Budapest Noir ~ House of Terror and other Horrors

On a crisp sunny November morning we set out on Budapest's famed boulevard - Andrassy Avenue -- a stretch of road dating back to 1872. Today's roadway is lined with elaborate facades on the exteriors of Neo-renaissance mansions and townhomes. 

Flower stalls brightened Andrassy Avenue - Budapest

Strolling on its wide sidewalks we passed name-brand designer stores, fancy cafes and restaurants that are the street level occupants of those stately old edifices. Notable addresses along the street include the Hungarian University of Fine Arts and the State Opera House. 

Trams waiting for pedestrians crossing before them on Andrassy Street

The bustling route -- such an upbeat and pleasant part of the city -- was recognized as a World Heritage Site in 2002.

A stop at a bookstore along the way resulted in the purchase of a murder mystery set in the 1930's penned by a Hungarian writer, its title 'Budapest Noir' . 

Thinking back on it, the title was an appropriate foreshadowing for our destination that morning: 

The House of Terror. . .a place about as 'noir' as you could find.

Not some Hollywood special effects entertainment venue, the building at 60 Andrassy Avenue is both a Museum about one of the darkest times in Budapest's modern history and a memorial to its victims. 

House of Terror, 60 Andrassy Avenue, Budapest

 A sign at the entryway reads:

'A memorial of political terror, where people were detained, tortured and murdered during the Arrow Cross [far-right, Fascists] and Communist dictatorships. From the late 1930's the building was used as a meeting place by the Arrow Cross and later as their party headquarters, dubbed The House of Loyalty. It was taken over by the Communist secret police in 1945 and later served as headquarters for Hungary's Secret Service organization the State Protection Authority.'

Photography isn't allowed inside. Frankly, I am not sure who would want to take photos - you don't need them to remember the horrors depicted in displays and articulated by survivors in the many videos used throughout the memorial.  

One of the most striking photo displays was not of victims, but of the perpetrators.  It took us a bit to realize that the display was of the perpetrators because frankly the men and women looked the same as those who had been victims. 

Regulars here know I am not a fan of those blogs that list the 5, 10 or 12  "Must See" places for their readers. Nor do I like those who tell you what should be visited in a two- or three-day stay somewhere. I prefer to tell you about things we do in the places we visit in hopes you'll get the itch to set forth as well using your own ideas about what should be seen.  Here I am making an exception to my rule: if you are in Budapest, you should visit this tastefully curated but horrifying look at history.

Entry to 60 Andrassy - photos of victims ring the building's exterior

Along the banks of the Danube near the fairytale castle-like building that serves as Parliament, another display created by sculptors, Gyula Pauer and Con Togay, has been drawing tourists since its 2005 installation.

Budapest Parliament Building

"Shoes on the Danube" 60 pairs of rusted period shoes cast in iron sit at the water's edge. Behind them signs read, "To the memory of the victims shot into the Danube by Arrowcross militiamen in 1944-45."

We didn't make it to the shoes as we simply ran out of time - it will be high on our 'must see' list when we return (and we do plan to return to this amazing city)!

Memorial to victims of German occupation 

Several blocks away from the Parliament Building we did visit another memorial, this one built to honor the victims of the German occupation.  While the memorial is striking with its eagle (representing Nazi Germany) and Archangel Gabriel (representing victims), it was the personal messages, photos and stories that descendants of the victims have left, that grip your heart.  Each one a story of love and loss.

The caption on this photo reads: 

'Budapest 1944. Jewish women being driven to extermination. Passers-by look at the sidewalk.'

The saddest part of the memorial to my way of thinking

I can't visit these memorials without wondering why the human race hasn't learned from history.  It was when I saw the notice in the photograph above that I thought perhaps it never will.  

I use a hashtag, #whywetravel quite often on FB posts because so many ask if we still -- after this many decades of it -- enjoy traveling.  These 'noir' experiences in Budapest certainly qualify as examples of why we travel.  There is so much of the world and its history -- both good and bad -- to learn about and what better way to do it than visiting sites that might make us uncomfortable and be upsetting but that certainly present a story that needs to be told and heard?

How about you? Where has history taken you on your travels? Leave us a comment or shoot us an email.

Next week, I promise a bit more upbeat tale and hope that you will join us then for another adventure.  Thank you for the time you spent with us today. Safe travels to you and yours.

I am adding a post script to this because I need to know if any of you who have 'subscribed' - that is, signed up to receive this as an email in your inbox -- did receive it?  I seem to have been dropped from Feedburner, the distribution engine that brings my words to you.  If you did, could you be so kind as to drop a note and say, "got it"?

