Upper Hungary – historical camp
1st day – Today we went abroad to our destination in Pozsony, somebody earlier, somebody later. From Kaposvár they were already towards Jászberény at 6 o’clock, fromwhere after a small speech we began our trip together. We had a stop near Bábolna, where we continue our trip after a small mechanical mistake. At Pozsony we met with our guide, who told us the story, and history of Pozsony, and learnt us the basics of the slovakian language. We closed our day with a tasty dinner. Versényi Virág, Bolyós Roland Márk ( J1), Frigur Mariann ( K3)
2. day – after breakfast we visited the cave of Driny. We travelled through Bazin, which won a prize several times before for being the most beautiful city in Slovakia. On the bus our tour guide, Kate guided us through the secrets of the slovakian language. The journey to the cave was really tough so we got very exhausted. The cave had an aisle which is 420 meters long, where we got to see some beautiful dripstones. Our next stop was the castle of Vöröskő, which is the biggest one of the Pálfy’s residencies. The building is renaissance styled and it has furnitures and paintings accordding to that era. Martin, our tour guide at the castle showed us how life looked like back then, according to legends. Ottó, the owner of the restaurant welcomed us with a delicous lunch. After that in the warm weather we went to have some ice cream to cool down. We closed the night with a billiard and table tennis competition in the lounge. Tar Viktória, Nógrádi Nóra K3
3. day – we aimed Nagyszombat as our destination,where the statue of two-faced Madonna is guarding the town. The town got its name by the market held every Saturday. At first we went along the street of students, which leaded to the cathedral of Keresztelő Szent-János. Students were seperated in different buildings by their wealthiness. At the medieval age a double-layerd wall protected the town, there are several bastions and gates. Int he beggining there were 2-2 gates at North and South, later another two has been built at East and West with a total of 6 gates nowadays. Nagyszombat was the town of king Nagy Lajos and the peace talks. We visited the house where the king died and were walking in the street which Gábor Bethlen hid the crowning jewelries in. Numerous statues were built for the tragedies of Holokaust and the plague, and one of them is in the Szent Miklós square which is the oldest square in the whole town. People can find the Szent Miklós church here and a picture in it which is known as a miracle: The Weeping Szűz Mária. The painting was crying during the turkish occupation and the last time it was weeping was during the plague infection in 1710. After a delicious ice cream we went up into a 56.85 metres, 7 storey firetower with 143 stepping stones. Lastly we went to the Mansion of Korompa which is working as a music museum and keeping the memories of the Brunszvik family. Ludwig von Beethoven was teaching the daughters of Ferenc Brunszvik. Today young musical artists and chamber orchestras attending here. Versényi Virág (J1)
4. day – Our destination today was Pozsony. At first we had a tour with bus, and visited the castle of Pozsony. One of the interests of the building, is that its western side is longer, than then eastern one. Our next destination was de square of the crowning hill and the tower of Ferencesek. Our day’s most beautiful part was the UFO tower. At the town’s oldest part, park of Ligetfalu we were walking and our guide teached us sioma yoga moves. We had to walk over the bridge of Franz Josiph to approach our eating destination. On way we saw the bridge of Apollo, which got its name after the first oil refining factory, which were blown up at 1944. The build was built on the left side of Danube, and it took 10 days to rotate to its place. The bridge won all of the national awards. At the end of the bridge we had a small break at the park of Safari square, where the Duckfountain can be found. After that we had a lunch and we got a chance to taste the famous kifli of Pozsony. Our next destination was the Notre Dame temple and abbey, where the blue ladies have learnt. Near the temple we visited Euegen Suchon square candle manifesting memoriem. At the kast we visited the Old Town Hall and the Priest Palace, which was followed by a small free time at the „Több mint szomszéd fesztivál”. Bolyós Roland Márk (J1)
5 day.
