Part 2 Into the Wild Unknown

7-20 Buda-Pest is Buda-licious

Good Bye choice.  We have entered the choir tour portion of the trip and are now trapped by Eva our tour guide.  The choir?  Retired ladies mostly, but thankfully a few gay men to commiserate with.  This trip from now on will focus on the history of Unitarianism as we have a partner church program and several of the people on the trip are here as part of a pilgrimage to strengthen the partner church ties.  Me?  I’m here for the beer! 

Mark, the choir director, has described this portion of the tour as traveling within a Hungarian bubble.  Although we will be in Hungary only a short time and in Romania for the majority of this portion of our tour, our tour guides are Hungarian, and we will be visiting cities and towns with large Hungarian populations.  We will also be receiving primarily the Hungarian view of the conflicts between Hungarians in Transylvania and Romanians.

  

The morning was spent on a walking tour of Hungarian Kings and a bus ride around the city to get the lay of the land.  We were treated to all that Budapest has to offer, then some.  The Parliament Building is a stunning example of Gothic revival style.  In 1885, the architect won the right to build the parliament through a contest.  The other two plans submitted were equally revered so the buildings were also built in the vicinity.  

Heroes Square chronicles the many important rulers in Hungary’s turbulent past.  The square is gi-normous ringed with statues of dead rulers (they look kinda rough, kinda hot in a Tom of Finland way). Sidenote:  Many young people come out at night to Heroe’s Square to enjoy a cool breeze and to “hang out” or rollerblade.  

Parliament Building.  At the turn of the century, the Hungarian Government had a contest to develop the Parliament Building.  This is the winner!  Impressive.  The government was so impressed with the other plans, they built them very near the Parliament.    

Not bad for second place.  

The Unitarian church was next on the agenda.  

Stained Glass in the church.  

Little known fact, this is a statue of  a monk who had written the whole of Hungarian History.  He never signed his name, rather he used the synonym "Anonymous",  and thus the word anonymous was born.   

After lunch, a few of us decided to try out one of the many baths in the city (over 120 baths in Budapest alone).    We opted for the Gellert baths and a quick 30 minute massage.  The complex was huge with a man’s side and a women’s side.  Both sides met in the middle for a communal hot and tepid pool and for the multi leveled outdoor area (with a serious wave pool).   

The men’s side was very Turkish in nature with hot pools, cold pools, steam rooms and dressing chambers.  All were required to wear suits but many wore little aprons covering only the meat and potatoes, and in some cases not even that.  

My massage was from a short angry Hungarian man spending the time shouting across the hallway to the other angry Hungarian man.  Where was the incense, where was the low mood lighting and New Age music?  I truly felt as if they had just slapped the label of massage therapist on to a former communist bread maker and charged a nominal sum to Western tourists for the privelege of being pummeled and bruised.  

The baths were beautiful with porcelain decorations producing a very decadent and luxurious feel.  The entire complex was over whelming and I imagined getting lost in the catacombs for the remainder of the trip, which might not have been so bad.  

Back to the hotel for a quick change and a romantic dinner on the Danube.  The dinner?  Meat filled meat with a meat side.  The meats were rolled around sausages and maybe a prune or dried apricot.  The food was absolutely fantastic but will require a great deal of walking to lower the cholesterol to acceptable levels.  And the tour guide was a whiskey-voiced woman with an accent like Zsa Zsa Gabor; her delivery was sexy in that Eastern European way, and her knowledge of the architecture and history of Buda and Pest was vast.  We enjoyed white wine, and then an after dinner Egri Bikivar (or Bull’s Blood).  A dark, almost black, tannin-filled wine going down as smoothly as sandpaper.  

The lights of Budapest were beautiful, we fell asleep in the hotel later filled with good Hungarian food, visions of the Budapest skyline, and a degree of contentment not easily found when competing for space with so many other people on this part of the trip.  

7-21  Hungarian Drag?

Sweltering heat is the order of the day, so of course we have walking tour plans.  We are hitting the Buda side of Buda-Pest, otherwise known as the hilly castle region.  The hill is dotted with incredibly old structures having survived multiple political upheavals.  The large castles and churches destroyed during World War II and so Budapest is also not immune to great amounts of construction.  Lunch was enjoyed in the basement of the oldest restaurant in Budapest.  The basement was incredibly cool and trying to stir us from the good beer, cool basement, and excellent meal was not easy.  

