Sunday, November 03, 2024

Halloween 2024

 It gives me great pleasure that Halloween is increasingly popular inside our country. More and more families are preparing for this holiday enthusiastically. Nice decorations, tireless treat seekers, familiar faces.


This year I was ooo on the 31th to have enough time for the preparations and to make some Halloween dishes because no holiday can pass away without fitting foodstuff. It was a plus to go to the hipermarket in full custome to take part in the custome competition. I was completely satisfied and more than happy with the black frilled long skirt, a fathingale. Nolen's wish was to have a plague custome from the Middle Ages since we visited the castle in Boldogkőváralja where we met with a plague doctor. He was afraid of it and then he thought it will be frightening enough to make the other children to be afraid of him during Halloween.  

We always do the trick or treat walk around my parents' place at Kőhegy area, after we decorate their stairs with carved pumpkins, lights and placed the treats to let the hunters find it themselves. Mom and Dad are always keen to help us with the preparations. This year we started our tour right after sunset and thanks to the really mild weather, we were able to walk even to the farest spots. A very old friend of mine joined us this time and so we were entertained with rhyming poems, witty sayings. We found the participant places 40 - 60% self-service - hosts on the spot. For me, it is always hard to choose, either to go and collect ideas or to wait for and meet the others at home.

 

I saw that the fathers and mothers had a good time as well and enjoyed the evening not less than the children. Unfortunately, this lasts only for 1 day and there is no trace of this holiday on other days. Still divisive but much better than years ago. 

Of course, Halloween is not Halloween without some Halloween style DIY dishes. And as a curiosity, at my parents' place, there is Halloween mood in the cellar all year long...

Note for myself what not to forget in 2025: to take a day off for 31/OCT, to study the ready-made map in advance, to buy the suitable sweets and plan how to serve it well in advance, to create a striking photowall. Also let's start the preparations for a Mexico trip to experience Día de los Muertos.

Sunday, October 27, 2024

In Barcelona on business (19-21/OCT)

Those who ask will be given. After an extremely busy period at work full of events when I hardly had private life, I decided to ask from the country leader, who is my direct manager, whether I can join the football promo tour which was organized by me as well. Those growers who bought the biggest quantity from our fungicides, were entitled to travel to Barcelona to enjoy some sightseeing and a Barcelona-Sevilla football match. He said yes which made me very happy and motivated.

I have never been to the capital of Catalonia, one of the most visited cities on planet Earth before, so everything was completely new for me there. I did not have to make special preparations before the trip, as we had a professional guide (from an agency dealing with sport tours) who lived there before. My first impression was that the town itself is very sporty. Not only due to the football. People doing sports together on the streets, in the parks, in groups. I like it, this is absolutely a good habit! They bend together and move together. They're running in the park, doing gym in the shadow of an ancient monument, or they even practicing step dance in public.

Besides the match, we inserted some famous spots to see. Barcelona is the most favourable city I ever seen from this point of view, as many eyemark are very close to each other, even in walking distance. And, of course, they have beach as well! The second impression was that the town is very crowded. The beach was full, although, not so many people were in the sea though it was suitable for swimming. (We were warned about pickpockets several times.) Started our sightseeing tour at Parc de Ciutadella. A pretty nice green area with a baroque imitated waterfall fountain and a famous chancel arch (and parrots!). Then we went to see the Sagrada Familia, neo-Gothic church, masterpiece of Antoni Gaudi (it is said that above-the-ground part is Gaudi, under-the-ground part is not Gaudi). It is still under construction, and they want to finish it by 2026, after building it for 144 years. In 2026, it will be the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death, when he was run over by a tram. With its 170m height, it is higher than the actual highest cathedral in Ulm, but definately not higher than the surrounding mountains. Reason: no masterpiece created by humans can exceed the creation of God. Most visited place in Spain.
 

