Budapest, Hungary
Tuesday - August 3, 2004
Blueberry Thunder

The first stop of the day was the embroidery camp at Csolypospalos, a small village a few kilometers from Szeged. Led by Maria Pordany, Laci's wife, the focus is on keeping the traditional national needlework crafts alive and to encourage the artisans to develop products to sell.

The participants' work represent several regions within the current boundaries of Hungary and former sections such as Transylvania (now a part of Romania since just after World War I). The work of instructor Zsuzsanna Pokomandy, a former folk singer and dancer, has been in several exhibits. Schulmann Istvanne specialized in the artistry from Transylvania We were extremely excited by the display they created for us. There were embroidery, crochet, crewel work, and tatting.

We purchased table cloths, table runners, napkins, handkerchiefs, and vests. Items from many of the artisans can be purchased online at www.schulmann.hu. In addition to offering us a smorgasbord of handcrafted items, the hospitality included delicious homemade pastries and fresh fruit. A wonderful start to the day -- as agreed by all. (However, the "guys" disappeared with Laci to visit the nearby cottage that he and Maria inherited from her father. The alleged reason was to observe how local people preserve the traditional of making a powerful white liquor, Palinka, from plums, cherries, apples, apricots, or pears. We suspect there might have been more to it than just observing.")

Zsuzsanna Pokomandy works to preserve folkcrafts in Hungary and Romanian Transylvania.
Traditional needlework from the Hungarian villages of Romanian Transylvania
Maria, Laci's wife, helped Megan select the "best deals" on display.

On October 23, 1956, the Hungarians organized a rebellion against Soviet Russia. For two weeks, the Hungarians fought Soviet troops with rifles, captured cannons and machine guns, Molotov Cocktails (bottles filled with gasoline with rage wicks), and any other weapons they could find. They were temporarily successful but on November 4, a quarter of a million Soviet troops, supported by hundreds of tanks, swarmed in to Budapest to quell the revolution. By December of 1956, hundreds of Hungarian leaders had been identified and hanged, some as young as 14.

One of the youthful rebels was Gergely Pongratz. He and his four his brothers were heavily involved in the organization of the revolt and fighting and their names were known to the Soviets. Along with their two sisters, the brothers fled Hungary. Gergely wound up in the United States where he spent the next several decades living in New Jersey, Boston, Chicago, and, finally, Arizona. Gergely returned to Hungary in 1990. With his own money, he established the '56 Museum near Szeged. The museum is filled with memorabilia of the revolt--- a Russian tank, flags, maps, newspaper articles, photos of the Freedom Fighters (both survivors and those killed in battle or later hanged), maps, and a large assortment of the weapons used in the revolution. Gergely and one of his brothers are on hand to speak poignantly and in detail of each item on display.

Gergely has also built a chapel to the memory of the heroes of the Revolution of 1956 and, hoping to keep the memories of the revolution alive, has just opened a free summer camp where young people can learn about this part of their national heritage. Mass is celebrated in the chapel once a month and on national and religious holidays. On the chapel's walls are plaques the names of dead Hungarian heroes. The visit was a,m interesting and sobering experience for the ECHO group.

Gergely Pongratz, hero of the 1956 revolution, stands in from of old photo of him speaking to the Freedom Fighters.

Russian tank of the type that finally crushed to revolution, but not before Freedom Fighters destroyed dozens of them with homemade "Molotov Cocktail" bombs.

After the museum, we lunched at a local Etterem (Inn) on the road from Szeged to Budapest--- more delicious fruit soup for many of us.

Then we drove northward to the Hungarian National Historical Memorial Park, which covers many acres in a rural area. Our first stop in the park was an impressive 1896 stone memorial to Prince Arpad commemorating his uniting the seven tribes to occupy the Hungarian plain in 896. Arpad set the stage for establishment for a Hungarian state.

Another exhibit dramatically illustrated the 1879 flood of the Tisza River watershed which devastated the town of Szeged. The exhibit showed how river dams north of the city broke surrounding the city and inundating it with with cold, March water. The flood waters remained several months at a depth of a few meters, thus destroying the largely adobe-brick walls and foundations of the city's houses and buildings.

A memorial to Arpad, the first "prince" of Hungary, leader of the seven tribes that claimed the land for their ancestors.
A descriptive sign at the entrance of a display commemorating the Szeged flood of 1879, the worst natural disaster in Hungary's national history.


We also saw the vast circular Panorama depicting the conquest of the Slavs by Arpad and his Huns. The 125 yard long, 18 yard wide, and 40 yard across painting recalls the events of history eleven hundred years ago. The moment is captured with the help of brush, paint, canvas, artistic skill, and some imagined episodes of the conquest (plus the imagination of spectators). Many contemporary artists helped Árpád Feszty with the two year task that lasted from 1892 to 1894. Landscapes are by László Mednyánszky and the battle scenes by Pál Vágó. Viewers stands in a platform in the center of the circular building and the Panorama surrounds them on all sides. It has over 2000 painted figures and landscapes, presented in a manner that blends in real constructions and artifacts. For more information on the Panorama and other attractions of the Memorial Park, go to: http://www.opusztaszer.hu/e/korkep.htm .

Central to the Panorama is Arpad (on white horse) and the tribal chiefs surveying the battle which claim the great Hungarian Plain for their descendants.


Finally we arrived back in Budapest. The final leg of our journey was over, the bus had left us for good, and we are now left with memories of a fantastic month following the Danube River through Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, and Serbia (with a brief venture into Slovenia). Our country coordinators, guest speakers, guides, and local people have spoken proudly of their knowledge and expertise and of their history. Through their eyes the region has become alive for us. We have experienced different historical, cultural, political, environmental, educational, architectural and social settings that have captured the essences of each.

 

This is the last time we have to repack our suitcases and carry them up or down flights of stairs. We won't have to run around the town looking for an Internet café and then be disappointed when we can' find one. (Especially when we didn't find out until the last day in Belgrade that the Mc Donald's across street offered free web access to customers .)

 

We're done and this is your last bit of thunder from ECHO's Blueberries!