Eurotrek Day 56 – June 10 Friday

Day 56 – June 10 Friday

A more casual start today – reluctantly it’s our last day in Europe – so a tidy up & repack of our luggage before another fabulous breakfast.  It was drizzling with light rain, so on with our coats & off we go.  We went on our own into the centre of Pest today, a short walk to catch Bus 105 & we got off at Heroes Square.  This is a huge remembrance statue series of all Hungary’s kings & looks very impressive.  The extra large bronzes have great detail & below each statue is a bronze memorial featuring some action that king was remembered for.  The rain had stopped by the time we finished at the square & we managed to get some good photos amongst all the different bus tour groups coming & going.

Back to Bus 105 & next stop was near Saint Stephen’s Basilica.  This is a huge cathedral & inside the opulence of the Catholic Church surfaces again.  The beautiful marble, the elaborate gilded carvings, the magnificent painted ceilings, with life-like cherubs – all stunning.  This is one of the nicer cathedrals, it is clean & tidy with very neat lines.  Each of the chapels is elegant without being over the top & the stained glass windows are simply beautiful with the light behind them.  The high domed centrepiece is again another magnificent work of art, photos do not do it justice.  One of the highlights is St Stephen’s Chapel at the back of the church.  In this chapel is the preserved hand of Saint Stephen, enclosed in an elaborate silver wireframe church, with a special light (pay for it) to light the enclosure up.  Another very significant religious Icon that we have visited.  We could call this trip the “Euro – religious – Trek” with the number of churches of different religions we have been in & the number of very significant religious icons we have seen.

We wandered out into the square & followed our noses looking at one magnificent streetscape after another – Budapest is a really beautiful city, the old buildings with elaborate carvings & statues are being well restored & preserved (not all) & the park settings & pedestrian areas are well done.  We took photo after photo before visiting the Church of St Ann.  This church is undergoing significant restoration & a previously unknown fresco has been uncovered during the restoration.  This church is beautiful inside as well, but pales behind the St Stephens Basilica.  We wandered around a little more, stopped for a hot chocolate & coffee in a famous coffee shop called Auguszt that has been in the same family for five generations.  Back to Bus 105 & back to Bela’s house without any drama at all.  We were relieved it was this easy (Bela & Gyorgyi gave us very good directions).  Gyorgyi had again prepared a wonderful meal for us, she is such a good cook & enjoys it as well.

We left for the airport around 3.30pm for the 30km drive & had no hassles with check in.  The British Airways flight took a shade over 2 hours to get to London, then by the time we got the transit bus to the Qantas terminal & walked to the gate it was time to board.  The take off was delayed by around an hour due to a severe storm that hit the airport a shade after we landed & by the time we took off, there were around 16 planes lined up behind us waiting to depart.

It was great to see & spend time with Bela & Gyorgyi they gave us 5 star treatment, looking after us all so well.  Thanks to Bela we managed to see the most important sights to see in both Buda & Pest in such a short time.

Eurotrek Day 54 – June 8 Wednesday

Day 54 – June 8 Wednesday

Our last morning in Kikinda, so we tidied, repacked & reorganised this morning & some more chatting.  Antal showed us his collection of bank notes from when inflation was rampant in Yugoslavia.  The prize ones are the 500 million dinar & the one billion dinar notes, lucky to buy you a loaf of bread.  Cousin Bela & his wife Gyorgyi arrived from Subotica to pick us up, more chatting as we haven’t seen them for 14 years as well (apart from Skype).  Katalin had prepared a great lunch for us all & we enjoyed it amongst much laughter & merriment.  More too much good food & it was time to farewell the generous hospitality of Antal & Katalin, as well as Evike & family who also came over to say goodbye. We enjoyed our stay with Gizella & Kosta, Klara, Zoltan & family Dejan, Aleksandra & family, they have all been so loving & generous.  Always very sad after such a nice time together.  It is such a shame that we are so far from each other, but we don’t want our next meeting to be 14 years away.

