Swingin' Kecskemét

Overview

The Belgrade Dixieland Orchestra Photo -

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Spring festivals are celebrated throughout Hungary during the second half of March, most notably in Budapest, whose Spring Festival is the largest annual cultural event in Hungary . I attended a number of Spring Festival concerts in Budapest, but my original impetus for coming to Hungary was to attend the Bohém Ragime & Jazz Festival in Kecskemét. I’d first run across mention of this festival on this website. As a longtime fan of ragtime music, the more I researched the festival, the more intrigued I became. The Bohém Festival demonstrates how an originally American form of music has spread around the glo...Read More

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Hotel Aranyhomok

Hotel

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Hotel Aranyhomok was the base for the Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival for musicians and out-of-town audience members alike. In addition to being quite a nice hotel, the location couldn’t have been more convenient, just off Kecskemét’s main square and only a few blocks from the festival venue. While booking a single room online, I noticed there were two room types, one modestly priced at around 34 euros and the other nearly double that price. As I was staying only one night and would be spending little time in my room, I opted for the budget room, which I found spartan-looking but clean and pleasant overall. Frankly, I prefer simplicity to some of the attempts at luxury décor I’ve seen in...Read More

Hotel Aranyhomok was the base for the Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival for musicians and out-of-town audience members alike. In addition to being quite a nice hotel, the location couldn’t have been more convenient, just off Kecskemét’s main square and only a few blocks from the festival venue.

While booking a single room online, I noticed there were two room types, one modestly priced at around 34 euros and the other nearly double that price. As I was staying only one night and would be spending little time in my room, I opted for the budget room, which I found spartan-looking but clean and pleasant overall. Frankly, I prefer simplicity to some of the attempts at luxury décor I’ve seen in various hotels. My small fifth-floor room had a view of the town, while the larger and pricier rooms overlooked the picturesque town square.

The bathroom was a marvel of compactness, meaning it was tiny. In Hungary, however, I found large baths only at a Hilton. I have no real grudge against small bathrooms other than the fact that there is rarely anywhere to set toiletries, a thing that vexes me as it would be such a simple matter to install a small shelf or two. There was a peculiar plumbing arrangement I never fully mastered, with some sort of valve switching water from the faucet to the shower. However, in all fairness, I’m a well-known plumbing idiot, having recently found the workings of my own parents' guest bathroom baffling even after they were carefully explained to me.

The Aranyhomok is classed as one of Hungary's many "wellness" hotels by virtue of its fairly new spa facilities located in the basement. They include a modest-sized pool, Jacuzzi, aromatic steam bath, sauna, massage therapy room, and solarium. Soon after checking in, I ventured down to the basement, where I found a Hungarian family splashing happily in the pool. The attendant didn’t speak English, but through gestures and a few Hungarian words, I let him know that I wanted a key to a locker and a towel. (Later I read in the guest information card that the normal procedure is to get a terry robe from front desk.) I made use of the steam-room, which smelled pleasantly of chamomile, and the large Jacuzzi. Refreshed, I was ready to go out and explore the town.

Breakfast was included with the room, a decent Continental spread that included eggs and sausages. There was that bane of coffee lovers worldwide, however – a machine that dispensed Nescáfe sludge in lieu of the genuine article. I made do with a cup of tea, chatting over breakfast with the bassist from the Belgrade Dixieland Orchestra.

The staff were quite obliging and efficient. They stored my luggage for me, looked up train times to Budapest, and quickly summoned a taxi later on when I was in a rush to catch my train. All in all, I found Hotel Aranyhomok a pleasant and convenient place to stay.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 23, 2006

Hotel Aranyhomok
6000 Kecskemét, Kossuth tér 3
Kecskemét , Hungary
+36 (76) 503-730

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Túróczy Étterem és Kávéház

Restaurant

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They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and from what I’ve observed there’s some truth to this. And a woman’s heart? Are diamonds a girl’s best friend? Is the way paved with roses? If the truth be told, my heart is up for grabs to the man – any man – who takes my coat with a flourish, bids me to sit wherever I please, pulls out a chair at the table, and then solicitously asks what he can bring me. This makes me a complete pushover for just about any waiter in Hungary, but especially the attentive young men at Túróczy Restaurant & Coffeehouse. Stepping into the quiet, dark-wood-paneled main dining room, I’m greeted by a phalanx of waiters, white linen towel...Read More

They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and from what I’ve observed there’s some truth to this. And a woman’s heart? Are diamonds a girl’s best friend? Is the way paved with roses?

If the truth be told, my heart is up for grabs to the man – any man – who takes my coat with a flourish, bids me to sit wherever I please, pulls out a chair at the table, and then solicitously asks what he can bring me. This makes me a complete pushover for just about any waiter in Hungary, but especially the attentive young men at Túróczy Restaurant & Coffeehouse.

Stepping into the quiet, dark-wood-paneled main dining room, I’m greeted by a phalanx of waiters, white linen towels draped neatly across forearms. I choose a table overlooking the square and ask for tea. By the time I’ve made my selection from the menu (printed in Hungarian, German, and English), the table has been set with a crisp white tablecloth, linen napkin, and polished silverware. A vanilla-scented tea is brewing in a pot set on a crystal warming stand, and I’m settling nicely into the Old World charm of the place.

I have the greatest respect for what Eastern Europeans can do with a dollop of sour cream, a cucumber, and a bit of dill, so I start with a cucumber salad that exceeds my expectations. Thin slices of cucumber have been soaked in a light (and not bitter) vinegar, then heaped with a thick, herb sour cream sprinkled with paprika. The presentation is beautiful, with garnishes of Italian parsley and lettuce, the salad on a thin china plate set atop larger one. I try not to eat in unseemly haste.

