downplaying Hungary’s role as a member of the Axis powers in World War II, and overstating the role of Fidesz (the current nationalistic ruling party) in the overthrow of communism in 1989.
Hungary still uses its own currency, the Forint, rather than the Euro. Being unsure of how much cash to bring with me on the trip I still had quite a bit left over. As I wasn’t planning to visit Hungary again in the near future, I decided to try to get rid of it by visiting a slightly more up-market restaurant for my final evening meal. I dined on goat’s cheese salad followed by goulash served with roast vegetables. Unlike the goulash I had the previous evening, this one was not spicy, but consisted of strips of melt-in-your-mouth beef in gravy. However, my plan to get rid of remaining cash backfired as the bill for the meal came to more than the cash I had left, so I had to pay for it by card after all.
Day 11 – Wednesday 17th May 2023 – Budapest to London
As my flight home was due to leave at 1200, I did not have time to do anything other than travel to the airport on my final morning. I took the metro from my hotel to the main square in the centre of Budapest from where the airport express buses leave. Despite the airport express bus being a premium service on which normal bus tickets are not valid, it is still free for the over-65s – a fact that is not prominently advertised.
On the approach to Budapest airport the bus drove past a collection of old MALEV aircraft from the now defunct Hungarian national airline, which were parked on the tarmac. Budapest airport was remarkably pleasant with no queues for security or passports and plenty of space to wait in the departure area.
It was still raining on my final day in Budapest, so I did not expect much in the way of views on the flight home. However the clouds parted when the flight was over the Netherlands and I had good views as we went over Rotterdam. I could spot the SS Rotterdam moored in the harbour, which I had visited in January. Although the flight took off a few minutes late, it landed at Stansted Airport 10 minutes early, and as there were no queues at the passport gates, I was able to catch the next train from the airport less than 30 minutes after landing. A couple of changes later and I was home by mid-afternoon.
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