Parc Güell is also a must to see and also attached to Gaudi's name. Public park located on 17 acres, full of gardens and architectural specialties. Part of UNESCO World Heritage. After Güell park, we went up to the Montjuic mountain to enjoy funicular. During our visit, we could see the 37th Louis Vuitton America's Cup from above. Our second day was not as demanding as the first one. We tried the public transportation, walked through La Rambla which is a tree-lined pedestrian street and considered as one of the most beautiful streets in the world, connecting the Placa de Catalunya, in its center with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell. (As it is said, Columbus is pointing in the direction of America, but this is also the direction of Madrid which is not OK for Barcelona to point to Madrid.) After this I got lost in the Gothic Quarter with the parade whirlabout and hardly could find our next meeting sport for lunch. :-) After lunch we had time to dip into the sea and enjoy the beach feeling. Once getting back the hotel by public transportation, we approached the stadium on Montjuic on foot, where the matches are held temporarily while Camp Nou is under construction. The atmosphere was great, the real fans spoiled the players much. The final result was 5:1 for FC Barcelona.


The trip was undoubtedly useful. I got to know our partners much better, and when I organize our TOP100 conference next year, I will know them by name, and even more. This makes me happy and gives self-confidence, not the tour itself. So it was definately a wise decision from my manager to let me go.

 

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Dominik turned 17


 

Sunday, July 14, 2024

Nolen turned 6


He has constantly plenty to say. As age specificity, he also has plenty to ask. He has smart questions and also really smart findings and conclusions.

He is able to present imaginary stories suprisingly realistically.

He is very much interested in adult things, and not only in the objects we are using but also the spoken things. His radars are always on mode.

He adores to get on different clothes and customes, combined and selected from his wardrobe on his own. He really loves to dress himself randomly when he feels like getting into someone's skin. He is able to put on really warm pieces of cloth even in the hottest weather just for fun and this does not disturbes him at all.

He expresses his feelings and can change it very quickly.

Very independent but his biggest enemy is the packing up, to put the things in order after he finished playing with them.

Happening-seeker. He is safe in the water.

He will attend the school next September.

 

Height: 128 cm

Weight: 30 kg

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Happy 40th birthday, sis!

Once upon a time, there were two sisters, same angles but with a bit different composition. Both gave life to two boys, and so they have less and less time to meet, speak and going out together, being busy with the family. Although, the effort is constant. An occasion is always comes in handy, mainly if it is a birthday and especially if it is a round one. In such a case, the perfect (lightly self-interested) gift can be a short trip without kids, just in two. 

Destination (Thessaloniki, Greece), date (22-25/MAY), flight (Ryanair), accomodation (Hotel Avra) were chosen by myself as a surprise, adding a wide selection of possible free time activities. As our interests differ a bit, of course I let the birthday girl to choose what she really like: mostly shopping, either on a local market or in an outlet. Therefore this kind of activity was massively built into our schedule.

We were so effective that ticked off almost all our goals on the first day. What we both really enjoyed: the first lunch at the beach (therefore we repeated on the last day). While enjoying the Greek food, had the chance to feel the sand directly under our feet, the view of the Aegean Sea right next to us, and also a nice companion, a cat.

Not to miss, when you are in Thessaloniki: The Umbrellas, the White Tower, Agios Dimitrios basilica (part of UNESCO World Heritage), using cheap public transportation, visiting the local market and tasting different kinds of olives, eating seafood on the beach.

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Frohe Ostern in Österreich

Steiermark was on the list for a while. Mainly because of its landscapes, hiking possibilities and farms.

During the spring holiday we decided to reserve a pretty (inside-outside) wooden cottage surrounded by our hosts’ farm including many animals. The accommodation was from Airbnb and belongs to Erika and Alex. 


What they are doing day by day is amazing. Erika prepared little surprises for us on the occasion of Easter, and we got to know (and could taste) what Austrians eat on Easter Sunday (really liked the grated horseradish on top) and that the bonfire is a tradition at this time of the year.


