Visitors from Utrecht in Pécs

Yesterday evening Peter Bijl and Jo de Viet, Utrecht city marketing manager, arrived in Pécs. What started as a nice dinner at Simon and Kata Wintermans ended up in a nightly snowball fight on our way back to the caravan. Today we have a guest-blog by Jo de Viet:

Just over 29 years ago I spent a year studying in Hungary, three months of which I spent in Pécs. Communism caused greyness, the air was black of brown coal, but the people were nice as ever. Unforgettable hospitality, inspiring meetings, robust cuisine, beautiful wines, Hungary at its most typical. Impressions for life for a 22 year old.

And now suddenly Pécs is European Cultural Capital. My Pécs, where on 21 March 1981 I had a beer at the stairs of a perfectly conserved mosque, a remainder of a 150 year Turkish domination of Hungary. Who in the Netherlands knows about Pécs’ existence? Pécs, where Marcell Breuer designed his Bauhaus-style tubular chair. Pécs, a forgotten place, but cherished by the Romans. A place with the northernmost mediterranean climate.

After 29 years I have returned for a brief visit. I flew after Tjerk, with a message. Tjerk with his Dutch icon of isolation – a caravan – hitchhiking through Europe. Who is preparing his continuing journey to Istanbul, following the Turks as they left Hungary a few centuries ago. But Tjerk has a different attitude. He opens his caravan door for a good conversation or to talk about fresh aspirations. Tjerk connects. At Pécs’ Dom Square his hook-on is firmly positioned at terra firma, right above recently discovered and now publically visible Roman sepulchral vaults.

A Hungarian TV crew records beautiful images in the white snow and sings the praises of Tjerks journey. The anticipated cultural capital Utrecht passes Essen and Pécs by caravan, on its way to Istanbul. Hungarians curiously approach the caravan. They belong to Europe again. An independent nation, the pride is tangible. Dachs barks his own universal language and easily sniffs together fresh aspirations. For me, for a minute, Pécs is the heart-warming center of the world.