For my main course, in deference to the notion (if not the actuality) of a simple lunch, I choose something from a page entitled, "Light Selections" or words to that effect. I can’t say I’m dreadfully disappointed when my "light lunch" - slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini - arrives swimming in a sumptuous white cheese sauce. I refrain from scooping up the remnants of the sauce with my bread (but just barely).

I lose all sense of restraint at this point, however, and when the waiter materializes moments after I have finished the "light selection," and asks, "Anything else?" I don’t hesitate. I’d seen an intriguing dessert on the menu, which proves to be a distant cousin of baked Alaska – a light sponge cake filled with vanilla ice cream/raspberry sorbet, encased in chocolate, set atop of pool of hazelnut-chocolate sauce, then drizzled artfully with raspberry sauce.

Afterward, I pay what seems like a very modest sum for such a queenly feast, even factoring in a generous tip. I arise with a satisfied sigh. My coat reappears. The waiter smiles and bows slightly from his slim waist as I depart.

Now, I ask you, why can’t I have lunch here every day?
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 23, 2006

Túróczy Étterem és Kávéház
Szabadság tér 2/9
Kecskemét , Hungary
+36 06 76 509 176

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The Kecskemét Spring Festival

Attraction

The art of vegetable & fruit carving Photo -

Quote:

The Kesckemét Spring Festival (Kecskeméti Tavaszi Fesztivál) is one of the many spring festivals that blossom throughout Hungary during March. Two weeks of events, including concerts of choral music, orchestras, chamber ensembles, folk music, and jazz vie with theater performances, puppet shows, and arts and crafts exhibits for the visitor’s attention. In addition, booths are set up in Kecskemét’s main square selling local crafts and foods. Most of my brief stay in Kecskemét was spent attending the 15th Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival, but before and after concerts on Friday and Saturday, I strolled through the town square, enjoying the lively festival scene. Townsfolk had turned out in ...Read More

The Kesckemét Spring Festival (Kecskeméti Tavaszi Fesztivál) is one of the many spring festivals that blossom throughout Hungary during March. Two weeks of events, including concerts of choral music, orchestras, chamber ensembles, folk music, and jazz vie with theater performances, puppet shows, and arts and crafts exhibits for the visitor’s attention. In addition, booths are set up in Kecskemét’s main square selling local crafts and foods.

Most of my brief stay in Kecskemét was spent attending the 15th Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival, but before and after concerts on Friday and Saturday, I strolled through the town square, enjoying the lively festival scene. Townsfolk had turned out in droves in this broad central area, and were buying balloons for their children, admiring hand-embroidered linens and other handicrafts, and listening to the exhortations of politicians running in the upcoming election.

I noticed a booth selling "American" hot dogs, the booth’s awning displaying both the American and Confederate flags. Equally perplexing, the stand’s sign featured a hot dog neatly garnished with slices of cucumber, surely a very Hungarian idea of a classic American food. Thinking of American interpretations of goulash, however. I reflected that surely the Hungarians had come closer to the mark with hot dogs than Americans had with the Hungarian staple.

Kecskemét’s legacy as a major market town might explain why five local chefs undertook the Herculean task of constructing the world’s largest "vegetable statue" – six meters tall, six meters wide, and three meters deep. In a marathon build that lasted three days and three nights, the five chefs -- Károly Varga, Krisztián Kesckeméti, Sándor Kovács, László Szabó, and Láslzo Farago -- painstakingly handcarved the vegetables used in assembling the statue. The resulting 3,260-kilogram edifice set a new Guinness World Record.

A new world record is set.
After being placed on display next to the Town Hall, the colorful statue attracted throngs of spectators, who stood marveling at the complex arrangement symbolizing three elements: land, sea, and sky. Sure enough, the sculpture included many sea creatures such as lobsters and fish carved from eggplants, radishes, carrots, rutabagas, cabbages, squash, and other vegetables; with terrestrial elements represented by vegetable trees, flowers, and animals; and airborne creatures such as birds and butterflies also in abundance. It truly was an astonishing sight.

Not far from the record-breaking vegetable statue, children played on a marble statue that doubled as a slide, while their parents looked indulgently on, chatting amicably with their neighbors. Bicyclists wove slowly around the perimeter of the crowd, leashed dogs greeted other leashed dogs with the sniffing ritual peculiar to canine species, and stolid workmen sat at wooden tables, munching on sausages and drinking beer. I sampled a delicious sort of pancake made entirely (I think) of vegetables and strolled around the area admiring the town’s architectural treasures, whiling away the time between jazz concerts in an aimless and entirely pleasurable fashion. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 23, 2006

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The Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival, part 1

Story/Tip

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"Ragtime dead? Hell, it ain't even sick!" - Bob DarchThe Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival is the largest jazz festival in Hungary. It has been going strong since 1992 under the direction of Tamás Ittzés, who just happens to also be an accomplished classical violinist, composer, pianist, jazz bandleader, recording artist, and high school music teacher. Actually, thinking about all the things that Tamás does makes me slightly dizzy. When I e-mailed for tickets to the festival, I got a prompt reply from Tamás, which was reassuring as initially I wasn’t quite sure if my plan to travel to Hu...Read More

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The Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival, part 2

Story/Tip

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The Bohem Festival’s Saturday program offered a full day of events, with concerts scheduled in the morning, afternoon, and evening at the Erdei Ferenc Cultural Center. Daytime concerts were held in a large conference/display area rather than the concert hall, providing an even more intimate venue, especially for those (such as me) who came in early and secured seats in the front. Jazz photos by Péter Siklós were on display on the walls, making a fitting backdrop for the performers. Festival director Tamás Ittzés served as emcee (as he had the previous evening), introducing each each band or musician in Hungarian and then briefly in English. The Freeman Jazz Band got things rolling for the ...Read More