CHAPTER 5. EASTERN EUROPE

When we went there in 1978, it was still behind the iron curtain, and visas were an added preliminary chore, border crossings were lengthy, hotels were sometimes full, and subject to State tourist agency control. Luckily we weren’t completely independent on this trip.

Our friends Helen and George Davis took delivery of a VW bus, and were taking 3 week trips in eastern Europe with cost sharing passengers accompanying them. Helen had spent a lot of time traveling in the area when she was an exchange teacher in England, and had done most of the research needed for an independent trip. We met in Vienna as they returned from three weeks in Yugoslavia and Italy with other “guests”.

We left home 3 weeks earlier, and had been to Munich (#14), took a bus tour of the royal castles, and went by train to Salzburg. We rented a car in Salzburg, drove to Innsbruck, saw some of the “Sound of Music” country, and drove down the Danube valley to Vienna (#15), picking up our friends Bob and Maurine Rollins at the train station to complete the VW bus party.

The VW bus leaves Vienna after a supermarket stop for items not available in eastern Europe; the crossing time at the border with Hungary is 1 hour 40 minutes. No hotel rooms are available at Gyor, so we go on to Tata where only one room is available. Maurine and Bob get it because she has a bad cold, and the rest of us go to the local campground. There each couple has a tiny cabin that is 100 feet from dirty and wet toilets and showers.

Helen and George’s plan is to stay in campgrounds, but after this experience in one we tell them in the future to first drop us at a hotel, and Maurine and Bob agree with us. That almost breaks up the trip on the second day, but we work it that way the rest of the time and get along OK.

We head north to the bend in the Danube near Visegrad and stop to see the Cathedral at Esztergom, the largest in Hungary. Lunch is at a picnic spot beside the Danube, then it is on by wildflower filled fields to Szentendre village where we get rooms in the motel at a campground. There are only two rooms available, so we split up; 3 men and 3 women. It is an Interesting village, with a good ceramics exhibit and good ice cream cones. The motel rooms are big and nice, but the showers near us don’t work; those at the other end of the building do.

The next destination is Budapest, where a long time is spent at the IBUZ agency getting hotel reservations for tonight and the next two nights. Lunch is at the Pannonia restaurant; as is common in much of Europe when no table is available, we are seated at a table with others; two young men, a woman and a boy. They speak English and have recently been in New York. The food is delicious, and we say how we enjoy the fine Hungarian cuisine. As we are eating one man leaves the table for a while, and returns with gift books on Hungarian cooking for both Maurine and Betty. That is just one of several nice things that happen on this trip while dining. There aren’t many U.S. tourists these days so we are standouts wherever we go.

IBUZ does well for us, putting us in the Palace Hotel. It is old, but clean and elegant with high ceilings and nice furniture. We walk to the Parliament building and return by bus and subway. A ride to the Hilton provides a very pretty view of the city across the Danube.

From Budapest our route is thru hills and green fields, off the main road, to Eger, a very pretty town. We take a walk by the Cathedral, the main plaza, and some side streets. Supper at the Park Hotel restaurant is a delight, with a string quartet paying special attention to Maurine and Betty. The food is very tasty, and inexpensive, and we have a bottle of the good “Blood of the Bull” local wine.

The next morning we tour the extensive ancient Eger Fortress before heading towards Debrecen. En route we see the Mezokovead embroidery museum which has some very fine and colorful work displayed.

At Debrecen we are in the old and elegant Hotel Aranybika. Betty and Glenn opt to wash and rest instead of touring the adjacent plains with the others. Dinner in the hotel is another delight, as are all meals in Hungary. Music is from a stringed instrument we don’t recognize, hit with curved padded sticks like a marimba, and also a bass and 4 violins. A Dutch man sitting nearby offers to buy us drinks and kisses Betty’s hand.