KALOCSA, HUNGARY

                                 Hungary's Cowboy Country
        Once a swampy area, homes are built up off the ground to cope with frequent flooding.  A visit to a country home revealed white walls were covered with floral designs. Originally only the ceiling borders were painted, but eventually  painting emerged to cover the entire wall. White lace curtains graced the windows below the open-beam ceiling. Even the stove in the corner of the room was painted with flowers.

       On one wall was a picture of a girl    in native costume which  is worn only to church or for special occasions. Over the years the colors of the flowers on her dress change. Young girls would have red roses, as she grows, matures and marries the flowers will change to lilac and in old age the colors will be quite drab. The art of Kalosca embroidery was born in the second half of the 19th century. The motifs were borrowed from nature.

      Assumption Church is the fourth built on the same site, this one 1734-1755. The 4664 pipe, 3 keyboard organ is the second and dates to the mid 1800s. One of four Roman Catholic archbishops of Hungary, the town has a beautiful cathedral, archbishop's palace, and seminary.  The unusual thing I noticed in this church was the use of pastel pink and yellow in many places on the walls. There are four side chapels. We enjoyed an organ concert here but the music was very loud.

    Kalocsa is located six miles from the eastern bank of the Danube River in the Puszta, the Great Plains of Hungary.  Hungarian cowboys are called csikos.  There are many large ranches in the area, and we drove to one of the horse farms for an excellent goulash served over barley. An interesting milk pie, like nothing I’ve ever eaten before, topped off lunch.  

     At the Puszta horse show Magyar cowboys demonstrated their equestrian skills. The entertainment started with a horse parade, followed by all sorts of exercises that were once practiced for wartime. For example, riders taught their horses to sit or lie down providing a

smaller target or protection for the rider during battle. A boy on a small burro provided comical contrast to the magnificent steeds. The highlight of the show was when a cowboy completed a complicated twist to the Hungarian five-horse racing, more commonly known as the Puszta-fiver. Standing on the rear ends of the back two horses the cowboy controlled eight horses with his reins!  Amazing! It was my first such show and it was outstanding.

You may want to read all about Paprika on post 7-31-11

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BUDAPEST SITES

                                           A Couple Must-See Sites
Dohany Synagogue

       The Dohany Synagogue, with seating capacity for 3000, is a striking Byzantine structure, and is Europe’s largest, and the world’s second largest, synagogue. Built in 1859, it is still used by Budapest’s conservative Jewish community. With its two 140-foot-high onion domes, it is a fine example of Moorish-Revival architecture. The synagogue has recently been restored. Next door is the Jewish Museum.

       The Holocaust Memorial, designed by a contemporary Hungarian sculptor, is in the form of a weeping willow tree. Thin metal leaves, purchased by survivors and descendants of relatives fall from the branches. It is a moving memorial.

      Budapest had one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe. Centuries ago Jews had to live outside the walled city. When the city expanded those areas beyond the walls were included into the city. During the Nazi occupation of Hungary over 20,000 Jews took refuge in the synagogue. However, 7000 did not survive the bleak winter of 1944-45. The original brick wall of the Jewish Ghetto can still be seen.

       Auschwitz swallowed 600,000 Jews. During WW II, Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, saved many Jews by supplying them with false passports.

Open Air Museum

      One day with a pleasant ride through the countryside, up around the Danube Bend we stopped at the Hungarian Museum, an open air eco-museum. Established in 1967, it opened in 1974. It is a reconstructed village from the last century.

     Stopping by an old cemetery a docent explained the wooden grave markers. “The blue marker means the person was a child. The black marker, an adult. The marker for a male is pointed, the marker for females is rounded. If a female married more than once she had another rounded mound. The markers are carved of wood, and were used to tell a story before people could read or write.”

      I found this interesting as I’d never heard nor seen such markers before.

