Day trip: Szentendre

Sunny lazy Saturday in mid-October: Saint Andrew, or Szentendre in Hungarian, is the perfect destination. This picturesque town 20 km north of Budapest features the colours of the Mediterranean and the grandeur of the Danube, all together in a tiny old town of meandering alleys too narrow for cars. It's perfect to spend a few lazy hours outside of the capital, in a blissful feeling of holiday. Unfortunately Darek was busy, so this was a solo Giulia trip.

No need to get up too early: from Batthyány Square and Margit Híd Bridge stations, in Buda, the suburban railway HEV will take you there in just 50 minutes for 600 forints (as a suburban supplement: first buy or show your normal bus/metro ticket to the ticket office and then ask for the 2-way supplement outside the boundaries of Budapest). Szentendre is the last stop.

The scenery is slowly changing, from large apartment blocks to small (and a bit shabby) family houses. From the train station in Szentendre, walk down an underpass and straight on, as if the train would go on, to reach the city centre in a few minutes.

Szentendre is famous for the Serbian and baroque architecture and bright colours of the old town, for the diverse churches and faiths practised, and for the ridiculous amount of art galleries and museums opening at every corner - it is called "the artists' village" for a reason!

The baroque architecture is the heritage of the grand development that happened during the 18th century, when many Serbian and Greek families established their businesses here, using the Danube as a connection. The existing wooden buildings were turned into stone and painted with vivid colours, just like back in their lost hometowns.  I love the main square "Fő tér", triangular and tilted between the hill and the Danube, so unusual, colourful and traditional. To your right, the Danube, in front to the left, the main church, and in the distance in front of you, the shopping street "Bogdányi utca".

There's a very narrow passage going from the main square up towards the church, to the left: half-way, stop for one of the best "langos" you will ever have (typical hungarian deep fried bread). I took a classic one with cheese and sour cream for less than 2 euros and headed back to the main square and down to the Danube, actually to a smaller stream (there's a bifurcation up north). The sun was warm, my belly was full, luckily all the benches were busy, otherwise I would have slept all the way until evening! If you're not into super-deep-fried bread, along the Danube there are two nice restaurants, both mixing Hungarian and foreign traditions: a Greek, "Görög kancso", and "Fantázia Étterem".

I continued my exploration with a coffee at the Kovacs Margit Museum of Ceramics, which has a lovely back patio. DO NOT buy the map/guide of Szentendre by "Idea", or at least first make sure that the numbers of the restaurants in the map have been corrected.

Walk up to the main Catholic Church to admire the scenery: the peaceful Danube, the red tile roofs, people chatting and eating pancakes, in a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere. I also spied on a courtyard where a bride was catching her breath in the middle of the wedding lunch! As white and classy as St. John can be, just turn around it to head over to the bright red baroque Serbian church, a bit spooky from the outside of its slightly wild garden, but soothing and enchanting when near it.

The city centre is so small and the map so big that I got lost and over-walked... To find the house of my dreams! There it was, down this winding alley "Kigyo utca": white and curvy, abandoned but not ruined, with a round hobbit window facing out and a large wooden gate hiding the patio. I could already imagine the twisting stairs inside, the eccentric furniture to fill the odd spaces, a cute garden outside to play cards and watch grandchildren play... I felt as if I was in a flash-forward in a movie!

Even better, the alley ends on the shopping street of Bogdányi utca, yes it's full of tourists, but there is also the Labirintus Restaurant and Wine Museum: excellent Hungarian restaurant, in the underground gallery it also hosts wine tastings for as little as 1700 HUF (6 euros) for 5 types of wine.

I spent some more time trying to work out what was where on that deceiving map: the Vajda Lajos studio on Péter Pál utca, close to the Danube, has a beautiful hidden patio that made me think of the historical and classy version of the house of Zorro. On a side street there is a house is completely hidden by ivy, except for the shiny letterbox, and if you try to open a gate you might actually find it open! I loved these of sneaking a pic on to somebody else's life, taking away this fraction of their home with me, imagining how they live and how I could live in such a place. Last but not least, an energetic lady drove past me on an epic Fiat 126, more famous here as the Kis Polski!

Just when I was about to head back to the station, I noticed a group of people heading further on and up, behind the red Serbian Church. Where are they going? Well, half-way up the slope of Bartok Béla utca there is the cutest little coffee house, Dálmát Kavézó, and on top of the road there is an opening with an even better view to the Danube and the village underneath! The changing leaves and the lovebirds benches added the finishing touch.

Next time: cake at the Számos Cukrasda coffee on the main square towards the station, nutella crepe from the langos place... and perhaps even some art and history, since most museums are open only from mid March to mid October! Also, the Outdoor Museum of Ethnography deserves a visit, to see the traditional buildings and lifestyles of Hungary all in the same place, but it is a bit outside of town and will need some organization.