April 2015 / Pécs City Guide

Pécs City Guide April 2015 / Issue 03 / Free

INSIDE

Parks and Recreation, Peka, 37m2, and more

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PĂŠcs City Guide April 2015

pecscityguide.com

4 In Brief

New tourism app, International students do like Pécs, Who’s got the power?

6 Feature

Parks and recreation in Pécs

8 Drink&Dine

What’s a peka?, Block Coffee Room

12 To Do

Spring wine buzz, Bear garlic festival, Chagall exhibition

14 Essentials

37m2

HI

, this is the third issue of Pécs City Guide magazine and I’m going to be a little bit out of place now, but I have to tell you about the future of the blog.

Pécs City Guide started with the idea of creating an always up-todate website for international students, and tourists in Pécs. The crowd-funding campaign failed, but the blog made it possible to start this print magazine.

Unfortunately, I do not see a bright future for the blog, since it does not generate any revenue and I have to make a living with other jobs. Therefore, as you may have already realized, I can’t update pecscityguide.com as often as I’d like to.

Sure, there are updates almost regularly but usually these aren’t

Contents&Co unique posts, just the articles already published in the print magazine.

I’m not saying that I’ll give up the blog completely. I’m not saying that there won’t be unique posts on the site. I’m just saying, that I can’t dedicate as much time to the blog as earlier.

I hope that this is only temporary, and sooner or later I will have the time to manage the website again.

I have a lot of plans on making it better, and more useful, but I just don’t have the resources for these tasks.

The magazine is not affected by this at all and the next issue is coming in the second week of May. Every comment, idea or recommendation from you is still highly appreciated. Feel free to contact us at info@pecscityguide.com.

Ervin Gűth, editor

Pécs City Guide / April 2015

The free, insert magazine of Dunántúli Napló in English.

Editor-in-chief/Publisher: László Póré Managing editor: Ervin Gűth Published by Mediaworks Regionális Kiadó Kft. Baranya Megyei Irodája Sales manager: Gyöngyi Nagy Phone: +36 72 505 060, +36 30 9971 006 E-mail: gyongyi.nagy@mediaworks.hu Printed by Print Média, Pécs ISSN 08659133

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April 2015 Pécs City Guide

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In Brief

OFFICIAL TOURISM APPLICA- YOU DO LIKE TION GETS HUGE UPDATE PÉCS! KINDA.

The Visit Pécs! application helps not only tourists to navigate in the city but citizens can learn a lot of interesting things about Pécs, too. It’s available for IOS and Android since 2013, but the latest update is like a completely new application. Unfortunately it comes not without flaws.

We have downloaded and tested the almost completely new Visit Pécs! app that was updated in late March. It’s available in Hungarian, German, English, Croatian and Serbian. This huge new upgrade made the interface much prettier and easier to use. We tested it on several (fairly new) Android and IOS devices, and there were problems from the very first moment on. Data couldn’t be downloaded, but after

four trials (on Android) everything went fine. On IOS there was no problem with this step.

The app is quite responsive on both systems, but the used and displayed data is often incomplete, outdated and with several errors. A lot of translation errors were corrected since the first version, but even more improvement would have been necessary. But still, the app is great and has a lot of useful information.

WHO’S GOT THE POWER?

Pécs’s power plant opened a new visitor center that showcases the environment friendly technology used in the power plant.

The centre is open on weekdays by appointment to groups of 8-30 members; and all the information will be available in English, too.

The new visitor centre displays the power plant of Pécs and the opportunities in biomass utilization: the one-hour tour informs the guests about the history, fuel, technology and products of the plant. Visitors

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Pécs City Guide April 2015

get to know the past, present, and future opportunities of energy production in Pécs, and gain detailed knowledge about the role of renewable energy sources as well. As a result of these functions, the visitor centre could be an ideal destination for an unconventional science or physics class. The English version is on its way.

According to a recent academic study more than 50% of non-Hungarian students in Pécs like living here, Dunántúli Napló reports. About 1/5 of the international students answered and that makes the survey quite credible.

More and more international students choose Pécs: from 1200 in 2007 the number doubled in 7 years.