      We learned that eventually there will be 300 buildings in 10 units. During my visit, there were 80 houses, 3 churches, a chapel, 7 mills, an inn, school, and workshops. The museum explains history and also illustrates social differences.

      In passing she said, “Feudalism was eliminated in the 18^th century. In the 19^th century one in 20 was titled noble, but was not necessarily rich.”

      Walking around the complex we spotted several different fruits ripening on trees.  It was a very interesting visit.

Parliament Tour

      The top of my priority list on my  third or fourth trip to Budapest was to tour the inside of the Parliament Building. It is a magnificent building and you might like to check post 4-2-14

BUDAPEST'S PARLIAMENT

                                A Spectacular Building

            On two previous visits to Budapest I had only seen the Parliament building from the outside, and from the water it is spectacular. As the largest, most beautiful, and best-known building in Budapest, it is one of the symbols of the city and on this visit my number one priority was to tour the inside of the building.

            We left early in the morning to ride the subway to the proper station, which was easy. We had been told that various tours were held in various languages. It was a bit of a challenge to find the right entrance to buy tickets, and when we finally did we had missed the English tour by a few minutes. We bought tickets for the next one, an hour and a half later.  There is not a lot to do in the immediate area of the Parliament building. The river was high and the steps leading from street down to the river were under water more than half way up and blocked off.  We walked along the Danube River and walked across the famous Chain Bridge. My traveling buddy on this trip was not much of a walker and I exhausted her walking across the bridge where on the other side she didn’t want to walk any farther. So we backtracked and found a café to sit and enjoy a cup of café while we waited for our tour.

          The Parliament House is a neo-gothic structure with a renaissance dome. It is one of the largest state buildings in Europe.1945 was the only time before 1990 that an elective legislature convened in its great hall.

Resembling Westminster, it was built 1885-1902. Its 691 rooms occupy 17,700 square meters.  Measuring 871 feet long and 383 feet wide, it is one of the largest parliaments in the world. The dome is 312 feet high. The building can be seen from most anywhere on the riverfront

Fifty 5-story apartment blocks could fit inside this huge building. There are 27 entrance gates. We walked up the 96 step grand entrance hall over the red carpet. This hall is magnificent.  There are 90 statues and coat of arms of Hungarian cities, and 152 statues and pictures of national fauna throughout the building. There also are 40 kilos of 22-23 karat gold used in the building.

The central dome hall has stain glass windows. The inner dome is 27 meters high while the outside dome is 96 meters high. I wished I could lay down on the floor to better view the ceiling frescos. From the central dome there are two identical wings. The red star on top of the dome was removed in 1990. Walking down one hall the guide stopped to point out the brass cigar holders that line the window sills outside the debate room. One would place his cigar in a numbered slot and it would continue to burn for as long as the gentleman was in session. I tried to photograph this unique piece of memorabilia but had little success.

The inside of Budapest’s parliament is spectacular! The Hungarian Holy Crown and coronation insignia are kept here under the central dome. We arrived just as the guards were changing.

You know nearly every venue exits through the inevitable gift shop. There was so much to see on this tour, I simply couldn’t write fast enough as the docent explained one thing after another, so I was desperately looking forward to buying a book in the gift shop. But it was not to be, because believe it or not, Parliament did not have a gift shop!  For the rest of my stay in Budapest I checked every bookstore I could find but could not find any kind of a book that explained the history and the building’s contents or features.

The tour was well worth our time. If I ever get back to Budapest I’ll repeat it again to obtain more information. It is truly a gorgeous building.

TWO OF BUDAPEST'S SYMBOL'S AND HIGHLIGHTS

 Matthias Church

            Also called the Church of Our Lady or Coronation Church, Matthias Church is a beautiful turn of the century neo-Gothic structure. Symbol of the city’s Castle District, this is where kings were crowned. The raven, the sign of 15^th century kings, can be seen on the towers.

