Budapest and Our Communist Immersion

We woke to a very rainy day, but our plans off the ship are later in the afternoon so we slept in a bit. I had been hoping that I would find my favorite cruise breakfast treat: Muesli, and I was not disappointed. If you’ve never had it, it is mixture of breakfast grains, fruits and nuts in milk. I imagine it is an acquired taste but I acquired it on my first cruise and look forward to it every time. The morning tour was a walking tour of Budapest, but since we had enjoyed such a comprehensive tour already, we hung out on the ship all morning. After lunch, we headed out into the 50’s degree rainy afternoon for our Life Behind the Iron Curtain Tour.

We chose this tour for two reasons: our interest in the Communist period of Budapest, and the chance to ride in and drive a Trabant. This is an inexpensive car which was ubiquitous in Eastern Bloc countries during the Cold War. The Trabant is literally a ‘cardboard’ car, built from heavy cardboard, fiberglass and glue. Our group of nine people were driven to our tour sites in 5 of these fascinating cars. They sound as though they are equipped with a lawnmower motor, have a manual transmission and boast an impressive 26 horsepower engine. The Trabant was produced from 1957 until 1991 by an East German auto manufacturer. It became the symbol of the stagnant economy of East Germany and was referred to as a ‘spark plug with a roof.’ Despite all this, and although it was pretty cramped inside, it was a fun ride through the Budapest countryside. Our guide was Andrecz, and the car expert was Zoltar. I failed to get the name of the young man who drove us to the various tour sites, but all three were personable and well versed in their part of the tour.

We first drove to Memento Park, which is an open-air museum dedicated to Hungary’s Communist period. It includes many statues that the Communist regime placed throughout Budapest. Once Communism was finally rejected, the statues were collected and placed in this park, so that people could remember this difficult period. The statues are huge, imposing and provide a sobering reminder of the Communist regime. The designer of the park stated, “This park is about dictatorship. And because this can be displayed and discussed, is also about democracy. Because only democracy can give us the opportunity to think freely about dictatorship.” I was struck by the fact that the creators of the statues captured (whether by design or accident) the cruel countenance of the Communists while expressing the Hungarians as weak and subservient. It was chilling. The uprising of the Hungarian people in 1956, while not succeeding in removing the Communists, did have the effect of loosening some of the excessive rules, and our second stop was dedicated to this less strict relationship.

But before we left Memento Park, we were given the opportunity to drive the Trabant. First, Zoltar gave us an in-service in Hungarian about how the car worked and Andrecz translated. Then Bob and several others took the wheels and drove through the countryside. Bob enjoyed himself, and had no trouble with the touchy mechanical systems, probably because many of his cars are equally tricky.

Next, we drove to the Budapest Retro Museum in the downtown area. This museum was created by a private collector of memorabilia between 1960 and 1990. It is very interactive and has lots of hands-on displays. While this was a kinder, gentler communist period, it still depicts the poor economic conditions of the time and the controlled communications preventing the Hungarians from knowing about the better conditions in Western Europe after the war. It was interesting to learn that while Hungarians were greatly restricted in travel, and then only to other Communist countries, there was one unusual exception. Lake Balaton is the largest freshwater lake in Europe and a popular tourist destination to this day. During the Communist period, while people could not travel to non-Communist areas to see their loved ones cut off from them during the war, anyone could vacation at Lake Balaton, giving the Communist-controlled Hungarians a rare opportunity to see family and friends. I suspect this was not done as a kindness, but just overlooked by some bureaucrat. After strolling through this small museum, we were treated to Hungarian cakes and a beverage of choice. Then back in the Trabants to return to the Vali. As the street parking in the area of the museum was pretty tight, our driver had a bit of difficulty getting our Trabant parked. But no matter—we parked as best we could, then the driver simply lifted the car up and shoved it into a better place off the street! A real benefit of a cardboard car!

Back on the ship, we joined the rest of the guests for dinner. We have settled into a routine of sitting with a different small group at every meal, and are getting to know some of our fellow travelers. Most are American, but there is a fairly large group of Canadians and Australians as well. Our crew shoved off and we began the 22-hour sail to Vienna, where we will arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon.

We were really glad we had the opportunity to learn about Budapest. There is nothing like travel to give you new perspectives on the world.