October 16-19, 2014: While I was waiting to finally enter Szeged’s beautiful synagogue, I had plenty of time to take another look at buildings I had admired on my first visit. Naturally, I spent a fair amount of time enjoying Reok Palace, but I also revisited the town hall, the cathedral and several other buildings. The cathedral was having its foundation reinforced, its facade obscured by cranes, but I was still able to go inside, where I found a collection of remarkable painted animals. The expansive square in front of the cathedral was bordered by an arcade (very welcome in the rain) decorated with a series of memorial plaques. Given the weather, I paid rather more attention to them this time.
On my first visit, many places had been closed for the All Saints’ Day holiday, so besides the cathedral I took a look inside the Diocesan and Ferenc museums. The former housed a small collection, mostly copes and chalices, the latter was hosting a special Egyptian exhibition. The museum was so proud of the exhibition it had redecorated its front entrance. I confess I found the permanent collection more interesting. The town, I learned, had been famous in the past for the manufacture of slippers, rush weaving, knife making, wooden boat building and peppers. All of these were gone now, aside from the peppers – Szeged’s paprika is still sought after – and I also visited the Salami and Paprika Museum, which wasn’t really worth the trek to the edge of town.
Instead of a holiday, this time my visit coincided with a beer festival. Since I much prefer wine to beer, this wasn’t a big draw for me, especially in the rain. Instead of eating at the food stalls, I ate very well at my hotel. The one time I ate dinner elsewhere I was hit with the DCC scam. For those who haven’t encountered this, I should explain that it is an offer to charge your credit card in your own currency instead of the local currency. This is, of course, always at a disadvantageous (to you) exchange rate, and since I travel with credit cards that don’t charge a foreign conversion fee it is an especially a bad deal for me. Unfortunately, although the merchant is supposed to ask which way you want to pay, they often just go ahead and charge you in your own currency and then claim they can’t reverse the charge. In this case you should write on the charge slip that you decline DCC and dispute the charge with your card issuer. Sadly, this time I didn’t even realize I had been scammed until the next day.
After visiting the synagogue on my last morning in town I took the tram back to the train station. With a few minutes to wait before my train to Budapest, i was able to appreciate that the station was also worth a second look.
Great post(s)! Makes me want to go back to Szeged.
Thanks! It is a lovely town, isn’t it? (Next time, add Pecs.) Hope to see you soonish?
Hi Kathy, Thanks for sending…. Where are you planning to travel this summer?
Pat
I lived in Budapest for 4 years, but never made it to Szeged. Looking at your photos makes me regret that. Those buildings are really gorgeous.
Pecs has some really nice buildings, too. And Subotica, just over the border, is well worth seeing.