My mom's cute birthday cake... [today is the day] Yummy! ヽ|。´ェ｀|ﾉ I mean I bought another one for myself too... Hahaha
This is from Veszprém - as I say - sweetest cake shop, Kokó [interesting name, eh? In Hungarian slang they say 'kokó' to cocain... but although I never tried even a little pink heart pill in my life, I tell ya these cakes are far more worth it than those craps... ~I'm flying~ *wink*].
The cake shop is in the city, under Kossuth Lajos street 8 [Veszprém].
Today's song from a crazy French band I like... I was in the mood listening just this one song all day... I hate when I'm annoying myself...
I know I'm like a ninja cat, I appeare then I
dissapeare and so on… This was a shit month, I was ill, then I
was down, then I was ill again [with something else]…
It all started with my holiday. I wanted to
spend just five days in Eger [a city, I will write about later], when we
arrived the temperature was 13°C with heavy rain and this one cold day was
enough for me to catch a cold with quinsy… and I was sick for two more weeks… Who
can catch a cold in August? Me! Who else… I think my immune system is very low…
I must do something beside taking multivitamins. Now that the Autumn is coming
I will make my fave soups with plenty of vegetables. This will help, I hope.
I don't know if anybody remembers from last
year, but I wanted to make a felt tote bag, inspired on my fave Japanese
horror, Hausu [1977].
But this plan remained a plan till this June
when I started to sew it already. I wanted to finish for my holiday, to wear it
in Eger with the outfit I composed, but that's reamained a dream too. I hate
being ill and how can be so cold in Summer, what is this, tundra?! T.T
So this is the bag I made
I feel myself like a voodoo doll or
something, my fingers hurt from the many pin-pricks… but worth it!
and this is the outfit
The t-shirt from Red Bubble, 70's style trausers from
H&M, Sailor Moon choker from Ebay.
As they said in the radio we must beware
with tanning, because the ozone layer is critically thin [or how they say] above Hungary. This sounds
awful… but for me it's all one, I hate tanning. Pale skin
forever!
After 3 years at last I swim a big in the
Balaton. I think my only busy days when my cousin is here. Almost
every day we go somewhere for four weeks. So only with them I like to go to the
beach. And I can go after work only, so after 5 p.m. the sun isn't too strong, the
water is nice, I have no fear about burning down even a bit and there are only
a couple of people on that beach [we usually go] in those late afternoon hours. Only the
allergy what is getting on my nerves…
My family is a real water lover one. My
cousin - technically speaking - grew up on the beach. My abstract aunt don't see or hear in the water, she is just smiling into the unknown... My nephews only come out of the water when
their lips are artistically dark purple or when the speaker attracts attention there is a storm
coming and everyone must get out. Her husband is the same as their boys. My mom
is the same as me, we are grumping because of the sun is too strong, there is too much
people, there is no paper in the toilet, our nose is itching from the pollen, the
beach food is too expensive and greasy but we are smiling crazy when we are in the water at last… Then we come out of the water and everything is fine, who
cares about the other people, who cares about the sun, there is the beach umbrella
and the 50 factor sun cream, we can use tissue as toilet paper and I eat a
big beach burger every time to finish the day…
Duckies on the pond…
The sound is soo relaxing... [except the people talk in the background...]
~Part of your woooorld!! (✿´θ｀)ノ ~♬♪♪
My newest "beach bag" [ebay], but I keep
my camera in it.
Anyhow my mermaid self was really happy on that day.
My sweet little nephews for a moment…
How they are staring the water is soo cute. ~Sssh
I think they are the only children on
this whole world I can really like.
But my cousin is unbelievable sometimes…
As we were staring the water, she suddenly asked
me:
- Vikus, do you ever want to get
married?
- Nope. [?????]
- Because you cook good. We think about
to adopt you.
…
I really couldn't what to say… Hahahahha
Why there? She and her unique sense of humor… She was just joking, right? Or not?
Hahha Jeeez. So if I don't want to be someone's wife than I can be my cousin's
household cook in Nancy. I just really don't know. I sleep about this one or
two or a hundred nights… Hahha I like Nancy, but to cook for them is a serious
business without any joke. They are like locusts. Last time I baked a big
whole roasted chicken with plenty of rice. She, the two boys and her husband ate the
whole pan and the big pot of rice under 10 minutes… [I watched the clock!!] I only
could eat some tiny parts… T.T ...the only moment I remember that in the smallest
boy's left hand there was a drumstick in his other hand there was a wing…
like in those Medieval movie scenes around the full table. Terrific! Hahaha
I forgot to write about this place we
were in July. I like to plan one-day long trips here and there around Veszprém
when I have time. I'm too much at home, except when I'm in the sunny-shiny workplace...
and my mom is too much with her thoughts at home so need the fresh air
sometimes to cheer her up and myself as well.
