Spring has sprung!

Today I worked on a course for the doctoral nursing classes that  will I teach in April. The sun made the room warm, so warm that I opened the terrace door for the first time! I have been hearing birds too.

I went out this morning to change dollars for Euros to use when I'm in Germany. I was surprised at the changes since yesterday.

This sidewalk cafe has popped up!

This afternoon I just had to get out to the sun!

Every since I have been here, this building had a fence around it and the news that things were falling off the building. Something is happening now!

I went to get wine to take to dinner tomorrow night and then checked out the Ter. Progress there too. Today I watched the street being built. This is an art. Finding the right size and shaped stone and then putting it in place and then finding the next one. And if it is not the right stone, hit it and change the size and shape.

Notice the string to keep thing straight.

I fiound a poster about the election coming up in April. Sorry the picture is bad, but this is only sign like this I have seen.

I found the door open to the marzipan shop and got this picture. The shop is so small one can't take the picture inside.

 It looks like a cake but it is really marzipan candy.

What a difference a week makes. Last Thursday this square was covered with snow when the Metropolitan State students were here. Look at it today.

Hey Minnesotans! Can you believe this is the same street you started down to the train station?

I finished off the right.

This is lemon seft -- lemon ice cream with Hungarian champagne!

Signs of Spring

Spring seems to have arrived to Pecs, or at least the people are trying! The only snow left is those from deep piles where it was shoveled to clear walks and the piles are higher than usual and in the shade besides. Yesterday after classes I headed off to find some lunch and found women hard at work giving some new life to the tulip beds along the street.

Later in the day I walked into a courtyard and found the above. The last time I walked into this courtyard the straw area behind in the upper left held a Nativity scene!

I came home to do a English tutor session for a high school student who lives in one of the upper flats in my building. She surprised me with a gift. Her English is elementary. She could tell me she did not paint the egg, but she didn't have the vocabulary to tell me where it had come from. What a great treat it is to have this. I'll carry it home very carefully so I can have memories for years to come.

Today I went for my Hungarian lesson and then walked to the Arkade to get lunch. As I started walking down the hallway to the Food Court area, I could see from a distance that things had changed.

Here's what I found. This was amazing, but then I looked over the railing to another surprise. If anyone has children wondering where the Easter Bunny is, the answer is that all the bunnies are presently living in Pecs!

Behind this bunny one can see a pen with chicken wire fence. These areas on both ends of the displays have little shelters in them as well as straw all over the floor. I have a feeling that when I come back to Pecs after my upcoming trip that I may find either little ducks or chickens here.

It is so good to see the spring flowers!

Hungarian Independence Day

Today, March 15, is a national holiday celebrating Hungarian Independence. On this day in 1848, the Hungarian people rose up against the Hapsburg Empire. The rallying cry is generally attributed to Petofi, whose poem which was used that day begins:

On your feet, Magyar, the homeland calls!
The time is here, now or never!
Shall we be slaves or free?
This is the question, choose your answer! -
By the God of the Hungarians
We vow,
We vow, that we will be slaves

No longer!

There are many streets and squares in Hungary named after Petofi. Freedom didn't come in the 1840s, but finally in the 1860s the Hungarian people got some freedom from the Hapsburg Empire. However, Petofi is believed to have died in the war against Russia in 1849. Once I read that any social change takes 75 years, and often those that start it never see it come to completion.

On this day most businesses are closed, as well as schools,including the University, and the post office. The picture below announces that this store will be closed on March 15 and shows a banner of the Hungarian colors.

Restaurants are open because many people are out and about. I also think Pecs has some tourists who may have traveled because this year the March 15 holiday created a 3-day weekend for some people. Many people wear a tri-color rosette on their clothing as well.

There are not any public activities for this holiday. I asked, and no one suggested anything. I just took a short walk and didn't find any special activities going on. The sun is shining, but there is a stiff north west wind and it's quite uncomfortable out. Good thing not a big outdoors celebration.

This holiday reminds me a bit of how we do Labor Day in the United States; it's a nice day off from work, but no big public celebrations. However, I'm certain the holiday as a deep meaning for the people of this country.

More of Beautiful Pecs

I found another You Tube video of Pecs to share with all of you.

I did another long walk on Sunday, just exploring. I needed this break after tending to such mundane tasks as organizing all my receipts for food and other allowable expenses for the past month. I decided to check out the nearby peksag again.

