Kalocsa, Hungary
On Wednesday, we traveled into the town of Kalocsa - a short distance from where our ship docked. The town of Kalocsa (pronounced Colosha) is known for its paprika. In fact, we passed by houses that had long cylinder-shaped paprika hanging from the eaves. The cylinder shaped paprika resembled sausage. The tour guide, Matte, said that soon you would not even be able to see the houses because of all the paprika that would be hanging from the eaves.
Our activities in Kalocsa consisted of a visit to a horse farm and to a Church. Our bus went to the horse farm first. Here we were treated to a horse show by Hungarian cowboys. It was very entertaining.
There also was refreshments which consisted of paprika on bread, and juice. After the show, we walked around the grounds and were able to see some of the animals up close: horses, bulls, pigs, etc.
Then we took a carriage ride around the farm. The carriage had 2 long benches on either side, and when Joe and I went to get on the carriage, being at the end of the line, there was only 1 spot left. So the horse farm lady in charge asked me if I would like to ride up front with the driver, to which I responded, "Sure!" It was fantastic.
From the horse farm, we went to Holy Trinity square, where we saw St. Joseph Church and the Archbishop's Palace - both beautiful buildings. However the outer beauty was surpassed by the beauty inside the church. There were beautiful marble columns, delicately designed pink frescos, windows that were painted glass rather than stained glass, and lots of gold covered statues, gold leaf on the columns, etc. While we were there, we were treated to an organ concert which lasted about 20 minutes.
On the way back to the bus, our tour guide told us a few things about the local culture. He said that women get 3 years of maternity leave in Hungary. The first year is with 100% of pay, the second year with 80% of pay, and the third year with 30% of pay. You are guaranteed to get your job back after 3 years because it is illegal to fire someone because of a maternity leave.
In Hungary, children start school at age 3, so after the 3 years of maternity leave, when the mother returns to work, the children go to school. There are no nannies in Hungary since the children go straight to school after the mother returns to work. There is a local school that employs nuns, but it is not a private school. When the Russians took over, they kicked out all the nuns. After the Communist reign ended, the nuns were invited back, and were employed in the schools. So many of them now teach K-12 in the local state schools.
College here is free, unless you want to enroll in a course of study that the government has decided is not needed. For example, there are too many lawyers in Hungary, so if you want to study law, you have to pay your own way.
To compensate for the free college and the paid maternity leave, the tax rate here is 57%!
Our activities in Kalocsa consisted of a visit to a horse farm and to a Church. Our bus went to the horse farm first. Here we were treated to a horse show by Hungarian cowboys. It was very entertaining.
There also was refreshments which consisted of paprika on bread, and juice. After the show, we walked around the grounds and were able to see some of the animals up close: horses, bulls, pigs, etc.
Then we took a carriage ride around the farm. The carriage had 2 long benches on either side, and when Joe and I went to get on the carriage, being at the end of the line, there was only 1 spot left. So the horse farm lady in charge asked me if I would like to ride up front with the driver, to which I responded, "Sure!" It was fantastic.
From the horse farm, we went to Holy Trinity square, where we saw St. Joseph Church and the Archbishop's Palace - both beautiful buildings. However the outer beauty was surpassed by the beauty inside the church. There were beautiful marble columns, delicately designed pink frescos, windows that were painted glass rather than stained glass, and lots of gold covered statues, gold leaf on the columns, etc. While we were there, we were treated to an organ concert which lasted about 20 minutes.
On the way back to the bus, our tour guide told us a few things about the local culture. He said that women get 3 years of maternity leave in Hungary. The first year is with 100% of pay, the second year with 80% of pay, and the third year with 30% of pay. You are guaranteed to get your job back after 3 years because it is illegal to fire someone because of a maternity leave.
In Hungary, children start school at age 3, so after the 3 years of maternity leave, when the mother returns to work, the children go to school. There are no nannies in Hungary since the children go straight to school after the mother returns to work. There is a local school that employs nuns, but it is not a private school. When the Russians took over, they kicked out all the nuns. After the Communist reign ended, the nuns were invited back, and were employed in the schools. So many of them now teach K-12 in the local state schools.
College here is free, unless you want to enroll in a course of study that the government has decided is not needed. For example, there are too many lawyers in Hungary, so if you want to study law, you have to pay your own way.
To compensate for the free college and the paid maternity leave, the tax rate here is 57%!
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