We began our day at Dévény where we have seen both the Virgin- and Southern towers of the castle, and Kati, the guide showed us the highest peak of the Danube yet, which terrfied us by reason. After that we went up to the castle, where we seen the most dangered flower of the country, and our guide told us stories about the past of the castle. We got an information, that the local girls int he past were living by collecting berries, and that the locals, the tot people were living by wiring. The main job of the men nearby were pottery. After that our guide were speaking about the history of the castle. After the castle we went to Pozsony, where after the lunch we have seen the guard change of the minister’s palace, which is nearby the hungarian’s embassy. After that we have seen a memorial of witch burning near the Mihály-gate. Following the road of the crowns (, which was meant to be the road, what the king has followed) through the moat ( which is the towns first permanent bridge) we got to the gate itself, which is the oldest gate inside the town. While standing at the Tompa street we managed to know, why was the place Barbakán an effective defensive point. The thinnest house was just 120 cm wide, which practical gain was to reduce the tax, because it was pointed out by the basics of the house. Under the gate we senn the 0 km stone, on which Budapest was pointed out. After learning a few things about dome, its structure, and then there was a presentation held by the local bishop about the symbols can be found at the church, who can speak hungarian too. At the end of the prestentation, and after the blessings, a little tired, but full of new experiences we wemt towards our hotel. We got colourful experiences and we had a rich day behind us.
Bolyós Roland Márk
Jászság 1.
6. day
At the end of the camp we went towards one of the historical Hungary’s mining town, Bajmóc. The town can be found in the Tiny-Carpathians, which were made famous by the most beautiful castle of the region, the castle of Bajmóc. Nearby many medical- and thermal baths can be found, so the castle was built up on one in the 12th century. During the past it was held by many nobles, for an example Máté Csák, the Thurzók and Pálffy family.
We went through the road of the Felvonulás while traveling by bus. The name can be linked to Anna Kardos, who set a rebellion in 1771 with the other female of the castle against the local landlord. They walked towards the castle on this way, where Anna was sentenced for her crimes.
By a written document from 1113, this is the oldest castle of the country, which was built by János Pálffy at the end of the 19th century for 22 years. The castle romantic, and ideal style amazed everyone. We walked over the imposant blue, green and golden levels, which are connected by a really long stair. The castle’s most beautiful place is its highest tower. To get up to it, we had to climb 136 stairs, but it worth, because from the top we could see the whole town and the surrondings. The castle also has a well with a small cave, which was found while the castle was renovated. In the cave it was 20 degrees colder than outside, which now was 5 degrees. It is interesting that the deepest lake of the cave is 8 m deep. We ended the day with a local tasty meal. The week-long billiard and table tennis championship continued, which finals will be held tomorrow.
Bolyós Roland Márk J1.
7. day
Similar to Transylvania, i had an amazing here too. I spent the whole week in happí mood, despite the high temperature. Everyone took part in the programs enthusiasticly. We spent the nights in a happy mood, we did billiard, table tennis, volleyball, football, and even some dance and singing together coloured oud nights. As the week went onward the friendships deepened, and as the last day came closer, we aknowledged sadly that tomorrow we will have to go home. Thank you for the opportunity, that i could took part and share the experiences with the other kids from jászság and kaposvár, and i could help the work of the mentors, i hope i could took part as a voluntary.
Before the camp we were really ecxited, about how it will feel to be together with the elders from the foundation. They accepted us lovely, and we made friendships really fast. We had many programs together: we visited museums, castlest, and we walked beautiful sight and we learnt the local traditions with the help of Kati, who has an amazing personality, and who was our guide too. With that the whole week went on with a happy mood, and we were only sad because it has ended so soon, we have a faith in that, by next time when we will come, we will have similar experiences and adventures together. Thank you, for this huge oppurtunity, and happy minutes, what we had spent together here at Felvidék.
At the last day of the Historical and Homeland learning camp at Felvidék we visited Galánta, where we saw the local hungarian and slovakian wearings, and cultures. At the museum we saw a presentation about the local territories iconic clothings, we learnt the history and etnografical uniqueness of the area. Galenta is the center of hungarians in Felvidék, its lords in the medieval era were the Eszterházy family. The main atraction of the day was the siberian tigers, who we had visited. They are the largest predators on the Earth. Despite of the high temperature they left their cages, and we could saw their real height. The owner of the tigers life goal is to protect these predators, and help them to survive. Her oppinion is that if the tigers extinct. After that we went to Jóka, where we had a visit to a watermill after a tasty lunch. At the end of the day we traveled to Pozsony, where we had a small free activity. Of course we couldnt left out the visit of Pozsony’s most iconic statue Csumil. The legends say that whoever hasnt seen the hilarious statue, was not even in the capital of the country.
