A short trip to Kospallag

We made an impulsive decision to spend the weekend in a forest hotel in Northern Hungary where we had been planning to go in mid-May.

Our friend Tsvete, however, decided that now would be as good time as ever to get away from the city. This was all part of her cunning plan not to buy a hypothetical weekend house worth a hypothetical 20,000 euro (minimum) but invest the money in travel instead.

So, thanks to her enthusiasm and booking skills, we set off to Szent Orban Erdei Hotel (literally, the forest hotel of Saint Orban).

The hotel is made of wood so you have this nice, mountain-hut kind of feeling. It is actually situated on the top of a hill in what passes as a mountain (by Hungarian standards), surrounded by forest (thus the name). It is just the hotel and the woods--the nearest village is a few kilometers downhill.

We went for a walk and ran into Jesus. These kinds of religious displays are rare in Hungary but perhaps it has something to do with Saint Orban, who gave the name to the hotel (I admit I have no idea who Saint Orban was).

A horse was grazing on a field across from the hotel where we were hanging around watching Ruslan and Lia slide on something that I don't know how to name in English, or in any other language.

The device in question and Ruslan, ever the adventurer.

The wind did not prevent us from enjoying our lunch outside...

...but the inside pool proved to be the major attraction. Here is Andrej, wrapped up in a towel looking like a Roman senator. You can see the impatience in his eyes--bring on the pool!

Talkin' bout a revolution

It was a big holiday in Hungary yesterday, the anniversary of 1848 revolution, which for Hungarians meant an uprising against the Habsburg rule and a fight for freedom.

Although the revolution itself was quelled after a few years, only two decades later the Austrians made a lot of concessions to Hungarians and the Habsburg monarchy was transformed into Austro-Hungarian Empire, a dual monarchy (the Hungarians basically got a free rein in their half of the empire). No wonder, then, that March 15 is such a significant date in Hungarian history, and a holiday they are so proud of.

Except that I was taught a little bit different version of those same historic events. And in my version the Hungarians were unwilling to grant to other peoples on their territory (Croats, Serbs, Romanians and others) those same rights that they demanded from the Austrians--more autonomy, self-rule, the use of their own language. So these other peoples rose up against the Hungarians while they were fighting the Austrians (a bit of a back stab but all is fair in love and war, they say).

These mini revolutions were unsuccessful because once the empire was divided between Vienna and Budapest, the Hungarians were even less willing to grant more rights to other nations that they ruled. On the contrary, their policy was that of assimilation--one nation, one language (Hungarian, of course). But in the longer run it backfired. No nationalism is more legitimate or better or more deserving than any other, and the Hungarians learned that hard lesson after the WWI--but that's a whole different story.

The reason why I was thinking about these things in the first place was because a few days ago when we went to pick up Boris we found him sporting a red-green-white lapel (colors of Hungarian flag) and a carton imitation of a Hungarian soldier's hat--they had been celebrating the revolution in the kindergarten. I guess the kids are never to young to be indoctrinated by national myths, are they?

What would Scarlett Johansson sound like in Hungarian?

Mozi
Originally uploaded by antaldaniel

I don't think I want to know, but I almost found out last night.

We were excited about going to the movies after a long time; yes, we've watched a lot of films in the past couple of weeks on DVDs but that's never quite the same. We miss proper cinema.

We're actually lucky to live in the city which managed to preserve a lot of its so-called art cinemas--places that are not part of some huge commercial chain but are small, independent with a friendly and cozy feel.

Yesterday, we picked one such spot and happily seated ourselves with popcorns and a packet of M&Ms in a tiny room (about 50 seats altogether), with only three more couples in the audience. We were goingto see 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona,' Woddy Allen's latest movie. We are both his fans and this fim was recommended to Ruslan by someone, although I read a damning review in 'The Guardian' months ago so I was a bit sceptical.

Unfortunately, we didn't get past the opening credits when we realised that we have bought tickets to see an American-Spanish movie with Hungarian dubbing. That's real bummer because:

a) as I mentioned, we came to see an American film, not a Hungarian take on an American film, and

b) we wouldn't be able to understand much of it because we don't speak enough Hungarian, but that is beside the point.

Speaking for myself here, even if I did speak fluent Hungarian, I want to hear the original language and the original actors acting, not some Hungarian chick impersonating Scarlett Johansson. In fact, when we are in Bulgaria and watch TV there, I am equally pissed off by this whole dubbing business, even though my Bulgarian is fluent.

It's not only unnatural, but so much of the acting is in the voices and you just completely kill that off when you dub a film. So why do they keep doing it in some countries? One of the arguments I heard was that it is cheaper, but that sounds pretty ridiculous, because you have to hire at least 3-4 people per film to read the stuff, whereas you only need one person to translate a film and put the subtitles in proper places. Not to mention that, when you dub, you still need someone to translate the film.

Another argument is that this is better for people who have reading difficulties but how many of those go to the cinema? Hungary has a pretty high literacy rate, as do most other countries in these parts, so it can't be that this is done for the sake of those 3% of general population who can't read?

Whatever the reason, I really wish they would stop doing it. It's STUPID!

Budapest Christmas market

The first stop on the market: the place that sells hefty, greasy sausages. For me personally, the biggest food attraction is kurtos kalacs, the traditional Transylvanian pastry that is baked above burning coals (but I couldn't get a nice shot of it).

The great thing about this market is that they don't seel cheap 'beads and trinkets' but good quality and often hand-made things.

Gingerbread is abundant at this time of the year.

Cups ready for mulled wine.

Every year I discover something new on the market--I don't remember seeing these colorful slippers before.

First day in the nursery...

...was short. Although Andrej seemed to like it there (he was playing happily with the cars and paid no atttention to me), the rule says that you have to start bit by bit--first day just an hour, then a bit longer, then he stays for lunch, then perhaps they let him sleep there too.

So it doesn't really matter whether a child likes it or not, whether he or she cries or not, or whether perhaps he would want to stay. A rule is a rule.

Welcome to Hungary.