Finally, we differed from our original plan and extended our stay to 5 nights instead of 4, which fact speaks for itself – we could not get enough of the nature we were in. Just right in front of our house a mountain river flew and even on the day we arrived home, I started to miss that crystal clear non-stop available cool water. But anyway, wherever and whenever we were on the go, the snow-capped mountain peaks totally amazed us. So many paths to explore! We stopped the car many times, parked and got out when seeing natural beauties while driving.


The first day was about assimilation and to discover our lovely place. Liezen is about 4-5 hours drive from Budapest/Budaörs.

The slogan of the second day could be: “the approach way is more important than the destination itself”. We were looking for a path and finally could not find it but on our way we saw many wonders and enjoyed the pure nature: different and many kinds of wild flowers, trickling torrents, romantic paths. Walking many kms down and was afraid of walking back the same kms up but all were worthwhile.

Not to give up my habit, the town of Hallstatt got into the collection of UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the third day (Easter Sunday).The town does not belong to Steiermark but belongs to Oberösterreich. Big luck is needed when you want to park inside the city (we had) and not to walk for long with kids till you reach only the town. Our overall experience was the crowd; mainly Chinese and Indian people. No good food and in many cases they accept only cash. 

We tried the funicular which was also crowded but they managed well. We went up, wore uniform and then had the possibility to walk and even slide (!) deep into the mountain to enjoy the history in the world’s oldest salt mine.

On day #4 (Easter Monday) it was better to stay at home. Started to hanging around but there was stormy wind, therefore fallen trees, fallen electric cables, forest fire, closed roads.

Day #5 was well worth the extension. Right next to us, in the city of Palfau there was a beautiful canyon named Wasserlochklamm, full of waterfalls (12x). Very scenery, nice hike up with 500 m elevation gain and dizzy depths. 


Overall, it was a pleasant vacation. But something never changes.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Ayubowan! - My Spiritual Round Tour in Sri Lanka in October

 

We all have many choices how to get rid of the daily routine, how to devote time for ourselves, how to be alone and turn inward, how to find balance if lost or namely how to let something go if needed. My choice was a spiritual round tour to Sri Lanka. I did. Recommendable.

 

First time I started playing with the idea of going somewhere far, for long, alone was a year ago. The initial idea was Nepal. I already payed the deposit when I was notified that that adventure tour is cancelled and it is rather united with Bhutan. Of course, the price increased considerably and I skipped. Then I found this tour to Sri Lanka which was advertised by the most famous Hungarian travelling FB page saying that "you won't spend less money if you organize this tour on your own". And that was exactly what I needed. A fully organized tour to a faraway island; gratis spiritual one. Air tickets, accomodations (altogether five), transfer, programmes, guides, everything ready-made that I could desire.

If you have the affinity to make some changes in your life and you really have the idea how to do it and even a great opportunity comes, don't let yourself dissuade. Just say yes without scruple and go ahead. We live only once. 

 

As I'm a UNESCO World Heritage site-collector, this tour was a canaan. Currently, 8 such sites are designated here, out of which I visited 6. 

 

1. Ancient city of Sigiriya

2. Dambulla Cave Temple

3. Sacred city of Anuradhapura

4. Sacred city of Kandy

5. Central Highlands of Sri Lanka involving Little Adam's Peak

6. Old Town of Galle and its fortifications


First big wow came even at our first station. The city of Sigiriya was built on and around the 180 m high Lion's Rock and often mentioned as the 8th wonder of the world. History really sinks till your bones. Names to mention: King Kashyapa killed his father to get the throne and ruled between 477 and 495 till he was defeated by his brother Moggallana. Then the site was retuned to Buddhist monks and today it is in ruins with part of fortifications and buildings preserved, as well as frescos representing feminine figures. On the top of these, standalone panorama is added to the unforgettable experience. On my scale that is made up of scenery, nature and history, I ranked this place 10/10.

 



During the rest of the day we have visited a traditional village. Although, it felt like a little bit of showroom, it was still enojyable as we not only tried different kinds of transportation (wooden wheel-wagon pulled by finched, boat and tuk-tuk) but also got an insight into the village kitchen and took part of preparing and tasting traditional dishes. On our way to our bus there was a heavy rain and would have got wet through, if the locals did not provide protection in teamwork for us.




