Hungary: A country of the most indecipherable language ever.

Our train ride to Pecs did indeed turn into a relaxing journey. Julita managed to fall asleep on the benches at the train station (and would likely have slept through the arrival and departure of the train); she then fell asleep across the seats in the train; and she somehow always managed to fall back asleep between the respective border crossings (i.e. after having the Slovakian border agents come by and before the Croats could do the same). According to her, she did not sleep at all that night, I on the other hand watched all this with amusement in a half dazed state, desperately trying to fall asleep after every wakeup.

We made it to Pecs exhausted but had another 5 or so hours to kill before we were to meet up with Tamas, our next Couchsurfing host. Within an hour of roaming the town the headaches kicked in and almost everything turned into a big blur. One thing is sure, Pecs, although pretty, did not make much of an impression on us, especially not after having been glorified in the guidebook as the second best place to visit in all of Hungary (after Budapest). It does have a nice center core, a lot of pedestrian streets, some interesting/beautiful architecture including an amazing cathedral, but it is nothing to rave about. The heart of the city seems half asleep, even when filled with a decent share of locals and tourists.

Despite having been named the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2010 (along with Istanbul), we felt that the honor should have been bestowed on Ljubljana instead. Yes, there were plenty of festivals and events going on, some for free, but it, like Istanbul, was missing some kind of element that seemed through pulsate through the streets of Ljubljana. Maybe it’s because we didn’t manage to see any great performances while there, although we did listen to some of the music being played. And we also cannot write off our disappointment with the city to the headaches since by the second day they were completely gone.

On day two we went up to one of the local parks/mountains for a beautiful panorama view of the area and then planted ourselves along with Tamas in one of the numerous wine stands right in front of the Cathedral and took the time to enjoy a glass of Hungarian wine, followed by another, followed by another and followed by some more (interspersed with some very tasty home-made cheese). These quickly multiplied when more of Tamas’ friends showed up and it turned into a very pleasant evening that was brought to an end after midnight only because the next morning would have to be an early start.


PS: To briefly allude to the title: Hungarian is apparently the 5th most difficult language in the world. Its closest relative is Finish (the world’s most difficult language), and only distantly so. By this point in time there are virtually no similarities between the two. As such, there is nothing that you can fall back on. The words might just as well have been written using Chinese characters or Arabic script for all that you get out of them. If you don't believe me, consider the longest Hungarian word: 'megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért' (a mere 44 letters long). It means "because of your continuous pretending to be indesecratable" and contains a mass of inflexions, prefix, suffix, etc. The core of the word is 'szentség' means "sainthood".

And the pronunciation! Good luck is all I have to say. I’ve mastered cheers and thank you, as well as two other words learned over some wine and cheese. We were informed that when you meet someone, it is polite to give them “pussy” (puszi). After such an exchange you might be invited to eat some “shite” (sajt). The first refers to a kiss on the cheek. The latter is cheese