Just a perfect day... or two... Buso Carnival - Let's chase away winter

"Busó-walking" is a traditional festivity that has been inscribed on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of the UNESCO in 2009. Hungaricum since 2012. 

Locals explain the Carnival with two related but different legends:

According to the most popular legend, during the Ottoman times of the territory people from Mohács fled the town, and started living in the nearby swamps and woods to avoid Ottoman (Turkish) troops. One night, while they were sitting and talking around the fire, an old Sokac man appeared suddenly from nowhere, and said to them: 

"Don't be afraid, your lives will soon turn to good and you'll return to your homes. Until that time, prepare for the battle, carve various weapons and scary masks for yourselves, and wait for a stormy night when a masked knight will come to you." He disappeared as suddenly as he arrived. The refugees followed his orders, and some days later, on a stormy night, the knight arrived. He ordered them to put on their masks and go back to Mohács, making as much noise as possible. They followed his lead. 

The Turks were so frightened by the noise, the masks, and the storm in the night, that they thought demons were attacking them, and they ran away from the town before sunrise.

In the older, less popular story, the Busós are scaring away not the Turks but Winter itself.

And that is why we were there and spent two ultra cheerful days with Juli and Noémi as fellow travellers at the southest Baranya county  of Hungary with the purpose of chasing away the winter. We did not have the chance to be prepared for the weekend well in advance.  As it was quite spontaneous, it was hard to find accomodation on the previous day because Mohács attracts visitors from all over the world. What we finally found was the two last free room in a wonderful place named Szálka. 40 min drive to Mohács that is worth every miles. Picturesque location, big fishing lake, swans, great opportunities for hiking and SILENCE.

The silence was unbelievable in the evening. When I opened the window, I hardly believed my ears. Did I become deaf? Dio I hear well that I hear nothing? Is it real? I just pricked my ears and no niose. Really nothing. I don't remember if I ever heard such silence. This made me to make a night walk inside the village after the awesome dinner. I felt that I need to stop again and again not to disturb the beautiful silence by my steps and just enjoy the noiseless peace.

Perfect contrast with Mohács where loud festive folk music, parades, dancing, Busós in traditional masquerade, cow bells, clappers meet with noisy success. For me, the event means hilarious humour with a little bit of thrill and joshing. The city was fully filled with masked Busós who did not miss to smoke the girls, to present with a huge muttony hug, to pose readily, to take anybody to dance, to rumple in a friendly way. I was wearing my biggest smile all day long. :-)

We scheduled other kind of engagement to make the children extremely happy and visited the thermal spa in Siklós. Perfect way for recharging and spending time with. Not the 6-day event but the weekend was closed with the gigantic burning bonfire (and a tasty gyros).  

What 2016 brought into our lives

Space exhibition to visit, pig sticking to gather together, new romance to introduce what person a psycho is, Australia to be prepared for, carnival to have Dominik dressed in Steve from Minecraft designed by myself, ISE exhibition to network, a couple of fine cakes to bake, Mátra Hills to hike, Visegrád to bob slide, sign language exam to pass, new flowers to take care, almost-forgotten beloved one from the past to confuse, old and new places to explore, time to spend with cousins, Denmark to return.
Busy summer to make the season memorable, Balaton the minor and the big one to ride around, Zalaszabar to say wow, 9th birthday party to be inspired by Minecraft, summer camps to attend, class reunion to organize, kids' railway to see the fireworks from, old and new friends to spend time with, Lake Velence to approach anytime, Kőhegy to climb up anytime with anyone, great family event by FedEx to make the day so memorable, Szigetköz to camp, to canoe, to be outdoor and to say goodbye to the summer.
Laser Arena to celebrate post-birthday, Dublin to work and explore its surroundings, a father of one of Dominik's classmates to introduce and endear the sprouds, Halloween to invite friends, foreign tourist to guide, dessert competition to enter for and special prize to win, first pet to take care of.
Unique gingerbread creations to decorate the school tree, Santa party to gather the generation, Havasi concert (involving Leona Lewis and Balogh Soma) to spoil ears and eyes, a perfomance of Nutcracker to delete from the short-term memory, advent wreath competition to enter for, a December to survive.

Autumn Lights and Highlights

It is said that each season has its own beauties. That's very true. As for me, the transition from one season to another is not the best part. I always need time to be addicted to the actual season. But once I did, I enjoy all of them entirely and able to find the great advantage of any of them.

And of course, each season has its highlights - depending on its features (weather, holidays) and independently from its features. Now I enumerate some from both.

The season started with the so called Budaörsi Vígasságok (equal with 'local gladnesses') of which contest Erika called my attention to. She knows very well my baking spirit. And to tell you the truth, my mom won 3 years ago with a special birthday cake and the prize was a wellness weekend. Although, my cake wasn't the best but judged as the most decorative one and also well rewarded. Even included on the front page of the local paper.

Dominik had a postponed birthday party even at the beginning of the season. We decided to invite all the male classmates to take part in a laser battle. Although, best thing if someone was born in summer but from invitation point of view it is hard to find a date that meets everyone's summer schedule. So the school started, the boys were happy to meet and we created an extra occasion to amuse themselves right after a busy schoolday. Never we had such a successful party regarding the number of participants. Each and every boy was invited and each and every boy came. We solved the transportation for those who would have not been able to join otherwise. We wanted it, so we solved it. Since then, the 'big boy birthday party' series are not over, we were invited to a gokart and then a bowling birthday party.

Jen's visit was definitely something that is worth to mention. Jens is a real Danish man from Denmark and I'm familiar with him through Zoli. He is Zoli's boss and owns the mink farm where Zoli's been working for many years. Jens has never been to Hungary and this was his first time to travel alone, without kids. I was happy to be his tourist guide throughout Budaörs and Budapest, although I was not able to join him on each day of his visit but was able to give him thorough instructions where to go and what to see, to organize joint evening programs, to let him in our everydays' life. 

