Still in Hungary, Still Enjoying!
If Prague is the city of a thousand spires, then Debrecen is the city of a thousand fountains. Well, we didn’t really find 1,000 fountains but we did see at least 12. It was fun to watch the kids enjoying all of them. I’m sure there were more, we just didn’t get to every street in Debrecen! We did find two large shopping centers with food courts and had a delicious gyros meal at one of the little restaurants. Sadly, we didn’t find any clothes to buy…the shops all catered to young people with expensive tastes…and so many shoe stores; we didn’t need any new shoes!
Debrecen is the second largest city in Hungary with about 250,000 people. The main museum I wanted to spend some time in, the Deri, was closed. And will be closed until September. I have a feeling I won’t be the only disappointed visitor to Debrecen! The Deri museum includes items about the history of Hungary as well as Hungarian art. So, we went to the Ferenc Medgyessy Memorial Museum, a famous Hungarian sculptor and were somewhat disappointed with that too. The actual sculptures are all over the city and in other cities in Hungary. The museum contained the sketches and models of the sculptures and a woman from the museum followed us into every room and watched our every move. Very unpleasant. But it was very pleasant to come upon these sculptures when walking around the city!
Don't know if it's my computer or me or the Picasa web site, but I am unable to include photos in this post. The photos can be found at:
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Our trip to the Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta was a success. Driving around the Hungarian plains reminded us of driving through Kansas, only not as dry. I’ve never seen such huge fields full of hay bales and other huge fields of corn. We went to the Mata Stud Farm for a horse drawn wagon ride to see some of what the Hungarian cowboys and herdsmen do. These are the Nonius horses, the traditional Hungarian horse breed. The horse show is quite spectacular. The horses are trained from a very young age to not move at the sound of gunfire (imitated by the special whips they swing around above the men’s heads). A few of the highlights: the horses lay down gently unseating their rider and remain motionless when the whip is cracked; the cowboys stand on the backs to 2 horses and “ride” around with 5 horses attached to each other, 3 horses in front and 2 in the back with the rider standing on the backs of the 2 horses.
The pigs were fun to watch as they all came running up from the reeds and creek covered in mud to eat. These pigs are a special cross-breed from Serbian and Hungarian pigs that produce low cholesterol meat and bacon. This cross-bred pig is an endangered species so don’t expect to find it in your grocery store any time soon!
Photos can be found at: https://picasaweb.google.com/100390625521976559356/HungaryDebrecenAndThePuszta
Our next stop was Budapest. We’d been there in the early 1980’s and were curious to see what it was like after Mr. Gorbachev tore down the wall. Our hotel was near Buda Castle and we decided that was a good place to be. We walked all over this area for 2 days and had enough of the crowds by then. Although by 5:00 PM the crowds disappeared and it was possible to stroll around with unimpeded views then. So many statues within the walls of Buda Castle and all with a story to tell!
A few of the unconventional sights within Buda Castle to visit are the Labyrinth and the Hospital in the Rock with a bunker system for the medical staff. The Labryinth is a system of tunnels under the castle that were built in the Middle Ages. Very dimly lit and interesting. I’m always amazed that things like this were built so long ago and are still standing. How long will things last that are being built today?
Posters all over the streets within Buda Castle announce the Hospital in the Rock…so we just had to check it out. Well, there were no directions on how to get to this hospital and we almost gave up several times. We knew it was in the castle wall somewhere. We eventually asked 4 different people and got 4 different answers on where it was. But finally we found it and just in time for the tour. This hospital was used in World War II, in the 1956 revolution, and in the 1960’s when the bunkers/nuclear fall-out shelters were equipped. The bunkers are still filled with first aid kits and the hospital areas are still set up with an operating room, X-ray machine, beds, etc. Kind of bizarre and very cold for a hospital but lives were saved here and that’s what counts.
One of the men we asked for directions to the Hospital in the Rock inquired what else we’d seen. We were able to mention several places and he seemed pleased that we took such an interest in the historic sites. Then he told us about the remains of a church we’d just seen. He was very emotional when talking about this church. The church managed to survive destruction during World War II but the Russians destroyed it when they took over Hungary after the war. They only left part of the Mary Magdalene tower standing…and did not touch the German church at all. It reminded us that life had been very hard here for a long time and how fortunate we are to be Americans.
We found the people in Hungary to be friendly and very helpful, especially when Steve would begin by speaking Hungarian. He could follow what they said to him but had a little difficulty sometimes coming up with the Hungarian words he wanted to say in response to their questions. All in all, not bad for someone who hasn’t spoken the language in several decades!
Photos at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100390625521976559356/HungaryBudapest2011
Fun trip! Debrecen isn't such a top 10 destination, how funny that we've both been there! I love the cowboys.
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