In 2015 more than 2500 non-Hungarians are learning at the University of Pécs. This number is expected to increase next academic year again. We can say that it was quite timely to conduct a survey about how much do international students enjoy living in Pécs.

11,1% of the students said that they like Pécs extremely well, 44,5% moderately well, while 37,3% are neutral about living here. Only 5,4% feel bad about Pécs, and 1,6% do hate it. Hopefully, the entire study will be published soon.

You can always tell us about your experiences in Pécs, we are willing to listen to the good and bad as well.

Contact: info@pecscityguide.com.

pecscityguide.com

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April 2015 Pécs City Guide

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Feature

PARKS AND RECREATION

Get outdoors! Spring is the best time to enjoy the green spaces of the city. There aren’t that many, so it’s quite easy to see them all.

Here is our selection.

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Tettye

Without doubt, the most popular recreational park in Pécs is Tettye.

It’s been renovated in 2010 and nice weather fills it with people and makes a little bit hard to find any spare space.

You can get to the multi-level park by bus No. 33 and get off at the Tettye Park stop. Tettye ruins are its central elements that are the remains of a Renaissance summer residence. Near the ruins you find a pétanque court. It’s good to know that Tüke Borház and Semiramis Garden Panorama are close if you want to drink good coffee or sip some local wine or eat grilled food.

Just a few more steps away you will find Havihegy promenade, that has an awesome view, and is frequented also in the evenings.

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Pécs City Guide April 2015

Pintér kert

When visiting Tettye consider taking a long walk in Pintér kert too. The botanical garden is in the North-western corner of Tettye sqr and was completely renovated in 2014. It’s much more than a beautiful garden, it’s flora is full of rare plants. The peonies are blooming in May and are an extraordinary spectacle. But you can visit the place any time of the year there is always something to wonder at.

But the garden is not without flaws, and its biggest problem is: ridiculous opening hours. It’s only open on weekdays from Monday to Thursday 8am-4pm, Friday 8am2pm. It’s also open on weekends 10am-6pm, but only from May 1 until Sept 30, and there is an entrance fee of HUF400.

pecscityguide.com

Feature Északi and Nyugati Várfalsétány

Barbakán kert

Close to Szent István tér-Sétatér, next to the bishop’s residency, is Barbakán kert. The garden is closed in the evening but opens quite early. You find several benches in this lovely, quiet garden, regularly frequented by youngsters. Between

the well maintained green spaces, trees and bushes you find here the statue of Janus Pannonius, the first Hungarian Renaissance poet and bishop of Pécs. And thanks to recent renovations the Barbakán bastion can be visited again and accessed through this garden.

The Északi and Nyugati Várfalsétány (Northern and Western Castle Wall Promenade) used to be hidden gems, not even locals did know of their existence. That has changed in recent years. Északi Várfalsétány can be accessed from Káptalan utca. You enter through a huge gate with the ‘Kőkert’ sign on it, leading you into a magnificent courtyard. This accommodates Múzeum Gallery and the Martyn Museum. This is a nice and relaxed place, the ideal option for those who prefer to be away from the crowds for a while and want enjoy the silence not far from downtown. But be aware that the park closes at 5pm. Nyugati Várfalsétán can be accessed via Esze Tamás street. Inside you find a lovely garden around the Baroque pavilion. It has enough in itself to easily provide a relaxing afternoon: comfortable benches, whispering foliage and no traffic. You have a perfect view over one half of the town. In recent weeks heavy works were in progress, N-Eozin Grill Terrace is opening here in the end of April. Hopefully it will be even better than last year.

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Drink&Dine

WHAT’S A PEKA?

Pécs is often called the Gate to the Balkans, but in recent years you could hardly find any sign of that in the city’s gastronomy. Finally, this changed last summer when Balkán Bisztró opened, and quality cevapi and pljeskavica became real stars again. But what’s a peka?

Balkán Bisztró was a long-time dream of the two owners Tamás Wéber and Zoltán Mester. They became friends during their years at the wine magazine Pécsi Borozó, and travelled a lot around the Balkans. It’s not hard to guess: they fell in love with the gastronomy of Montenegro, Albania, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia.

