Hotel Patria Pecs

Firstly - the important stuff. According to BBC World News the top
story viewed on the BBC website today - the fact that Thargomindi
(spelling?) in outback Australia is being taken over by kangaroos and
emus every evening in the wake of the worst drought in 50 years. So
this must be why foreigners think we have kangaroos in our backyards!!!



I have just come from the city of Pécs which has been nominated as the
Pecs, Hungary bigkevoz

... pictures of earlier places and these are now lost forever.

We got in to the room before we noticed it was gone and then had to make our way over to the police station to report it but when we finally got there at about 11 we were told to return in the morning when an interpreter would be available.

This meant missing our morning train but we went back and lodged the report and got the all important crime number for the insurance. All in all a bad night in Pecs...

... Now it was nearly deserted with lots of nice log cabins that were all boarded up and abandoned. When we arrived at the camp site the guy looked very surprised to see us. There were probably room for a few hundred caravans and maybe double that again in tents. From what we saw there were 3 groups camping ...

... stories from the Bible. I found it quite fascinating, but the boys chose to wait for me outside.

We continued to wander the town. It will be interesting to see how it changes in the coming years. The pedestrian areas are quite enjoyable, but virtually devoid of tourists. The shopkeepers appear bored and seem to be patiently waiting for the influx of tourists coming in 2010. Although we didn't get the true feeling of the ...

... also some lovely parks and gardens and we stopped at one for a while and used the town WiFi Hotspot. In 2010 Pecs will be named the European Capital of Culture and will celebrate more than 2000 years of history of the town. It also is home to the University of Pecs with 35000 students, which is one of the biggest and most diverse research and educational institutes ...

3rd June

Sunny periods am, occasional shower pm 24 degrees

Kiskassa (Near Pecs) Hungary

We started the day with a nice breakfast in the Villa's restaurant which as beautiful window boxes full of flowers. After travelling on the toll way for a while we turned off onto some smaller roads and drove through some lovely countryside and little towns from Croatia into Hungary. The ...

... down as it sometimes comes out of the ground at 75 degrees Celsius. I know there are hot springs in different parts of the Rockies in Canada but they don't compare to the thermal baths in Hungary. You know how I had said it was almost too hot in Pecs, well I said so to the British woman I went to the baths with near Pecs and of course I jinx it as it rained a little bit that evening. But it was nice to have a slight break in the heat.

... the way, I can explain the rest... I woke up the following morning in a great big daze and had no idea where I was, but eventually realized I was in the hostel. Thinking that I was on my top bunk, I sat straight up and BAM! Unfortunately, I was on the bottom bunk and knocked myself out for the next few hours. When I woke up a few hours later and walked into the breakfast room the hostel owner was sitting there with a ...

... camping outside a closed camping area 30km`s from Pécs, on what we named Drug Dealers Alley...due to the continuous flow of suspicious looking characters in cars, entering/leaving what appeared to be a factory (drug factory...maybe??) This morning (29th March) was an early start and we have ridden the 32km`s into Pécs arriving at 10am...fingers are crossed waiting for a reply from Akos, otherwise it could be the gutter we sleep in tonight :) ...the fun of unplanned travel Szervusz (bye) for now