South to Pecs - Day 8

Early breakfast, then a taxi to the Budapest-Keleti train station for the 3 hour train ride to Pecs in Southwest Hungary. 

Pecs has been an established settlement for 2000 years. Celts, Romans, Magyars, Turks and Slavs have all called it home. Buildings are medieval, baroque and art nouveau. The squares and facades were all refurbished in 2010 when Pecs was named as a Europen Cultural Capital. The urban core has all been converted to pedestrian streets which were resurfaced at the same time. The city so lovely, comfortable and easy to navigate, stroll it's squares, and while away the time in its outdoor cafés. We hardly heard a word of any other language than Hungarian. 

After arrival and a spot of lunch we met our lovely tour guide, Briggita Gombos at Hotel Diana where we are staying. Brigitta is a school teacher who guides during summers and other times when not teaching.  For 3 hours Briggita toured us and gave a historical overview of her beloved city. 

Here we are at the Zsolnay Fountain. The fountain with beautiful oxen heads was designed by the family-owned Zsolnay Porcelain Company who created an innovative type of extremely durable ceramics used for building exterior decoration. The unique glaze never comes out quite the same even when the same materials and processes are used. 

Pecs has such nicely restored architecture....

Dinner at Korhelly

Tomorrow we continue our exploration in Pecs.