A Little Alliteration

A new week began with a dull monday, after seven days hammered themselves through our eyes, ears and brains with strong intensity. We left Maksimilian’s kitchen cabinet empty of chamomile (kamilica), we left Osijek with mixed feelings and Osijek saw us off with ice-cold rain and wind. It was just the perfect day to bid farewell.

As the weather turned bad, we left Osijek

Fortunately though, our trip wasn’t exactly over at this point. Jörn and Katalin invited us for a detour to Pécs, the city where they live at the moment, offering to spend their lunch break with us. This should become a real treat, we still talk about it today!

Ümit was full of enthuiasm to stay in touch with all the new contacts.

Pecs from above, always an intriguing perspective, Café Coffein, Pecs 2011

We arrived early and waited at Coffein right in the center, where it is most convenient to meet someone, and the coffee is most expensive.

Pécs Backstage

Going backstage, that’s how it felt to enter this tavern, which I would call a time capsule. There is everything left intact like it always has been. Never change a running system, they say. I agree.

Katalin And Jörn, Pecs 2011

Only Jörn decided to introduce a little anachronistic element, opening his notebook (or netbook for that matter). At the same time he thought about the possibility of being the first and the last one to use one in this place. Because netbooks themselves are already hopelessly outdated. If so, then what about people like me using a notebook with dual-core cpu, a spinning harddrive and a touchpad that doesn’t support multitouch, let alone gestures?

Authentic Hungarian tavern somewhere in Hungaria utca, Pecs 2011

Being in this tavern one should rather concentrate on the meals instead of trends. I really felt like warping backwards through time right to the kitchen table of my grandma. This traditional Hungarian food is very similar – if not identical – to what people used to eat in Burgenland (where I originally come from). There is one dish of the day with soup and dessert and also a menu with a couple of traditional meals. Everything is very rich, yet tastes quite natural, and everything is served with opulent quantities.

Last Page In Pécs

Katalin had to leave us early since this was a normal working day for her and Jörn. But he could still stay with us for a closing coffee, which we preferred to take somewhere else – not because we didn’t like the place, but because we were in dire need for some physical exercise after the voluptuous meal.

Europe's Biggest Empty House, Pecs 2011

Europe's Biggest Empty House, Pecs 2011

Not to my surprise, Jörn knew another place nearby which he wanted to show us: the biggest building in Europe that is completely empty.

Man Reading At Orange Cafe, Pecs 2011

In the shadow of Europe’s biggest emptyness there is an orange café where we got our coffee. On a sidenote, I just remember the automatic door of this café which is totally senseless and opens and closes like in slowmotion – but hey, it’s automatic! Speaking of slowness, we stayed there long enough so that Ümit and me could start some c&c(**)-dispute. Obviously we can get quite annoying with such topics, since Jörn asked Monika if it always like that – but this question had some disapproving undertone. Well, we stopped then.
Just have to add here that we really enjoyed our stay in Pécs, and I want to thank Katalin and Jörn a lot for spending their time with us, bringing us backstage in Pécs. It just fitted perfectly in our return, and bearing in mind that eating is one of the most sensual human experiences, I am sure this will stay with us as a longlasting memory for a long time.

(*) Bécs is Hungarian for Vienna. Literally means something like cage or even fortress. I had to think immediately of Vienna as a cage of insanity.
(**) Usually about capitalism and communism.

[[[ Overview: Kultur der Begegnung, Osijek 2011 ]]]