Arrondissement de Melun

We docked this morning about six kms from the town of Kalocsa – pronounced Kal-OH-cha. Kalocsa used to be a riverside town, but the meandering course of the Danube over the years has taken away that status. This area is the epicentre of the paprika universe, with its long hours of sunshine and perfect soil conditions. Paprika is used in the classic Hungarian dish of goulash that comes in all grades from sweet to ferociously hot.

It's another spectacular day – warm and sunny with just enough breeze to keep us comfortable. We don’t have any activities until 1:00 p.m., so we enjoyed a lie-in and a late breakfast. The water level on the Danube is very low, so the slope up the ramp to ground level was very, very steep. We managed it, but there are a lot on this ship who are going to struggle. We walked about 2/3 of the way into town through fields of corn and something we need to identify. With 1.5 hours and 10,000 step under our belts, we retired to our balcony (for the first time on this trip) to enjoy some down time. The balcony can be fully enclosed for use in cool or damp weather. Today, we put the top window down to soak up the soft, lapping sounds of the Danube and the wonderfully fresh air.

This afternoon’s activity is a horse show at Bakodpuszta, followed by a stroll through Kalocsa. Will let you know about those later. Time to eat – again!

By the way, the location feature of FindPenguins isn't working very well with the weak internet, so some of the locations showing are wrong - like this one that thinks we are in France. I'll fix things when I get access to strong internet which might not happen until I'm back home. We've been warned that the farther east we head in Europe, the sketchier the internet will be. Oh well......

Bakodpuszta is a traditional Hungarian farm that raises cattle and pigs and sheep and uses horses for both work and pleasure. It was located just a short drive out of Kalocsa. The family put on a show for us. The first “act” was five horsemen and a short guy on a donkey. They displayed their riding skills and their whip skills. The whips make a cracking sound when snapped with the right force. Then they did a display knocking over a peg standing on a stump using just their whip while galloping at high speed. (Donkey guy finally used his foot.) Then they played “take the kerchief”, a form of tag where they try to get a kerchief from one another. The kerchief would have been given by a pretty lady as a token of her interest. This display of manliness is often done at weddings to set up the next loving couple. Yes, Donkey Guy captured the scarf and gave it back to the lady. A skilled driver with an assistant for making the turns races around the ring in a light weight wagon with drawn by four perfectly matched horses. The highlight of the show was when a young man drove 10 white horses, arranged 4-4-2, while standing upright on the last two horses - no carriage or wagon. Such arm and leg strength. No Planet Fitness membership required for him!

After the show, we had an opportunity to go out into one of the fields to see the livestock, and then to tour the barns which had horses, pigs with curly furry coats, sheep with long, curled horns and one dog that loved Doug.

Next stop – the town of Kalocsa. One of the main attractions is the Holy Trinity Square, named after the Holy Trinity column, which stands next to the Baroque-style Archbishops Cathedral. The present archbishopric, founded about 1135, is a development of a bishopric said to have been founded in 1000 by King Stephen the Saint. Many of the buildings in Kalocsa are yellow because yellow was the favourite colour of Empress Maria Theresa. We saw other buildings painted pale green and pink – so very different from what we see in Canada.

Then it was back on the buses to the ship. We set sail at 4:45 p.m. Next stop is Mohács, Hungary. We should dock about 8:30 p.m.

We docked in Mohács (MOW-haw-chs) right on schedule. A troupe of five so-called gypsy - they were probably just plain Hungarian - musicians clambered aboard. We enjoyed their music for close to an hour and then called it a night. It had been a full day.Read more