Sopron
is a strange town lurking in Austria but being very
much part of Hungary. In 1919 the citizens of Sopron
were given the choice of being Hungarian, or being
Austrian. There must have been a time when that
decision was rued, and then again in recent years
the closeness to the Austrian border bought droves
of bargain seekers over the wall for cheap goods.
But now it seems that despite crowds of Austrians
still popping across the border for Saturday shopping
the appeal is more symbolic than actual. As Steve
Kirkland wrote back in the summer there is a roaring
trade in dentistry. To most people Sopron is a town
that frustrates the driver who takes the low road
to Austria, the final traffic jam before the border,
but even that is presently being changed. Sopron
is soon to have a by pass, and the M1 is currently
being extended up to the border, and thus in a few
years it will motor way all the way to Vienna.
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| With Christmas shopping trip to Vienna
on the cards Sopron provides an interesting overnight
opportunity. Sopron has an inner city which is a wonderful
example of a medieval town. The buildings are old
and the streets cobbled, but the real plus is that
steam and internal combustion engines are excluded.
Also except for a few bars and offices there is very
little commercial activity. It is one of the few places
that one can really get a feel of the past. Wandering
around at night the sense of history oozes out. One
can not but look at the old houses and wonder what
tale they could tell. |
The contrast with the ring road which
runs round the walled inner city tells us everything
about how life has changed over the last hundred years.
Outside the walls the traffic is directed one way
round citadel and it huffs and puffs from red light
to red light. Frustration and aggression personified,
whilst a through a few feet of stone the peace of
an earlier age is plain to behold.
Until recently staying in Sopron involved going back
in time, but unfortunately only back a short trip.
Back to when hotels were only ever built of concrete
and the main colours used for decoration were brown
and white. The concrete nasties of Hungary hotels
dominated the hospitality industry. And even the bars
and restaurants were seemingly state run, and the
attitude was negative. By eleven at night looking
for a drink was not easy, and the night clubs in Lover
Park required a taxi, and for some strange reason
there are not taxis on the streets, which make this
a real one off town in Hungary.
However there have been some really good happenings
and now there is one really good hotel and two decent
pubs.
The Pannionia Med Hotel (Varkerulet 75. Tel: (99)
312.180/1) was built in 1893 on the site of the former
Golden Deer Inn which claimed many famous visitors
including Johann Strauss. This is a really first class
conversion which has taken a rather nasty 44 bedroom
hotel, in a classic building, and turned it into a
good modern hotel with 21 well furnished and properly
finished rooms. The conversion is good news because
the owners have not fallen into the trap of scrimping
on the finishing’s. Travelling around all too
often I find wonderful buildings, on which fortunes
have been spent but the bedrooms contain 2'3'' beds
of the cheapest variety. The lobby and restaurant
area are open and airy with a cappella bring plenty
of light to the central bar and coffee lounge.
The John Bull Pub (Szenchenyi ter 12. Tel: (99) 316.839)
opened here eighteen months ago, and became an instant
success selling more beer than any other John Bull
in Hungary, if not more than all the others that were
then open. I am not surprised for two reasons. Firstly
it could barely fail when the downmarket competition
was considered and secondly the prices are not in
line with the avaricious John Bulls that lurk in Budapest's
city centre. The prices are reasonable, and affordable.
The John Bull is a friendly pub which serves reasonable
food. There is some interesting pub memorabilia in
the bar, including a big display about Hungarian State
railways in the 1920's which would have the Coot drooling.
Another picture is a copy of a pre-1st-world War humorous
painting of the 'Mr Foxes pre hunt breakfast.' This
depicts a group of jolly foxes, all dressed up in
hunting pink, attacking a proper breakfast (there
is not a croissant or bread roll in sight). On the
walls behind the foxes are stuffed heads of hounds
and pictures of huntsmen falling off horses.
Since the John Bull opened with such success, a competitor
rushed on to the scene and opened up, not far away,
a good friendly bar called Rokaly Ukhoz (Varkerulet
112. Tel: (99) 342.900). On the ground floor there
is a long friendly bar which is defiantly aimed at
people who want to sit in bars, and serves six different
draft beers, none from England but one is from Australia.
There are decent meals on offer and plenty of room
to eat them downstairs. This bar is also doing pretty
well and has no doubt taken a little business from
the John Bull, but surely that was what was intended
when it was called the fox’s lair.
C YA |