Baláca is a historical Roman Villa, excavated
in 1906 and they finished the renovations about a few years ago. It's near to Veszprém,
about 20 minutes with bus/10 minutes with car and it right after Nemesvámos in the beautiful countryside.
Pannonia [Roman name of the area where
later Hungary evolved] was the 22th province of the Roman Empire in the 1th
century a.d. The line of the Danube was the 'limes', the eastern borderline of
the empire. Main fortresses were at Szőny [Brigetio] and Óbuda [Aquincum, today northern Buda] for
example.
When the Romans came some kind of celtic
people lived here [far before we came] with their own traditions and religions. The Romans
brought themselves their Italian traditions, lifestyles and religious stuffs also so the
two culture merged into one even if the celts were not very happy about it...
Where there weren't military fortresses,
they built villages, towns with temples to their Roman gods and baths of course.
The older soldiers and the civilians [merchants, tradesmen.. etc.] took up their's domicile here with their
families. The Transdanubia, especially the Balaton region was best for growing grape,
the lake was rich in fishes, the clean springs to life, the Bakony was full of
wild animals [yeah WAS, thanks to the Romans too…]. Agricultural holdings were near the Lake Balaton
and Baláca was one of them. Some artifacts were found here and there in the Balaton
region, but this villa is the only resident what was found – more or less – as complete.
Detailed wallpaintings, decorated flooring, mosaics were found, what required
in those times high – Italian - expertise. There were underfloor heating [hypocaustum] as well. The artifacts speaks
about luxury and confort.
Lapidarium
I liked this Goddess Diana relief
as well as this limping Hercules sculpture
It's a pity they stole almost every idea from the Greeks [thinking about Diana/Artemis, Hercules/Heracles too], probably that's why I love the Greeks more than the copycat Romans. But yeah they gave us some new things we must admit it:
This is a double joy, two original Roman ovens. When they hold events there, they bake fresh breads and other bakery products to the audience.
I think my favourite was this botanic
garden. I always wanted even a small one. We only have a small balcony at home,
but I'm planning to make some pottery garden-like thing with basil, sage or medical herbs
or some poisonus plants if they freak me out just one more time in the office… [just kidding…
sadly]
The garden was so chilling to sit a bit.
A big storm came… I love the coming of rain
So we got wet as hell because the bus
station was far and the bus didn't come in time… but I still love rain!! Haha
Some other personal stories about Baláca:
In my 1st year in high
school they organized a Midsummer's Eve performance to the parents with togas,
classic poems, a shorter play or whatever else was there. Half of my class - with my
friends also - were in, I didn't. I was shy among other problems… Sometimes I
just hate that I was a coward bunny. *sniff* When they showed me the photos I
was jealous… It looked great fun. Everyone were laughing in those big
togas and Roman military clothes, the whole villa was cozy in the torch lights,
there were period music and Roman food… I hate myself.
For some years later.. I have a better
memory.
In the beginning of the 2000's I studied
the 'protection of historical monument' thing therefore we had Summer class
works. On the first Summer we had to participate in an archaeological
excavation in/and near Baláca. In those times Baláca still was not renovated
fully, it was under process and near Baláca there were other things too than just Roman
memories in the ground. After Romans, another people lived here, the Avars. Some Eurasian
nomad people, they lived here between the 6th-8th century. Not certain who were
they exactly, but some of them spoke the ancient Hungarian, some of them was
ancient Turkish… We, the Magyars[Not Huns!] started to come in the Pannonian/Carpathian
Basin only in the 8-9th century.
On the excavation we were divided into
small groups so I – the lucky one - was with the head chief archaeologist, an
antisocial, grumpy, children-hater, bossy old bi- … Ööö Well this character can be
me as well… but noooo she was far worse than me, ok?!!!! Hahaha
So my group dig out this Avar handsom…
[who probably died a horrible death]
I named it Chad… because in those times
I was a big fan of Nickelback… no comment.
When my people arrived in the C. Basin,
the Avars all dissapeared/died. Probably from the many Frank attacks. According
to the local archeologists it's quite certain that whole Veszprém built on an
Avar cemetery… Spoookyyy!
When our only McDonald's was built in
the city, they found some Roman bricks in the ground [beside Avar skeletons], so
they built those bricks in the main wall of the restaurant. The only thing what I like in the Veszprém McDo…
The ominous class... seems to me a hundred years ago...
So the villa is fully reconstructed/renovated now
and sometimes they organize historical Roman events, but those for the kids mostly. So if you are into a traditional Roman dinner event with tonnes of food, wine,
much nudity and other racy things go to Rome not Baláca.
How was said in the movie, National Lampoon's
European Vacation:
[Rusty Griswold] Who was it that said when in Rome do as
the Romans do?
[Clark Griswold] That was Rome not Paris. This is Paris
and you're drunk.
