The taxi driver on the way from Budapest airport to our hotel announced that his name is Attila (the Hungarian) and his brother's name is Zoltan (sultan). Sadly we did not meet his brother; but Attila, unlike his namesake, was delightful and having said that he spoke only a little English, proceeded to tell us about his former career as an HGV lorry driver, discussed politics and of course, football.
The fact that many of the people that we met on the first Club tour to Hungary spoke English or German was a great help as we found Hungarian difficult to learn. Most of us struggled to progress beyond 'köszönöm' - thank you.
Club members had enjoyed a number of tours to 3 of Bath's twinned towns: Aix-en-Provence, Alkmaar and Braunschweig. Bath is also twinned with Kaposvár in Hungary but we had only recently made contact with Hungarian pétanque players, so this visit was long overdue. Don Grimes, the Club President, worked hard to make contact with players in Pécs and Balatonfüred, find accommodation and arrange travel, but had been unable to locate any players or clubs in Kaposvár.
From Budapest we travelled to Pécs, a lovely walled old town with a unique mix of Islamic, Magyar and communist era architecture, and numerous museums and art galleries to explore. The next day we caught the local bus to Kaposvár and met up with Peter Metcalf, the 12th Club member on the tour. We were warmly received by the town's deputy mayor in the town hall, and Kinga Futó the Kaposvár-Bath twinning co-ordinator. A brief conducted tour of the town was followed by lunch with traditional Hungarian dishes. Kaposvár is a lovely town and we wished that we could spend more time there. We want to return, especially as we now know that there are some local pétanque teams.
The next day, back in Pécs, we met up with local players for a friendly męlée. As the local terrain was flooded we played in the grounds of a ruined abbey with spectacular views over the city and surrounding countryside. Chris McGinn and Diana Lockwood gained joint 3rd place with their respective teams and new friends were encouraged to come to Bath for a return match.
Without doubt the highlight of the tour was the open doubles competition in Balatonfüred, played in bright sunshine in a beautiful park beside Lake Balaton. There were 22 teams from near and far, including a number of players we had met in Pécs, and some local players that we had met the previous evening at an impromptu wine tasting arranged by the competition sponsor. Di Greenaway and Terry Basson played Barna and Peter, the Hungarian national champions in the semi-finals, losing by 10 points to 13 in a hard-fought match that could easily have gone the other way. They were presented with 2 bottles of wine from the competition sponsor and Di won the prize for the highest placed female competitor. As Di pointed out, she and Terrry are old enough to have been grandparents to their opponents, but were most definitely not outclassed.
During our last evening together I asked what people had enjoyed most about the tour. People cited the camaraderie of the tour group, and the friendliness of the Hungarians. The quality and low cost of the food and wine were added bonuses, as was free travel on buses and trains for those aged 65+.
We hope that our new Hungarian friends will come and visit us in Bath. The Club will certainly return to Hungary, so we need to remember that Hungarian for pointing is közelitö, and shooting is lövö.
Diana Lockwood
November 2014
Queen Square continues to be closed for refurbishment. We are still not sure of the actual date when it will be reopened although it is anticipated that this will be completed by the end of November.
This Year's club dinner will take place on November 28th 2014 at