When planning for the Spring trip in 2009, Mom revealed that she wasn’t up to traveling anymore. There comes a point when the reward is no longer worth the effort and she had reached that point. When we had gone on the Central Europe tour the year before, our tour director, Wence, had told us about his friend, Zsuzsa, who led the Balkans & Transylvania tour. So I ended up going on that tour on my own.
Arriving in Budapest, the hotel room was not yet ready for the three of us that came in on Malev Airlines from Amsterdam. We needed to check our bags in at the desk to go and get something to eat while we waited. The hotel was on the river on the Pest side. The three of us walked along the river to find a café. Since I had been to Budapest before, I knew which direction was the most likely and we set off that way. Both of my companions were American. The female, Hilary, had the book The Historian (by Elizabeth Kostova) with her. She had read it before and wanted to read it again while on the tour as we would be visiting several of the locations in the book. I was doing the same thing.
The next day, we began our tour at Heroes’ Square. I not only had purchased a new video camera to replace the one that died in Egypt, but I bought a new camera as well. I had borrowed a digital camera to try out in Egypt and found that the photos were much better than from my film camera, so I took the plunge and got a digital camera that could also take photos in very low-light situations. This allowed me to take photos inside of places with very low light without needing a flash. This was helpful because some venues allow interior photography without a flash, but not with one. Beginning with this trip, I got into the habit of taking loads and loads of photos.
It was great seeing Arpad and the boys again. I took several photos from different angles of the Magyar Chieftain and his friends who founded Hungary in about 895. The first King of Hungary was his great-great-grandson, Istvan (Stephen), whose crown is on display in the Parliament building.
Up on Castle Hill, the Matthias Coronation Church was still partially in scaffolding. But we could go inside this time, so I did. This is the church where several of the kings were crowned. It was destroyed by the Mongols and the Turks and badly damaged during World War II. Each time it has been restored. The interior was still a little dark, but quite beautiful. Part of it was being worked on, but the altar was ready for its close-up.
While still in Buda, we went by the memorial to Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jews from concentration camps during World War II. Back down in Pest, we went to the Doheny Street Synagogue with a beautiful sculpture representing a willow tree. The names of the Hungarian Jews who had perished in the Holocaust are on the leaves. Actor Tony Curtis, whose father was a Hungarian Jew, provided the funds for this memorial. Over 2,000 of the Jews who died in the Ghetto in Budapest were buried in the garden of the Synagogue. Then we were released for lunch. Since the John Bull Pub where Mom and I had dined the year before was nearby, I led a small group there.
On the way to Szentendre, we passed some of the ruins of the Roman town of Aquincum. If I return to Budapest again sometime, I’d like to explore them more. Our first stop in Szentendre was a diamond factory where I purchased some very lovely, old-fashioned dangle earrings made of Hungarian opals. Then we visited the same Serbian Orthodox Church as the prior year. This time, however, I got a couple photos of the inside. On the way back down the road to get to the tour coach, I bought a jacket for Mom for her birthday (which was taking place on the day I returned from the trip). She had looked at some the jackets the previous year, so I knew she was interested in them. She loved it and wore it for special occasions.
Back in Budapest, we stopped near the Parliament building to take photos of a memorial located near the building at the edge of the Danube. During World War II a Hungarian fascist group ordered thousands of Jews over time to stand at the edge of the river and remove their shows. Once they had done so, they were shot and fell into the river. The memorial consists of 60 pairs of shoes (in iron) of both adults and children. It is one of the most moving memorials I have seen.
That night we attended a Hungarian dinner with folk dancing. Upon arrival, we were served some apricot brandy in a little ceramic jug shaped like a man, which we were able to keep. Then we had a dinner of goulash soup, stuffed chicken and strudel accompanied by wine, Hungarian music and folk dancing.
The next day we left for Serbia on our way to Bulgaria. Because Serbia was not part of the European Union, we waited at the border quite a while before we could proceed to the city of Novi Sad where we were to have lunch. Once there, we exchanged some money to be able to pay for lunch. I exchanged enough for lunch and a small souvenir. I then ate at the McDonalds in the town square, near the bank where I had exchanged the money, so I could eat quickly and then explore before we needed to leave.
Founded in 1694, Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia and sits on the opposite side of the Danube River from the Petrovaradin Fortress which was built in 1692. The town square was quite large, so there was a sizeable area for me to explore, plus some interesting side streets. When we left Novi Sad, we drove to Belgrade where we were to spend the night.
Also on the Danube, Belgrade had been the capitol of Yugoslavia and is now the capitol of Serbia. It has essentially been in existence (founded by the Vincas) since the 6th century BC and has been conquered by Celts, Romans, Slavs, Byzantines, Franks, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Ottomans, and the Hapsburgs. The oldest part of the present city is the Kalemegdan Citadel, which dates back to the 3rd century BC (three centuries before Belgrade existed) and has been destroyed and rebuilt throughout the centuries.
We arrived in time for a tour of the city before checking into the hotel and having dinner. The next day we left for Bulgaria, which was very different from what I expected.
