Saturday, June 19, 2010

Museum Days

Last evening I had a dinner with Thomas and Carol, and if their plans went OK, they are now on their way to Budapest on their way back to Minnesota. I'm rather on my own in Pecs now, with Fulbrighters gone and class activities very much winding down. However, there is plenty to do.

I'm back at a bad task -- organizing all my receipts into categories so I'll be able to do an accounting when I get home about how my Fulbright monetary award was spent -- so I can minimize the tax bite on that money.

However, this title says Museum Days so let's get to that!

One of the things I did for my Hungarian lessons was to find the many historical markers around Pecs and try to translate those. That helped me learn Hungarian, but also helped me learn about Pecs history, too. One of the first ones I did concerned the Angster family. My translation led me to think Angster composed 80 organ concertos or similar works. My teacher helped me figure out that Angster and his sons BUILT organs in the designated building for 80 years -- just a slight difference! During those 80 years, the family built 1300 organs. If you have ever heard an organ in church or major concert hall in Hungary, Slovakia, or the Czech Republic, the chances are very good that the organ was made down the street from my flat here in Pecs. The organ in the Basilica here in Pecs as well as the organ in St. Stephen's in Budapest were made by Angster. I was excited when I saw signs saying there would soon be an opening of the Angster building. Yesterday I finally got there.


Here is a photo of the organ in the Reformed Church in Debrecen. This illustrates too that eastern Hungary tends to have more adherents to the Reformed Church.

 Above is a the newspaper from 1989 that shows the dedication of the historical plaque.

Here was a big surprise. Look at the staircase into the flat the family occupied. I was so glad to deepen my knowledge about Angster and Sons. Their work is an amazing achievement.

Today, when more than tired of organizing receipts, I walked down the street to the Nador Gallery. The present show is at least the third one I've seen in this gallery. This one is called Photography in Motion.

Take a look at this ghost.

I called the above Street in Motion. (I don't remember what the artist called it.). As people walked by the image kept changing.

And the two above are photos of falling water and moving grasses. What struck me about these photos is that they were taken in Cuba. I had to come to Hungary to see images of this country, because we are not really allowed to see these sights with our eyes due to US policy!

Back to receipts, but look back for another entry soon for tonight in the "Night of Museums" in Pecs and I have four visits on my list.

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