Down at the house this weekend with Jeroen and Lennard, we were finally able to give something back to our friends in nearby Perkupa. The Kisfalucskai family runs a fantastic B&B (Mária Vendégház, Perkupa, Gyöngyvirág út. 6, Tel.: 48/462-089), and Marikaneni makes, amoung other things, the best pogacsa on the planet. When I stayed with the family most of the summer of 2002 while the house renovations were taking place, Marikaneni cooked a 3-course VEGETARIAN meal every day, and none of the dishes were ever repeated! Amazing anywhere, but particularly in the Hungarian countryside. Maria and Guszti's son Dani made all of the furniture in the house. Every time we go over to visit, they just give, give, give and we could never seem to repay them for their constant hospitality to our satisfaction. Finally, Maria, Guszti and Aniko their youngest daughter excepted a dinner invitation. They were joined by local weaver Jolankaneni, who makes great and stupidly cheap rugs and doormats on a loom (from 1909) she traded 3 chickens for.

We made a kind of csirkepaprikas in a bogracs, potato salad, apple cobbler and a German turo crumble cake and ate outside in the waning summer sun by the fire. Our guests of course brought homemade cakes, pogacsa, wine, etc. and we ended up with almost more food than we started with.

I was once again impressed with Jozsef Vesztergombi's wines, having loved his kekfrankos, this weekend's Remete Cuvee 2005 (cabernet franc, kekfrankos, merlot) was also quite good. The Vylan Villany Rose 2008 was also quite good. The Kunsagi Rose Cuvee 2008 (kekfrankos, cabernet sauvignon) from the Kincsem Vineyard was ok, but I have to quote the back label; "Az egyre divatosabb es keresetebb rose bor a borok Jolly Jokere. Vegyen belole! Otthonra, vendegsegbe, reggelre, estere, ebedre, vagy helyette." - An increasingly fashionable and sought after rose wine, the jester of wines. Drink it at home, for breakfast, for dinner, for lunch, or instead of a meal! While Jolankaneni has a great eye for weaving, her homemade wine must be considered the most vile excuse for wine I have ever tasted.

The next morning, still in training for the Balaton Swim in two weeks, we crossed the Rakacai Lake and back, about 2.5km. This is the largest reservoir in Hungary, holding 5.5 million cubic meters of water, and 1.5 x 3km long. Last week the water was brilliant, but this weekend there was a thick green algae bloom covering the entire lake. It was really disgusting to swim in. The evening before, we had asked our guests about the lake, now used as a resouvior. Local legend has it that around 1956/57 there were sightings of the virgin mary where the lake now stands. The lake was created to keep the Russians away from the rumored uranium deposit there. Swimming across the lake we encountered uncomfortably hot patches, so maybe this explains it?

Next weekend, besides swimming a hopefully cleaner lake, we will be attending the Derenk Bucsu. In 1943 Horthy Miklos wanted a hunting park developed for himself and visiting dignitaries and so bulldozed the village of Derenk for it. The village mostly consisted of ethnic Poles for some reason. Residents were forcibly packed off to nearby villages such as Budoskutpuszta, Martonyi, Szendro, Szogliget, and elsewhere. For the last few years they have held a festival in remembrance of the village and its survivors including Polish bands, lots of food, and of course a mass. Parking is below the village and a bus will regularly pick people up from there. July 19th, all day.