Messzelátó Egyesület

On the 19th August a small group of us set off for the Mecsek hills to wage war on some unruly rose trees and blackberry bushes. Chase, Roan, Bob and myself set of bright and early from Budapest, and a few hours later were rewarded by an invigorating swim in Lake Balaton when we stopped at Siofok. After another small stop for food we eventually arrived at the house of Erik and Kathleen, in the tiny village of Puspokszentlaszlo, nestled under the highest point of the Mecsek hills. The lovely Kathleen had cooked for us, and we spent the evening exploring the arboretum and the graveyard, and listening to Erik’s musical talents on the mouth harp.

The next morning the hard work began! Erik and Kathleen have a huge garden where blackberry bushes and rose trees have taken over, preventing other plants from growing. We got stuck in, cutting and pulling up the plants, but the branches fought back – I have many scars from the thorns to prove it! After a hard day’s work cutting down trees we travelled to a town near Pecs to watch Erik and Kathleen play in a concert to celebrate St Istvan’s day. After dinner in Pecs we returned home to sleep under the stars.

The next morning the hard work began again. We said goodbye to Chase and were joined by Nandi; friend of Erik and local fireman, who proved to be handy with a machete! We worked hard until lunchtime when we surveyed the garden and judged that we had beaten the destructive plants.

In the afternoon we walked up to the top of Zengo, the highest point of the Mecsek hills, and the site of Greenpeace protests against the building of a radar station and road. We climbed up a steep path through the forest and arrived at the watchtower. The view from the top was beautiful – forests and hills all around, Pecs to the south, and views stretching to Croatia. I could have stayed looking at the view for hours, but eventually we had to leave, where Nandi’s local knowledge proved useful as he led us down though the trees.

We set off back to Budapest, stopping for a quick tour of the fire station in Pecs. We stopped once more at Siofok where a moonlit swim in Balaton was the perfect way to end a perfect trip – 3 days of hard work and lots of laughs!