Busy day in Pest

Another busy day here in Eastern Europe. Lisa headed off to ELTE and I headed to the other ELTE to tutor Viktoria.

The deal with Viktoria is really bizarre. She has been a loyal faculty member for over 20 years. A new department chairman came to the University and now her job is at risk because her English is weak. She has been boning up for months but is scared to death she will lose her job. The last chance test is in August. She is improving and we are working hard. In addition to Viktoria I am working with Andrea’s staff at the other ELTE campus every Wednesday for 2 hours. The frightening thing about this is that a lot of university professors in Hungary will talk like me. Maybe I’ll call in tomorrow with a sore throat.

After our morning sessions Lisa and I met at Birs Bisztro for late lunch. Birs Bisztro as you will recall is Stefan and Andreas restaurant. Stefan and Andrea are Eva’s parents. Remember Eva? Eva and I went for gelato the other day, it was a real adventure.

Stefan was headed to the Great Market as he does each afternoon. He looks for inspiration for the evening menu based on what looks good at the market. The Great Market is an amazing place. It has been in operation since 1896 and attracts tourists and natives alike. The building is huge, has three floors and for the most part you can buy any food item imaginable.

While Lisa and I were waiting for Stefan at Birs we started talking to a couple of ladies from Utah. They were lost, headed in the wrong direction looking for the Great Market. We explained or planned trip and of course invited them along. Their group quickly grew to seven as the rest of their group found them and we headed off, Stefan providing block by block narrative of the area we were walking thru. As we walked along one of the ladies asked me if they would be able to find paprika at this market. Stefan let out a giant laugh as we walked into what is easily the largest collection of paprika shops in the world.

We sent them off looking for the paprika and Lisa and I followed Stefan around as he bought rabbit, onions, apples and some spices. We bought a nice turkey breast, fresh red onions, kohlrabi, a beautiful cauliflower, some interesting pickled somethings and fresh green peas, Claytons favorite.

This evening we attended a modern dance performance at the Godor. (pronounced gutur because of the dots over the o’s which this keyboard doesn’t have) This is an interesting place. It’s basically the basement of a building with no building on top. It’s a government thing. New party in control; let’s build a theater. New party takes over; theaters are a waste of money. Construction stops but the basement is nice. Let’s have a theater in the basement. It’s actually a cool place, lots of music. The University semester is winding down so the place was packed with artsy types, we fit right in. The performance was very interesting. The dancers were very talented and because Lisa and I were in the audience they performed the entire dance program in English.

Back to the flat by 10 pm.

Observation…we kept noticing how many restaurants had signs outside that just said “lunch menu.” I finally asked Andrea about this. Hungarian businesses are required to buy lunch for their employees. They give the employees lunch tickets that can be redeemed at many local restaurants. The restaurants have daily lunch menus which include a choice of 3 or 4 soups, a main course and a light dessert. All of this for under 1000HUF, about $5.50. What a deal. The tickets are redeemed at the bank.

Soups; the Hungarians love soup. Goulash is actually a soup. I did not know this. We grew up with Katie’s Goulash. It was thick and had pasta in it. Every restaurant always has at least 3 soups, often 5. They vary from location to location but can include; chilled vegetable soups, (Lisa really enjoyed a chilled garlic soup) always a hot soup, tomato or cabbage and almost always a cold fruit soup. I had a pear soup that was killer.

Anyway…picture of a street cleaner, these men and ladies are everywhere, not to effective but visible. Also banners on a street. Very colorful and bright. The crowd scene is outside Godor after the dance performance.

Scott finds Mikhail Gorbachev in Budapest

Mikhail eating soup.

1969 350 Jawa, started on first kick.

Friend of Eva in white.

Eva in pink.

New friends Stewart and Rick from Scotland

More Szentendre pics

Lunch on the hill

Today is Sunday, it was cool and breezy.

We traveled into the Danube Bend to have lunch with our new friend Viktoria, her husband Tamas and daughter Dorthea.

The traveling was easy. We jumped on the subway and rode to Batthyany ter where we bought tickets for the HEV. When we arrived in Budapest we bought a 30 day pass, but when you leave the city limits of Budapest you must purchase a sort of add-on ticket. The procedure was fast and easy, 305 HUF each way.

The HEV is an electric suburban railroad, neat and tidy save the graffiti on nearly every window. It left the station on time and we rattled up along the Danube toward Szentendre. Viktoria and Tamas live near Szentendre. The route is similar to the suburban rail routes in Chicago or Philadelphia. You see the backs of auto dealerships and building material yards. The ride was not as scenic as the guide books promised.

After a 40 minute ride we reached the station and Viktoria met us. Viktoria is also my English student and she had described the road from their house into Szentendre as well as a brief description of the house but…. Their house is a work of art and design beyond Viktorias description. It’s one of those places that you sort of get the feel will be a museum someday, maybe like visiting a Frank Lloyd Wright house and having Frank give you a tour. I had a hundred questions but the language barrier was tough. Tamas only speaks Hungarian and German.