            The earliest remains of the church date back to the 13th century when King Béla IV. (1206-1270) commissioned the building of a church at Castle Hill after the 1241-42 Mongol invasion. The north tower was built at that time (1255-1269)

            King Matthias Corvinus expanded and embellished the building in Renaissance style and  added the 195-foot high southern  tower. The Matthias bell tower bears a raven holding a golden ring in its beak, the royal coat of arms.          

            Our guide told us, “King Matthias was known for his fairness and justice, and Hungary flourished under his rule. He was married twice in the church that bears his name. Built in the 13-15^th centuries, it is another symbol of Budapest.

In 1541 the Turks invaded Hungary and occupied the country for 150 years. The Turks turned the church into a mosque and white-washed the wall covered frescos. After Buda was retaken, the Jesuits were given the church and made some Baroque alterations. The church became a parish church in 1773. It was restored in the latter part of the 19^th century in neo-gothic style.

            The exterior and the frescos as well as the marvelous stained windows originate from that era and are the works of Hungary's greatest artists of the time.

             Today, inside  the church one wall retains  its Turkish geometric design, while frescos are evident elsewhere.  The structure has a beautiful mosaic roof. Because of the exceptional acoustics, concerts are often held in the church.

            A memorial plaque on the outside of the church commemorates all who lost their lives while the country was under Hitler and Stalin rule.

Fisherman’s Bastion

             Perched on the edge of the Castle District behind Matthias Church is a neo-Romanesque structure known as Fisherman’s Bastion. Built at the turn of the century in the location of the old fish market; it  provides  a panoramic view of the Danube River and Pest. The seven towers represent the seven tribes of Hungarians when they settled down by the Danube in the Carpathian basin in 896. The building has many turrets, terraces, parapets and stairways offering  exceptional views.It is an unforgettable landmark in Budapest.

            Fishermen's Bastion never was used for military defensive purposes; it was created only for decorative reasons.

          From the backside of the structure one can view part of a medieval wall that is between it and the Hilton Hotel.  When the medieval ruins were discovered during the construction of the hotel, the hotel’s design was altered to accommodate, not destroy, the ruins.

   Nearby is a statue of St. Stephen atop his horse.

INTERESTING FOOD and DRINK

                                              New Discoveries

I ate a lot of goulash in Hungary. I like it but the best I had was outside Budapest in Kalocsa. The beef chunks were 'gray meat' that comes from special gray cows. We were told gray cows are a cross between wild and domesticated ones. The meat is tender and very expensive. The goulash was not too different from what my mother called fricasseed beef. The interesting part of this meal was that the goulash was served over cooked barley. It was different but very good.

Heidelberg’s Student Kiss

The University was for boys only. However, they soon discovered that the girls from finishing schools congregated at what now is Heidelberg’s oldest café in the center of the old city. Everyone liked Fridolin Knosel, the good natured pastry cook, who owned the café. The girls accompanied by watchful governesses frequently encountered merry students. Under such conditions innocent flirtations were kept under wraps.

But the young ladies’ secret longings did not escape Mr. Knosel who decided to help them. One day with a big grin, he surprised the girls with a chocolate pastry he called a ‘student kiss’. The governesses did not object to the girls accepting the pastry.

Much time has passed and much has changed. But the ‘student kiss’ is still available from the same café and serves as a reminder of the romantic past and has become part of Heidelberg’s history and image.

An Interesting Iced Coffee

            During the city walking tour of Regensburg, Germany I kept my eye peeled

for Café Prinzess, the oldest coffeehouse in Germany, dating back to 1686. It was a very hot day and we were delighted to find it. We ordered iced coffee. It was a surprise to find chocolate chip ice cream floating in the top of cold coffee.. It resembled a float, was different, but good.

             We struck up a conversation with a pair of older traveling German women seated near us. They were drinking blond angels which was orange juice with ice cream floating in it. They looked good. In fact the ladies ordered a second one before continuing on their journey. It’s always fun to go back a bit in time.