hungary: esztergom

Esztergom was the first place I've been in Hungary other than Budapest. The original plan was to visit Esztergom and another town in the same day, but it took longer than planned to get to Esztergom, and I spent longer there than planned, so it was just the one town for the day.

I woke up plenty early in my hostel, and of course took longer than planned to get out the door. The person working the front desk gave me the name of a bus station so that's where I went. It wasn't close, and I went the wrong way at one point, so it took even longer than it should've. 

When I got to that bus station, the ticket clerk told me it was the wrong station, so I had to go all the way to the other end of the metro line to get to another bus station. Ugh.

Fortunately when I got to the correct station, I got a ticket for a bus leaving in less than 15 minutes. Yay!

The bus ride was longer than I expected. The guidebook said 90 minutes, it was actually more than two hours. Especially because the bus got stuck in a traffic jam just as we were coming into Esztergom.

Finally I arrived, yahoo! By this point it was almost noon, I'd originally been thinking I would be there by 1030. 

Anywho, I got off the bus, and started walking. The first thing I found was the end of a local produce market, only a few stalls were still open. 

My next stop was the platz in the middle of town. I was the only one there, even though it was the middle of Saturday.  In the middle of the platz was a memorial, to the victims of a plague epidemic that happened several hundred years ago. Rather depressing to see, even though it was quite pretty. 

One side of the platz was cute, and very photogenic, of course I took photos. 

From this platz I walked a bit north, making my way toward a bridge mentioned in lonely planet and triposo. The bridge is important because it goes over the Danube, to Slovakia. I walked the bridge, just to say I visited Slovakia during this trip.

I took all kinds of photos; I took photos of each of the four 'ends' of the bridge, I took photos of the 'welcome to Hungary/welcome to Slovakia signs in the middle of the bridge, I took photos of the boundary line marked on either side of the bridge, and one of my feet on either side of the border. 

After the bridge, I walked through and around a park near the river. Very pretty, and I was the only one there. By this point I was really wondering where all the people of this city could be found. It was Saturday, and a beautiful day.

Up the hill from this park I came to a city museum, as well as a BIG basilica.

It was really big, especially considering the size of the town. The entry fee included several options, namely the crypt, treasury, cupola, and more. 

I started by wandering the main area. Beautiful frescoes all over the church, and I loved the ceiling of the cupola as I usually do. Then I found the stairs heading up to the treasury and cupola. The treasury was about halfway up. I showed my ticket, then went through the turnstile. The displays included gorgeous vestments worn by important people in the church over the years. I also got to see items of importance, like candlesticks and plates and more. Great displays. Some of the signage was in Magyar and English, but not all. I didn't read all that was in English, just because I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information. Still, the effort put forth by the museum was very much appreciated.

I continued up the stairs, all the way to the top, by which point my legs were like jello. 

That being said, it was worth it. My ticket allowed me to go on a walkway around the outside of the cupola. Fantastic views all around, including over the river into Slovakia. (The town on that side looked very different from Esztergom.) I could've stayed up there foreva, if there had been a place to sit down. As it was, I took heaps of photos, though none of them really showed what I was seeing. 

The stairs back down made my legs feel even weaker, hee hee. I got back down to the main sanctuary, then found the stairs down to the crypt. The crypt wasn't big, and seemed mostly devoted to one person. At least, I could only see one tomb. 

After climbing up the stairs and going in front of the basilica, I enjoyed looking at the front of the whole building. It's big, to say the least. It took me a while, (waiting for the area to be clear of people) but I finally got a photo of the whole thing. So pretty. 

I wandered back down the hill by another series of streets. I stopped for a late lunch at one of many gyro places, and picked up water and snacks at a supermarket. 

Eventually I got back to the bus station, and got lucky with a seat on the next bus back to Budapest. For whateva reason, the ride back to Budapest was at least 30 minutes faster than it had been on the way to Esztergom.