Lajos bácsi története Aknaszlatinán

Ahogy már korábban említettem, Máramaros varázslatos tájait egy nyugdíjas csoporttal látogattam meg. Özvegyasszonyokkal, nagymamákkal, akik szerettek volna kicsit szabadulni a mindennapi házimunka nyűgétől és együtt “bolondozni”, felhőtlenül jól érezni magukat, miközben szép tájakon járnak. Párokkal, akik irigylésre méltó harmóniában sétálgattak kéz a kézben. Mint később kiderült, többségük csak pár éve… és párokkal, akik kevésbé voltak lelkesek, de legalább örültek az utazásnak.   

Az egyik kedvencem Lajos bácsi volt. Foglalkozását tekintve mérnök, tanár, több nyelven beszél, négy unokája van. Hetvenes évei közepén jár, de még mindig tanít, és harmóniában él Marika nénivel, aki évtizedekig óvónőként dolgozott.

Lajos bácsi a 2. világháború alatt Aknaszlatinán született, amely település akkor, a 2. bécsi döntés következtében ismét Magyarország része volt. A történelem viharában területileg először a volt Szovjetunióhoz csatolták, napjainkban Ukrajna egyik határ menti kisvárosa.

A család nem maradt Szlatinán, még a háború alatt Szentesre költözött.  Bár a kisfiúnak nem maradtak emlékei ezekről a korai időkről, a vágy, hogy egyszer vissza szeretne menni, látni szeretné, honnan származik, belülről mindig ott motoszkált és az évek teltével egyre sürgetőbbé vált.

  

Kapnikbányai szállásadónk segített megvalósítani Lajos bácsi álmát. Szerzett egy sofőrt, aki átvitte a határ másik oldalán található Aknaszlatinára. 

http://www.aknaszlatina.hu/ 

Míg Lajos bácsi a főtéren sétálgatott, nézelődött, összetalálkozott egy helybeli, barátságos férfival, aki történetesen a település alpolgármestere és meghívta a magyarországi látogatót az irodájába. Szó szót követett, majd kiderült, az alpolgármesternek  Szentesen vannak rokonai, akikről jó lenne többet tudni, hallani. Ígéretet tettek egymásnak, hogy utánanéznek a rokonságnak és informálják egymást, mire jutottak.

Lajos bácsi élményekkel gazdagon, feltöltődve ért vissza a csoporthoz és mesélte el, hogyan töltötte a délelőttöt szülővárosában.

Ez volt számomra a nyár egyik legszebb története, Máramarosban.    

      

Story of Lajos bácsi in Maramures

As I wrote in my first entry about Maramures trip, I travelled there with a group of retired people. Widows, grandmothers who wanted to forget about their everyday chores and have fun together, couples who seemed to have spent  their entire lives together in harmony, however their relationship was just a few years old, and other couples who were a bit less enthusiastic…

One of my favourite ones was Lajos bácsi. An engineer and teacher, still works and teaches  in his mid  70’s, grandpa of four and lives in harmony with Marika néni who was a kindergarten teacher earlier.  He was born in Aknaszlatina (called Solotvyno nowadays ) during the 2^nd World War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solotvyno

Those times his birth town was part of Hungary. In the storm of history Aknaszlatina became part of the former Soviet Union, today Ukrain, and his parents decided to move to Szentes, Hungary. He was just a little boy then. All of this torture became just a story for him with a gloomy, constant desire: once in his life he still has to go back there and see the little town where he was born.  

However, our accommodation was in Cavnic, our host took his car and drove him to Aknaszlatina which is just a few km far from the Romanian border. While Lajos bácsi was looking around on the main square he run into a guy who was the vice mayor of the town.  They started to chat and he invited Lajos bácsi into his office. One word led the other and the vice mayor turned out to have relatives in Szentes, Hungary where Lajos bácsi lives. They promised each other to look for more information about each other’s relatives and keep in touch.

This was one of the best, heartwarming stories I have heard this summer.

Merry Cemetery - Săpânța, Maramures

Săpânța is situated on the bank of Tisza River and dominated by the Carpathian peaks.

