Sunflowers, Music, and Paprika: It must Still Be Hungary

Our first full day on the lower Danube we docked at a little settlement a little after dawn.  Bird song filled the air and I could hear a morning dove somewhere in the distance.  The temperature was in the sixties, cool and fresh with a sky which showed the promise of blue to come.  The Danube is a fast moving river.  Occasionally I could see a person bicycling by on road at the top of the incline.  A set narrow steps lead up to the top.  I was glad that we had a gangway for us to walk up.

 At eight thirty we loaded the buses and headed up a poplar lined road through beautiful farm land with fields of corn, hay, and sunflowers to a city of slightly less than twenty thousand people, driven by Tibor, a two time Eropean Rally Champion and Mikesh, our guide who was a local farm boy.  The lush crops are due to the deep, fertile soil, 150 inches.  The temperatures in the summer soar to over one hundred degrees and the winter conditions can be quite brutal with temperatures well below zero.  Even so, they have more sunshine hours each year than most countries.

We passed a stork nest atop one of the power supports that was full of young storks.  That was a treat.  The Shasharkas, stork, is a symbol of the region.

Our destination was the Cathedral in Kolocssa which is well over two hundred years old and is on the same site as several others which were destroyed by invaders such as Genghis Khan.  The structure was yellow and white, quite common to the region.  One of the interesting architectural features was the rider tower sitting atop the center nave on the roof.  This was necessary for ventilation when it was built, not only for comfort but for keeping down the humidity.

We were treated to a wonderful organ concert.  The selections ranged from a very dramatic number to Ava Maria, and closing with a number which soared to the high painted fresco adorning to the ceiling and swirled around the ornate gilded adornments.  To say it was inspiring is an understatement.  The organist got a rousing round of applause both in the building and on the street when he exited.

In lieu of the rest of the bus tour, we walked past the college to the Museum of Paprika where we enjoyed seeing old tools and information about growing the peppers which are so much of the Hungarian life.  We also got to see a model old kitchen typical of a Hungarian home.  The exhibits were located in an old vaulted cellar with domed brick ceilings.  Our taxi driver who took us back to the river spoke quite good English and said he would very much like to leave his hometown and come to America.

We picked up a few souvenirs at the little store by the river bank.  The prices were actually more reasonable than Budapest.

During lunch, our captain gently turned the Embla around and we headed toward Croatia. After our lifeboat drill, a talk by the cruise director about her life in Cummunist Bulgaria, and Hungarian tea, we all retired to our staterooms to rest.   In a few minutes, we will be summonsed forward to meeting with the Croatian customs officer.

 The adventure continues.