Szentendre

I hate places like Szentendre. I have been to many such towns and villages on my travels. Indeed some places in the Cotswolds are not unlike Szentendre and its ilk. They are pretty, twee little spots which once upon a time were nice to visit, but then because of that fact every property that once you might have wandered past and thought "isn't that nice" is now either trying to sell you baseball caps and other tourist tat, or is converted into a tiny and unsatisfying museum (marzipan museum? - yes Szentendre has one), or else if not that, its a redundant church. And I went out of season - apparently its all that and swarming with tourists too in the height of summer.

So why did I take a trip to this little town outside Budapest? Well, apart from not knowing exactly what it was like, there were two good reasons. The first is I like boat trips, and you can get there by boat. So who could resist an hour and a half cruising up the Danube? For under 10 quid. Not me. Great photo opportunities too.

And you can't argue that Szentendre isn't picturesque from the river.

Then you get into the town. Pretty, but over-commercialised is an understatemnt. There just isn't anything to do apart from browse the shops for knick-knacks. Ever noticed that this appeals basically to two groups, the elderly and young children?

Well I say nothing to do. You can always resort to the redundant churches. But they are Serbian Orthodox, and they just weren't very good at art. And the Serbs have long since left the area.

Or you try the little museums and galleries. I picked what I judged to be the best, the Amos-Anna Museum. This contains paintings and drawings of an artistic couple, the husband dying in a forced labour camp towards the end of the last war, wife continuing to work largely unrecognised during the communist era. An interesting story, not matched by the artistic output (well not in my view). And its somewhat offputting when the attendants follow you round switching the lights on and off as you go. Sweet little courtyard though.

But I dd say there were two good reasons for coming. The other is the Skanzen Museum. Sadly this is not actually in town but a few kilometres outside. I needed a taxi to reach it. Its an open-air museum. A collection of houses and other constructions from all over Hungary. Its fascinating, well set out, extensive(very)  and would be well worth spending a day there rather than just a couple of hours as I did. It is all laid out in a series of villages from different regions and different eras.

Thence a return journey on the boat, half an hour quicker going back (due to the current) and under a rather ominous sky, but thankfully no rain. So not such a bad day at all. And no, I didn't buy any souvenirs from Szentendre!