Budapest, Hungary, 28 May 1987:  Jo reggelt (Good morning)! One need never go hungry in Hungary.  The food is fabulous here ... and cheap.  I think I picked a great place to spend the next four weeks.

Prior to now, all I really knew about Hungary was the four Gs -- goulash and the three Gabor sisters.  I did read a book about the 1956 revolt here, but that only distorted my image of what the country now appears to be.  If I didn't know beforehand, I would have guessed that I was in a typical West European capitalist country, certainly not a socialist one.  The signs of socialism (East Bloc style) are harder to spot than in the 4 other East European countries I've visited, and the economy of Budapest seems to have more vitality than some American cities I've seen.

I'm rooming with a guy from London at a Hungarian woman's home for $4 a night.  She, like virtually everybody hear, speaks a West European language or two in addition to Hungarian and the mandatory Russian.

The bad news I received today is that the trains from Moscow to Peking (Beijing) are booked through November, which means I may have to alter my plans substantially, perhaps going to South and Southeast Asia via a flight from Greece, the cheapest route.  The good news I received today was that I got an incredibly cheap ticket to Moscow from here on a train.  It costs $14 to cover the distance (about equivalent to the distance between Minneapolis and Seattle), including 2 nights in a sleeping compartment.  The cost from here to Peking would have been an incredible $50, if I could have gotten reservations.

Love,
Viszlat (See you later),
Franz Liszt

Budapest, Hungary, 05 June 1987:  Jo regelt (Good morning)!  I visited a very large cave called Aggtekek in Eastern Hungary with two of my previous roommates over the weekend, a young woman from Sydney, Australia (a televison personality) and another from Hong Kong (an accountant).  Since then, they have departed for elsewhere and I have now been rooming in another private home in Budapest with two more Australians from Melbourne, John (computer systems analyst) and Mary ( a department store window decorator) who have been working in South Africa for five years.  Mary, whose parents fled from Hungary to Australia in 1956, speaks Hungarian well and has been helping me communicate with folks in numerous situations.

I have pursued every conceivable means in trying to get booked on a train from Moscow to China, including setting in motion a hoard of people working in my behalf; but today, I received the final word that it is not possible.  So, following the study-tour in the USSR, I will return to Hungary and then Greece by rail, followed by a flight to India or perhaps Pakistan.  China will have to wait.  Considering the great deal of time and effort I invested in checking out and pursuing options only to meet with ultimate failure, I am disappointed, of course.  Still, I am a seasoned enough traveler and have had enough blessings to count that I don't let it get me down for long.  One closed opportunity has pointed the way to another open opportunity.

We have also been touring around Budapest with Helga, a physical education teacher from East Germany.  Together, I think that the four of us make great travel companions.

Serbusz (goodbye),
Franz Liszt

Sopron, Hungary, 13 June 1987:  Jo estet (Good evening)!  My study tour of Hungary is a small but congenial group of 11 people, including 1 other American, 1 Costa Rican, 2 French, 3 West German, 2 Belgian and our Hungarian guide.  We have been introduced to many other Hungarian university and high school students.  The men's dorm rooms were decorated exactly as you would see any American university dorm -- with rock music posters and beer cans.  We even played an enjoyable game of soccer with them.

Of greater significance since my last postcard is that I fell in love, quite heavily this time, in Budapest with an Australian woman from Melbourne named Mary Teichel.  This is one in which a lot of fireworks went off, apparently inside both of us, and has given me a far greater motivation to spend some time in Australia.  It's been a long time since I've allowed myself to be so carried away by romance, but it was particularly wonderful this time!  Time will tell what will become of this relationship.  I have a lot of distractions and a minefield of temptations to pass through between now and Australia, not to mention the creeping realization that I must, before long, become productive and responsible again.  In any event, I'm long going to have fond memories of this place.  "Who needs Paris," she said, "when we have Budapest!"

Tonight, our group went to a disco, which for all apparent purposes could have been in Downtown Minneapolis.  Once again, the differences between this socialist country and the West are often indistinguishable.

Peace and love,
Vislat (see you later),
Jozsef Attila (poet)

Szeged, Hungary, 18 June 1987:  Yo estet (Good evening)!  Life is very strange sometimes.  I wasn't expecting it to happen, but one week after I had thought I said goodbye to Mary, the Australian with whom I fell in love in Budapest, and her travel companion John, we ran into each other again in this southern Hungarian town of Szeged.  Because I was with my study-tour group getting ready to bard a train there was only enough time for a brief "Hello" and a kiss goodbye.  This continent is quite small.

The study-tour group is a good mix of people.  Three of the ten people were on my workcamp in the USSR last summer.  We have had many good opportunities to meet and speak with Hungarians, especially students.

Unlike other East European countries, Hungarians are much freer to travel to the West.  Many, if not most, have been there at least once.  Their greatest restriction is the cost of traveling.  The quality of life is such that there is not much desire to move away.  In fact, until you realize that many people work long hours, often two jobs, their material wealth sometimes seems to be better than many in the West have.

Love,
Istavan Lazslo
 

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