I spent my rest day looking around Debrecen and checking out cake shops.
Like Oradea, Debrecen had some fine buildings in its centre from the 19th and early 20th century, in the Art Nouveau and Classical styles. Trams run from the railway station up the main, wide roadway of Piac Utra. On one side is County Hall built in the Art Nouveau style. At the top is the Great Reformed Church.
Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria, the countries I have walked through so far on the E3, are predominantly Orthodox Christian. People in Hungary who admit to a religion are mainly Roman Catholic or, especially in the east, belong to the Reformed Church, either Calvinist or Lutheran. It worries me that the beliefs people hold are determined not by truth, but by which country they live in and the faith of their parents. While individuals in each religion or denomination firmly believe that theirs is the true faith, ordained by God, Allah or other deities, they cannot all represent the one and only true religion. The reality is that your religious beliefs are mainly determined by where, and into which community, you were born. I do not feel I am incapable of religious belief. I do not for example believe that science means that there is no room for religion. I just cannot believe in something that is arbitrarily based on my birth place, but I have no other criteria for selecting a belief system, other than I believe in tolerance, respect, fair play and consideration for others. In reality the people of Hungary, like those in Britain, are increasingly non-religious.
I had arranged a guide to show me around. In addition to pointing out different buildings and talking about about life in Hungary, she took me a large wooded park, Nagyerdei Park, north of the centre with a lake, a water park, zoo and a place where concerts are held. An attraction of Hungary are its "cukrászdas" or cake shops. I managed to sample two more today while I wandered the streets and visited the many squares. Then I made plans for tomorrow, such as buying my bus ticket online to avoid irritating the bus driver and working out the best bus stop.
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