Linking soon with:

Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday

Hungary . . .for a little adventure. . .

The rain against the taxi windows blurred our first glimpses of Budapest. We arrived on a very dreary Sunday morning - the sky, the buildings and streets -- even the Danube River - were shades of gray.  A breeze stirred fallen leaves.

A rainy morning added to the ambiance of Budapest

Welcome to Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. Even with modern vehicles, trams and buses passing our taxi, I still felt like we were characters in one of Alan Furst's novels which are set in a variety of European cities. His plots delve into a shady and suspenseful time surrounding World War II. And this city on that drab morning felt shady and suspenseful!

So many choices and so little time!

We'd arrived here as part of a quick fall getaway: five nights here, to be followed by three in Vienna. We've been landlocked in Greece too long this year. The travel bug, dormant during that 4.5 month wait for our residency cards - our keys to being able to travel outside the country - had definitely gotten restless. You regulars here know one of the reasons we moved was to have a launch pad from which we could explore more of Europe and the Middle East and Africa.  

Euro on the left, Hungarian Forint on the right

We were hungry for an adventure to someplace we'd never been before. Hungary is satiating our appetites! After a flight of one hour, 40 minutes from Athens we are immersed in such a different culture - language, food, currency; everything has just enough foreign feel to it to make this trip most interesting.  

And some things are a bit too foreign for my tastes

With so many layers of history, we are having a hard time absorbing all there is to learn about this once Communist-ruled country.

Buda Castle from our room

It didn't take long to figure out that the five days we gave ourselves here won't be anywhere near enough to visit all the sights within the city of Budapest, let alone to get out and explore the countryside! We've barely had time to sample Hungarian cuisine and sip Hungarian wine.

Free entertainment outside our window

Our room at the Budapest Marriott on the Pest side (pronounced, pesht) overlooks the Danube River and the Castle on the Buda side of the river. We could easily spend our days doing nothing more than watching the never-ending river traffic: tour boats and river cruise boats mingle with barges and other river transport.

Taking a morning stroll across the Danube on Chain Bridge

The November weather has been what one might expect in a Central European country: a bit of sun, quite a few clouds and periodic heavy rain, and chilly for those us basking last week in summer-like temperatures in Greece!  Here we've shivered in temperatures hovering between high 40F and low 50's ( 4-10C).  A morning of sunshine has become a pouring rainstorm by evening.

Street scenes to take your breath away

Aside from the fact I should have followed my instincts and packed our long underwear and heavier clothes, we are enjoying this adventure in Central Europe. . .it reminds us how much of the world there is to see!  Regulars here and FB friends know that Budapest has long been on The Scout's list of 'must see' places. It wasn't as high up on my travel list, that is, before I arrived. Now I am talking about making this annual trip.

I am at a European Christmas Market!

In addition to the multitude of art galleries and museums, the historic sites are many and varied. We've logged more than a dozen miles walking from one to another in just a couple of days and filled most of another day touring by Hop-On, Hop-Off bus and boat tours. 


One of the unexpected treats we have had was the annual Christmas Market. And I do believe there will be another market operating in Vienna when we get there this weekend! I will certainly be telling you about those soon!

Who is this man? What was he playing for us? Stay tuned.

I know some of you were expecting a post on Monemvasia and I pre-empted that with this trip.  We are hopping a train tomorrow to Vienna before returning home to Greece next week. I will get back to it, but I've got a lot of things to tell you about our travels to this amazing part of Europe so hope you'll be back again for the next installment of Travel-n-Write! 

Safe travels to you and yours and thanks for the time you spent with us today.

Linking sometime soon with:

Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday

In France ~ Something Old and Something New

Never has the old and new been so perfectly juxtaposed as they were in the French countryside where we made our home for a week in June. We had Disneyland to our right and the medieval city of Provins to our left.

Disneyland and Medieval villages in the French countryside

And we can thank our ‘timeshare’ life for introducing us to both.  I’ve long sung the praises of the timeshare concept of ‘trading time’ for new locations.  In this case we’d traded one of our small hotel-room sized weeks in Hawaii for a two-story, two-bedroom, 2.5 bath home in the French countryside. I wrote about it in June, if you missed it, take a look at our home away from home.

Minnie's welcome sign at Disneyland

Our stay at the “Village Marriott” or the Marriott Ile-de-France as it is properly called, put us smack dab between the sprawling Disneyland (now celebrating its 25th Anniversary) and several charming villages where life remains untouched by the glitz that Mickey and Minnie brought to the area a quarter century ago. One of our favorites was Provins. . .