Tamas is a retired university professor; he had taught heating and air engineering and decided over 25 years ago to build this house. It’s built into the side of a hill, has some modified dome lines, a little yurt thrown in but entirely hand built by Tamas, no plans were ever drawn.

The house has dirt walls covered with stucco that are 30” thick. It is heated by a small wood fired boiler that he says is really not necessary, there is a beautiful stove that is covered in handmade tiles.
The stove can be used for baking on the kitchen side and heating on the living room side.

It is a work in progress as all great works are.

Tamas made his special venison stew and Dorthea, they call her Dorka, cut vegetables and baked a cake. The meal was great; we sat outside in the garden. Tamas likes wine. We drank 2 Hungarian homemade wines. A nice Tokai as well as an Egri Bikaver.

I’ll let the photos speak for the house. The meal was great, the hospitality was great, the wine was great.

Back to the station and back to the flat in a bit over an hour.

Hungarian differences

Today we will have a discussion of the differences between life in Hungary and the US.

Let me clarify that I am by no means being critical; just observant.

A majority of the cars are diesel, most buses and trams are electric. Hungarians do not believe in warming up vehicles, they start them and immediately lurch off. They often turn vehicles off at stop lights.

Motor cycles and scooters are everywhere. The dash between cars, cut across several lanes of traffic and often drive down the center of the streets reserved for trams. Emergency vehicles do the same thing.

Scooter owners prescribe to the theory that the louder your scooter is; the faster it will go. I also prescribe to this theory. It's hilarious to see a tiny scooter roaring slowly down the street.

All of the electricity is 220V. The blender and radio we bought will not work in the US. Actually they will work but not correctly. The blender will only turn at 1/2 speed and the radio will only get Rush Limbaugh stations.

The trams, subways and buses are amazingly clean.

Street cleaners work day and night. There are trash containers everywhere. Some street sweepers still use stick brooms.

It is not uncommon to see a mother let her child, male or female, relieve themselves most anywhere.

There are some homeless people around but not nearly as many as you see in Chicago or Philadelphia.

There are fruit and vegetable stands everywhere, at least one coffee house in every block and a 0 - 24 in every block.

Houses do not have clothes dryers but you never see clothes hanging on lines.

Dry cleaners are almost non-existent.

There has to be at least one bank for every Hungarian.

Bicycles generally are ridden on sidewalks, dodging pedestrians.

Scooters often drive on sidewalks.

The streets are very narrow, cars often park on the sidewalks.

Trash is picked up several times a week.

They use the cool sirens on emergency vehicles like in England.

Tipping more than 10% is not necessary.

Restaurant service is extremely Relaxed. Bob Schultze would love it here.

Bleach is not a big deal, neither is sliced turkey or ice.

Hungarians had never mixed vodka with lemonade, now called a Scottcollins.

Tomorrow we are heading toward the Danube Bend to the village of Szentendre. We are going to visit Viktoria and Thamas and have a garden lunch. We will take the HEV train from Budapest in the morning and return in the late afternoon. Should be lots of photo ops.

Here are a few pictures of a general nature. Garderobe is the coat check.

Etyek 3

Etyek 2

More pictures of our trip.

Etyek has a web site.

www.etyek.hu

A trip to Etyek

If you’ve been keeping up with the blogs you know today we went to Etyek. We met Andrea at the subway station and drove about 40 minutes out thru the edges of Buda into the countryside. The village of Etyek is well know as an art and wine center and is the host of many festivals throughout the year. More recently it has become the home of the George Korda International Film School, Brad and Angelina have been seen on the streets.

Great street sign, see pic.

We were there to visit the Hungarian Fountain Primary School and the Etyek National Institute for Basic Art.

We met Lilla Lakatos, an artist and key to the schools wonderful programs for children. She had been a student of Andreas and Lilla had asked her to come and officially open the textile show.

The school was founded with the idea of teaching the local children about folk arts. They learn weaving, pottery, dress and costume making. These programs are combined with folk music and dance. It is a very impressive facility.

The school is housed in an old peasant house with a large courtyard. Lilla gave us the grand tour with Andrea translating. The halls were filled with the art work; every room was a work space. There is a picture of the students in a class on an outside balcony.

Lilla is presenting at the InSEA Conference, we were able to see the premier of her documentary about the school, she is pictured with a “Tree of Life” project in the back ground. I may do the English voice version for her.

Lilla’s husband is a wood carver; there is a picture of a bench he made. He also made the post for the schools bell in the courtyard. It had a pleasant ring.

We were able to tour The House of Culture, a nice little museum near the school. It housed a fine collection of old farming equipment as well as a nicely displayed collection of Hungarian folk items; kitchen ware, clothing, furniture and they were particularly proud of a working sewing machine, it was a Singer.

Down the street from the school is Calvary Hill, Andrea explained that most small towns in Hungary have a Calvary Hill. We climbed this one, Lisa and Andrea walked the twelve stages, I took pictures.

The wine store was closed.

The pictures will probably be out of order; I think they will be self explanatory. Many pictures of a great school and a fun day.

Later.

