6 am comes pretty early, but you may be surprised to know that the sun was already very high. I mean like 9 am high. How long is it really dark here? It is totally bizarre to me that there is so much daylight here. Hungary doesn't have much English by the way. The train situation is entirely figured out by departure time and maybe a station name if we are lucky. To get to Kaposvar, we had to take a 3 hour train from Budapest with a switch in the middle (the middle of nowhere that is). Dombovar station is pretty small and NOBODY speaks english there. There were 4 platforms maybe, but we were able to find the right train and get on it. Side note: a European friend of mine informed me that most European trains have wifi. I am not sure what he is talking about because I haven't encountered a single one. Maybe the wifi is only in first class, which I am definitely not a part of. Or maybe those trains are in Eastern Europe, which I am not frequenting at this time. The train we had to take to Kaposvar didn't even have air conditioning, let alone wifi.
It is a touch warm in this Hungarian air today- a sharp contrast from Prague. I definitely welcome this summer weather and am so glad I got to experience it in the garden that Denes has built in the past years. After Denes, Andi and Andras picked us up from the train station, we went to Andi's mom's apartment to use the restroom and grab waterand what not. Andi took us to Szenna jegy which was a traditional 19th century Hungarian village. There were numerous living quarters with stables, kitchens, breweries, and a church built in the late 18th century. The materials used to build the houses ensured cool dark air circulation all year. It seems quite efficient to have houses still built that way. The walls are really thick, yes, but it seems to save a lot in terms of cooling and heating.
After we explored here for a while, we headed to the garden. The garden is used for long weekends and getaways and how perfect it is for that seclusion and retreat. Denes and Ebola come out almost everyday to tend to the garden now that they are retired. When we arrived Denes was picking fresh cherries next to the house. Andi got us some bowls and took us through the garden picking strawberries (the best strawberries I have ever had- no joke), thai berries, raspberries, fruits from a strawberry tree they called it but it was black, sour cherries and fresh cherries. We had like 3 bowls full, just eating the fruits right off the trees as we went. It was perfection. Slowing down to enjoy this beautiful fruitful garden; exploring this place I haven't been in 16 years; remembering what it was like in my mind then. Meanwhile, Denes and Ebola were preparing the most delicious meal I have had since we have been gone. Chicken and potatoes from the hand built fire over outside with homemade cucumber salad (my brother's favorite), tomato salad, and (frozen- oops) pasta salad. The chicken was so wonderful and flavorful. I mean my mouth is watering just writing about it and its 8:30 am. For dessert they prepared strudel ith cherries they picked that morning and poppyseeds. Delicious. They even served us some of their homemade wine from all of the grapes they have grown. Amazing.
We walked down the dirt raod a little ways so that I could collect some poppies that were sprouted periodically along the path. Unfortunately thy don't collect well and by the time we made it back to the house, they had lost all of their petals. Not to worry- Denes cut us some of the most beautiful roses from his garden. The man has a green thumb. We packed ourselves into the car with roses, fruit for the road, homemade snack biscuits from from the oven, and a little bit of paradise. Also I forgot to mention, about 200 bug bites each- beauty is pain.
Andi took us into Kaposvar and onto the walking street. A lot there has changed since I was here last and they have made many improvements to this downtain square area. I enjoyed seeing the church that Andi and my brother were married in many years ago and remembering falling asleep in the pews as the flower girl. it feels like a lifetime ago but I am fortunate to have made it back and to have spent time with Andi while I was there. To top it off, my nephew is the same age as I was when I was here last- full circle as they say.
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