We decided to do something useful instead; so we visited the neighborhood of the house I grew up in, and took some photos of some good-looking scenes.

I have serious orientation problems, and I always had. I have a hard time finding my way at places I do not know well enough. My parents were annoyed of this, and did some serious — and, sorrily, completely futile — efforts to improve this situation. We went to the top of the hill we lived at quite frequently — soon it became my task to lead the family there. I got lost and frustrated fairly often — until I found a street with lot of stairs going straight up.

At the top of the hill is a small forest. There is a really scenic view, some really nice-looking glades, and a strange monument erected for the leader of the Hungarian Jacobine Club, Ignác Martinovics. I loved to play here when I was a child. I imagined this place to be a secret fortress among huge, snow-covered mountains, where warriors fight each other with stone axes. (I even made my own stone axe each time we went up there.) Now I saw it is still a popular place among young children. However, when it was time for them to have lunch, we were able to shoot some photos with V.

Then we had to hurry to Mum’s since she waited us with some superb lunch. So, in spite of the terrible and irritated morning at the photo course, we managed to have a really nice day at the end.

Though Kökény is only 7 kms from Pécs, it was much simpler to go by bus. We got on the bus — the driver typed “250″ in the ticket machine, asked for 350 forints, and gave no tickets. Naturally, I made my complaint at the station. Then I only thought that the driver steals the money of the bus company. Going back to Kökény in the evening, it turned out the two tickets actually cost 250 forints. I realized that the guy was stealing from me, too. I am eagerly waiting for the company’s answer. (V.’s Mum said that I should have solved the situation with the driver. I do not think so. First, I am not dealing with bastards. Second, if I make a written complaint, I have some chance not only to solve the given case, but to improve the overall situation. As I know Hungarian bureaucracy, the driver will regret stealing, if we only look at his administrative tasks concerning the case.)

Our primary destination was a small, unique restaurant where V. wanted me to taste the tartar steak. It was better than good, it was gorgeous — finely grounded, excellently spiced and served with fresh, just perfectly toasted bread. The place also had a really nice atmosphere. If you are at Pécs and want a nice place to eat, drink or have a coffee, I really recommend Áfium Restaurant.

After lunch, we planned to visit the Vasarely Museum; unfortunately, the exhibition is currently on a European tour. So we went to see the Csontváry exhibition instead. He is one of my favorite Hungarian painters. A few years ago, when I sent postcards more frequently, I regularly picked the ones with his paintings.

On the street of the museums, V. showed me two grids made of iron bars, covered with padlocks locked onto them. V. was surprised that I never heard of this place. Each padlock was put on by a couple which wanted to demonstrate the strength of their feelings.

We had some shopping to do, so we went to the shopping mall. We bought what V’s Mum needed for the supper and the tomorrow cake, and we decided to have some icecream. There is a large confectionery in the mall. We were there in the summer: they had superb ice cream and V. definitely wanted to have some more today. Being full with the tartar steak, I was rather sleepy, so I also had some cofee. The ice cream was just as good as in the summer.

After finishing the ice creams, we sat there, talking, spending the time until we had to leave for the bus station. Suddenly a waiter come to our table (not the waitress who served us). He stood their motionlessly for at least thirty seconds, like the Angel of Death reminding us to our mortality. I told him that he can take away our glasses if that was why he was here. He did not say a word, just tugged our bill on the table, murmured something and left. I did not understand the situation so I got up and asked him to come back when he is not busy. Then our waitress came to the table and asked what the problem was. I told her that we had this little embarrassing scene — she assured us that we did not have to bother with it.

A few minutes later, the guy came back with some cakes wrapped in paper and a plastic bag, put it on our table and left without a single word. Again, I got up and asked for explanation. He said these were our biscuits. I told him we had not ordered biscuits, while he tried to convince me that we not only had, but we had even paid for it. It took a long time and a really tedious conversation to make him understand that someone probably mixed the tables. I definitely felt that I needed the manager — this was much more embarrasment than I was prepared for by having an icecream. The manager was also stunned, so she offered us not to pay for our ice creams. That’s how we had two enermous glass of icecream for free. However, we still felt that it would be really uncomfortable to stay, so we went to an electronic shop instead and V. bought me a new mouse.

It fits to my hand, and its roller is much better than my previous one’s was. It does not glow for a change. I am happy with it, just like with our afternoon. I like when there is no time left to be bored.

On Saturday we went on the small excursion to the Mecsek. Although I have been to Pécs several times, I have never seen the mountains around it. I would have never thought that there are such beautiful places here. On the top of the mountain we have even seen the ruins of a several hundered years old monastery.

I have also seen a plenty of lichens. At secondary school I wrote an essay about the lichen flora of Budapest. It was not a big deal since Budapest is essentially a so-called “lichen desert”. I remained interested in them, however, and I also pay attention to them when I go on an excursion. These plants are especially sensitive to air pollution. The large number of species usually indicates very clean, pollution-free air.

Although it was a short trip, the slopes were really steep, so we woke up a bit stiff next morning. We still decided to have a walk around the two lakes next to V’s house. V had a lot of blueberries on the way. We had some fun because ‘Kökény’ means ‘blueberry’ in English. So these were blueberries from Blueberry.

I was a bit sorry to leave. It was such a nice, calm weekend, and far too many stress was coming in the next two weeks. I comforted myself with the thought that we decided to return in Christmas. I am sure this place will be even more beautiful with some snow.