In search of magnesfestek

Todays Hungarian lesson will allow you to impress all of your non Hungarian speaking friends and co-workers. Imagine the surprised look on their faces when you say; "just yesterday I bought a can of magnesfestek and can't wait to give it a try. I bought it at the festek bolt and paid with forints." Wow, soon we will be organizing Hungarian speaking clubs.

This is what we did today, our original plans got changed so we went looking for magnesfestek. We could have easily purchased it in the US and brought it in our luggage but we were a bit nervous about bringing it thru customs which there are a lot of in the country but none at the Budapest Airport.

Let me clear something up here. There is only a 10% chance that we will even need the magnesfestek, however there is a bit of a window to find it here in Budapest before we ask Barbara's friend to bring us some from the UK. I guess magnesfestek is readily available there, those Brits have everything; hot new Princess, Land Rovers and something else.

There was good information that a store on Ulloi Utca had it in stock but they were out, they sent us to another store that only had small expensive bottles but we need at least a liter. This store sent us to a store that didn't exist but we found workers on the street that directed us to a Festek bolt, they should have it.

They didn't even know what I was talking about, there was a lot of smiling and head shaking but no magnesfestek.

We are going back to examine the space again, we may not need the magnesfestek after all, but we did see a new part of the city and discovered the Museum of Applied Arts. We were amazed at the building, built in 1893 to house the museum, see pic of entry.

Off on another tangent...you never know what you're going to see behind doors. Amazing courtyards, funny little businesses. Today we cut thru a block wide courtyard and found a shop where they make leather and fur items.

There is a man with a coffee bike at the entrance to ELTE, good coffee too.

We had lunch in the Csiga Cafe, snail in Hungarian, great food, great decor. Lisa took my picture. We met three other Americans having lunch. The point of the rant is "you can't judge a book by it's cover." (this is not true for wine)

The exteriors of many building near our flat look pretty run down but the interiors are fantastic, the Csiga Cafe is a perfect example. The food is very reasonably priced, fresh and well presented.

This really is rambling, I'll get back on track tomorrow, I'm suffering a little Magyar's revenge, part of the cultural exchange.

Tomorrow we travel West of the city to Etyek for the opening of a textile show.

Enjoy the pics.

I almost forgot. Magnesfestek is magnetic paint. Festek bolt, paint store. I told you Hungarian was going to be easy.

Scott makes first purchase

I know that anything I buy has to fit into a suitcase. But what if I buy a suitcase.

This one is so cool. We walked into a camera shop. Their windows featured all pre-war cameras and accessories. Quite a place.

This case has very cool stickers from all around Eastern Europe, leather handle and a nice patina. Beggars did not approach me on the street after I bought the case however, the Ex-Israeli Commando security guard couldn't imagine why I was carrying a empty suitcase into the synagogue.

This shirt makes me look like an Italian tourist.

Zsinagoga or Great Synagogue

Lisa was attending a series of lectures at the ELTE campus in Pest. ELTE, like many Universities, has multiple facilities throughout the city as well as Partner Universities throughout Europe. This particular building was about 8 blocks from the flat and near the old Jewish section of the city. My student Viktoria also has offices in this building so we had scheduled a tutoring session. After the lectures and tutoring session we walked toward the Great Synagogue and great it is.

It was built in the 1850's but many of it's most unique features come from is design by a Catholic Architect. There are Stars of David everywhere; floors, ceilings, stained glass, but if they were removed it could easily be called the Great Cathedral. It is also important to note that in the 1850's the reformed Jews wanted to feel more integrated into the community.

This area of Budapest was a nasty place during WWII, the streets are narrow and were easily walled off by the Nazi's making it a prison. Many died but there was no access to cemeteries until after the liberation in 1945 when mass graves were created in the gardens of the Great Synagogue.

Since then family members have placed markers around the mass grave sites.

The "Tree of Life" sculpture dominates the garden behind the synagogue. It really is spectacular and no one photo can express it's power, even the curt tour guide's voice broke a bit when she explained the symbolism of the leaves with victims names and the willow tree forming an upside-down menorah.

An interesting point...Tony Curtis was, and Jamie Lee continues to be, a major supporter of the reconstruction of the synagogue and the creation of the "Tree of Life." He was born Bernard Schwartz to Hungarian-Jewish parents.

Security was tight, I had to check my pocket knife, I always have to check my pocket knife.

After the tour we wandered back thru the Jewish Quarter. There is some new construction going on but still a bit seedy. There was no development there until after the communist influence subsided. There are some new shops and restaurants and generally a lively place.

We looked into a doorway that said 1200 to 1500 Menu. This is Hungarian for "we serve lunch." We had a nice cheese plate and duck liver pate with beet root jam, plus a couple of glasses of wine. Our main meal for the day. The restaurant building had been there for over 200 years, beautiful brickwork, see pic.

And so it goes, life in Budapest. We have been invited to the country on Sunday to have a garden lunch with Viktoria and her husband Thomas. They live near Szentendre on the Danube Bend. Thomas is making his special venison stew.

More later