Entry into the medieval town of Provins

While the name when spoken sounds much like the wildly popular “Provence” region, this “Provins” is in the midst of the Champagne region; a region founded back in 1065.  Once the administrative center in Charlemagne’s empire, the place is simply oozing with history.

Heavy security at Disneyland

And unlike Disneyland, there are no entry fees or metal detectors or armed security guards with their attack dogs to greet you.

So on a cloudy morning that threatened rain we set off for a trip back in time. . .by hopping a public bus at the station near Disneyland.

The journey aboard bus No. 50 was a journey of an hour in each direction. It would have only cost 4 euros round trip per person had we not purchased the bus/train pass that allowed us unlimited travel for the week we were there.


Those of you who’ve traveled with us at TravelnWrite, know that we are not fans of group tours nor do we like the confines of set tours. Hopping a public bus and setting off on our own is one of our favorite ways to explore new territories. 

Off on an Adventure

We pretty much had the bus to ourselves – which also meant we had front row seats. The villages on the route are small and there weren’t a lot of folks traveling between them and Disneyland on this mid-week June day.

Our almost private bus in France

Again those who know us, know one of the reasons we bought a place in Greece was to have a base from which to explore more of Europe. This week-long trip was one of our first ventures out and let me tell you, that a just-over- two-hour flight from Athens to Paris is an affordable treat when compared to trips from Seattle, our home-base on the U.S. west coast.  And as we prepare to make Greece more of a full-time home base, we are also planning the outings that we’ll be taking.

What a contrast to Paris less than an hour away by train

Provins was an administrative center in Charlemagne’s empire and was one of six cities on the circuit of Champagne fairs.  Those medieval fairs lasted for six weeks in each location and at the height of their reign offered fair goers textiles, furs, leathers and spice.  Some of the huge warehouses in which the fair goods were stored still exist within this walled city.

The city square - Provins

I’d like to imagine the fair -  the fair of St. Ayoul of Provins - was held in this city square each September.

The buildings and streets in Provins were out of a fairytale

Provins prosperity lasted until the beginning of the 14th century when rerouting of commercial routes, plagues, wars and the decline of fairs led it into a state of hibernation; a small town in a rural setting - somewhat untouched by the outside world.

Provins storefront

That seclusion is credited with the saving of some 58 monuments, nearly all built in the 12th and 13th centuries. They’re credited with this town’s placement on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

Eglise Saint-Quireace  Provins, France

Entering this cathedral we were reminded of one of our all-time favorite books, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It is set in medieval times – those in which fairs were held and central to its story line is the building of a cathedral. We highly recommend it to you historical novel fans out there.

Even the doors reek with history

We pretty much had the town to ourselves on the day we visited although from the many tourist shops and restaurants that fill the ancient buildings we suspect this place at times could be as busy as Disneyland.

We were content to wander the streets and let our imaginations run wild (with the help of interpretive signage along the way)but for those who want more tourist-type experiences, there are a number of monuments  and performances that have set hours and admission fees. For example the Underground Galleries are 4.50-euro for adults and 3-euro per child; the Legend of the Knights show is 12-euro for adults and 8-euros per child.

Even the steps had a story in Provins, France

Should we return to this part of France again, we’d probably opt to spend a night at one of the many hotels within this walled city so we could experience its after-dark atmosphere. . .I am certain it would be magical . . .

If you are lucky enough to be in this region this fall you might want to attend the town’s Autumn Fair, October 1st.  For more information on it and the town, visit their tourist office website at: www.provins.net

That’s it for this week.  Our packing continues. We thank you for your time and hope that you and yours have safe and happy travels.  Thanks to those of you who’ve shared the blog with others and re-posted it on Facebook.  It is much appreciated!

Linking this week with:
Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Travel Photo Thursday – 
Photo Friday
Weekend Travel Inspiration

Travel’s Blessings ~ Sunday Serendipity in Geneva

Serendipity - the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

It is a post-card perfect Sunday afternoon in Geneva, Switzerland. Mont Blanc towers in the distance and Lake Geneva has drawn thousands of local and visiting sun-worshippers on this perfect June day.

Lake Geneva 

We didn’t head to the lake though. We went  to church. Not the ‘walk in and admire the architecture’ kind of ‘go to church’, I am talking the ‘sit down and stay awhile’ kind.

