Sic transit gloria mundi

Or in other words, "thus passes the glory of the world". That's what my granny says when weeping over the fainting charm of long gone eras and that's what I felt when passing by the small Hungarian village of Ötvös, once a model farm. Today, the former Széchenyi-castle looks bleak and shabby. Some kind of folks live in the building; at least, this is my impression from the "eyesoring" parabolic antenna mounted on the tattered roof and the laundry hung out to dry in the foregarden. A huge hole in one of the front window screens seems to be covered with a bathtub (!). The cottage of Róza Szegedy (the wife of the Hungarian poet, Sándor Kisfaludy) located nearby looks equally decaying. I wish the castle of Ötvös was only a sole example of how we preserve our national heritage in Hungary. There are, however, many more mansions in such condition all over the country. Here are some of those I have seen: Mesterházy-Castle in Csehimindszent, Mikos-Zierer Castle in Mikosszéplak, Somssich-Castle in Mike. Requiescat in pace.