At the end of Janos  utca I found the view of Havihegy was very nice. When the weather is better, I will take a bus up to there.

Then I continued walking in a neighborhood that was new to me.

I found a monument that looks like it relates to the military, but who knows?

Next a building of flats took my eye. The architecture is quite different with a glass fronted hallway. Not socialist realism.

Then down the street I found another interesting building. The sign on the building gave me the idea that this is a sports school, well probably not math and science, too, but a place to learn sports.

Then I found another building for the University. This is the law school building.

I cut across a few streets to try to find a place for my nails. After finding  the salon I found this building, another Zsolnay building. Amazing that Butor Raktar = furniture warehouse!

I cut up to my neighborhood by using the stairs by the Szinhaz, and I found real blooming flowers. The yellow flowers are real, new flowers!

This evening I walked to the Cathedral for a concert. Tucked behind a staircase where the sun doesn't get to it, I found this! The concert was excellent. It was fund raiser for something, but I don't know what. I think more people came than expected. There weren't enough programs for everyone, so I didn't have anything to bring home and look up the words. The Cathedral is amazing inside. Pictures some other time.

Walking on Saturday

After working in the early morning to develop one of the courses that I will teach in April, I took off for a long walk. I turned right out of the door whereas my usual routine takes me to the left. I decided to go find a neighborhood restaurant that had been recently recommended to me.

I was struck by two sensations. First, the colors! I find people in the United States have the stereotype that Central Europe is gray. Far from it! My land lady assures me that Pecs has always been colorful, that this is not a recent innovation. Secondly, what I was hearing was a cacophony of sound from the melting snow. The water was both dripping and rushing down the metal drain spouts, hitting the stone gutters on the street, dripping from the roofs -- an amazing sound. The world is totally different when there is not automobile traffic.

Walking a bit more I came upon a building that surely needs some loving care. It still has all the beautiful decoration about the windows and the roof line, and of course, since this is Hungary, somone has attached a beautiful street lamp.

A few steps more and I was at the northeast corner of the old city wall. I continued walking up some serious hills. The thought crossed my mind that this walk is probably much better done on a cool spring day than a warm/hot summer day.

In about five minutes I came upon an interesting view. Ah, this is the Kalvaria. I had seen this marked on the map, but didn't know what was located there. After climbing up a high hill, I still had to walk up about 40 steps to reach the top. Signage, provided in several languages, explains that the first church was built on this hill top in the 13th century. What existed here was destroyed when the Turks arrived in the mid-1500s. After they left, a small chapel was built and religious orders were charged with caring for the site.

Over time the religious orders left and the site was given to the free city of Pecs.  When the Communist government arrived the site was no longer cared for by anyone. Finally residents of Pecs formed a foundation to care for the site and keep in repair.

Turning around on this hill side I was rewarded with this landscape. Along the horizon are the Villany hills. Looking above the center vine on the wall one can see a dome peeking up. That is the top of the Szinhaz. Thus, I know my flat is basically right below where I am standing about one kilometer away-- and definitely all down hill!

A few more steps up the hill brough the sight of the Basilica towers peeking up. Since this is a huge church, the perspective here should give readers a feel for the hills in Pecs.

From here I headed back downhill and stopped for a cappucino at McDonalds. Then I was off to the Arkade to do some grocery shopping to last me for the next week. (On Saturday I fly to Berlin.)

Later in the afternoon I took off again for a short walk, mostly to check a poster about a concert to go to tomorrow evening. But I got sidetracked walking different places. I was surprised to see workmen still out doing street work at 5 PM on Saturday evening. You have to understand that nearly all businesses in Pecs, except restaurants close by at least 2 PM on Saturday afternoon.

On the corner I noticed a peksag (bakery) that I didn't know was there. This is only about a three minute walk out the door. Once the street is fixed, I'll probably be there a lot. The shorter the distance to carry food back to the flat, the better!

Another thing that intrigues me in Pecs, besides the many different kinds of street lamps, are the garage and courtyard doors.

Here is one I walk by frequently.

And here is a close up photo of one of the door medallions.

Here is another courtyard door in somewhat the same area.

And finally a sign of spring. Outdoor diners, but what you may not be able to see is the heater in the space. I plan to go back to this place tomorrow. If I have to plow through some heavy academic texts getting ready to teach a class, I mean to do in some comfort!

