Pécs. This post is dedicated to Mary Sweeney.

So I arrived in Pécs on Monday where I had booked into the Ananas Hostel. I'd been really relieved to get back to a place that has hostels and the chance to meet some people. There were two to choose from, Naps and Ananas. Naps was my preferred hostel from the description and reviews but I desperately needed to do some laundry and Ananas has the laundry facilities Naps doesn't which is what made my decision for me. This is not the best hostel I have to say, in fact I think it fairer to say it's the worst I've ever stayed in and in future, given a similar choice, I'll just put up with dirty clothes. Thank heavens Pécs is such a lovely place or this could have been a complete nightmare!!

Pécs, lovely Pécs. It really is nice here. It was the European City of Culture in 2010 and you can understand why. I missed the Pécs festival literally by a day (I arrived on the 25th and it ran until the 24th!) but the city has such amazing architecture you could spend your time just wandering round it and be satisfied. I've had nearly 3 days of doing mostly that and I think you could probably fit that into a weekend just by moving a little quicker (I was pretty much snail pace). To give you some idea of how photogenic it is, so far in the 23 days I've been away I've taken 602 photos and 188 of those were in Pécs!

My first day here was going to be laundry day as this is the day that was due to have the best weather forecast (the laundry facilities were only a washing machine and no dryer) so I did that, read a book and then because I'm incapable of not going out and about I went up to the Zsolnay Cultral Centre which is close to where I'm saying. The Zsolnay factory is known for its ceramics and roof tiles...

They're made from a substance called pyrogranite and you see them on many buildings in Hungary. There was lots of interesting stuff to see here in terms of sculptures and tiles and so just a couple more pictures from there...

The next day I wandered into the centre of the city and went to the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul. 

I have to say, I think this is possibly the most beautiful building I have ever been in. Everything about it was aesthetically pleasing, from the ceiling, to the frescoes to the building's dimensions to the view from the tower. I could have stayed in there for ages. I did actually end up having to stay there for at least 25 minutes because they closed the lookout tower from 11:45-12:10 for the midday bell ringing and of course, I got to the tower at, you guessed it, 11:45! But as you'll see, it was no great hardship!

From here, I went and got some lunch and then in the afternoon, I was in dire need of something to soothe me, more why later. So as I said, this is one architecturally beautiful city and so I meandered round for a bit, went to Szechenyi Square (every city seems to have one) where there is the Town Hall...

Gazi Kasim Pasha Mosque, which of course, in the good traditions of religions, was converted from a mosque to a church when the Christians took over Pécs (more photos later as I went inside this today).

Then to the Jakovali Hassan Mosque which unfortunately was closed...

This mosque has also been converted to a church but as you'll see its minaret is still intact.

And then I made my way to the Synagogue...

I genuinely don't remember ever going in a synagogue before. I've been in many churches, quite a few mosques, but I don't think I've ever been in a synagogue. It was also incredibly beautiful...

But there was a serenity about it that I haven't felt in many places before. It was built in the 1860s and by 1944 there were 5,000 practising Jews in Pécs society. However, they were all sent to Auschwitz by the Arrow Cross government and fewer than 500 survived. There was a very moving memorial in the synagogue to the victims, commemorating those who were killed and displayed items belonging to some of them, for example, their glasses or a handkerchief. Personal items that made them real, not just a name.

From there I went and had couple of glasses of prosecco before heading back to the (bloody awful) hostel.

Today I went to the Gazi Kasim Pasha Mosque/Inner City Parish Church. A gothic church originally stood on the site, which was replaced by the mosque in 1579. It was converted into a Christian Church in the late 17th century but there is still evidence of its Islamic origins. Some of the pictures I took in here are of the burial chambers (either side of this alter below there are vaults in the walls where people's bodies have been interred - some recently).

The main area of the church...

This is the ceiling within the dome...

Some of the evidence of its Islamic roots in the scrollwork and corner pieces...

After this, I took a ride on the sightseeing train which I got for the bargain price of 1000HUF rather than 1400HUF as the driver said (quite rightly) I wouldn't understand anything as it was in Hungarian so he gave me a discount!

Turns out I'd already seen many of the places it took us to but one part I hadn't seen and wanted to was the Barbican and so I managed to tick that off my list too!

So, why did I need soothing... You'll have seen that I have dedicated this post to Mary Sweeney. Mary and I used to share an office when I worked in the Institute of Neurology and for those 3 years we had so many laughs! It was an office of 4 people (Mary, Ifrah, Camelia followed by Robyn and me) and thanks to Mary was noisier than the office I moved to which has around 80 people in it! At the time, Mary was the Head of the NHS Neurogenetics Service and an inspirational person who used to amaze me with her generosity with her time explaining things to people when she had a really demanding job herself. She used to do her Pilates regularly and took up photography lessons and salsa dancing in preparation for her retirement, which was still some time off as Mary was only just over 10 years older than me. Sadly, Mary won't get to enjoy these because after a long battle with cancer, she died on Tuesday. She will be so very deeply missed by all of those who were fortunate to know her. 

On my last trip I was really lucky and didn't get any bad news at all, and doing so when you're on your own, staying in a shitty, unfriendly hostel was not easy. But thankfully, we have telephones and are able to speak to and text those whom we love and get their support and so again, to my parents and coven, thank you. 

It was also a crucial reminder that life is short, and for some, shorter than it should be. It is really important that we take the opportunities we are offered and so at her sister Catherine's request, in memory of Mary, I will be doing precisely that and making the most of this incredible opportunity I have to travel.

The candle I lit for Mary today. May you have safe and happy travels too.