The hotel we stayed in last night was modern and characterless being so different from our previous nights where the Gellert Hotel was more like a museum than a hotel.
Despite this we had a sumptuous breakfast in the hotel’s courtyard and then packed our bags for ‘checking out’ in preparation for our train trip to Serbia around mid-day.
In the meantime we jumped on the Metro at the Opera underground station and went to Hosok Tere (Heroes' Square).
Hosok Tere (Heroes’ Square, Budapest
Hosok Tere (Heroes’ Square Budapest
Hosok Tere (Heroes’ Square, Budapest
Hosok Tere (Heroes’ Square, Budapest
The square is around 200m by 200m with the centre being dominated by a 36m column known as the Millenary Monument. This impressive tower is backed by two colonnades to the left and right. Within the structure are 16 bronze statues of famous Hungarians including kings from the last thousand years.
The monument was designed in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Magyar conquest of the Carpathian Basin. At the top of the column is the Archangel Gabriel.
On the northern side of the square is the Museum of Fine Arts with its entrance dominated by eight vast Corinthian columns in golden ratio proportion. To the south of the Millenary Monument is the Palace of Art with decorative frescos in gilt and colour above its entrance.
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Whilst we were at Heroes' Square, the Budapest ‘half-marathon’ was in action with the finishing line just nearby. The winner who ran past us while we were there appeared to be of Ethiopian or Kenyan origin and was finishing with the clock at 62 minutes. One of the race staff told us that Budapest is vying to hold the Olympic Games for 2024.
Runner, Budapest Half Marathon, Budapest
Participant, Budapest Half Marathon, Budapest
Our G Adventures team gathered and our group with luggage were then transported by taxis and Metro to the central train station ready for our mid-day departure for Serbia.
Keleti Railway Station, Budapest
The train trip to Novi Sad in Serbia took about six and a half hours which included some delays as we crossed the border into Serbia.
The scenery on the way south was pretty much one of constant flat agricultural grounds with thousands of hectares of corn/maize crops nearly ready to harvest.
Corn fields 001, Serbia
There were also large areas of sun-flowers and some small vineyards and apple orchards.
The buildings along the railway line in Serbia seemed much less well maintained than those in Hungary.
On arrival in Novi Sad our group was transported to our hotel by taxis and we then walked to a nearby restaurant for a meal. Typical Serbian meat dishes were tried but the kebabs seemed the most popular.
Cathedral, Novi Sad, Serbia
Tomorrow we will see more of Novi Sad as we are to do a walking tour of the old town and visit the castle.