Geneva, Switzerland

If a traveler were going to go to church, Geneva, known today as the ‘Protestant Rome” would be a good city in which to do it  - there are more than 140 places of worship from which to choose. There’s even an International Museum of the Reformation here which chronicals the Protestant church reformation.
But that’s not why we went to church.  It was the serendipity of travel that took us to church:
Several years ago while at our Hawaiian timeshare, Ko Olina on O’ahu, we attended an owners ‘meet and greet’. It turns out that several sets of owners come back ‘same time each year’ as we do. And as result of that introductory gathering several of us have become friends. We socialize when together in Hawaii and stay in touch in between. 

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Geneva

One set of KoOlina friends have told us about their son and his family living in Geneva.  He is the minister at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Geneva, which is located on one of the prettiest plazas in the old town. So the serendipity of that chance meeting in Hawaii years ago led us to church this morning in Geneva. We were attending the service conducted by our friends' son.

Children's choir and Rev. Andrew Willis

Had we not gone, we would have missed one of the richest travel experiences we’ve ever had. The congregation was a reflection of the the United Nations headquarters here (the second largest of the organizations four headquarters) – the music and the praise a mix of cultural richness.

“Reamo leboga” – We give our thanks to God.
We sang the hymn using the words of Botswana, another hymn was from Namibia another was an English folk tune, and another a Medieval French melody.   

Gathering for communion

The visitors were equally as culturally and ethnically mixed. As we introduced ourselves to the congregation we learned there was a group from Australia seated behind us, a Jazz singer (here for an upcoming festival) from Chicago, a grandmother from Ghana here visiting her grandchildren and several folks who were in town for work at the World Council of Churches.
As we left, I lamented to The Scout that I wish I lived closer – I’d likely be a regular at this worship service. 
But we were not quite done with serendipity it turned out. . .
We strolled through the plaza in front of the church, then around a corner and found ourselves at the Geneva Street Food Festival – a once a year, one-day food and drink fest that we were lucky enough to happen upon. Serendipity, I tell you! 

Our lunch a Palestinian dish

It was tough to decide between Italian, Asian, French, vegan, meat bbq, gourmet hot dogs, and everything in between but we finally chose Middle Eastern, Palestinian food to be exact. 

Wish they'd drive to Greece

Had it been a bit later in the day I’d have indulged in one of my favorites, an Aperol Spritz!

Smoked salmon -- Northwest style?

Or the offerings of the chef in the converted school bus. . .

Old school buses never die. . .

On that note we are off to make the most of our last evening in Geneva. Our whirlwind trip ends tomorrow when we head home to Greece.  Hope that your travels -- like ours - have been blessed with a bit of serendipity. And as always our thanks for being with us on this adventure!
Linking this week with:

Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Travel Photo Thursday – 
Photo Friday
Weekend Travel Inspiration

Valentine’s Day: A Re-Told Tale ~ Love and Legacy

On a ‘cool, slightly overcast’ Friday, March 23rd, 1956  -- the Italian freighter, Eugenio C, set sail at 8 p.m. from Dock 5, in Brooklyn, New York  heading to Genoa, Italy.

Among its passengers were a Central Washington State daily newspaper reporter and her photographer husband, Phil and Dean Spuler.

Following their April 8th arrival in Italy and a few days spent with friends on the Riviera; they boarded a train in Chamberey, France bound for Milan, Italy.
(photo of the Spulers departing France.)








In Milan they purchased two Lambretta scooters, (earlier versions of the one pictured here),
that would carry them on a year and a half  journey through Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, Scotland and Ireland.

But their story really doesn’t begin nor end with this journey . . .



Phil and Dean Spuler

Phil (who never used her given name, Phyllis) and Dean  had met in the late 1940’s while students at San Jose State College in California; both worked on the campus paper, the Spartan Daily. Times were tough, money scarce. Romance bloomed, they married and began their careers at the paper now known as the Yakima Herald-Republic in Central Washington State.

It was at that paper, in the early 1980’s, that as a ‘cub reporter’ I worked with -- and became friends with -- the Spulers. They were the seasoned professionals and as such, mentors, in a newsroom bursting with several other just-out-of-college-journalists. They’d returned to the newspaper at the conclusion of their European adventure (and stayed until their eventual retirements).

Their European Adventure
 
It was never clear what had sparked their desire to sell most of their belongings and head to Europe. Perhaps inspired by writer Ernest Hemingway who had returned to Paris in 1944 or Julia Child, of cookbook fame, who arrived in France four years later. . .they never said. Regrettably, I never thought to ask.

Their travel budget was $5 a day and that included all food, lodging and travel expenses. They stayed in youth hostels and rode their scooters in both good and bad weather.

Their travel journals tell of spending  the winter in Paris where they enrolled in a French language school, and spent time exploring art galleries, sidewalk cafes, and attending plays and operas.

