THE FIREPLACE

 

MEDIEVAL CHRISTMAS MUSIC - HUNGARY (HOLY EVENING - SZENTESTE)

posted by Bigas Daddy... go to the video on YouTube to read about this classical music form and how it may be a like or different from Bohemian or German music.

Christmas Eve is called Holy Evening in Hungary.

A PRAYER

 

VENI VENI EMMANUEL : ZOLTAN KIDALY (O COME O COME EMMANUEL)

HUNGARY : A GOOD PLACE TO RETIRE? A BAD PLACE TO GO AS A TOURIST?

Are Hungarians burned out on tourists? Unsmiling pessimists? Not willing to work in tourism and letting immigrant workers deal with tourists?

Is Hungary a great place for an American ex-pat to retire on social security? I hear the buying power is three times as much as in America.

These interactions occurred in recent days.

I talked to a Hungarian "cousin" who spends six months of the year living in Budapest, where he owns an apartment. He says he is "at peace" there, which he is not in the United States. In the U.S. he lives in a major city.  He is educated, intellectual, and artistic, and after many years in the U.S. he is also based here - marriage, children, grandchildren.

"You should get your Hungarian citizenship," he said. (He means duel citizenship.)  He urged me to walk into the consulate with my genealogy and I said "But there's a language requirement and I won't pass."  He said no there is not.  I quiet and look it up later - there most certainly is.

How difficult it is to pass a Hungarian language exam in order to get Hungarian citizenship is controversial.  Online you can read every opinion and experience about it. Easy! Difficult. 

Soon after speaking with him on the phone - outside a library where, upon the call coming in, I rushed out with book I had not checked out and sounded off alarms, I came in and apologized for the mishap. I explained I'd been waiting on the call and soon a library clerk came over to me.

"I just came back from Budapest and we had a horrible time."

According to this person, she and her traveling party, four women, had tried to speak Hungarian and thought they had done fairly well. This was a longed for and saved for vacation. However, she said people were not even willing to give them directions to the bus and were, overall, not nice to them. Then she said, "And they are racist." Since this woman could pass for a Hungarian I asked her what she meant. "One of the women traveling with us is from India. I think they snubbed us because they thought she's a Rom...."

Hmmmmmmm.

Any experience or opinion YOU want to share?  Leave me a comment!

A STAR

 

REMAINS OF SAINT NICHOLAS? CHURCH OF SAINT NICHOLAS ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE

DAILY MAIL SCIENCE - TOMB OF SAINT NICHOLAS FOUND?  Go to the article to see some terrific photos

Excerpt: The second church was found after researchers conducted electronic surveys under St. Nichoas church, finding gaps between the floor and the ground.

Then, in 2022, the team announced they may have found the tomb, but were still working to remove the Byzantine church's flooring to not damage it.

Osman Eravsar, the head of the provincial cultural heritage preservation board in Antalya, told Demiroren News Agency that year: 'The first church was submerged with the rise of the Mediterranean Sea, and some centuries later, a new church was built above.

HUNGARIAN COOKING : POGÁCSA (WHO WILL GET THE BISCUIT WITH A COIN IN IT?)

FOOD PERESTROIKA : HUNGARIAN BISCUITS  Love this website.  Well written by site owner Florian, interesting, and good recipes.... you'll get hungry just reading this.

Excerpt: In many Hungarian folk tales, the hero takes with him a pogasca baked in embers before setting off on a long journey. On St. Luca's name day (December 13th), a coin is hidden in a batch of pogis, and the person who finds it is said to win good luck for the following year.

Excerpt: One of the first written mentions of the famous pagasca can be found in The Science of Cooking, written by the court of the Prince of Transylvania around 1580 and available in English (link here.)  Not surprisingly for medieval cuisine, many of these pagacsa recipes include rose water, almond, wine, jam, or honey. Several of these use grated honey kalach mixed with soaked pieces of bread roll instead of making dough from scratch with flour....

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS IN HUNGARY : CHRISTMAS EVE (SZENT-ESTE) IS THE MOST IMPORTANT and ACTIVITY FILLED DAY

Because Hungary is officially a Christian country - though there Hungarians with a variety of beliefs and non-beliefs, Christmas turns out to be the most important holiday to celebrate. The emphasis is on religion.  And so, Christmas Eve is called Holy Evening.  The holiday is far less commercial than in the United States, and perhaps purchasing from the equivalent of a crafts fair or farmer's market is part of that. Doing so as a tourist or citizen helps keep the local economy and micro-businesses afloat.

For instance, a Christmas tree (a Germanic custom) is put up in the family home by the family on the Eve. Traditionally, the Christmas Tree was lit with candles. Candles, as well as sparklers (!) may be placed on the tree, something that most Americans would fear doing in case of fire.  If the children are small and not participating, the tree can be a surprise to see. They may be told that the angels brought the tree. They will get their gifts that evening and will be told that they were brought by Jesus, or Jezuska (little Jesus). If they did not participate in decorating the tree and it's meant to be a surprise, they may be told to wait until their parents ring a little bell to announce the time to enter the room, glowing tree and presents awaiting. The presents are wrapped to make the discovery of what's inside more exciting.

Candles are also used to decorate around the house, but are not lit until Midnight (the first moments of Christmas Day) and this moment is called Silent Night.

All day during Christmas Eve the household is bustling with activities. Christmas carols may be sung. Food may be prepared.

A favorite desert is called beigli, which is called a nut roll.  The beigli can be filled with walnuts, almonds, chestnuts, pistachio - or poppy seeds, which are seeds and not nuts. Fish soup or stuffed cabbage rolls are popular choices for meals. Pork, however, is not eaten in the lead-up to Christmas, advent, so it is not until Christmas Ever that it can be used as a filling for the stuffed cabbages.

On Christmas Eve the last candle of the four used in an Advent wreath is lit.  Four candles, for four Sundays are used in the wreath. The first symbolizes faith, the second hope, the third joy, and the last one is for love. The first three candles are purple, the final one pink, in Catholic homes. Usually the candles are arranged in a circle among some pine branches.

SAINT NICK'S DAY - HITCHHIKING SANTA CLAUS!

Just love the idea that his horses or raindeers went on strike!