Today was my first full day in Budapest and I wanted to squeeze in some day trips before I became busy with my coursework which was to begin on Monday. I wanted to visit the town of Eger (pronounced egg-ehre) two hours north east of Budapest which has the northernmost surviving minaret in Europe from Ottoman times

I had the guy at the hostel write down in Hungarian how to buy the ticket I wanted which is what I had done on my last trip in 2007. There are two trains to Eger. The odd hour trains run direct. The even hour trains involve a change so I wanted to be on the 9am train.

Leaving the hostel first I couldn't find the bus stop. Cash fare was 450Ft ($2.25). Everyone paid by card and I was the only person paying by cash. The bus went almost the way to Keleti station then I was supposed to change buses.

There had been light drizzle when I left the hostel and now it was starting to come heavy. As I have been to Budapest two times before I could see the station at the end of the long boulevard so decided to walk the rest of the way rather then pay to change buses again. The rain was coming heavier but luckily most of the buildings had terraced walkways so I stayed out of the rain.

I got in the station by 8.45 and was able to buy my ticket for the 9am train. Ticket price was 2725Ft ($14) one way. I made it onto the train just as it was leaving for 9. The train was mostly empty for the two hour ride and we passed by nice landscapes as we went into the Hungarian countryside.

The walk into town was easy as I had checked google maps for where to go from the station. There were also tourist sign markers pointing you to different landmarks.

The first place I reached was the Basilica

From the front it was very impressive as it had many Roman style sculptures perched all along the rooftop and the staircase leading in. It is the third largest Basilica in Hungary.

Entrance ticket was 300Ft ($1.50). She kept saying I needed a concert ticket and that was the only way in. I didn't mind paying the entrance fee but she wouldn't let me. I decided to give up as I'd be seeing more Churches later on

The building opposite was also interesting. For an 800Ft ($4) entrance ticket you could see a baroque library on the 2nd floor. The interior of the building was impressive with its white plastered walls.

No photography was allowed inside the library. It was a two level wood interior with many large volumed encylopedia type books. The ceiling was also interesting. It had a wraparound mural that ran 360 degrees around the entire hall. It showed many scenes and each corner represented a different setting. Some of the large journals had pages open in display cases

Back outside the main town street was a pedestrian only zone with tourist signs leading to the other sights. I followed ths signs to the Minaret. You could go up for 250Ft ($1.25) which I probably shouldnt have

The steps are barely wide enough for one person, not for people going in both directions. There are 97 steps to the top. A family got blocked trying to come back down so they had to go back up for me to go up. Then we couldnt switch around so I had to come down first with them in behind

Then I made my way to the castle. There were different tickets ranging from grounds only to all areas. I took the all areas ticket for 1400Ft ($7)

I dont understand how this ticket works as when I tried going to the wine cellar, waxworks area, and another one they told me it was an extra ticket and not included

In the gothic palace was the castle museum which was included. It showed some soldiers uniforms and details of the Turkish rule. No photos were allowed but I got some

Another building had a very impressive classical European art collection but no photos were allowed again. Behind were the dungeons underneath showong various torture scenes

It was now raining heavy again and I found my way to the underground passages. Entrance is only allowed in tour groups and there was already one in with the railings locked. I asked when the next one was and they said in one hours time. I didnt want to wait a whole hour in the rain so decided to just leave the castle and head back to Budapest

I found another local Church I was able to go in with no problems

Back at the station I had to take a local train to Fuzesabony and change as the next direct train to Budapest was an hour later. By now the rain was playing games with me as the skies cleared and I was sunning on my way home

There were many vast sunflower fields as we made your way back to Budapest. There is a massive new shopping centre on the side of the station that was not here in 2007 when I last came. I needed to look for luggage straps for my suitcase whose casing was cracking in places

In the food court was a Turkish restaurant. I got a chicken and carrot curry with turkish rice and drink for 1450Ft ($7.25). Then I went into Tesco's to look for the luggage straps. I also needed a laptop security cable. All the display laptops had them but they said they dont sell them.

I found the luggage straps in the auto parts section for 1450Ft ($7) each

When I went to pay the cashier started freaking out that I had my drink bottle from outside and had brought it in without a sticker. She called the security guy who said it was ok. Then she was insisting I had to get the sticker to leave the store even though I had paid for my goods. The security guy said it was fine

Finally I went to Media Mart to see if they had my laptop cable. They did but for 7000Ft ($35) which was ridiculous so I made my way home