Pecs

Ok - so here we are in Pecs.  Dave is attending conference sessions and I tag along on the group stuff.  Yesterday it was raining and everything was closed because it was Sunday.  I knitted on my sock (I am around the heel and onto the foot, for those that care about that sort of thing), watched the end of the Tour de France, in German, and did some window shopping on my way to meet Dave for dinner and evening activities.

Firstly, there are a ton of public programs going on here, since Pecs is a European Capital of Culture for 2010.  They agree that they are cool and host a bunch of stuff to attract Europeans to come to their city.  There are 2 or 3 cultural capitals each year.  Another for 2010 is Istanbul, but I digress.  So, there have been some circus people about for the month of July and they have demonstrations and games in the public square.

There are also public concerts, and craft type fairs in the evenings.  Our conference is also participating by having some of the events open to the public.  Last night we went to a modern dance performance that was very well done and the troupe is putting on a workshop for the conference about math and dance.  Maybe Dave will decide to get into that, but since he can't even polka, I doubt his ability to be successful.

Since the conference is all about the intersection of Math and the arts, there are a lot of different ways people express themselves. Here are a few of the cooler items from the art display:

These are origami pieces done with ribbon.  This wold be very cool if done as a wedding bouquet, if you were mathematically inclined. 

Some photos from Pecs - the city square, from one side, showing the water feature, which also has lights at night, that numerous children have been playing in.  Also, note the Turkish mosque in the background - it is now a Roman Catholic church.  

This is a detail from the Zsolnay fountain - Zsolnay is a tile and porcelain manufacturer in Pecs, known for their amazing glazes and art nouveau details.

A few words on the music playing in the hotel - for some reason they are always playing 80's pop.   Lionel Ritchie, Mike and the Mechanics, etc. Maybe it's helping me gear up for my 25th HS reunion, which is coming up in August.  

And laundry - we discovered yesterday that laundry is available here.  But the Hungarian tradition is not to do one's own laundry.  It is always sent out.  There are no laundromats, but a service in which you leave your stuff in your room in the laundry bag, they wash and iron everything, and put it back in your room the same day.  Rush service is if you need it back to wear that day.  Otherwise it will be ready by 3:00 or so.  We have dutifully filled the bag and will see how it works out.  

Last, but not least, the one sightseeing thing I did yesterday was to visit the Szabo Marzipan Museum.. Come on - if there is a museum of marzipan it demands a visit, don't you think?  It was a very small shop on floor 0, with delights on the first floor up, including a scheme of Harry Potter done in marzipan. 

From what I understand, marzipan is an almond paste that you can use like modeling chocolate or other edible  confectionery stuff.   Like on Cake Boss or Ace of Cakes.  But these things are all totally made of marzipan.  There were wedding cakes, clcks and story land scenes, etc.  

This is the mosque/church in the main city square. 

But the greatest thing ever was the life-sized ELVIS.  Made totally of marzipan.  Imagine . . . . it was definitely worth the price of admission, which was 350 HUF, or about $1.30.