Hungary - Sopron (1st-2nd march)

Pinch, punch, first day of the month. And a new country to boot. After rising from my slumber in Vienna, I wolfed down one final Wurst before hopping on my train across the border to Hungary. Only 75 minutes away from Vienna, the lack of border patrols on the train actually half-fooled me into thinking that Sopron might still be in Hungary, until I was asked to produce my Ausweis before leaving the station. As it was, I found the proximity to Austria quite useful, as I soon discovered that it's not even necessary in most places to ask people if they speak German, the town being pretty much bilingual. Nontheless, Hungary felt immediately different to everywhere else I'd been - perhaps slightly more how "Eastern Europe" is commonly perceived, certainly there were more significantly run down parts of town, but there was something else as well, in the attitude of the people, the way things were done...after the comfort of Vienna, I guess it felt more like I was really on the road and exploring new things again. Savvy?

Anyway, after successfully navigating my way to the hostel, I took a wander into town. Sopron's another small-but-pretty place, though despite its lack of size, I noticed a few interesting and amusing things during my amble...

1. In Hungary footpaths across train tracks seem to be the norm. This confused me immensely whilst trying to find my hostel, as I was trying to find a way around! D'oh...
2. There was a dog that looked exactly like Dougill off The Magic Roundabout, only with black fur. This is the best dog in the world.
3. While walking past a building site, I was amazed to see 8 people stood around it, seemingly being spectators to the work. I know it's a small town, but there must be better things to do!

After this I needed a good lie down, so I spent most of the night doing that. The next day, however I was soon back in town again, on the breakfast hunt. I ended up in rather a posh cafe, where I enjoyed possibly the best ham and eggs on earth. 3 perfect eggs, done one top of the ham and served with salad, as seems to be the fashion in this part of Europe. It truly was spectacular, and set me up nicely for the day. I did, however, make two interesting observations on Hungarian restaurants and Cafes. Firstly, everything comes with bread. This is good - I take more filling up than the average person, and bread aids this. Especially good, chunky bread. Secondly, it's very hard to leave a cafe in Hungary. Once you've been given your food, the staff seem perfectly content to leave you to it, and it's very difficult to get their attention for the bill once you've finished. I could nearly have been out of the door before they'd noticed in one or two places!

Anyway, after these revelations, I wandered back into the old town, where, despite many attractions not being accessible (they take the phrase "close season" quite literally in Hungary), I did manage to get into an interesting museum which took me through the colourful history of Sopron and hungary as a whole, from the bronze Age, through its time as a Roman fortress and the invasion of the Huns, right through to the present day. Being a bit of a history nerd at heart, I was quite happy to take advantage of the dismal weather to see this, and found it most entertaining and educational :)

For lunch I went to the oddly named Liszt Salon, which although it didn't offer me a short back and sides, did provide an ample toastie and a selection of over 100 teas. So after enjoying a pleasant Tibetan chap, I stepped outside to find the weather had brightened, and decided to extend my wanderings further. I didn't make it as far as the hill overlooking the town, though i did take in a bit of greenery before making my way to tea. On this particular night, this consisted of honey-glazed chicken, baked with camenbert and served with riced, salad and APPLE CROQUETTES. Funny little devices they were, it was similar in a way to the filling from an apple and cinnamon donut. Most cheering.