I’m over halfway done with this trip! Wow, some periods have felt slow, while other times have passed quickly. Budapest has been exciting but tiring, given all the many interesting things to see. I’m also frankly having a tough time with the whole workation thing. Work doesn’t seem as desirable when you’re sitting in the middle of some super-interesting city with limited time. It’s a test of patience and willpower!
Zagreb (the next city) should be more relaxing, as this will be my fifth (!) time there, so it’s very familiar. Plus, there won’t be too many new things to do and see, though I hope to rent a car that weekend and drive to the northern part of Croatia to see one or two unique sites there.
After Zagreb it’s a couple of weeks in Portugal, which should be very different than central/eastern Europe! I studied Portuguese for several weeks this summer on Duolingo (before they f¥©×ed up the app with their giant revamp), and it’s quite similar to Spanish, so I’m looking forward to understanding much more of what’s going on around me!
On Saturday I visited the Budapest Memento Park, several miles outside of downtown. After the fall of communism, city leaders had to decide what to do with all the various communist-related statues, plaques, monuments, and memorials around Budapest. Of course, many people just wanted to have them all destroyed. A committee was put together, and they selected 42 items to place in a new park. There were debates on how to present these items, such as in a shaming or ironic way. In the end, the selected solution was one where the park calls forth the atmosphere of dictatorship, while simultaneously providing an opportunity to process and critically analyze this.
There are some things I’ve learned in the past few days in Budapest, such as that Hungary became a socialist republic after World War I, but the regime lasted less than half a year. Further, two cities on my trip in other countries, Bratislava and Zagreb, both used to be part of Hungary, showing how numerous borders in Europe have historically been quite dynamic. I also hadn’t realized that Austria was controlled by the Soviet Union for 10 years after WWII. The Soviet troops left Austria in 1955, making their way through Hungary. The Hungarians saw this and envisioned that they too could soon see the Soviets leave, but it wasn’t to be, at least not for decades more.
There was a big uprising in 1956, which the Soviets brutally crushed, killing thousands of Hungarians. It was somewhat of a win though because the Soviets and the local Communist government ruled with a much lighter hand thereafter, leading to what is often called “goulash communism,” where things weren’t so strict anymore. In fact, people of other Warsaw Pact countries would travel to Hungary to buy Western items they couldn’t get in their home countries, such as blue jeans. The 1989 fall of Communism all over Eastern Europe was at least partially precipitated by the Hungarian border guards no longer preventing people from crossing the border into Austria. Many East Germans traveled to Hungary, and then left to the West! This flow became substantial. Here’s a Washington Post article from the time.
I’ve been really missing watching NCAA college football games on Saturdays, so I searched extensively to see if I could find a place in Budapest that shows these games. Granted, it’s six hours ahead, but the first set of games would be possible to easily watch in their entirety. I found two places that were mentioned online as showing college football, but these both have since closed permanently (including Budapest’s Hooters, haha). Oh well. I could find lots of football at local pubs and bars, but not my favorite kind of football:
Some photos from that hill I mentioned earlier wanting to climb up:
Today’s limerick:
Communism, so what is the allure?
As a Leninist, who is truly pure?
To a gulag sent,
Many faithful went.
Hungary eventually found the cure.
Today’s dad joke: First, I’ve got to say that I’m disappointed because I came up with three (!) solid dad jokes one morning before I got out of bed, and then I promptly forgot them all. Damnesia!
Anyway, what do you call the tailors who make suits for Hungary’s prime minister?
Orbán Outfitters!
Today’s travel quote:
No place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be.
Chuck Thompson
Major Meander 
Oh, I hadn’t been on Duolingo in a while to see that the update created a mess. That’s too bad! Enjoy your time in Zagreb!
All the Communism is depressing, but I suppose it serves as a helpful reminder of more difficult times. I remember the victory statue atop the hill.