Let me begin by apologizing for the lateness of this posting, in part explained by the fact that I have been in the grip of a bad cold, my first of the "season", and additionally by the fact that I was on vacation much of the time. Let me go on to say that the posting for June will be delayed as well, appearing about the 20th, as I shall leave shortly thereafter for several weeks in USA.
I am, as you might guess, back from Austria. We stayed at a very nice hotel in Bad Gastein, a village famous for its spa, which was a favorite of Emperor Franz Joseph. It is about 50 miles south of Salzburg and we went there regularly during the time we were in Zell am See, as the latter is only about 35 miles away; however, we were last to Zell am See in 2004. The hotel was one I had passed on numerous occasions while walking, but I always walked on a level about 200 feet lower than that on which the hotel is situated, therefore I can't say I ever really saw it. I had a stunning view of the mountains from my room and the hotel had a very warm atmosphere, such that you felt like a guest in someone's home, rather than a guest in a hotel. We were joined for an overnight stay by a childhood classmate of Sandor's, a Hungarian who lives in Switzerland. I found him very friendly and gracious. We went swimming at the baths in Bad Gastein, which we reached by walking through the center of town and then up a very steep hill. I love to walk, but I intensely dislike climbing hills. Fortunately, Julianna told me that we could go back walking on relatively flat ground, only it would be a bit longer. Maybe it was my relief at walking on level ground, but I did not think it a measurably longer walk, and certainly not a significantly longer walk. We also spent a day in Salzburg and at St. Wolfgang, a very picturesque lakeside village that Anna and I were to some years ago, and to which I make it a point to go when in the Salzburg area. It happens that when I took the trip to the Alps in August 2002, we stopped in St. Wolfgang on the first day. It was raining that day, but every day of our stay was sunny and warm. There was snow on the peaks, but not nearly as much as I would expect to find at this time of year. To be sure I have never seen so little snow on the peaks at any time of the year, and we tend to go either during or at the end of the summer. We also went to the baths at Bad Hofgastein, which is about ten miles up the road. We were there several times in the past, but I hardly recognized the town, except for the church, for they built a huge thermal bath that we decided to try out. Imagine swimming in the outdoors in heated pools, surrounded by snowy peaks. It is very impressive, but, I must caution, a bit on the expensive side---or so it seems to me, who am not a frequenter of baths. We also spent a day in Zell am See, my favorite place, which they really enjoyed very much, for we walked about and then spent an hour in a pedal-boat on the lake.
4 MAY 2007
Since my last entry we went to spend a week in Hortobagy, a very famous national park in the northeast of Hungary, famed for its preservation of livestock and the traditional herdsmanship of the Hungarians. We went with a colleague of Anna from Florida, who is spending a couple of weeks here. She enjoyed it very much. We spent a day in Eger, one of the most historic cities of Hungary, and also in Nyiregyhaza and Sostofurdo, as well as Debrecen and the baths of Hajduszoboszlo, a town I have been to innumerable times and which is very famous for the baths which, until now, I had never even once been into. The friend is staying at Anna's in Szeged, which she likes very much as well. Today they took the train up to Budapest. I did not go with them, as I cannot really add anything to their convenience, since they are going by train and Anna knows Budapest far better than I. We were to Opusztaszer yesterday---no, it must have been the day before yesterday. It is the site of a national park also, and is where the Hungarians first established themselves when they arrived from Asia in 896 AD. They have a very famous panoramic painting, similar to the Cyclorama in Atlanta) if you have ever seen it), and also a reconstruction of an old Hungarian town, with original buildings moved from their original sites.
