The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1985 (12. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)

1985-08-01 / 8. szám

amidst much oohs and ahs from the diners. The Germans are especially pleased and in unison they give out a series of hoo-rah, hoo-rah. I have to ask what are we being served. Its Langolo ordogfej, szarvaival...flaming Devil’s head with its horns. Actually it is a large palacsinta with ground meat that has a kolbász flavor to it. As I learned later, the Pokol Csarda also has the following specials: Flaming Hell Tavern platter, devils shishke-bab, Devils morsels in a red skillet and Devils salad, with a peppery house dressing. No sooner was the main course served, a man who was part of our welcoming committee comes to the stage where the 6-piece gypsy orchestra is playing, picks up a microphone and starts to sing the Hungarian songs with which we are so familiar—the nota category of Hungarian music. He is Lajos Nanassy, a singer in his late thirties or early forties and with an excellent voice. He really didn’t need a microphone because the diners simply got quiet and listened. It seems that even though just 3 of us understood the words, the others in the group readily grasped what Lajos was singing about, because his facial expressions made you believe he certainly felt the sadness he was singing about, especially when he sang Kek Nefelejts- Blue Forget-me-not. Lajos sang about 6-7 minutes, acknowledged our applause and then quickly walked out of the restaurant into the foyer. The orchestra started up a palotas—dance music from the 17-18th century castle ballrooms. A young couple dressed in diszmagyar, Hungarian gala dress of the upper class, entered and very gracefully and properly danced the palotas. Although they showed much more enthusiasm and spirit than the couple we saw at the Hungarian restaurant the night before, the small miscues indicated they were either beginners or this was a new routine for them. After this a chunky woman in her late fifties or early sixties, dressed in the Hungarian attire that we grew up with and accepted as Magyar—the Parta or headress, the red vest and white skirt with the red and green ribbon on the bottom, the so-called csárdás costume for Hungarian events. She entered, picked up the microphone and spoke in German at least for 3 minutes-herzliche wilkommen, welcoming the audience, expressing her hope as well as the management and her colleagues that everyone is having a wonderful time, and explaining the different aspects of the folk-lore program that was being presented that evening, everyone is welcome to Hungary, and in- August, 1985

troduced the band, the male singer, the dance couple and finally herself, Elizabeth Palotas. She sang two songs about Hungary, written by German composers and well-known by the older Germans: Von der Puszta will ich träume, I will dream about the Puszta, followed by the lively: Die Julischka, die Julischka aus Buda-Budapest. Julia from Budapest. The latter has some humorous lines in it, and as she sang them, her eyes would open wide and she would put one hand on her hip and tippy-toe a little bit. The Germans were roaring with laughter. Then she sang an operetta number in the Hungarian language: Alom, Alom which the Germans sang in their language. She was half way through this waltz when all the lights in the establishment go out, within seconds the waiters bring in little candles. The band kept playing but we could not hear Elizabeth and she stopped. About a minute later the lights came back on, but the mike and part of the restaurant did not have electricity. So Erzsi said good-bye, bowed to the audience and left. The young couple returned, dressed in Kalocsa style peasant outfits, and did a very excellent 7-8 minute presentation of Hungarian folk dances that included the old-time magyar, the ugros, the verbunk and lastly, the csárdás as we know it. Then the lights went out again-momentarily, when the lights came back, however, another part of the restaurant was without electricity. Finally, the band came around to the tables to serenade the diners, and the cimbalom player picked up a straw basket in which he collected the tips. I was happy that Mr. Lakatos came to our tables first. We all gave $2 a piece which seemed to make the whole band very very happy. After the band moved to the adjoining tables, our group decided to leave. In the foyer the lady in charge of the restaurant and who does the cooking Balazs Tiborne gave each one a souvenir paper napkin with a picture of a devil stirring a big kettle and the words Pokol Csarda; Hell Tavern. She gave me her card, and said to tell my radio audience about her place. She belongs to the County-wide Chain of Hotels and restaurants-Pest Megyei vendiglato. They are not government run, but IBUSZ helps them out. We climbed aboard our bus and rode back to Budapest in silence. The city was beautifully lit-up and Zsuzsi pointed out the places we should know from our tour earlier in the day—the Citadella, The Royal Palace, The Fishermans Bastion. But it was the view of the bridges over the Danube that brought the most comments from our group, and all were impressed about the vitality and vibrancy of Budapest. Then everyone noticed the neon-lighting for the various advertising signs, which were not apparent in Czechoslovakia. We arrived back at the Royal Hotel at 11:15 PM and were completely pooped out. It was a long day and it ended on a very happy note.

To be continued —

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