We took a drive around the lake yesterday. Seems like an easy thing to say, but this is a several hour undertaking. By the time you add the stops in, it takes all day. So again, with Dave at the wheel, off we go.
First stop was "Beautiful Lookout," which sounds much better in Hungarian (Szep Kilato (Szhape kill-AH-toe), in case you were wondering). A panoramic view of the western end of the lake that was beautiful. Isn’t it nice when the name matches up with the reality?
Several miles down the road was the treat in our drive. Tihany announces its presence from the road with a glimpse of the twin towers of the church, seen just barely over the hill. A drive up a hill and you are treated with the view of the Baroque wonder, needless to say our first stop.
A small fee (naturally) gets you in. The tour starts in the sanctuary of the church. It is very ornate, without being rococo. Lots of fancy statuary and ceiling painting - look, you know exactly what I am talking about if your high school history class covered the Baroque, and if not, go look it up right now. Words are not going to describe the splendor of this. It’s pretty cool.
From there the tour leads into the catacombs below. There you find the grave of the only political figure to survive the historical "reconstruction" of the communist rule. King Andrew the First was the fourth king of Hungary (1047-1060), and was a direct descendant of Arpad, the guy who founded the country. From there the tour continues through several lower rooms covering the turbulent history of the church, monastery, and region. Balaton was on the border for a lot of the wars with the Turkish Empire, and as a result the history of this region is pretty bloody. Combine that with the period of Communist rule, where the Catholic religion was "discouraged," and you find it a pretty interesting read (and the plaques are in English, so you can!). From there you move into an art museum, with works by famous local artists. As always, some of these are things that leave you wondering "what were they on?" and some of these are so moving that you find it difficult to tear yourself away.
Moving behind the church you find a stunning view of the eastern portion of the lake. It is very Mediterranean looking, with a couple of ferry boats, and lots of sail boats. On our lightly cloudy day the water was a brilliant blue. It was a nice place to "just be" for a minute and reflect on the church and art.
Tihany is famous for a blue type of enamel for pottery. Needless to say that tourists have ample opportunity to obtain some of this pottery for a small fee as you travel back to your car (if you don’t mind spots of white or a really weird cartoon cow on the side. We took a pass. I am sure that there is an artisan in the area that doesn’t manufacture for tourists, but we did not have time to find them).
From Tihany, we moved down the hill to Balatonfured for lunch. We ate at a nice Ettrem on the side of the pier, so you could watch the idiots in the sail boats come in and leave. It is the kind of place that are McMineman’s on the Columbia aspires to be, but will never pull off. Zia had a bean soup that is famous in the region. Beans, smoked ham hock, and smoked Hungarian kolbas. She says it was to die for. I had a zucchini, stuffed with freshly chopped and sautéed vegetables. I don’t know that I would die for it, but it was pretty darned good. We hung out there for a bit and enjoyed the view, then onward.
The rest of the trip was by car, without stops - well, we did stop and buy Zia a new dirndl. The weather turned on us in the afternoon, and our pretty sunny day turned to rain, only a quick shower, but, as it was late, on to home we went.
It is a very pretty drive. If you get here, I highly recommend it.
*****
Today was another trip to Hevis to show the new house guests the spa, so that they could take the tour. Vera went with us, which was fun as she is pretty hard to get out of the house. Zia and Vera had a good time shopping, and I had a good time razzing them. A nice lunch, and then home for a nap. Hey, I gotta save up, vacation ends soon. ( Dave was bought the Tourist Vest , he forgot to mention !!!! )
*****
In reviewing the journal entries of this trip, I find myself thinking that we should probably change the name to "A Cynics Guide to Hungary and Serbia." I assure you, however, that you are really missing something by not coming to visit this beautiful place. The scenery is fantastic, the people amazingly nice, it is a great place to vacation. My cynicism, I think, comes from my frustration and anger with myself for not being better able to communicate, and for not being better prepared for culture and customs. Obviously, I have my homework set out for me.
My thanks to Lali and Adrianna, Feri and Ani, Lajos and Bori, Emese, Joe and Adam, Beethoven-Basci and Mozart-Neni, Kazi-Basci and Zsuzsa-Neni, Kiskazi, Zsuzsa, Klaudia, Gabie and Csbi, Gabor and Rita, the guests from Germany, Mega-Magdi, the nice folks at the news stand who provide me with my English newspaper fix, the many "ice" vendors in Serbia and Hungary who provided us with the all-important gelato fix, and all the people I am probably forgetting, for sharing your country, and more importantly your culture with me. Most importantly, thanks to Peter and Vera, my Inlaws, for opening your home to this wacky American guy, and producing a Zia that I could marry. And thanks to my lovely bride for showing me "home."
*****
And so the adventure ends. Tomorrow we load up. As I understand it, I am expected to take the wheel one more time at 2:00 a.m. (!) and drive us to Figgy Airport (or what ever it’s called). There for the expected "security vetting." We leave Budapest at 6:30 a.m., and, through the magic of television, arrive in Portland the same morning around 11:30ish. Not bad.
Thanks for reading my humble rantings. Hopefully they were more entertaining than a slide show. (Hey Dad, Zia hasn’t seen the Navy show yet. I’ll send her by.) Which, of course, doesn’t get you off the hook. You still get to look at pictures. Find us in the fall. Oktoberfest celebrations start soon!
See ya’ in the flesh sometime soon...
Uncle Dave
*****
"Add on by Zia"
Wow it’s time to go back to the other place I call home . I suppose I too should reflect .
I had a wonderful time showing Dave where I am from , introducing him to my Parents , family members and friends. I enjoyed my time with my parents and I am very sad the time is running out as I type these words.
A message to everyone : Spend time with your Parents , if you had a fight make up , if you haven’t spoken in a week call them , don’t let weeks or months go by without talking to them . Time is not forever and you only have so much time with them . Your parents created you and helped shape you , don’t blame them for your flaws . You control your own destiny after you leave the nest. Sorry if I am being sentimental .
The trip was a combination of happy and sad events , I was lucky and got to spend time with Kyra and Jaden . I helped celebrate a very dear old friends 75 th Birthday . I got to see Family and friends that mean a lot to me and I miss very much. I got to show Dave the Place I still call Home , unfortunately I also watched the home I was born in be torn down , that was painful . I have fond memories of that place especially the Horse barn . Times are changing , the town that used to swarm with people and lived day and night now seems abandoned . The youth has left to find employment all over the world and the elderly keep to themselves. I have hopes that in the future changes will happen so people can return .
The time spent here in Keszthely at the Bed and Breakfast was fun too . My parents make all guests feel at home and show them the culture of Hungary . I had the opportunity to observe this since we had guests the entire time we were here. I learned an important lesson , should I ever want to own and run this place ... Breakfast needs to have a time limit !!!!! Our first set of guests chose what ever time they wanted to eat . It interfered with our plans on some days , they also didn’t get that some people go to bed early ... They came home at 11 pm and were very noisy . I think I’ll make up some polite house rules and translate them into several languages. I stayed up late too but did not run up and down the stairs and yell at my kids... OK enough complaining . I also had a few nice conversations with said guests and it kept me practicing my German.
I will go home and learn another language ... which one I am note sure yet . One that doesn’t relate to the ones I already know . Even if I only learn the basics it will help me some day .
Well this is it for me , I am not going to be able to write more , the next 24 hours will be spent packing and spending last minutes saying everything I have not said already. It is very painful to leave , though I miss our Family and Friends in the US too. I wish the world were smaller so I could be close to every one.
I hope everyone enjoyed this blog
Zia
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