The village has 5000 inhabitants. The commune is similar to many communes of Maramures. The people who live here are well-known for their loyalty towards their land, their powerful spirit of independence and strict observance of their customs and traditions.

The orthodox religion and its traditions are part of their everyday lives. On Sunday, at the service, people wear the traditional national costume. 

The base of economic activities is the forest. Wood is all over present.

As known, Romanian peasant was never afraid of death. For him, the cross represents some kind of entrance gate towards eternal rest.

Merry Cemetery is situated in the centre of the commune. Crosses are sculpted in oak wood, painted and versified through countersink by the famous sculptor, painter and poet Ion Stan Pătraș and continued by Dumitru Pop. The epitaphs written in short verses are simple, spontaneous but are very spiritual and sensitive.  Some of them also have a certain sense of humour, from this reason the cemetery is called „the Merry Cemetery”.

However, the main characteristic is not the joy, but the fact that life is above death here. The main point is as ancient Roman said when somebody died: he lived ! instead of he died.

/The text and its information is based on that brochure which was written by Lutai Iustin Leon and can be bought at the ticket office Săpânța, Merry Cemetery./ 

Máramaros (2) - Szaplonca

Mivel az eddigi olvasóim háromnegyed része magyar, ezért úgy döntöttem, a következő bejegyzést magyarul írom, de lesz hamarosan angol nyelvű bejegyzés is.

Satu Mare and Maramures, Romania (1)

This time I’d like to write about a peculiar trip to Maramures, Romania where I have been planning to travel for a while. In the middle of July I could join to an enthusiastic group of 35 retired people and the adventure started.     

This was not my first trip to Romania. The first time I travelled there was in 1991. Then I decided not to go back again. Never-ever…What we found there in those times were bad roads, poverty, begging children and adults in the main square of Cluj Napoca. It was such a shocking experience what I didn’t want to be absorbed in.  

In 2003 I got a second chance. To participate on a 5-day PHARE CBC programme in Timisoara. I was not absolutely happy about the idea. It was at the end of May, the school year was not over yet, I had more than 70 pupils who were before their maturity exams and I had a lot of work to do. But my boss, who gave me the opportunity, encouraged me to go. Finally I went there and a new chapter of my life has started. I have found a vivid, multicultural city with interesting, joyful people, full of energy. Timisoara and those people I met there became the base of my stepped recognition of the country, curiosity towards other towns, its culture, the landscape and nature. Since then I went back many times as a tourist and after a while as a tour guide as well.

The next step of this recognition was a trip to Satu Mare and Maramures, to the North Western region of the country, close to the Ukrainian border.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maramure%C8%99

 This journey was extraordinary from two aspects. The one is the destination.  A great book (Transylvania – A Land Beyond Fiction And Myth, Kelet-Nyugat ) says that

‘ Maramures is one of the last places in Europe where a thriving folk culture has survived: people dress in lavishly colourful folk costumes and you can still see many charming, century-old wooden houses.’  

The book was right we got what it promised, even more.

The first day we had classical cultural programme. The 1^st stop was Carei (Nagykároly), at the Károlyi Castle.

http://visitcarei.ro/index.php/en/history

Carei is not part of Maramures  but Satu Mare.

The Károlyi family, whose impressive castle we visited, was one of the most influential noble family in the Hungarian Kingdom after the Rákóczi uprising.

The castle originally built at the end of the 15^th century, it was remodelled in Neo-Gothic style by the plans of the famous theatre architects Fellner and Helmer at the end of the 19^th century. 

Thanks for an EU supported project, the building is in a great shape, even the riding hall. 

The rooms are approximately rich of exhibits. Nice furniture, tile stoves, paintings, valuable wall carpets can be seen there. 

  

http://e-castellum.eu/lang/en

There is a wax museum, animating famous figures of the history. Gáspár Károli, who was born in the town, Eliezer Fisch, the miraculous Hassid rabbi,

  

Hungarian nobles

 and the Romanian royal couple, I. Ferdinand and his wife, the legendary queen Mary who reigned in Romania from 1914-27.    

The castle has a beautiful park as well.

