I have always admired tour guides; after traveling together with our family group my esteem for their work has skyrocketed. Bernard and I took the train to Prague where we met our son, daughter and her friend. We spent two days taking in the sites, trying out local cuisines, and spending time catching up with one another. My son Bernie and his girlfriend joined us the following day. By the time we left Vienna, we were a party of eight, as my niece Margaret (the other Margaret Muranyi) who has been studying in Grenada, Spain for her junior year abroad, also joined us. Traveling with 8 people can be a little challenging…especially when you have specific trains to catch. Even meeting at a given time in the morning to do a little sight-seeing can depend on everyone’s natural biorhythms (if you know what I mean), everyone not getting lost, or remembering exactly where we agreed to meet. It’s not unlike herding cats…but it’s also great fun, if you can keep a sense of humor about it. At given times, tempers frayed a little, but all in all, we had a blast! We spent a little time touring in Vienna, visiting the Schonbrun Palace, the Kunst Museum, and other sites, before we hopped on a train to Hungary.
As nice as those cities were, it was great to come home to Hungary. The kids got to see a little of Debrecen, see the university, our apartment, and I think they got a real taste of what our life has been like during the past five months. Some of my students had invited me for a glass of wine…we all sat in an outdoor cafe on a narrow, cobble-stoned street near the Great Church…the waiter finally asked if he could close his book…it was time to say goodbye. Our friends all said, “come back!” It was a special pleasure to share Hungary (at least a little bit of it) with my children.
On our first night in Budapest, we scored a great table at an outdoor cafe. We watched the match between Manchester United and Barcelona on a large-screen t.v. Margaret, having spent the past year in Spain, naturally rooted for Barcelona. The rest of us rooted for Man U, of course.
There was only one other table outside…it was full of wild Hungarians rooting for Barcelona. It was a friendly rivalry, but they had air horns, and we didn’t. Their team won, and ours didn’t. The pub offered a special menu with English and Spanish specialties, but the beer was Hungarian all the way! Passersby stopped to catch up on the score and cheer … people watching was almost as interesting as the game itself. All in all a memorable night.
My cousin Marian met us up on the Var…the kids got to see the castle, the Fisherman’s Bastion, and the Citadel. We ended the day at the Gellert Baths…historic baths in a spectacular hotel decorated in Art Nouveau style. I hired Andrea, the woman who organized our monthly Debrecen tours, to give us a tour of the Parliament and the Pest side of the city. She gave a wonderful overview of Hungarian history, architecture, art, and some of the little stories that enriched our experience. We ended up at the Szechenyi Baths, where we “took the waters” in a thermal spa complex that dates back to the 1880s. It felt wonderful after hours of walking. I also booked seats for a Hungarian folklore dance and musical review followed by a dinner cruise on the Danube. Budapest is incredibly beautiful all lit up. I wanted them to have a real sense of Hungarian culture.
Our party also got a chance to meet my cousins and their families…we had a wonderful dinner at Rita and Bandi’s house…home-made Szeged-stylei fish soup and Hortobagy pancakes. of course, it was all washed down with copious amounts of Hungarian palinkas, wines, and beer. In the past, I think they had a tendency to view my Hungarian roots as mine alone. They now realize that these are also their roots, their family, their heritage. I think they were all a little sad to leave Hungary so soon. My cousins all said, “come back.”
So, here I am writing this blog. B and I are on a bus from Dublin to Galway, on our way to meet some good friends of ours. We have left Hungary; we have left continental Europe. We return home to the US in a few days. It’s bittersweet, but then, I realize that I prefer it that way. My friend Annamaria said that she liked the fact that as a historian, I am able to live in both the past and the present. I think she’s right.
Thanks for tuning in and best regards, Marcsi
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