This was how my morning started….
I zipped the blinds up and saw the neighbouring chickens had escaped again! They were having a sneaky wander in next door’s garden, oblivious to the fact that their owner was looking frantically for them!! I love chickens, these escapees seemed particularly cheerful today. 😀
If you would like to see a photo in a larger size, simply click on it to enhance your viewing experience.
Another “Good Morning” was from one of the many donkeys that live very comfortably on a huge animal farm on the way out of the village.
After a thirty minute drive, we arrived in the village of Ozora.
Lots of traditional Hungarian houses look like this, square like a box with some sort of arty decoration on the outside. I thought it looked rather enchanting.
Some houses have verandas that have been enclosed to make additional living space and draped with three quarter length nets. This property looked like it needed urgent attention!
I am accustomed to British car-boot sales and spent many pleasant hours on a Sunday morning in the UK browsing for bargains.
Hungarians do things slightly differently.
Car-Booting Hungarian Style
In Hungary large canvas tents are erected in front gardens of houses in the little villages dotted all over the country with anything and everything for sale. They are usually held at the weekends whatever the weather and throughout the year. You wander the streets, enter people’s gardens and browse the mountains of goods for sale. Nothing is priced and often goods are in very poor condition. If you have the time and the patience you can pick up some great bargains.
Ozora village has a significant Gypsy population and a Hungarian minority. Ozora is known as one of the car-booting capitals of Hungary!
We had been advised years ago that if we visited Ozora without a Hungarian speaker we would become the easy target for overpriced goods. Living so rural, foreigners do tend to stick out, nothing is priced and bartering is expected, which is quite hard in a foreign language!
This lady was looking through piles of clothes in someone’s front garden in the hope of finding something suitable to buy.
The vast majority of goods for sale were bikes, mowers and skiing equipment in the gardens and “Bric-a-Brac” and everything else in the marques and garages.
Walking through the village I noticed many houses accommodated an array of trinkets, ornaments and statues strategically placed for maximum enjoyment. Frogs!
Ducks!
The roof truly was this colour…with a cockerel strutting his stuff!
I am not sure I find these galloping horses very pleasing, obviously the home owner does!
This was quite a distressing sight, I could not work out if the sheep was there to cut the grass (common sight in Hungary) attached to a tyre by a pathetically short rope or for sale to the public?? Eric wanted to rescue the poor sheep and bring him home but I said, regrettably no! We have had sheep in the past…but that is another blog post!
A rather congested bike house!
Bike take over…same house…more bikes!!
If you need a bike you know where to come!
Wandering past the many bike gardens I reached what appeared to be a popular meeting place for the youth of Ozora. Lions standing to attention!
The bright yellow pillar states in Hungarian, “The Garden Area – Smoking Forbidden!” This guy must have missed that instruction!
“Business finished let’s get going!” I like the guy with the shades and confident step, he’s going places.
A slightly more pleasing lion! Those colours and design are from the flag of Bavaria, Germany.
I rather liked this….especially as it was written in English in a remote rural Hungarian village.
Curiosity took over here. The dark maroon area is a rusty metal fence with a missing panel. Squatting down it was perfect for a framed shot of a rather pleasantly green garden. I liked the rustic look of the fence and the softness of the nature scene beyond. Nice contrasting colours too.
This lovely building was next door, a pretty window caught my eye framed with matching spruce, it is Illyés Gyula Általános Iskola. (Meaning: Illyés Gyula Primary School).
The primary school took the name of Gyula Illyés in 1985. His bust was placed in front of the school on the 90th anniversary of his birth. He had strong connections with the local area. “Gyula Illyés (below) was a three-time Kossuth Prize-winning Hungarian poet, writer, playwright, translator and newspaper editor.
The Roman Catholic church St Istvan King, was built in 1728 Baroque style. Annoyingly, the overground power cables were everywhere obscuring my view. I thought that perhaps as they they were part of the landscape they should be included in my blog.
Street Photography
These next four photos represent my street photography for the day. Each one is taken to make you think about what you are seeing and what your conclusions are.
I continued to walk through the village, past colourful window boxes filled with plants, they looked very pretty and well maintained by the village Council staff.
Carved for the Millennium 2000.
My intention with this shot was to frame the statue of the fallen man with the yellow leaves of the tree. A combination shot portraying a poignant moment.
An Autumn scene portraying village life in Ozora. I loved the quaint bus shelter with a tiled roof and lantern.
The river was running dry but made a rather interesting “green” shot.
Ozora Autumn display, these colourful displays are a common sight in Hungarian rural villages.
How pretty this display of flowers, visible from the main road welcomes visitors to the village.
Ozora has a 15th century beautiful castle.
Pipo Ozora, King Zsigmond’s patron, began building it in 1416. The Renaissance world was recreated with its renovation, which was completely completed in 2015.
The castle is a wedding venue and they also have rooms to let, fully furnished in the Renaissance style. I believe you can hire the whole castle for an event.
This is their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pipovarkastely
Ozora is a well known village within the psychedelic music world.
The Ozora Festival, also written O.Z.O.R.A., is an annual open air psychedelic music and arts festival in Ozora, Hungary. It has been held since 2004 and takes place in a giant field, in a valley, just 30 minutes drive from where we live.
The first week in August the whole area becomes very busy, even in our village (15 miles away) with festival goers looking for accommodation for the week long festival.
The spectacular entrance to the annual Ozora Festival.
The autumn leaves are truly spectacular this time of year.
Palinka Apples!
Leaving Ozora in the afternoon sun we whizzed past this little stall. We did not stop but I managed to catch a shot.
These are “Palinka apples”, sold on the village roadsides for the production of Hungary’s national drink… Palinka (similar to brandy). The leftover apples from the recent crops, the bruised or damaged ones are not wasted but sold cheaply to make Hungary’s favorite fiery liquor!
It is considered impolite to refuse a shot of homemade palinka from your neighbour, especially if they have made it themselves. Of course, theirs is the best in the village!😆
This particular Palinka was a lovely gift to us, homemade and given with love.
This is also Palinka, 70% alcohol, VERY strong, deliciously potent and also a gift to us from kind friends.
Witchy fun day at the camel farm!
On our way home we stopped off at the local camel farm to buy some fruit and veg as they have a handy shop on site.
There were several “witches” walking around chatting, preparing for an event at the farm for Halloween. A large inflatable entertained the little ones…I impulsively bought candy floss and hotdogs to take home for Raff and Eric!
A bevvy of witches ready to fly!
We made our way back home, I had thoroughly enjoying myself with my camera cruising around Ozora. I am very lucky to have a willing taxi driver husband who made this trip out possible. Thanks Eric 😎
Raphael was happy we were back too…squinting in the sunshine appreciating his candy floss!
Thanks for reading my post, hope you enjoyed my photography and that the street photography shots made you think? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Enjoy your weekend 🙂
Making Hungary Home 