Blog #6: Parasliding, A Sport For All Ages

Blog #6: Pécs, Hungary (5/25/2005 to 5/27/2005)

Pécs was a nice side trip after Budapest. And it is not pronounced PEKS, it is PAYCH. It is about two hours south of Budapest on the Inter City train. Interesting point of fact: yes, there are ostriches near the tracks between Budapest and Pécs. Dana may still be crazy, but at least she was not imagining the large, flightless birds.

We were having a hard time finding our host because, yet again, European phones are counterintuitive to us Americans. However, Maria spoke English and was very nice both times we mistakenly called her. So we just start wandering toward the town center in hopes that we can find a nice rubbish heap to sleep in for the night. Matters did not deteriorate to quite this level because, as we are just walking along, this guy comes up and asks, “Are you Dana?” No, I reply, I’m not: but she is. Luckily, Szilard decided to ask the two clueless looking backpackers who we were. He had been following us for a few blocks, so we knew that he was either our host or our stocker. He ended up being our host.

Szilard and his friends were really great. He showed us around Pécs over the next couple days. We were sitting around talking the first night and I was asking about his hobby, paragliding. I have never known a paraglider before. So he responded to my interest with, “So do you think you are man enough to paraglide?” How could I say no?

At our picnic brunch the second day, he also introduced us to my new favorite traveling sandwich. First of all, Hungarian bread is a nice change from Swiss bread. Don’t get me wrong, I like their hearty, crusty, semi-dry loaves, but they are better for dipping in soup than making sandwiches that you do not have to choke down. Hungarian bread is soft and white, but a few significant steps above Wonder Bread. Next comes the standard meat and cheese, choices vary by country and region. The topper, though, is the slice of paprika. Not only do Hungarians love their dried, ground paprika, they exploit the wonderful, fresh, sweet paprika. I like it.

After breakfast we went for a drive. It was fun to get out into the countryside and see the terrain. We visited a small castle in a town called Siklos, maybe a half hour from Pécs. I posted some pictures.

Next came the exciting part. Szilard took us out paragliding. We had to find the right hill with the right wind, but when he found it we had fun. Since I was the one opening my big yap the night before, I was the first guinea pig. I must say that I took to it rather well: three runs and I made it into the air twice. This was a small hill and I was going solo. This was not a tandem run. I was pretty happy with myself. Then came Dana. To her credit, the wind was not helping her and she is nowhere near as fat as me. My body is heavier so it was easier to just barrel down the hill and get enough speed to get into the air. I think I actually stopped counting around five attempts, but when I tell the story I always say that Dana was 0 for 7. She tried hard. In trying, however, she invented a new sport we dubbed “paraSLIDING.” I actually have a picture with her at the bottom of the hill… and a trail of mowed-down grass where her butt just scooted all the way down the hillside. It was funny. Then there was the time she pushed Szilard over, hurtled him and kept on running, only to reach her own demise about two steps later.

All in all, it was a great time. This was another one of those times when I was excited to get out of the big capital city and into the countryside. I have enjoyed seeing the smaller, slower-paced towns. I don’t feel bad about not making it to all the museums because there are no museums. My only real goal is to find the best regional food. It takes devotion.

Pictures of Pécs, Hungary: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2125794520&code=16383146&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite