What a beautiful day to take a walk around the pretty little village of Kisszékely, Hungary.
The September sun was shining and the birds were constantly chattering to themselves as I strolled down the main road with my camera.
If you would like to see the photos in a larger size, simply click on them to enhance your viewing experience.
Village life starts around 7.00 am or earlier in the summer months when the mornings are lighter. Most of the villagers had done their morning chores before I had even ventured out.
Lots of houses display window boxes full of colourful geraniums, they are long lasting flowers and do not need much attention, prettily adding a flash of colour.
There were however the usual grass cutters and people strimming their gardens. This road leads to the cemetery and is always well maintained by either the villagers or the local council.
The village has various properties for sale, some in better condition than others! Eladó means “For Sale”. The one on the left has this amazing Virginia Creeper running up the side of the wall, it changes to a vibrant red in late October. The one on the right is probably better for demolition and rebuilding.
For at least the past 6 years this house has been derelict with no sign up for sale. When someone dies in the village the younger generation would normally stay on and maintain the house. Sadly there are no jobs in the village for the youngsters so they tend to move away in search of better lives and careers, usually to the capital, Budapest. This means that houses lie empty for years.
Some of the abandoned properties are personalised with their name/date on the front door, like this one, dated 1925.
Our home has white plastic drop-down blinds! Some of the village houses have wooden shutters which close from the outside and even the newer renovated houses retain the traditional authentic wooden shutters. I rather like them. Blinds are essential to keep the homes cool over the summer months.
Most houses have some sort of iron railings bordering their property. This one is a fairly common design, the shadows make it interesting to look at.
Most families have at least one dog in their household. I have lost count of the number of times they have made me jump with their sharp barking. I tend to walk down the middle of the road to avoid them!
These interesting structures appeared in several gardens I looked at. In days gone by they would have been for hanging and smoking meat, probably pork.
The September flowers are always a delight to look at and photograph. I think this is a Hibiscus, but am unsure.
Colourful and sweet smelling roses are still blooming in everybody’s gardens, they love the warm weather we are having. My roses are in their third bloom.
The photo on the left is a Sumac tree producing long red flowers that produce a spice, a dye and also is added to medicine. They grow easily here in Hungary. The second photo I think this is a cotton bush adorned with beautiful fluffy heads.
I am totally stumped with this one. At first look, they appear to be conkers (Horse Chestnuts)….but the leaves don’t match!
Kisszékely has many walks and trails around the valley and forests. This is a typical sign indicating on a map where you are and what you can expect to see while out and about. Each trail is colour coded so as not to get lost!
Hungary has many forests and woods, so there is plenty of timber about. This is an upper floor veranda made of wood. A lovely private place to sit and relax.
Walking further up the hill a burst of yellow bobbing flowers looked stunning in the morning sunshine….
…and a lazy butterfly lapping up the sun.
As I glanced through the farm gates I spotted several geese making their way slowly across the grass. I smiled as they formed an orderly queue (except for the last one) and continued on their way. Perhaps looking for water, they certainly knew where they were going.
This is a sad sight to see here in Hungary. Unfortunately, it is very common to have dogs chained up on a permanent basis. I have no words for this sad looking dog.
Further up the hill, I was slightly shocked to see a middle aged man gardening in his underwear!! I was slightly shocked, so turned around quickly and took a picture downhill!!
It is not unusual to have your veggie plot or flower garden on the other side of the road to your house, this is an example of one. The roads are very quiet but it seems a little inconvenient!
There were plenty of wild flowers on my route attracting the many bugs in the air.
A very common sight was lots of red tractors, parked in random places. The first one is “Belarus” produced in the 1950’s and still going strong today. Our neighbour also has a “Belarus”, it is super noisy and puffs out loads of black smoke every time it passes.
This is a water pump, fresh water and drinkable. Water many years ago would come from a well and then pumps were installed on the road side enabling those without water to have it. Most are still in use today, for example, the builders across the road regularly fill their buckets with water for mixing cement, school children replenish their water bottles on the way to school. Watering the front verges outside your property (this is the owner’s responsibility) is easier using the water pumps.
We have many feral cats in the village, all of them very shy and cautious. Here are just three of them, wandering around. They often come in our garden but flee the minute you approach them.
Every village has a church, this is ours, St George’s. This Saturday there will be a jubilee mass to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its consecration, quite an occasion for the village.
Most villages have a pub called a “Kocsma” in Hungarian. It opens early…so not unusual to see customers sitting outside at 7.00am in the morning! The second picture a little further down from the pub is a memorial statue sitting amongst a sweet smelling rose garden. It is also where Thursday market sellers come and sell their wares.
All around the village residents have different sorts of letter boxes, here are just four of them. A post van comes daily to the village and if you hang a sign outside your house he will visit you personally. You can pay bills, buy phone credit, collect parcels, anything a Post Office would do. It is very handy. It also caters to those villagers who are less mobile and can’t get to the main Post Office in the next village.
If you love horses then Kisszékely is the place to be. There are several riding stables located here and you can take a horse for a stroll around the village and into the forests.
Bright and cheerful houses occupy the village, here are examples of just two of them. Hungarians appear to like colour, it does cheer the village up and makes directions easier!!
Homes that have cliffs backing them tend to have caves sunk into the rock, these are then used for storage or in some cases for wine making or storing fruit and vegetables over the winter season. There are many of these in the village.
My final photo is significant…this is our gardener’s wheelbarrow adapted over the years for easier transportation. It is left on the verge ready for its next job…we are lucky there is minimal crime in the village and it will still be there until he needs it again.
Thank you for reading my post. If you can identify any of the plants in my photos, please let me know what they are in the comments. Very much appreciated and many thanks.
Making Hungary Home 