Thursday 25 September 2008

Pecs, Hungary

One of the disadvantages of a Brussels bureaucrat's life is that you sometimes have to leave the comforts of the Capital of Europe and go and visit the rest of Europe. Actually, I'm joking of course - it is one of the pleasures of our lives!

Last Sunday I headed off to Pecs in southern Hungary, to attend a meeting of ceramic producing cities. Pecs is the home of the Zsolnay Porcelain Manufactury, a high-end porcelain maker, and a partner in the network.

Pecs itself is an attractive small city, a UNESCO world heritage site, a historic place, and in 2010 European Capital of Culture. Ceramics are everywhere in the city, not just in and around the factory. The roofs of some buildings are made of porcelain tiles, there are porcelain sculptures and monuments, and a lovely museum. I'll load pictures here when I download them off the camera.

One evening in Pecs we were taken to a very wierd avant-garde theatre production by a Bosnian theatre company from Tuzla. Indescribable is the onle description I can give! We in the west think that we are the cultural trend-setters, but I'm afraid that the east (or the centre, at least) is a stranger place than we think. I'll add more on it when I (re-)find the URL of the theatre company.

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