Getting Things Fixed

Yesterday I wrote about my delight to have the printer in my office working again. Today I went over to the office and printed out articles to give to graduate students next week who are very much interested in the magnet hospital movement. They explained to me it is both very difficult and very expensive to get English language articles, so I'm delighted to be able to help in this way. I can use my university databases to search for materials and the only cost is the paper to print out the articles.

Other things got fixed this week, too. Ever since I've lived in the flat here in Pecs, the lock on the door that opens from the street has been a challenge. I came back each time wondering if I could get in, and sometimes had to ring another flat for someone to help me. I realized I was avoiding going out once I came back from my teaching assignments so I didn't have to inconvenience someone. Then this week the locksmith came and installed a new lock, and now it works like butter. What joy!

Also, it wasn't a big deal, but to run the washing machine I had to go under the sink, move out the trash can, unplug the refrigerator and then plug in the washing machine. A couple of times I forgot for a couple of hours to reverse the procedure. This week a double plug became available and now both appliances can be plugged in all the time. Now all I have to do to use the washing machine is push start. It suddenly seems like a great luxury!

Walking over to the Arkade after the time in the office I came across two men changing the flags. I decided this was definitely a sign of spring even if there was snow on the ground. Flag changing is a unique kind of spring cleaning.

From the right the flags are the Pecs city flag, then the Hungarian flag and then the EU flag. The green flag on the left remains a mystery. It simply wouldn't blow out in the wind for me to read the writing on the flag.

By late afternoon a lot of the snow has melted and warm temperatures are forecast for next week. Let's hope so.

Metropolitan State Student Day

Today was the day the students came from Budapest to Pecs. Pecs was again snow covered and the morning walk was a sloppy mess. I went to my office for a bit and was delighted to find my printer has been fixed and now I'm in business there. I so wanted to get some materials ready for students in the MSN class here that they requested after I spoke with them last month. Now being able to print articles, I'm able to finish this project.

I then went to the train station. About ten minutes before the train was to arrive I began to hear announcements about the train from Budapest-Keleti, but my Hungarian was not good enough to understand the difficulty. I walked back into the station to look at the digital announcement board. Then I learned another word in Hungarian -- late,something like keson, but in a slightly different declenation. Anyway late 15 minutes.

The train finally arrived and many people got off, but no students. Just as I started to walk onto the platform to see around the train, the group began arriving and explained they were in the very last car. We set off for my office building, because it was frankly, a good place to use the toilets. Then a professor scheduled to speak with the students later in the day asked if she could do in the morning because a family emergency, so it was very good thing I had left this spot on the morning schedule.

So they sat down in a classroom and learned about the Erasmus program from Professor Timea Nemeth.

From there we walked to the Arkade where everyone had lunch. This required them to all go into the food court and get something for themselves rather than having table service. Everyone seemed very happy with what they got. Then we headed up to Szechenyi Ter to meet with Professor Thomas Burns, another Fulbright professor. We went to the Vorosmarty Building of the University of Pecs -- and considering the weather grateful that I had asked for a classroom in which we could meet rather than having such a meeting outdoors.

Professor Burns explained the two golden eras of Pecs, one being the time of 300- 450 when it was a Roman province capital and the second being the time of the Turks when it was an administrative capital for that government.

We then walked to the Cella Septichora where we were given a guided tour by Professor Burns. Here are some photos.

The students really seemed to like this visit and truly having Professor Burns made all the difference. He was able to explain details and concepts in such a way that everyone could understand what they were seeing in context.

Next we went back to the Vorosmarty Building, and had a presentation about the University of Pecs. The students were very attentive and asked some good questions about salaries for working professionals in Hungary.

Then came free time. I told the students about the Jazz Ambassadors Exhibit at the House of Arts, but when we got there it was had been changed to a stamp exhibit. I'll go back sometime and give it a more thoughtful look.

We had dinner at the Elefant Haz, eating fine food very quickly for the time came quite fast to depart to the train station. I got everyone started going down on Jokai Ter and told them not to turn anywhere until they got to the train station.

When I turned to go back to my flat I saw these interesting street lights. I noticed all the street lights the very first moments almost that I got to Hungary. In Poland I take pictures of the fences. This is the first of what may be a large collection of street light pictures.

We had a wonderful day. It was great to have them all here. They were very good sports about the lousy weather. Everyone seemed to like Pecs. I know I surely do!