 |
Lime burner in the Bukk Mountains |
 |
|
 |
| Our neighbour, making wine with some oldfashioned equipments. |
 |
| The baroque city Eger, photographed from the ruins of a famous castle. Here, a small group of Hungarians were able to withstand many Turks. |
 |
| Sunflowerfields enrich the landscapes on the plain |
|
Charcoal - and lime burners Charcoal and lime burning have disappeared from almost everywhere in Europe, but in the Bukk Mountains these intriguing handicraft works have survived modern technical development. It is exciting to observe the extremely intensive protocols for building up kilns, lighting and dismantling them. At the same time it might be embarrassing to see these people work so heavy and dirty for so little money. Although these are serious professions for many families, they are at the same time an attraction for tourists. We have good contacts with these handicraft workers and know what they desire, for it is not always nice to have tourists watching on your fingers. This means that you can freely walk around there, make pictures and ask questions (with us as translators).
Wine cellars In the Northeast of Hungary there are two famous wine area's. The Tokaj volcano, south of the Zemplen hills, produces white grapes with an interesting mushroom on it. The white wines there have a unique taste, worshipped by as many people as dislike them. The south part of the Bukk Mountains is famous for it's red wines. Here the Bull's Blood is produced. Around Eger many cellars are open for tourists. There you can taste the wine, and everywhere, naturally, it is the best from all. Marbled through the region there are hundreds and hundreds of small cellars, where families make their own wine or farmers earn some extra money with semi professional production of wines. Farm Lator visits these authentic places. It is a good way to communicate with the local people and learn something about the history of the area. Many of these little caves were handmade by the slaves of the Turks and used as prisons. Later they served as houses. On some localities they still do. Nowadays, they have a more friendly function: wine storage. The wines are pure and fresh.
Baroque town Eger can compete with Budapest, Kecskemet and a few other historical cities to be the prettiest of Hungary. Eger is unique in its well organised and cleaned up appearance. It has a car free centre and pleasant streets to walk. Your hostess knows the city very well and is able to show the most beautiful buildings, churches and unexpected and interesting objects. And every building and object has a story to tell about Hungary's rich history.
Puszta Many people associate Hungary immediately with its pusta and have memories or visions from horsemen giving performances in traditional wear. It is true that Hungary once was occupied by the magyar, riding on horses. And it is nice to know about this part of Hungary's history, but what is left of traditional land use and culture is more interesting for the naturalist. For ages, and still, the plains are used by herdsmen. With their cattle or sheep they move through endless fields. These fields produce little because of salt in the top layer and drought. That means that the animals have to be on the move all the time. The herdsmen walk long distances and sometimes slept in small reed huts far away from home (if they had one). The pusta, originally had quite a lot of forests on places with not too much salt in the bottom. It was mainly the Turks who burned these forests down. They probably had strategic reasons to do so. When you go for a walk on the empty plains, and notice a large group of sheep at a distance, it is obvious that nothing has changed here since then. Then, a horizon, only dotted by some trees, and maybe a remote church tower is very helpful imagining this. Still, here are large surfaces without telephone or electricity wires or masts. On these surfaces, with its steppe vegetation, its severe climate and its delicate culture it is not difficult to experience that time is sometimes meaningless.
Thermal Baths Hungary's culture is tightly connected to the volcanic sources all over the country. Here you will find the so-called health baths. These are smaller or larger places with different types of pools: warm baths, hot baths, Turkish baths, saunas and normal swimming pools. The warm and hot pools contain water from deep under the surface of the earth. The water is rich with minerals and said to be curing all kinds of diseases. Judging this statement is not to us. We know as much that bathing in these places is very relaxing indeed.
Matyio people The so-called Matyio people inhabited the region around Mezokovesd, a town near Farm Lator. In museums exhibitions show their clothing and furnishing and way of living. In the town, during the summer season, performances are given about the culture of these folk. Wedding ceremonies and dances, which later became important Hungarian dances. This is first class theatre. If you inscribe here, you might join the evening wedding dinner and taste some of the real traditional food.
|