Today we traveled to Szeged which is located about 17 kilometers from Serbia in southern Hungary. It is famous for its collection of Art Nouveau buildings which is a style we enjoy. When I punched Szeged in google it told me it was about 120 kilometers from Lake Balaton so I figured no more than 2 hours to get there.
But apparently all roads in Hungary radiate from Budapest because when I punched in directions the distance from Lake Balaton to Szeged jumped to over 300 kilometers and three and a half hours. The route had us doubling back to the outskirts of Budapest swinging east and then heading south to Szeged. The direct route while almost 100 kilometers shorter google said would take almost 1 hour longer than going thru Budapest. In the end it was a fairly easy drive thru the first rain we have experienced in over three weeks.
The campground in Szeged is from the communist era, and all of the infrastructure has a strange almost right feeling. You can see where they attempted to copy what was going on in the west, but didn’t quite get it right. The place is sprawling with two giant pools, the 7 or 8 story waterside with what looks like an air traffic control tower on top, and a bunch of concrete buildings spread around seemingly randomly, some of which are of mysterious purpose today. We enjoyed walking around. But the view of the river is nice, and the town is nearby so it fits our purpose completely.