The trip was fantastic. There were 39 of us from all over the country and Canada. There was about 7 of us that had Hungarian heritage. It was interesting to hear what they remember of their grandparents. Some had lived with them so they even knew some of the language. We were comparing what foods we remembered and liked. Naturally we each bought another cookbook. Like I don't already have enough.
The weather was great. The country side similiar to what we see at home. Linda and I made sure we ate Hungarian food and drank Hungarian wine or beer every day. Now that was good. We were in several villages and towns that tourist don't usually come to. We were in Budapest, which is actually 2 cities. Buda is on one side of the Danube and Pest is on the other. We visited Szentendre, Szekszard, Szekesfehervar, Tihany.
The quilters we met were wonderful. It was amazing, even though english was not the common language, we all understood each other. We met with 3 seperate groups of quilters. They each had a reception and presents for us. The 2 Hungarian women that helped set this up for our group were wonderful. One of them I had already met by e-mail this year. We had been "talking". So it was fun to meet her in person, Magdi Csendes. She is a member of the Board of the Hungarian Patchwork Guild, and the international representative for Hungary in the European Quilt Association. We hit it off immediately. Because she had to mingle with the group, we did not get to spend a huge amount of time together, but said we would continue e-mailing after the trip. The quilts the Hungarian quilters have done are amazing. They have a right to be proud. There was show and tell at each group. Patchwork is only 20 years old in Hungary. There were tears and welcoming hugs with each group we met. We were the first
group to ever go to Hungary for a quilt related tour.
Here is Caroline with 2 of our new quilt friends.
We got to go to a Hungarian Winery, and that evening had a wonderful meal, and got to taste 6 different wines. Linda and I went to the Great Market Hall in Budapest and bought some traditional things to eat, salami, cheese, pastries, and of course beer and wine. Several times our evening meal was what we had picked up during the day. The food was so good.
We went to a factory that makes a particular fabric native to Hungary. It is a business that a family has had for about two centries. The factory is a home based business. Not much has ever been adapted to modern machines. The secret of the resistant used in the process is family owned. I actually knew about this fabric before the tour. There are only 5 factories left in the country that still make this fabric. We also visited a shop from another factory. It is indigo with white designs printed on it. I definately wanted some of that fabric. It is beautiful.
We went to a doll museum one day. The lady made all the dolls totally by hand. They depicted clothing worn by Hungarians through the ages. They were beautiful. There was a surprise. Linda (my sister) had been chosen to be dressed in a traditional costume. The ladies dressed her in special underwear, 5 petticoats, each more elaborate then the last, a blouse, skirt, apron, 3 pieces to the headpiece and shoes. It was cool. She played the part well.We went to textile museums, churches, town squares and walking tours and a Benedictine Abbey in Tihany. We stayed in 4 different hotels. The city tour we took in Budapest was by bus, to a castle, Heros Square, past all sorts of wonderful things. There was also a boat trip on the Danube River. The view were fantastic. I took over 800 digital pictures. We have a new TV and you can put the chip from the camera in it and look at the pictures. WOW!!!. Some of the pictures are really good.
After the "tour" ended, Linda and I spent two extra days in Budapest. We had a ball. Took the bus, from one side of the river to the other and walked and walked. We visited St Stephens Bacillica, the Castle of Buda, Matthias Church, The Synagogue in the Dohany street. Fisher's Bastion, Market Hall. We walked across the Chain Bridge. There was an exhibition outside in front of one of the museum for Breast Cancer.
On Saturday we saw a helicoptor circling. We found out there was a demonstration in one of the squares, and the streets were blocked off. The bus we needed to catch was not running on this side of the river. (Gays and Lesbians and the Prime Minister were meeting in the square.) We were in a castle that had been turned into the 4 Seasons Hotel. It is the most expensive hotel in Budapest. There was a lot of places to see that we could walk to. Now these were not always short walks, but walks we did. We figured we walked off all we had eaten and drank. The only day we had crummy weather was on the last Saturday before we came home.One of the things we did was to each make a 12 1/2 inch quilt block to exchange with the Hungarian quilters at our last stop.
This is the lady that received my block which was the Illinois state block. The other picture is Linda, Magdi and myself.
I am going to put the block I received in a quilt. I took 3 1/2 inch signature blocks with me to have the Hungarian quilters and fellow tour members sign. I have taken a few of the pictures and printed them on fabric to include in the quilt. Plus, I will all the presents and pins, and stuff i picked up on the trip to be included in or on the quilt. I haven't put any of those things away yet.
Security in Frankfort is very high. You had to go through security stations several times. Passport was checked everywhere. Before, I had gotten foreigh currency a coke cost me $4.14 in the airport with American currency. Things were expensive in Hungary, as I found out when I got my credit card bill. I did use a lot of currency.
All in all I had a great time. I would do it all again. It was a wonderful trip. I met a lot of great people and had a super time. It was good to spend time with my sister. Even though she is not a quilter she had a good time too. We just told her to think of our quilting addiction to a shoe addiction.
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