Though it was unseasonably cold and raining, our spirits were not dampened regarding our big trip to the Great Hungarian Plain. When you google Hungary - there are always pictures of the long horn cattle and the cowboys who maneuver 5 horses at once. We don't get that kind of exciting action on the west side of Hungary, so I was thrilled to see these facets of Hungarian plains life in their natural habitat. We got to the tour site a bit early, but it was time enough for Christie, Kata and I to drive Kata's "friend" Bill insane. Don't worry - he reciprocated throughout the day. He was an interesting duck - a British man, a naturalized Hungarian who had lived in Hungary for the last 20 years. He never wants to move back to England and has a wicked hatred for foreigners, whether in England or Hungary - which is odd since technically he is one here. It was a bit confusing to watch him and Kata interact since they easily transition between English and Hungarian mid sentence. Christie and I looked at each other with fascination every once in a while, trying in earnest to follow what they were saying. We enjoyed a cup of coffee to warm ourselves up, and headed out to our "transport."
the plains...
The Hortobagy is protected land in Hungary. You cannot build on it, nor can you travel in certain parts of it unless you are in one of the designated wagons. We were excited to ride in the wagon, but it was a bit cold and rainy so I wasn't sure how this would end up. Of course, it's virtually unheard of to get rain in this area, so Bill figured that it was the fault of the Americans - more the Minnesotan than the Floridian/Texan. Oh well.
Kata (in her Hungarian white pants - preparing to ride in a dirty wagon on the plains) and the wagons
our big pimpin driver- who eventually gave up his coat and hat to the patrons of the foreigner wagon because of the cold and rain.
We crawled into the wagon of "foreigners." Two Hungarians were in it, but bolted and went to the wagon that had only Hungarians in it. We had a nice Italian family in our wagon, plus one random little Hungarian girl with the Italians. Not sure how that happened, but it was interesting. Our wagon was so multi-lingual that it was almost comical. The Italian guy spoke a few different languages, his wife spoke English, we were speaking English and Hungarian, and crossed into French for a word or two. Strange what Hungary brings together.
We headed out on about an hour tour of the plains - rain the entire time. It was chilly in the wagon and the rain came in through both ends, so we were wet too. It didn't dampen the thrill of seeing the animals though. Ok, coming from Minnesota, this wasn't all that thrilling, but it was something new and different. We saw the famous Hungarian Mangalica pigs- their meat is supposed to be nearly cholesterol free, sheep and goats, a buffalo (which they use for buffalo mozzarella- there was a big discussion involving the Italians about mozzarella and buffalo), horses and the long horned cows. We also happened upon (ok, they live out there) some cowboys and they did a horse show for us. It was very neat!
The curly haired Mangalica pigs
Me and the sheep and goats... apparently Hungary has a disproportionate amount of "black sheep" ha ha ha.
yay - me on a horse... hmph
a not so happy cow
Our Italian friends had the three kids with them, and Raffi - the one on the far right, was not real pleased with the entire experience. He did like getting on the horse, but then returned to the wet wagon and he wasn't happy.
After the tour, we were treated to a fabulous traditional Hungarian lunch of gulyás (with the grey horned cow as the meat) and a potato/pasta dish that was some word that sounded German to me. Christie knew what it was, and I followed suit. Kata and Bill got a Hungarian pasta dish with sour cream in it - figures :)
After lunch, we took a few minutes to look around the market that was there. Unfortunately, it was the end of the holiday weekend, and raining- so many of the stands were gone. I happened to purchase one of the souvenirs I've been searching for since I arrived - to be revealed in a later post.
Carved horns - selling for 110,000 Forint - over $500.00 - craziness.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment