Szeged, Our Last Stop in Hungary

Our 54 mile ride today took us through flat countryside, with occasional farms and towns, ending in the town of Szeged. With a population of 160,000, it is the fourth largest city in Hungary. It is best known for a cathedral located on the large Dom Square, as well as an excellent university. Albert Szent-Györgyi, who won the Nobel prize for discovering vitamin C and the components and reactions of the citric acid cycle, was a faculty member of the university. On our ride from Szeged tomorrow, we will cross from Hungary into Romania.

We are staying at a pleasant hotel near the city center. Just around the corner from our hotel is a door covered with signs for the neo-nazi Jobbik party. Jobbik, a far-right, ultranationalist, anti-Semitic party, is, unfortunately, one of the largest opposition parties in Hungary. By chance or otherwise, the Jobbik door is across the street from a former synagogue now a private home, still emblazoned with Jewish stars

An interesting story about Jobbik involves Csanád Szegedi, who was a high ranking party member and a member of the European Parliament. He was a rabid anti-Semite who had accused Jews of buying up the country, railed about the ‘Jewishness’ of the political elite, and claimed Jews were desecrating national symbols, stances that he outlined in a book he called "I Believe in Hungary’s Resurrection". He was also a founding member of the Hungarian Guard, a group whose black uniforms and striped flags recalled the Arrow Cross, a pro-Nazi party which briefly governed Hungary at the end of World War Two and killed thousands of Jews. In 2009, he learned that his maternal grandmother had been in, and survived, the Auschwitz concentration camp, and that his maternal grandfather was a veteran of forced labor camps. With this revelation that he was Jewish, he studied Judaism from an orthodox rabbi, adopted the name Dovid, began wearing a yarmulke, learnt Hebrew, visited Israel, and had himself circumcised.  Szegedi now lives as a practicing Jew, observing the Sabbath and attending synagogue. He has also obtained thousands of copies of his own book and burned them.

On route to Szeged: so what if the sign says that bikes aren't allowed

Jobbik site in Szeged

A former synagogue across the street from the Jobbik site

Votive Church on Dom Square

Szeged Synagogue: second largest in Hungary

Beautiful inside of the synagogue

University of Szeged

A huge outdoor eating and drinking festival in Szeged on Sunday evening

Enjoying dinner at the festival