He told me that originally he thought that Hungary is poorer country and was surprised to see so many good cars, big houses, well-to-do people. And he also told me that so many cloudy faces were found. It must be unusual for somebody who came from the third happiest country on Earth. We spoke about everything, Jens is a really nice person and I'm happy to say that I'm richer with a friend with same values like mines.

Highlight of the season can be a spooky Halloween party. As far as I see Halloween is more and more popular among Hungarians year by year. This is such kind of tendency that I'm happy to experience. Good reason to be scary, to decorate, to create, also in the kitchen, to gather together and also a good business for the shops. This year I made my own Halloween party at home. Some friends were invited and also my counsins joined who visited us in the autumn holiday and stayed for a couple of days. A gorgeous halloween menu made of pumpkin, pumpkin carving, Halloween tunes and special Halloween games tailored by me to the event made the evening a memorable one. Special thanks to Laci - best friend of each child - who brighten up that evening with his pumpkins, carving templates, colorful illuminated LED lampions, cakes and great efforts he invested into the whole.

The season brought two new members into our little family. A tiny hampster for Dominik and a new car for me. Both were wishes or rather just plans from the past and now it was time to be realized. 

 
What I really like in autumn is the lights of the sun besides of the colours of nature. The lights are very special because of the angle. The sun goes low and is able to shine into those places that cannot be lightened in summer. Even it is a different experience being at home at the weekends because the house is dressed in autumn lights inside.

 

Roadshow in Dublin

Being part of a business trip in one third to contribute to the promotion of the DEXON products is a good thing. Better thing if the destination is a country where you've never been before. Best thing if this country is on your wish list to visit. Very best thing if you have time to look around having a real Irish man as a guide. 

What's first? About the Greystones to Bray Cliff Walk? About the Long Room of Trinity College? About the Book of Kells? About the Guiness experiences? About Johnnie Fox's? About Glendalough National Park? Business first!...

The business part went very well and the concept, the organization proved to be successful. We had the chance to reach some important potential Irish companies directly with the help of our Irish partner. What if you're overwhelmed with business dinners? Then get up early in the morning, put on your running shoes, discover the area, breath the 'green' air, meet a fox (!) at close range and hear the early birds' song. It's guaranteed that you will be recharged.

Driving a car with steering wheel on the right hand side and oriented on the left side of the road requires much concentration from those who usually do this just on the contrary. The guys arrived in advance to assemble the whole system and they were followed by me one day later. Just upon arrival I could start the sightseeing using the airport shuttle to reach the hotel which fortunately located at the very last stop. I never arrive a foreign country without thorough preparations and information about sightseeing, famous spots, interesting facts, gastronomy, etc... This is very important if someone has less time to spend on these besides business but definitely wants to 'get lost' in that country. So I'm always very definite where to go, what to do and see.

This time we were so privileged because we were just asked what we would like to see and our host reserved and paid everything for us in advance in order to avoid queueing. We're truly indebted. Started our full free day inside Dublin at Trinity College. It was established in 1592. Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift were famous attendees of Ireland's oldest university. According to different rankings, the university has not so good position on a global scale. But its library is amazing, especially the Long Room. I just saw a picture of that room prior to the trip and thought that I need to see it personally! The main chamber of the Old Library is nearly 65 metres in length and houses around 200,000 ancient books. 'Turning Darkness into Light' - The Book of Kells from the year of 800 AD (!) was probably produced by the monks of Iona (Scotland) and is on public display here. It contains lavishly decorated copy, in Latin, of the four gospels. Amazing ancientness!

After hanging around the downtown and River Liffey with the famous lovely Ha'Penny Bridge, the next stop was the Guinness Storehouse which is Ireland's number one tourist attraction. It is a seven storey visitor experience dedicated to the 250 years of history and making of the world famous beer. You can discover what goes into each and every pint.  

"Where better to savour a perfectly poured pint of the black stuff than sitting high above Dublin's historic rooftops?" 

- the 360° views from the Gravity Bar makes the experience unique. We met more times the 'harp'. The medieval musical instrument is on display in the Long Room and also part of the Guinness logo. It is a national symbol of Ireland.

What was next, was something that I never experienced before, neither same nor similar. A restaurant. A really unique restaurant well hidden in the Dublin mountains - Johnnie Fox's (established 1798), famed as the highest pub in Ireland. For me, famed as either a fantastic world or a time travel. They say "Yet neither the height of its fame nor the fame of its height has gone to Johnnie Fox's head." The stone-flagged floor is daily strewn with sawdust and nightly hammered by dancing feet. There are lots of ancient bric-a-brac and not an empty squarecentimetre. The pub has featured prominently in the historic and social evolution of Ireland and commited to preserve the relics of the proud history that maintains its charm and nostalgic originality. Eternal gratitude to Ian for introducing this place to us! Just like in a fairy tale.    

And the fairy tale was not over here! Wicklow region came next which is known as the Garden of Ireland. Beautiful scenery, mountains and lakes (location for P.S. I love you and Braveheart), green green an much more green, 6th century Monastic Settlement, complete with  Round Tower (without Rapunzel)... And this is what I always need. Outdoor programs filled with beautiful landscapes, breathtaking views.

And I already know very well what's next if I visit the country again. Halloween 2017 here in Ireland (that was already kindly confirmed by Ian), Giant's Causeway (Unesco World Heritage Site), Cliffs of Moher (once thought to be the edge of the world), Dark Hedges (The Game of Thrones), the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge (links the mainland to a tiny island). Hmm, our little world is soooo big!