Our journey with Bela to Budapest only had one small hiccup, the border crossing we went to would only accept Hungarians or Serbs transiting the border in this location, so we had to backtrack a little & travel around 30km to a major border crossing on the motorway from Belgrade to Budapest.  Thankfully the line up at the border was very short & we were through in very quick time.  Our arrival in Budapest coincided with the finish of work at 5pm so the traffic was busy.  Bela lives reasonably close to the centre of the city of Pest, but on the other side of where we came in, so we had to travel through the centre & out again, lots of stop start, but it gave us a great opportunity to get a feel for the city.  Bela has a very nice large villa in the city & we are staying in the other large house he has in the compound – again very nice. (When he invited us he said that they had heaps of room for us but we didn’t expect a whole house with a baby grand piano).

We had a look around, settled in, then off to catch the bus into the city centre.  The bus trip was also interesting, passing many landmarks & points of interest.  Pest is such a beautiful city, everywhere we look there is something more interesting & beautiful.  The streets are wide, clean & no graffiti – what a difference that makes to the look & feel of the city.  As we walked around the city the beauty of the buildings kept astounding us.  We walked to the banks of the Duna River (known as the Danube outside Europe) & the view from the Pest bank looking across at Buda is simply beautiful, the old buildings stretched up & crowning the hillside, with riverboats hugging the banks of the wide Duna River below, framed by the famous & beautiful Chain Bridge.  We caught the Number 2 tram the short distance to Parliament House at Kossuth Square, the scene of the 1956 uprising & massacre of civilians.  The Parliament building is stunning, the ornate carving & architecture of the building make this the best we have seen yet.  Again, everywhere we turned another magnificent old building or sight greeted us.  It was getting dark as we started to head back & a lot of the buildings are lit – another aspect to admire of these beautiful buildings.  We didn’t realise but it was 10 pm by the time we got back & Gyorgyi had prepared a nice meal for us & we chatted & ate until after midnight.

Eurotrek Day 53 – June 7 Tuesday

Day 53 – June 7 Tuesday

The Kikinda church bells seem to me to have a random pattern of ringing – we are near the centre of town & close to all the churches.  Sometimes the bells compete with each other, sometimes they are accompanied by their friends & sometimes they are by themselves.  I have noticed one pattern, every day, one set of bells rings at 6.50am, 7.10 am, 7.20am, 7.40am, etc.  Another bell (different ones) rings at 7am.  One thing for sure, they certainly are loud & the deep resonating sound carries very well.  This is something we don’t get in Australia.  I am told all these sets of bells are electronically controlled & rung mechanically – I was wondering how they could support full time bell ringers.

Other than the bells, this morning was fairly quiet, Antal took me to the nearby barber shop of his friend Emil & I had a much needed haircut & trim – apparently I look a lot more respectable now.  I spent the rest of the morning checking the flight bookings & some research on Budapest whilst Tereza was working busily with Katalin pitting a lot of the sour cherries that we had picked.  Late afternoon we walked down to the school where Viktor & his kindergarten class put on an end of school play – as always, very cute, children acting, singing, dancing, speaking & actually reciting poetry. We were very impressed that all this is in both Hungarian & Serbian (these kids in kindergarten speak two languages already!!!).  Victor & his brother, Mate attend private English classes in addition (I am sure a lot of the others do the same).  Education, languages & music are a very big part of this family & the kids seem to thrive on it all (the home work they get is unbelievable & they only have a couple of days left before the Summer holidays).  We looked on attentively with the other proud families, however, a drawback was the room being very crowded & very hot.  Afterwards we walked the short distance back to town where Evike shouted the boys & us an ice-cream at one of the many specialist ice-cream shops that dot the centre of Kikinda.  We lounged on some very comfortable cushioned chairs under some large yellow flowering trees fanned by a lovely cooling breeze, chatting & relaxing.  Another great afternoon.  Evike & family spent all their free time with us because we are all feeling that our inevitable departure is here & it will most probably be years before we see them again.