Tomorrow we attend---or at least try to attend---two graduations. Allow me to explain. Here in Hungary all graduations, without exception, take place on the same day at the very same time, so it is impossible to attend two on the same day, or two at all for that matter. There is this family, the Benczédi family, with the six daughters, if you remember, and of course some of the daughters have children the same age as others, which means that there is always going to be a conflict when graduation time arrives. Marta (the next-to-youngest) has a daughter, Zsofia, who is graduating at the same time as her oldest sister's third oldest child. To make matters even worse, one is graduating in Hodmezővásárhely (where I live), and the other in Szentes, about 20 miles north of here. If you think it is a problem for Anna and me, consider the dilemna of the grandmother. Last year, when the same problem presented itself with two different children in the same family, Anna and I simply split the assignment, with her attending the one here and I the other one in a different city---last year it was Makó, about 25 miles southeast of here. The grandmother went to the one in Mako and skipped the one directly across the street from her house. I shall call her this evening and learn what she plans to do this year.
In the miscellaneous news department, I called my sister and was surprised to get no answer, until it finally dawned upon me that they are on the way to Singapore to spend some time visiting their daughter, who is on assignment there for a year or so for her company, Proctor and Gamble. While speaking of baths, I should mention that we spent quite a bit of time in the pool in Hortobagy, and also spent the day in Gyula at the baths there. We were taken by a friend, who had some unused voucher money about to expire. Let me explain. Here in Hungary the government provides each family with a minor child, and each retired couple as well, a modest vacation each year, in the form of a voucher, which can be used at a wide number of resorts throughout the country. It will not be of much use in a five-star hotel, but it will get you a decent week-long vacation in a mom-and-pop type country inn, of which we have zillions here in Hungary. Of course you can pay the difference and stay wherever you choose. If you wonder why we have so little money to spend to improve our non-existent missile defense system or similar highly worthwhile (?) projects, it is because we spend it on things like this, and on cultural events presented at affordable prices for even the most ordinary citizen.
Something happened that distresses me greatly. A few days ago vandals broke into the tomb of Janos Kadar, who was General-Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers (Communist) Party for 30+ years, and stole his remains and desecrated those of his wife. There are those who would argue that this is a valid form of political protest---the same, no doubt, who would argue that flag-burning (of the US flag only) is not a valid form of political protest, no matter what the Supreme Court says to the contrary. But if that is true, then can one of your father's tenants desecrate his remains, on the grounds that as a landlord he charged high rent; or someone who worked in his store, on the grounds that he paid sub-standard wages? It is best to think about this before deciding that it was all right in this case because the man was a Communist. In short, does any grievance justify an action such as this which most of us would consider reprehensible on the face of it?
It is now May 17th, and this will finish this entry, as I am late getting it posted. We attended the farewell recital of our favorite pianist, Fellegi Adam, Tuesday evening, The program consisted of two sets of contrasting sonatas in the same key, one in an earlier stage of Beethoven's career, the other in a later stage. The conclusion was a spectacular performance of a keyboard arrangement of the final movement of the Ninth Symphony, in which the orchestral parts had been eliminated from the soundtrack of a recording of a performance conducted by Gyüdi Sándor, the Musical Director and Chorusmaster of the Szeged Philarmonic---may I boast again that he is an acquaintance of ours---and Fellegi played the arrangement synchronized with a viewing of the conducting of Gyüdi Sándor. You would have to see it to really appreciate it. During the performance we could see apocalyptic flashes of lightning outside the hall, reminiscent of lighting for a performance of the Ring; but when I looked outside after the performance concluded, I was astonished to find that not a drop of rain had fallen. Imagine, then, my horror upon reaching the bottom of the stairs and finding that it was pouring. Needless to say we had taken the tram---my car was in Hódmezővásárhely---and I had left my umbrella at Anna's apartment. But all was not lost. In attendance was a friend, Dr. Dombiné Erzsebet, a professor of music at the University, and she offered to drive us home. Otherwise, weatherwise, we have been consistently in the upper-60s to mid-80s range with practically no rain, which is why it was such a shock to have such a storm, which was country-wide, I might add. Country-wide should take into account that I am speaking of a very small country, about the size of Indiana. with very little in the way of topographical variation.
I am going to close with a reminder that the next posting, for June, will be quite late in the month, about the 20th; and that the one for July may not appear until well into August, as I shall be in USA from 26 June until mid-August. Be assured, I appreciate your impatience.