Strong, characteristic flavours aren’t unfamiliar to Hungarians either, but we can say without doubt that South-eastern Europe has something even more distinct. “We picked up ideas and influences from around the Balkans. We do not have and do not try serving authentic Albanian or Serbian food, but created our own recipes” – says Tamás. But how do you really start something like this? “Our biggest concern was finding quality ingredients nearby. Looking for a good butcher was not a real problem, but the flat-bread is still an issue” – tells Zoltán. They wanted something similar to pita and somun, and created their own recipe but finding a good baker, who delivers them daily was not an easy task.

They also wanted something special from the very first moment on that is absolutely unique in Pécs. The peka was an easy choice. But even in Balkan Bisztró you won’t find peka dishes on the menu, you have to order in advance.

Since cooking with the peka needs a lot of preparation, marination takes several hours, and the cooking time is much more than by grilling some cevapi.

But what is this peka thing? It’s a large, bell-shaped metal baking dish, that is put into open fire, or burning charcoal.

The recipes are always as simple as possible. The meat is marinated (any kind of meat can be used, but goose, beef and lamb are the best), and put with vegetables in the peka. They put the top on it and place the whole dish into the hot charcoal. They coat the peka with glowing charcoal. Cooking time can be influenced with more heat but everything (except fish) needs at least 1.5 hours.

The flavours you get are very intense, everything is partially roasted, partially cooked and exquisitely savoury.

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Pécs City Guide April 2015

Photo:Tamás Wéber

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April 2015 PĂŠcs City Guide

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Drink&Dine

MURPHY’S LEAVING?

BLOCK UNBLOCKS YOUR DAILY ROUTINE WITH SUPERB COFFEE Addicts of quality coffee can find relief at several spots today in Pécs, but it’s always a pleasure when the list of our favourite coffee-houses gets longer.

Just like with Block.

Coffee-house is not the best expression, it’s much more appropriate to use the venue’s full name: Block Coffee Room. The tiny one-room establishment, located at Ifjúság útja 9/A, has only 10 seats inside and 4 outside, and is open 5 days a week.

They’ve got mainly hot beverages and no alcohol. And they have got excellent coffee. Right now, you can choose from two types: a very smooth 100% Arabica (La Genovese) and a quite strong and intense 10%-90% Robusta-Arabica blend (Caffé Veronesi), but this is just the beginning. They’ll have special roasts for new line coffees (Aeropress, cold drip), too.

The foundations are superb: we tested their espresso (both types) several times, and the quality was always the best. The price-tag is more than okay: the espresso, ristretto or americano cost only HUF290. Sure this is the most basic option, and you

get only sugar and a glass of water to accompany them, but e.g.. a big cup of café latte is just HUF430. The most expensive option is the cold drip, you have to pay HUF500 for a pourover. The inventory of Block is still getting bigger, so it’s worth to watch how they evolve. Bear in mind, they opened just a few weeks ago.

The espresso is always of top quality

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Pécs City Guide April 2015

Maybe it’s not the most relevant information but Block is operated by a psychology teacher, who fell in love with coffee and this should be considered his hobby project. Since he has to give classes every Wednesday and Thursday he has some pro-substitutes. Wednesdays a real Aeropress professional helps him out.

It’s nice to see a place with such a clear profile, we hope it works out for them in the long run.

It seems, the legend is coming to its end: after more than two decades of operation on Apr 30 Murphy’s Pub has to close its doors.

There was an ongoing struggle between the city council and the tenant since the pub had a debt of HUF30 million rolling (although they paid off 6 million in recent weeks). That’s a huge load of money (about 18 months of rent) and you may ask how it is possible that they were not kicked out earlier?

Fact is that the company behind Murphy’s Pub has good connections with the governing party and mayor Zsolt Páva celebrated several election wins at Király str 2. But what is going to be his next favourite hangout then?

The 5 Best* hamburgers 1. Bohemia Sörkonyha

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2. Streat

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3. Balkán Bisztró (Ferencesek str 32)

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5. ...................

(No 5th place. Others failed to qualify.) *Editor’s opinion, based on price, quality, and reliability.

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To Do

CHAGALL EXHIBITION OPENING

BUDA FOLK BAND The members of the Hungarian folk music ensemble Buda Folk Band were literally born into folk music, since their parents and teachers belong to the generation which started the dance house movement in the mid 1970s. Although they are city dwellers, fostering traditions of folk music comes natural to them.