Next two stations on the same day: Dambulla and Anuradhapura. Mistic cave temple rich in Buddhist heritage in the city of Dambullah having multi-millenial past. This is anyway the biggest and best preserved temple of the island, also an important pilgrimage site. The complex is made up of five shrines constructed in natural caves full of 1500 wall paintings, 153 Buddha statues in different sizes and positions. On the same day, we saw many stupas, also the world's biggest one in Anuradhapura, of which bricks if we layed down, would get a wall of 30 cm width and 1 meter high drawn between London and Edinburgh. Here in Anuradhapura, the first capital of Sri Lanka and a Buddhist spiritual center, we can find the ancient tree that grew from the Bodhi Tree under which Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. 

 

 

Well deserved close of the day; we vote for an Ayurveda massage for all 25 of us. It was a real team builder sitting together in the steam room after the massage half-naked speaking about the impressions. After the massage, we all had the chance one by one to speak with an Ayurveda doctor who found out which dosha we currently had by touching our pulse. As for me, he said mostly vata, less kapha. The ancient health science of Ayurveda is built around the five elements: ether, air, fire, water and earth. The unique combinations of these elements come together to make up the unique mind-body types, the doshas - vata, pitta and kapha.

Think of a dosha as your individual blueprint that describes your unique personality , tendencies and physical nature. Understanding your dosha reveals how to keep yourself in balance to stay happy, healthy and desease free. All of us have some aspects of each dosha, but one or two doshas are tend to dominate, informing everything from our digestion to our emotions. Before that, I haven't heard about this. After the doctor told me my body type, I googled the characteristics. There was a mention at vata - that I mostly belonged to in those days - about eating warm foodstuff. The fact is that at the hotel, from the wide selection of the buffet meals, I preffered hot soups for every dining at that time. Fund to the truth?

Ayurveda always applies the cures externally, all are natural therefore do not have the danger of getting used to any healing treatment.

 



The following day we visited a Herbal Heritage Garden. The tour was led by a doctor who tried to tell us as many things about the spices as he could. We got to know eg. that the vanilla is pollinated by hand and produces only once in every three years. The multicolored pepper is not a type of pepper but the different ripening phase and the white pepper is actually pepper without shell. Jackfruit is the biggest fruit produced by a tree. To cut a sandalwood is subject to authorization because of its value; it scents and all furniture made of it used by more generations and they produce oil not only from its flower but also from the wood itself which generates endorphin hormone. Cardamom is one of the ingredient of Sri Lankan curry besides 7 other spices and good for headache; you have to massage in balm form extended with ginger, clove, cinnamon; also good for insect bite. The ingredients of Sri Lankan curry (cumin, anise, mustard seed, clove, coriander, dill seed, cinnamon, a kind of 'karapincsa' leaf) are roasted before mill and those products sold in shops are engrossed with rice powder; chili, salt and pepper are added separately according to taste. We use the nutmeg after the hard shell is removed, nut only for cooking but also used for sleep disorders. Ananas is the best dessert but good to know that it may have aborted fetus effect, but anyway good for digestion and grows ripe within 6 months and contrary to popular belief, it does not burn fat! Curcuma is similar to ginger, very good for disinfection. Buddha used it, that is the reason why the monks' cloth is orange and anyway all their foodstuff are orange-coloured, as it is a natural antibiotic. Sri Lankan kitchen uses so many spices as each spice has its own healing effect. We drank a very tasteful tea which was a simple black tea boiled with different spices, namely ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and vanilia. They do not drink filter type tea at all. They also have some "cure-all" creams for problem skin like pimples, pigment spots and it does not block the pores, fully naturally, made of avocado, lotus oil, aloe vera, lotus flower. Interesting and useful visit, filled up with not only the information but also with some products. 