There is no entrance fee except we would like to visit the chapel too which is worth to do.  

The next stop was Coltau (Koltó in Hungarian) where Petőfi, the legendary poet of the Hungarian Romanticism and Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence spent his honeymoon with his wife, Júlia Szendrey.   

http://www.erdelyiturizmus.hu/?action=regio&id=3515

The Teleky Castle - which gives home of a commemorating exhibition - is in bad shape.

The local guide, a nice lady shew us around and told stories about the remote time. For this service we had to call the number which can be found on the gate and she arrived within 10 minutes.

Her guiding was enthusiastic but the place, its atmosphere was a disappointment for me.   

The next stop was Baia Mare (Nagybánya).  We can call it the town of contradictions. On one hand it is one of the most polluted cities of Romania,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Baia_Mare_cyanide_spill

on the other hand the old town has many architectural reminders of medieval times, its mineral exhibitions  is the most extensive of its kind in Romania

http://www.visitmaramures.ro/index.php?task=page&page=mineralogy_museum

and the Baia Mare school of painting is one of the most influential on Hungarian fine art. 

http://www.muzartbm.ro/tag/baia-mare-painting-school/

We had just one and half an hour to look around on the old square which is enough for a skin-deep impression but not for more.  The oldest building is Casa Elisabeta which was built by János Hunyadi who defeated the Ottoman Turks at Beograd. The house was under renovation in July.

Thanks for many paintings one of the most well-known church is the Calvinist church here, its tower which is called “gapy” tower. Check it in the photo. 

The Golden Eagle Inn, Saint Stephen’s Tower, Holy Trinity Cathedral would also have deserved more attention. Maybe next time I can do it.

The next morning/early afternoon was for hiking.   From Cavnic, where our accommodation was, Cascada Cailor (Horse-waterfall) in  Rodna Mountains was pretty far, nearly  100 km,

http://www.discover-maramures.com/en/horse-waterfall/

but it was worth to travel there.   

There is a legend behind the waterfall’s name which can be read in English here:

http://www.wonderful-romania.com/index.php/component/k2/item/167-the-horses-falls-from-maramuresh-one-of-the-most-beautiful-waterfalls-in-romania

On the way there, at Dragomiresti we could experience the 1^st time that the promise of the travel book ‘ …a thriving folk culture has survived: people dress in lavishly colourful folk costumes’ is not just a promise. Girls, boys, women and men walked in long lines at the edge of the road, wearing their traditional folk costumes. All the girls and women had head scarves on their head, wore white blouses decorated with lots of laces and knee-length skirts. Even the elderly women’s skirt was not longer than knee-length. Two things enslaved me: the beauty of their faces and the vision of rolling skirts.

http://www.visitmaramures.ro/index.php?task=page&page=holidays_pic

In the afternoon we visited an important centre of Maramures religious life, Barsana and its monastery.

 The village is located in Iza river valley and famous for the wooden church and a Monastic Complex. The official website of the monastery contains many photos, even youtube links, showing its beauty and introducing some religious events there.

http://www.manastireabarsana.ro/youtube.html

Even those who are not interested in any religions the masterpieces of carving and timber-work we can see there can be an unforgettable experience. The photos are the proof.

  

 

There is an exhibition there where we can look at and buy beautiful wool carpets and haversacks. The prices are for mainly western tourists.   

 

 The ‘finale’ of the day was that traditional soup ‘ciorba da burta’ (a soup made of tripe) what was cooked and served by our host. It was absolutely delicious. If you are interested in how it is cooked, follow the next video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K29bCT9UWWk

In the next entry I’m going to write about the “Merry Cemetery” in Sapanta, also will share some info about a rich, open air museum located in Sighetu Marmatiei where my guide was a Romanian guy from Canada who spoke some Hungarian. I will tell you the story of Lajos bácsi who was born in Aknaslatina, Ukraine during the 2^nd World War, there will be some information about Gutai mountains and it will be obvious that we don’t have to travel to the sea to find salty water for floating on it. And how could I forget about Baby, our host's wife, who is an innkeeper and painter as well, and with whome it was great chatting about life and go hiking. 

 See you next time!