A few months ago, I wrote a story for Business Hungary about the Hungarian Mangalica pig breed, which has made many appearances in this blog. During my interview for the story, my main source, Peter Toth, the man who saved the breed from extinction in the early 1990s, invited me out to see his farm. So two weeks ago, I took him up on his offer, and Michael, Balázs and Zsofi came along too. Toth's business partner is Spanish, so he also invited a group of really nice, young Spanish diplomats to come too. His farm - which is about a two-hour drive outside of Budapest - is full of fun animals. I got to play with sheep dogs, indigenous Hungarian sheep, turtles, pheasant chicks, and even a huge boa constrictor and other snakes, because the farm's caretaker loves reptiles. It almost temporarily satiated my craving for pet ownership - almost.
But of course, the main attraction was the Mangalica. Since we were at the genetic bank and the breeding and birthing facility, I saw lots of piglets, and I even got to hold a five-hour old piglet - definitely the highlight of the trip! I totally lucked out too, because the girl who held it after me was peed on, but I was unscathed and still enamored with the little guy. I've been told I look like a proud parent in the picture below, especially since I am wearing scrub-like attire (we all had to wear the special gear to see the pigs).
We went through all the barns to see the pregnant sows and the boars. I was amazed at how enormous the boars are - especially the "best breeding ones." Also, we were shown their fertilization laboratory and saw embryos the size of gummy bears - totally fascinating. As a result of this trip, I now possess an intricate/R-rated knowledge of pig breeding rituals; I can supply my facts upon request.
After the farm, our wonderful host took the whole group to neighboring wine cellars for lunch. Hungarians, especially in the countryside, are known for their hospitality, so we were immediately greeted by the first cellar owner - a jolly, red faced man - with a shot of mandatory palinka (Hungary's fruit brandy). Then we went underground into his murky, moldy cellar (which is normal because of the dampness). Using a giant dropper, he proceeded to fill all our glasses again and again with his variety of homemade wines. Thank goodness we had a DD arranged, because this overzealous host did not understand the words "no thanks."
Luckily, that great deal of wine at 1 pm was followed by a hearty meal of Mangalica goulash - made in the traditional way of boiling all the ingredients in a huge kettle over an outdoor fireplace. It was absolutely delicious! But, then the hospitality ritual continued at the next man's wine cellar. This old man was a particular character/flirt, who not only boasted how his (very bitter) wines make young men virile, he also invited me and Zsofi to stay the night with him just to test it - for a minor stud fee. Balazs, who was translating this proposal for me, could barely utter it without bursting out laughing. Luckily, unlike our other host, he did understand Zsofi and my profuse "no thanks." After gulping or surreptitously pouring out the endless wine samples, we escaped the depths of the cellar and go on to our next stop on this quintessential Magyar day.
We moved on to Miskolc, one of the biggest towns in Hungary to a thermal bath that's built into a cave. The bath had winding waterways that led into numerous caverns. I was hoping that it would be less renovated, and feel more cave-like, but for safety's sake, the rocks had to be reinforced, thus making it feel a little fake. However, the soaking was a pleasant, sobering conclusion to the fantastic day.
Last week, Michael and I were back in Zagreb for a wonderfully uneventful week - we didn't have Internet at home, which is why I haven't posted this blog until now. Now, I'm back in Budapest awaiting the arrival of two of my best friends - Ben and Kinsey. Next week we're going to Prague and the Croatian coast. I'll update soon.