Spring found them in Berlin. They returned to the United States the summer of 1957 on a small Italian passenger ship.



Their Love and Legacy


Our friendship grew over three decades and during that time their travels – although shorter and more luxurious than their Europe trip – included cruises and excursions to foreign lands. They drove “dune-buggies’ through the desert surrounding  their Arizona retirement community until age and health finally curtailed their dare-devil outings.

Then, they told us, they lived vicariously through our travels.

Prior to their deaths – now, a few years ago – they set forth their wishes to help other journalism students at their alma mater, San Jose State University.

Since then we’ve had the pleasure of working with the university to make that happen: Each year two scholarships are available to journalism and photojournalism students. They endowed an annual symposium.




Author’s note: This post originally appeared in April 2012 after we spent a day with the students and staff of the media and journalism department at San Jose State University. We'd attended the Annual Spuler Ethics in Media Symposium, we visited the college newspaper and magazine.

This year, the 5th Annual Spuler Ethics in Media Symposium will be held Tuesday, March 19th, from 6 – 7:30 p.m. on the San Jose State campus.  This year’s focus: Advertising Ethics.

We’d encourage your attendance at this free event if you are in the San Jose area.  And this is our contribution to the Valentine’s Day edition of Travel Photo Thursday. Stop by Nancie’s Budget Travelers Sandbox for more photos and tales.

Traveling and Writing ~ Love and Legacy

On a ‘cool, slightly overcast’ Friday, March 23rd, 1956  -- the Italian freighter, Eugenio C, set sail at 8 p.m. from Dock 5, in Brooklyn, New York  heading to Genoa, Italy.

Among its passengers were a Central Washington State daily newspaper reporter and her photographer husband, Phil and Dean Spuler.

Following their April 8th arrival in Italy and a few days spent with friends on the Riviera; they boarded a train in Chamberey, France bound for Milan, Italy.

(photo of the Spulers departing France)









In Milan they purchased two Lambretta scooters, (earlier versions of the one pictured here),
that would carry them on a year and a half  journey through Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, Scotland and Ireland.



But their story really doesn’t begin nor end with this journey . . .

Phil and Dean Spuler

Phil (who never used her given name, Phyllis) and Dean  had met in the late 1940’s  while students at San Jose State College in  California;  both worked on the campus paper, the Spartan Daily. Times were tough, money scarce. Romance bloomed, they married and began their careers at the paper now known as the Yakima Herald-Republic in Central Washington State.

It was at that paper, in the early 1980’s, that as a ‘cub reporter’, I worked with -- and became friends with -- the Spulers. They were the seasoned professionals and as such, mentors, in a newsroom bursting with several other near college-age journalists. They’d returned to the newspaper at the conclusion of their European adventure (and stayed until their retirements).






Their European Adventure

It was never clear what had sparked their desire to sell most of their belongings and head to Europe. Perhaps inspired by writer Ernest Hemingway who had returned to Paris in 1944 or Julia Child, of cookbook fame, who arrived in France four years later. . .they never said. Regrettably, I never thought to ask.

Their travel budget was $5 a day and that included all food, lodging and travel expenses. They stayed in youth hostels and rode their scooters in both good and bad weather.

Their travel journals tell of spending  the winter in Paris where they enrolled in a French language school, and spent time exploring art galleries, sidewalk cafes, and attending plays and operas.

Spring found them in Berlin. They returned to the United States the summer of 1957 on a small Italian passenger ship.



Their Love and Legacy

Our friendship grew over three decades and during that time their travels – although shorter and more luxurious than their Europe trip – included cruises and excursions to foreign lands. They drove “dune-buggies’ through the desert surrounding  their Arizona retirement community until age and health slowed them. Then, they told us, they lived vicariously through our travels.

Prior to their deaths – now, a few years ago – they set forth their wishes to help other journalism students at their alma mater, San Jose State University.  Since then we’ve had the pleasure of working with the university to make that happen: Each year two scholarships are available to journalism and photojournalism students. They endowed an annual symposium.








Author’s note: I wrote this post after returning from a whirlwind campus tour of the media and journalism department at San Jose State University this week. Joel and I attended the 4th Annual Spuler Ethics in Media Symposium, we visited the college newspaper and magazine. We met inspiring and enthusiastic professors and students.

Our two-day visit concluded with meeting this year’s journalism scholarship recipient; a soft-spoken, dedicated young man, Francisco Rendon,  former editor of the  Spartan Daily paper and now a contributing writer to it.

When we asked of his future plans. He told us he’ll be writing for an organization in Israel.   Travel and writing. . .we know  Phil and Dean Spuler would be delighted!