Last night we watched the fireworks from our patio, very pretty. They were rapidly followed by fireworks of a different kind. There was tremendous thunder and lightning followed by the heavens opening. The thunderstorm lasted for ages, John still managed to get to sleep and sleep through some of the loudest claps of thunder.
This morning dawned (wonder if Maria will continue to wake so early back at home, bet she won’t) bright and cool but with a promise of heat later. We decided to go back to the fair early, while it was cool and not too busy. We were parking before 8.45 but it was already starting to get busy.
There were some new stall holders and it was a great mix, including elderly gents who had made a few whips to sell (Maria still wouldn’t let me have one) and some ladies who had some antique pieces of weaving and embroidery.
Maria bought a couple of pieces, the prices were incredibly cheap, the ladies were apologising for how much they had to charge while we were feeling guilty about how much work had gone into the pieces and how little we were paying.
We did a bit more shopping, including a lucky horseshoe for me, which was just the right size to fit in my rucksack and which we watched being made, and some pottery for Maria from a potter we had tried to visit yesterday in Tiszafured, but found he was away (‘cos he was here of course). It was getting very busy by now and the heat was building up uncomfortably so we decided we’d had enough. We’d heard there were trips onto the puszta in horse drawn carts every couple of hours from 10 onwards. John decided he could cope if he was careful (he’s allergic to horses) so we decided to go for it.
I was lucky and got to sit up front with the driver.
It was very interesting; we had a long drive with pauses to see various animals etc. We saw a cart drawn by 6 white oxen,
tremendously strong; we later saw a herd of them.
The horsemen are very talented and agile. Standing on the back of 2 horses while controlling others with reins is a particular trick of theirs (the world record is for 24 horses!!).
They are also good at cracking their whips as they ride and the horses don’t flinch at all (bet I could do it if Maria let me have a whip),
There are some very isolated homesteads which look lovely at the moment but I beat it’s bleak in winter.
I love the characteristic wells.
We also saw some wild pigs, with rather cute piglets, and water buffaloes. A very enjoyable trip and John only wheezed for a while.
There is another storm forecast for tonight, in fact in some areas there have been enormous hailstones. Interesting weather,