Traditional instruments like viola, tambura, koboz, accordion, kaval or double-bass are key elements

of their performances that deliver authentic music experiences. They know what an authentic way of playing sounds like but as they live in the urban environment on the crossroad of cultures, they let elements of other music styles influence their music.

After the concert you can learn and practice Hungarian dances.

April 25, 7pm; E78 (Zsolnay Cultural Quarter); HUF600/900.

BORZSONGÁS IN VILLÁNY

The three-day wine festival Borzsongás (Wine Buzz) is organized for the 10th time. Several wineries of the Villány wine region have special events: a lots of concerts (jazz, folk, rock, classical), wine tastings, hikings, picnics await you. Special menus and special wine cards are just a plus.

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Pécs City Guide April 2015

Villány and Palkonya are easily accessible by train from there you can hop between venues by bus.

Keep in mind, that several events need reservation, but you can just wander without a real purpose, and taste a glass of wine here and there.

May 1–3; Various venues in Villány wine region. More info: borzsongas.hu

Russian-French Jewish artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985) created works in virtually every artistic medium, including painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramic, tapestries and fine art prints. More than 100 of his lithographs will be displayed in Pécs between April 24 and October 31. Some of the lithographic images printed required as many as 20 color layers.

Chagall drew much of his inspiration from the mythological motifs dated from Greek Antiquity, but the Jewish tradition, the Bible and modern influences are also key elements of his art. His depictions of antic temples, intense sunlight and his fantastic figures of the Minotaur, Gilgamesh or angels act as visible signs of the roles played by the Gods.

In Pécs, 40 of his The Bible Illustrations, 43 of his illustrations made to Homer’s Odyssey, and his plans for the Paris Opera will be displayed along other works.

April 28–October 31; Tue-Sun: 10am6pm; Martyn Ferenc Museum (Káptalan str 4); HUF1000/2000.

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Essentials

37m

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It’s hard to find vivid, contemporary street sculptures in Pécs, but we are quite confident that 37 square metres in Uránváros is the best of them. It has the size of flats built for the working class in communist Hungary in the 1950s and reflects to the works of the Pécs-born op-art master Victor Vasarely.

Airport, horse racing track, shooting range. None of these can be found today in Uránváros (that translates to Uranium city) since all of them had to be knocked down to build a whole new district for the masses. From the 1940s on, the mining industry doubled the population of Pécs in less than three decades and the newcomers needed flats urgently. The excellent Hungarian architect Ödön Dénesy got the opportunity to design a new city in the outskirts in the 1950s. Money didn’t play a role since coal and iron mined from Mecsek Hills were sold at good prices and later the Soviet Union paid well for the uranium. Workers of the uranium mine had a very good salary: up to 4-5 times higher than the country average.

Therefore, the brand new district of Pécs had to be pretty with a lots of greens. Something miners could not experience at their highly dangerous workplace.

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Pécs City Guide April 2015

Art was present everywhere: the new houses had handmade reliefs and the new district had a lot of monuments, street sculptures. All of them were made by local artists.

But after the big boom nothing new has been built (or even renovated) in Uránváros for several decades. The mining industry vanished in the 1980s and 1990s and several parts of the district are in critical condition now.

In 2010 Pécs became European Capitol of Culture – with Istanbul (TR) and Essen (DE) – and a lot of money could be spent on renovating public spaces. The main square of Uránváros received a facelift but something was missing. An international competition was held and luckily a young artist couple from Pécs, Dóra Palatinus and Zoltán Makra got the chance to design a

new sculpture. Actually it was more than just luck. Dóra and Zoltán had a huge advantage: they understood the past of Uránváros and could incorporate it into their art. Since one of the initiators of the competition was the Vasarely Foundation that operates in Aix en Provence, France,

The walls here used to connect people instead of separating them the contestants had to pay a little tribute to the op-art master Victor Vasarely.

The glass, steel and concrete fixture has exactly the same size of a flat of a miner family in Uránváros.

It’s tilted and transparent symbolizing that nothing is like it used to be, and that the walls here used to connect people instead of separating them.

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April 2015 PĂŠcs City Guide

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