SZEGED (Hungary)

Some 14 kilometers from the Yugoslav border lies Szeged, an important town of Hungary with around 175,000 inhabitants, which is situated just below the junction of the Tisza and Maros rivers.

It is associated with two products which are so indisputably Hungarian that they must surely have come from somewhere else; and that is indeed the case with both paprika (coming originally from India) and salami (from Italian origin), which are relatively late arrivals on the Hungarian scene (16th and 19th century).

The town itself has great charm, with a large central square planted with plane trees, limes, rhododendrons and Japanese cherry, and flower beds which are bright with tulips in the spring. The pleasant surrounding streets are lined with Classical, Baroque and Jugendstil houses, and there is a riverside promenade where the burghers of Szeged take a walk on Sunday afternoons. There is also a thermal spa and a large botanical garden to be found there. Such important personalities were Students or Professors of its University, like Albert Szent-Györgyi, who discovered Vitamin C. In August the town houses the international-known Open-Air Theatre Festival. The town Szeged seems to have the ability to preserve pools of tranquility despite its industry and the through traffic heading to the Yugoslav border.

>> click here to visit the homepage of Szeged

ARAD (Romania)

Situated next to the western border, Arad is a main gate for West-European travelers. The picturesque landscape of the hilly and mountainous zones of the river Mures urge tourists to visit its numerous sites.

Arad started out as a modest, rural, Romanian settlement in the Middle Ages, but its development as a western type of city begun in the 1st decades of the 18th century, with the Austrian rule and administration. Built along the river Mures and the Revolution Boulevard, Arad is a great industrial and cultural centre. A large variety of architectural styles color the city's aspect: Neo-Gothic, Neo-Renaissance, Baroque, eclectic or Secession styles are all "gathered" harmoniously in the centre of Arad.

The Old Theatre, which is probably the oldest building of this type in Romania, and The Old Water Tower both evoke the old Arad and form a perfect destination for a quiet walk in the evening.

The two cathedrals, Orthodox and Catholic, are two outstanding examples of pure architecture:"St. John the Baptist" Orthodox Church was built in a simple baroque style, while the Neo-Renaissance style is characteristic for the Catholic Church. In the tympanum of the latter church, right above the portal, a " Pieta" statuary group, a copy after Michelangelo, can be seen. Arad allows its tourists to have fun and enjoy themselves in a promenade on the Mures's bank and if they want a place for relaxation, they can cross the river to the "Neptune" swimming complex, the largest of its type in Eastern Europe.

>> click here to visit the homepage of Arad