... how amusing, how delightfully droll." That's right, starting out with another lyric from a musical, this one from A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim. Yesterday, I went on a trip with ca. 35 other BSM students to Szentendre, a small town in the countryside about 12 miles north of Budapest. The main purpose of this trip was to visit Skanzen, which is an open-air ethnographic museum. Skanzen has taken homes and buildings dating from the 18th to 20th centuries and arranged them into villages representing what typical villages would look like in a given region at a given point in history. In addition to its permanent exhibits, Skanzen was hosting its annual Wine Festival this weekend. This is a similar to a harvest festival, because it celebrates the beginning of the grape harvest. Skanzen invites winegrowers from around the country to show off their wines, and has exhibits on viticulture and demonstrations of traditional dances and folk arts.
After entering the museum most of our group decided to take the train to the festival (yes this museum is large enough to justify its own train), but three other students and I decided to walk. All-in-all a good decision, because we got to enjoy the fresh air of the countryside and also we passed through a small village representative of villages in the north-eastern part of Hungary - which was cool to see. Plus, we were walking up to the train depot as the rest of the group was getting off (the train takes a very roundabout route). The festival was held in two of the villages that are adjacent to each other. Many of the museum workers were wearing traditional Hungarian garb, which gave me the sense of a Renaissance Fair. There were several games set up, including stilts, which, of course, some of the guys had to try (with minimal success - much to the amusement of the rest of the group).
Included in the folk art booths were a cheese stand and a honey stand. I tried a smoked cheese that was absolutely amazing - I did not think you could impart so much smoky flavor into a piece of cheese. The honey was also amazing, and I am not a huge fan of honey - then again I have never literally eaten the honeycomb (I don't think it gets any fresher than that). All of the other things you would suspect were present as well: bracelets, wood carvings, woven items, etc. After enjoying the honey, we went wine tasting (when in Rome...).
When our visit to the Skanzen was over, we went back to the city center. Now we begin a brief historical tangent about Szentendre. The town has been inhabited since the time of the Romans. During the middle ages, the town became a Serb community, and thus the architecture is different than many other towns in Hungary. In recent years, the town has developed into an artistic community because of its proximity to Budapest, picturesque views of the Danube and surrounding hills, and the laid-back atmosphere. The city center dates back several hundred years and is full of small, winding streets and alleyways. Szentendre also has a nice beach along the Danube and I saw a lot of sporting on the river (canoes, kayaks, and speed boats enjoying the nice weather). We had a couple of hours to explore the town and then we took a boat down the Danube back to Budapest, which was a relaxing cap to a fun trip.
I apologize that it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but there hasn't been much to say. I have been studying Hungarian for the most part. However, do check back next weekend, because I will be in Prague Thursday through Saturday. Also, if you want to see pictures from yesterday's trip, as well as August 20 and other exploring that I have neglected to post, you can look on facebook.
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