Evike & the boys joined us for dinner & chatted until it was bedtime for the boys.  Its sad that we will be leaving Kikinda tomorrow & these lovely families.

Eurotrek Day 52 – June 6 Monday

Day 52 – June 6 Monday

Another 5.50am awakening.  Another great meat, cheese, bacon, gherkin & bread breakfast washed down with strong black Turkish coffee – does it get any better?  Out to the farmlet again for more cherry picking & Antal had more grape pruning.  We managed to pick three boxes of sour cherry before it got too hot, Tereza & Katalin at the base of the tree & me up the tall ladder.  At the end of the cherry picking, after washing up I noticed both of my wrists had a red rash all over them – I must be allergic to something there in the cherry tree. I washed my wrists with water, then, after much prompting by Antal & Katalin, I washed them again with palinka (very strong home made brandy).  That seemed to do the trick, I had a lay down so that I wouldn’t be scratching my wrists & promptly fell asleep.  It may have something to do with the palinka I used to wash my throat.  Back to town, lunch, some more photos & another little snooze.

Late afternoon we went for a short walk with Katalin & we met Evike, Radovan & their 2 sons at the local Big Pond, near the middle of town, a large concrete pool with an old swimming pool at one end, complete with old concrete starting blocks.  There is a park surrounding the pond, with a child’s playground, with concrete path around & a gazebo out over the pond.  Encircling the park is a reed fringed creek, with a few fisherman sitting & catching very small fish.  Some of the small rubbish bins have the Kikinda Coat of Arms on them – A mantled arm, holding a sabre, with the head of an Ottoman Turk impaled on it.  Very sobering.  We are always amazed when walking to see flash looking new buildings squeezed amongst ramshackle old houses.

We watched the children play at the playground while Radovan took Evike to her choir practice.  We all had an ice cream (which spoilt the kids’ appetite for dinner but we are not always here so it’s OK).  We had dinner & then showed a few photos from us with kangaroos, cockatoos, parrots etc. The boys were very impressed.

Eurotrek Day 51 – June 5 Sunday

Day 51 – June 5 Sunday

Another 5.40 am start to the day – more sunshine – so we sorted some photos & loaded the blog.  This morning was fairly quiet, we were sitting around chatting & looking at photos, then off to Evike’s house for an afternoon BBQ.  Klara, Zoltan,  Dorike & David have driven from Novi Sad with Gisella for the family get-together.  It was fantastic to see them all again.

The boys were playing outside on the pedal cars & Radovan had fired up the grill outside to cook the pork & the cevapcivi (minced meat with onion rolled & grilled).  He had also been fishing with his father & had some small catfish cooking in a pan in the outside summer kitchen.  The ladies were inside busy preparing everything else, catching up on old & good times.  There where thirteen of us that sat together for lunch – a big family gathering.  It’s a shame James, Monica & family, Arpad (Tereza’s brother) & family weren’t here to complete the family gathering.  As always, the food was delicious & way too much – the hospitality is magnificent.  And just when we thought lunch was over & we couldn’t eat any more – out came desert.  My goodness, a fantastic chocolate slice that young David & Victor managed to polish four away each & a delicious éclair filled with custard – I could only find room for two, but Dorika managed three of them, they were so nice.

We also spent time going through photos, sharing & comparing & we watched Evike’s wedding video – such a shame that we missed the wedding, she & Radovan they looked so beautiful & happy.  Not to mention the talking, the joking, the laughing & general merriment.  All too soon it was over & we walked slowly back to the apartment. Evike decided that cleaning up could wait, she couldn’t stand it that we were still all together without her. More talking & laughing & then some sad farewells, we don’t know when we will see them again, however, will keep in touch on Skype.

Needless to say – no dinner tonight after such a feast – no room left at all.

