Itinerary Traveler – Burgenland By Way Of Comparison (Lost Lands #50)

Austria may be repressively pristine, but it is a traveler’s dream if they can afford it. This makes Burgenland the easiest of the lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders in which to travel. There is safe and reliable public transport. For anyone with their own vehicle, the roads are in excellent condition. Accommodation is plentiful, and infrastructure throughout Burgenland is top notch. Historic sites are well done, with exhibits in multiple languages. Though the landscape is nowhere near as stunning as the alps, Burgenland’s pastoral beauty is pleasing to the eye. If this all sounds like an advert for visiting Burgenland, well that is just the way Austrians like it. The province might not be perfect, but Austrians have tried and succeeded in making the visitor experience memorable. It is impossible not to compare this with the other lost lands, which are not nearly as refined. This is part of their allure, but it does have drawbacks.?

Tripping Out - Pressed For Time

The largest portion of the lost lands is in Romania. They are so vast that one could spend a lifetime exploring them. That sounds wonderful, but the traveler is always pressed for time. Shrinking an itinerary down to something more doable will still result in having to cover a large swath of territory on either trains or buses that often do not run on time. The alternative is driving in a country with substandard roads and aggressive drivers. That is still the preferred option for the adventurous. Transylvania, Szekelyfold (part of Transylvania), Timi?oara (Temesvar) and Oradea (Nagyvarad), are the four best places to understand the lost lands. I visited each of them over a seven-year period and still did not do them justice. Taking a trip to all four in the same journey would be an exercise in exhaustion and superficiality. The lost lands in Romania require multiple trips to see the most important sites and gain a thorough understanding of their history. Unfortunately, most travelers do not have the time, patience or curiosity needed to pull this off.

Slovakia has the second largest amount of territory that Hungary lost in the Treaty of Trianon. ?Slovakia’s Hungarian population lives in the southern part of the country. That makes visiting the lost lands on a single trip easier than Romania, but it still be a daunting task. Bratislava (Pozsony) and Kosice (Kassa) - Slovakia’s two biggest cities - are the ones most important to Hungarian history and understanding the Treaty of Trianon. The two cities are on opposite sides of a mountainous country. Between them there is the Spis region which has been influenced by Hungarians. It should not be missed, both for its history and spectacular beauty. To give the lost lands in Slovakia their due diligence takes at least two trips.?

Balkanization - Going Remote

Serbia’s lost lands can be done in a single trip. Most of the traveler’s time will be spent in Subotica and Sombor rather than exploring a flat and mostly featureless agriculture landscape. Slovenia’s Prekmurje region is a rural outlier with a small ethnic Hungarian population. There are few notable sites, and none of these attract a great deal of attention. On the other hand, there are few more illuminating experiences than spending time in rural villages frozen between past and present. This is how most Eastern Europeans used to live and some still do. The lost lands in Ukraine are remote geographically and geopolitically. Located in the shadow of the Carpathian Mountains, few foreign visitors ever make it there. ?Because Ukraine is currently defending itself against Russian aggression in the largest war in Europe since 1945, travel in the region is difficult. That is nothing new. This is one of the poorest areas in Ukraine with infrastructure to match. The Hungarian influence is notable in a few places, but nothing that would detain the traveler for more than a single trip.

Croatia is another outlier. It enjoyed more autonomy than other areas of the Kingdom of Hungary. The intertwined relationship between Croatians and Hungarians stretches back to the Middle Ages. This connection moderated much of the Hungarian rancor caused by Trianon in the other lost lands. Croatia went quietly. The parts of Croatia with Hungarian influence are not those found in popular images sold to western tourists. The Dalmatian coastline could not be further from eastern Croatia and the region of Slavonia. Working the land was as important in these areas as it was in Hungary. Baroque manor houses that went up after the Turks were expelled from the region in the early 18th?century are worth the effort it takes to get there. The traveler can be forgiven for thinking they have not strayed far from Hungary. The same could be said in different forms and fashions across the lost lands.

Charm Offensive – There For The Taking

That brings us to Burgenland. The lost land that does not feel like it is lost at all. Burgenland is just sort of there, waiting to be noticed. It is used to being ignored in Austria, as it was in the Kingdom of Hungary. Why should it expect anything else from foreign travelers? Its fellow citizens are beating the doors down to get there. They have other things on their mind, like Vienna. One of the oddest aspects of Burgenland is how its northern part can be so close to Vienna, and it is still overlooked. If not for the composer Joseph Haydn, would anyone be able to connect a person or place with Burgenland. I seriously doubt it.Burgenland is the very definition of a place that is neither here nor there. Do foreigners know when they are passing through the province? Do they care? The inhabitants of Burgenland are at home, but no one is knocking. They do not seem to mind being ignored. Anonymity has its virtues. Those virtues are waiting to be discovered. Burgenland could use more wine enthusiasts, birders, Haydn obsessives. history lovers and ethnographers. Burgenland is a land of fascination if you know what to look for. Its subtle delights and rural charms are there for the taking. I can hardly wait.