Győri Kármelhegyi Boldogasszony templom. April 2019
One of the day trips from Vienna was to Győr, Hungary. I never heard of the town, but it was about an hour's journey from the home of the Hapsburgs and I had not been to Hungary since 1987. My memories of the country were wonderful [see: Beijing to Athens], so I wanted to return. The weather did not cooperate, unfortunately and it rained most of the day.
Annoyingly, like the Czech Republic, Hungary had not joined the Euro. That meant the first order of business was to find a money changer (which seemed very retro in modern Europe). Having changed my euros to forints, I was ready to explore except that - it was raining in force. I took refuge in a local coffee shop where I made the best of it. Ironically, it was the "Vienna Coffee House" filled with lovely pastries as well. I indulged in a latte and a tempting bakery creation, surfed the net, and waited for the rain to stop.
Later, in a damp Győr I walked by some old churches, found a synagogue that had been converted into a community center, and generally took in the sights of an off-the-grid Austro-Hungarian baroque town that I knew nothing about. Lovely views of the old town were to be had from across the river and one picturesque old bridge led directly into the old city. The highlight of the day was finding my childhood comfort food, palatschinke, on the street and instantly devouring two of them [see: palatschinke].
Lunch was in a venerable hotel near the station where I had a mouth-watering meal (Hungary still had fantastic food) and good beer. I realized there wasn't much more to see and I had converted far too many euros to forint. Unlike my journey in 1987, the forint was worth significantly more, so I did not approach a random stranger on the street and give them all my money. I simply converted the forint back to euros and returned to Vienna.
Most interestingly, little Győr had a history similar to nearby Bratislava. EVERYONE had occupied it over time. Romans, Mongols, Germans, Slovaks, Ottomans, and, of course, Hungarians. The current old town, which is small but very nicely preserved, dates from the 17th century:
During the Ottoman occupation of present-day central and eastern Hungary (1541 - late 17th century), Győr's commander Kristóf Lamberg thought it would be futile to try to defend the town from the Turkish army. He burned down the town and the Turkish forces found nothing but blackened ruins, hence the Turkish name for Győr, Yanık kale ("burnt castle").
During rebuilding, the town was surrounded with a castle and a city wall designed by the leading Italian builders of the era. The town changed in character during these years, with many new buildings built in Renaissance style, but the main square and the grid of streets remained.
(Wikipedia)
The downtown (beautiful, even in the rain) did have this strong baroque appearance different from other cities of its size. Győr's historic center did not have a variety of building styles from a mix of historical periods. All the buildings dated from that one rebuilding - after the residents torched their own city. I loved that in Turkish the name for the city is "burnt castle".
Even if Győr was not the most amazing side trip on that vacation, it reminded me that I did love Hungary and needed to go back there for more exploration.
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