Eurotrek Day 50 – June 4 Saturday

Day 50 – June 4 Saturday

5.50am & the sunshine streaming in the Kikinda windows.  Caught up on sorting photos & updated a few days of blogging before a great brekkie of fresh eggs & bacon.  Then out to the weekend farm to pick more cherries & strawberries.  Katalin picked a big bowl of strawberries while Antal watered his vegetables & sprayed the grapes.   There was a some rain while we were away that plumped them since the other day & they were nearly all ripe, so up the ladder & I picked all the sweet cherries from the top of the tree, Tereza  picked from the lower branches then we started on the sour cherry tree.  Two boxes of sweet cherries & three boxes of sour cherries. It was time to go home as it was  getting too hot, around 30C today, with humidity, there has been storms most afternoons.

We had the chance to catch up on Skype with Monica & Charley (Unfortunately not with Jackson & Austin) & later with James.  Next Sunday we will be at home (hopefully), it is unbelievable, it feels as though we only just planned this trip.

This afternoon Evike & her 2  boys came over & took us to the Kikinda Museum, it is only about 100m from the apartment, everything is so central here.  The main attraction is the skeleton of Kika, the mammoth, died in a bog 50,000 years ago & uncovered at the local ceramics factory clay pit.  The skeleton has been copied in fibreglass & stands in the open courtyard of the museum.  We ventured inside & watched a 17 minute 3D big screen video projection on the story of this mammoth & how it came to meet its death & subsequent discovery (in English).  Very interesting & some of the 3D animation was very good.  Next we saw the display of the actual bones discovered – it is one very large animal & the display case is well done.  Further on the museum covers recent history with old farm artefacts & clothing, plus displays from both world wars, all very interesting.  In the corridor are displays from recovered artefacts from the stone age, then the bronze age, then the iron age, including pottery, jewellery & skeletons.

The museum was formerly a prison in the Second World War & in the courtyard is a memorial to 39 partisans executed by firing squad in the same courtyard.  The building also still has the doors to the small solitary confinement cells lining the corridors.

We sat out in the plaza for a while watching the world go by.  Nearby in the plaza is the protected winter roosting site of a family of long eared owls in a few tall, old conifer pines.

Back at the apartment Tereza did some washing & then it was dinner time but we ate so many cherries & strawberries that we could hardly eat.  Amazingly a little bit of cherry picking got Ron so tired that he couldn’t even finish writing – he is out to it.

Eurotrek Day 49 – June 3 Friday

Day 49 – June 3 Friday

Awake at 6am, the birds are singing – it is so peaceful here – the birds are everywhere – I even saw a golden pheasant in the cornfield near the house.  Another great breakfast then it was off on a bicycle ride around the village.  While I was away Antal was going to spray the grapes & fruit trees.  The village is so flat that cycling is very easy, I went up & down every street in the village, stopping to take photos of interesting houses & things along the way.  In one yard as I went past a gypsy family were killing a calf, as I came back the other way they were washing the blood away with the hose so they could continue butchering it, just laying on the ground (hygienic – I think not).  I rode around the purpose built fishing pond that is on one end of the village, around every 10 metres around the bank personal fishing platforms have been built, to varying degrees of comfort.  Some have chairs, others shade, nearly all have rod holders of some type, another a canoe launching ramp & others a small jetty.  At the other end of town I rode out onto the main road & onto the old steel bridge over the Bega River, with cobblestones leading up to the approach that had been overlaid with bitumen at one stage that has now worn totally away.  The edges of the river are overgrown with trees & the water is flowing well, though a dirty brown.  On the way back to the farm house I rode along a footpath on the outskirts of town down to the street the farmhouse is in.  The footpath was overgrown & I picked up some stings from some nettles my legs brushed against.  Apparently I was now in Serbski Itabej (changed spelling to Serbian) & after a while rode past the Serbian cemetery (not the Hungarian one) with a couple of Orthodox religious chapels.  I also rode past some very dilapidated gypsy houses, they really stand out.

Back for a coffee & then I had a snooze, I didn’t realise how much the cycling had taken out of me.  We had a great lunch of pea soup & pancakes then tidy up the house ready for departure.  Luckily there was no blockade by the farmers, apparently they have agreed to give them a subsidy for up to 100 holdings (there is a bit over a hectare in a holding).