Last Wednesday, May 16th 2018, with my wife, her sister and her brother in law, we drove from Pécs to Mohács, a city 45 km east of Pécs, on the Danube.
In Mohács, there have been two battles, one in 1526, the other in 1687, that represented the beginning and end, respectively, of the domination of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire.
We first had lunch in a restaurant near the ferry terminal.
We had gone to Mohács primarily to take the ferry and cross the Danube to go to the "Mohács Sziged", the Island of Mohács. Mohács Sziged, a long time ago, was an island between two branches of the Danube. These days, most of the time it is not an island, except when the Danube is in flood.
The reason why we went to Mohács Sziged is that 60 years ago, in 1958 during the communist era, my wife's mother was a pharmacist in a very small pharmacy, while her husband, also a pharmacist, was doing his military service.
The pharmacy was on a street named "Riha dűlő". Here a picturesque bus stop on Riha dűlő.
When my wife's mother arrived in Mohács Sziged in 1958, she discovered a brand new house and pharmacy, but without electricity or running water.
We found the pharmacy, after some research. It is no longer a pharmacy, and by the look of it, it has probably been a bar at some point: the two lamps on each side of the door are advertisement for a local beer.
Next door was the house of the veterinarian and not too far was the one of the medical doctor.
And on the other side of the alley, there was a small convenience store, that is now closed and for sale. My wife, when she was 3 years old, was "buying" candy there: her mother was quite surprised when she was asked to pay for them!
Mohács Sziged is very flat and mostly farmland.
After our visit, we took back the ferry to Mohács.
We then went to the Sculpture Park of Nagyharsány, near Villány, in an ancient quarry.
There, for more than 30 years, sculptors for Hungary and other countries, came to work, teach, learn and socialize.
They could stay for free and be fed in a nearby building. They only needed to leave a sculpture before leaving.
There are more than 100 sculptures, from many artists.
"Unraveling", by Pierre Székely
I discovered this sculpture by a Hungarian artist that was born in Budapest in 1923, and that emigrated to France after World War II: Pierre Székely.
After spending about an hour in the sculpture park, we went back to Pécs.
That was a good day.
