Life has been moving at a different pace in the last two weeks. Slower in terms of commitments because I’m on vacation. At the same time, I use the opportunity to do things I don't normally have time for, so for some paperwork, we set aside this morning. To that end, we had an appointment in the town of Baja, in southern Hungary, to sort out it.
We arrived about an hour earlier, and that gave me a chance to walk around. I have visited this town several times in the past, it is not too big. The centre is nice, with its characteristic buildings and a large square in the middle that currently serves as a parking lot. The wider surroundings of the town are more like a village, typical of the southern Hungarian area.
The Danube River flows along with the town of Baja, as well as the smaller canal Sugovica. The Danube River has always given life to many cities in Central Europe, and so here it has had an influence in the decision to settle and exploit the wealth that this river provides. Fishing and fertile land are just one of these factors.
Apart from sightseeing, I like to know a bit about the history of the places I visit. Not too much of course, but the connection with the place is better when you imagine how it could be in the past and who lived here before. So let us see a short summary about the town Baja.
According to one source from 1905, Baja was already inhabited in the 12th century (the settlement at this place was first mentioned in 1308.) During the 16th and 17th centuries, Baja was a regional centre within the Ottoman Empire, which is why it was surrounded by ramparts. With the arrival of the Habsburgs at the end of the 17th century, Germans, Hungarians and Jews began to settle in the city. During the 19th century, Baja became an important traffic hub on the Danube, where overland and waterways intersected. At this time, Baja was one of the most industrially advanced settlements.
There are several assumptions about how the city got its present name. The first one says that it was after the Avar canoe "Bayan", which had a fortress nearby. The second assumption connects the Hungarian word "bájoló" (shepherd) with the name of the city. The third version says that the rich Serbian family Bajin that lived here and had a large estate and a castle is responsible for the name of the city.
Walking down one of the streets in the centre, we came across stands, which were closed for now. On the poster, we can see that these stands are there because the days of beer and fast street food will be held from July 23 to 25. I don't know what they mean by fast street food, but Hungarians are known for their delicious cuisine, which will be reflected in my weight after this summer vacation. If you are interested in this street event, visit Baja in two days, I will mark the location on pinmapple.
One of the nicer and tidier facilities here in the centre is this Wellness Hotel. Duna, means Danube, because it is situated along the canal that I have already mentioned, Sugovica.
The Town Hall is beautiful too, which adorns the square situated in front of it. Along with other, similar buildings, it makes a really tidy and nice city centre, though would be nice without that amount of parked cars in the middle of the square.
We saw also the Franciscan Monastery and organ music could be heard from it. Someone practices one of the preludes of Bach, and I was singing along the tune while walking there. I hope it was no too weird, but who cares. It was my moment to connect in mind with a stranger who played the music.
A small tourist train was waiting for its passengers, but we were just passing by and slowly our time for a walk was coming to an end. If you remember from the beginning of the text, I had an hour to look around. While we were sorting out our documents for which we came to Baja, tourist boats sailed through the canal, but since I was only told that by those who were waiting for me, I have not documented that event in pictures.
Though it was a short visit to this town, it was nice. The weather was ok, not too hot, so it was a pleasant walk for this #WednesdayWalk, an event hosted by @ tattoodjay. Anyway, you can check it out too if you decide one day to visit this town, which is located about 150 km south of Budapest.
