The area of Slovakia south of Nitra and Bratislava was for the greatest time part of Hungary until after the second World War. Until 1990 Slovakia was part of the hard line Czech Socialist republic, and the state of Slovakia was only established in 1993. As I drove down from Sered through the towns of the Little Danube towards the border town of Komárno, there were constant reminders of this history. Most noticeably the road signs are in both Hungarian and Slovak, and the Hungarian language is more common.
Komárno itself is the Slovak part of an old town now divided by the Danube and the Elisabeth Bridge from the smaller Hungarian town of Komárom. The central Klapka Square with its many trees is a pleasant place to sit and also to find the Danube Museum. The town’s main attraction is the fortress, which shows the strategic importance of the town sitting as it does at the point where the River Vah flows into the Danube.
I took the road east following the Danube, enjoying lunch at the excellent Penzion Mlyn on the banks of the river at Radvaň nad Dunajom. My destination was the border town of Štúrovo, an unremarkable town except for the view of the magnificent basilica across the river in the beautiful Hungarian town of Esztergom. – the largest church in Hungary. Esztergom itself, across the Mária Valéria bridge, will have to wait for another day!