 


During the visit in the Gem Museum, Factory and Showroom we also had the chance to further enrich our knowledge. Got to know that the 4C make the price of a gem which are colour, cut, clarity and carat; 5 carat is equal with 1 gramm; brilliant is not a gem but a cutting type with the most facets (64); the cat's eye has only one line while the star sapphire has 6 lines and both are only polished not cutted. The difference between a precious stone and a semi-precious stone is the rigidness, and the precious stone is heavier, colder and transparent when shine on. Diamant is the hardest cat#10 gem, sapphires are #9, moonstone is #8 under which there are semi-precious stones; glass is #4, powder is #1. Aquamarine is a dead stone, ametist is developing stone and the dials of the watches are made of quarz. Princess Diana received her famous blue ring from Sri Lanka as a wedding present.  

 

What Rolls Royce is to cars, Rolex is to watches, Havana is to cigars and Scotland is to whiskey; Ceylon is to tea. Who has not heard of the world famous Ceylon tea? To visit a tea plant is a must. I did the Damro tea plant. The green of the endless terraced tea bushes are awe-inspiring. The tea is originally coming from China, where it has been consumed for 5000 years. Although, it was imported, Ceylon made the black tea famous with its high quality and "Best in Class" qualification. The leaves are collected exclusively by women, for 800-1000 HUF salary per day. The most expensive and ever best quality golden tea is drunk by the royal family in the UK and it is also good to know that only the latest shoots are collected exclusively by virgin girls in white gloves and cut with golden scissors. This is the purest type and without roasting. I also had to buy one box of it (13,900 LKR = 14,800 HUF) to taste and enjoy some luxury at home. Besides the golden tea, there are silver, green, white and black tea of course - latter has to bear the most number of manufacturing process. In the mountains of great humidity, a tea bush gives new sprouts in every 7-8 days and can be harvested during the whole year. The cut-off tea leaves are processed within 24 hours and just like in case of wines, there is a sommelier who tastes and evaluates. Those tea brands that we think to be good quality in Hungary (eg. Dilmah) are the poorest ones in Sri Lanka. And we should completely forget the tea in filter bags. And be careful of the leeches, there are many among the tea bushes and immediately stick to you, unless you have some salt with you to keep them away.  

Little Adam's Peak is a big wow and Ella Swing is the ever best idea of someone's (should do the same somewhere in Hungary). Time for being a real girl. Unmissable for female visitors! Going up to the peak no words can describe the beauty of the landscape. And then you start to think of how you can entirely utilize it, how you could become one with it and just discover that huuuge, giant swing with flowers and with a girlish costume that perfectly can fly while swinging. Now you feel the freedom, the luck, the gratitude, the youth, the feminity. Pampering the senses. Eyes see the beautiful landscape, ears hear soft music in the background, and soul feels very OK. Although, I was the last one to join my tour mates and the bus was waiting for me, I could not skip this and leave this place without trying Ella swing. Then and there a never to be forgotten memory was created. 

 

Another famous thing in Ella is the railway. Namely one of the 4 most beautiful railway route in the world. Very slow but it goes through the mountains and tea plants and somewhere the clouds come in through the window and then go out of another window. I had the luck to wait for it at the 9-arch bridge. The driver was super cute to decelerate enough to enjoy the sight for both the bystanders and the passangers as well.  

 

In retrospect, Jeep Safari is the only program that can be skipped from such a round tour. People can see more animals on the way than on such a guided tour, as the whole island is a ZOO. It is OK to get up before the sunrise, jolting on jeeps and searching for wild animals, but of course, success is not guaranteed. Finally, we could see colourful birds, peacock (with opened quill!), lizards, wild pig families, elephants, water buffalo, and a rarely seen bear.

 

The last UNESCO World Heritage site was the ancient town of Galle with the Fort. I missed the fishermen sitting on the poles.

 

The round tour was finished in Dickwella in the South and could spend 3 days at the beach to have a rest after the adventurous matterful trip and recharge before the flight back home. Here can be found the biggest golden Buddha statue of Sri Lanka.

 

To be continued and will be updated with photos, of course...