As Rusty and the choir prepared for the concert in the beautiful Matthias church, I took a cab to the Market Hall.  An old turn of the 19th century market, with Paprika, sausages, Vegetables and trinkets.  

The concert in Matthias church?  Beautiful but sparsely attended.  The organ needed a high degree of finagling from the choir organist as it was in need of some repair.    

Rusty sweating through a shirt in a very hot church.  

The church itself bore the high ornamentation and decoration from the Turks as this church was converted to a Mosque when the Ottoman Empire invaded and occupied this part of the country. 

After dinner, Rusty and a friend (Steven) decided  to try out the local gay club scene and went to a drag bar (as I was just too hot and tired to sit in a smokey Hungarian Drag bar).  Perhaps we can persuade a paragraph or two from him relating his experience.  


Well, okay, if you insist.  Steven and I were hot and tired after the concert, but the next day would be an all-day bus ride to Romania, so we figured it would be our last chance to check out the gay scene of Budapest.  We read about a bar called Capella that, while a nightclub with two drag shows each night, was considered more of a straight bar, except on Wednesday nights.  Lucky us, it WAS Wednesday, so we took the metro (the oldest in Europe, with some of the fastest escalators I've ever seen!) and found the place.  It was just after 11, so from the euro-gay perspective, very early.  There was no cover charge, but we had to buy a drink at the entrance.  Ok, make me have a beer in this heat!


The club was three levels, with the stage on the lower level, with fireman poles and a circular staircase from the upper levels.  Clearly these queens were used to some dramatic entrances.  At about five minutes before midnight, the posted time for the start of the show, people started crowding into the bar, and the air developed quite a haze, as they all smoked feverishly before the show started.  The first performer, Solange, had a mis-step as the song she came out to was not the one she was to perform.  They restarted, with apologies from the DJ (well, I think they were apologies . . . it was all in Hungarian) and the show was on!  The first performer was a little weak, but I got to see a glimpse of what became known as the Hungarian Drag Move, sure to be added to the Classic Drag Moves once Marion Haste decides to go international with her curriculum.  It consists of bringing your hand from an outreached position to a clutched, closed fist near your chest.  References to Celine Dion perhaps, as her heart will go on?  I don't know, but I thought it was charming, and when I saw two others do it, I KNEW it was a trend!


There were five performers total, not counting the two back-up dancers (and I mean real dancers, with choreography and everything!), and the hostess was a blousy, big-boned girl with a penchant for sequined muu-muus and fishnest stockings.  I loved her, and apparently she took a shine to me . . . while she was flirting and bantering with Paolo, the cute Brazilian tourist, she chose to sit on my lap and lick my ear.  I'm sure she considered her heft in making her choice as to where to sit.  She would have snapped Paolo in two.


Each performer did two numbers in under an hour!  I was quite impressed with their efficiency and their versatility.  There were American songs, Hungarian songs, and at least one Spanish song, and the costumes were quite interesting.  One performer even smoked on-stage, since clearly there wasn't enough cigarette smoke in the house!  All-in-all, it was a unique cultural experience, and one I would recommend to any travellers to Budapest!

7-22 "The Great Hungarian Plain" or "Why I Don't Live in Iowa"  

Finally, a Hungarian Goulash.  On the way to Transylvania, on the hot sticky cramped bus ride we ate in a roadside restaurant and enjoyed authentic Goulash.  Interestingly enough, nothing like the goulash I’ve had in the past, much less stew like and much more soup like.  As a semi-nomadic people this was a meal often made in nomadic camps.  A bit greasy but delicious none the less. 

Crossing the Great Hungarian Plain was much like crossing the Great American Plain, flat, and filled with farms (mostly of sunflowers and corn).  Many of the farmers still drive horse pulled carts for field work.  This blending of old and new is so evident in this part of the world.  The modern components seem isolated and out of place, as they do in most rural communities, but even more so with so few modern conveniences.  The fields of sunflowers were beautiful, all flowers turning toward the relentless sun reminding the weary traveller that all this sunshine on a hot sticky day is a mere annoyance to the passer-by but the the summer months are the essential growing season for this part of Hungary and Romania.  A quick border check and a stamp of the passport, and we were officially in Romania.  

A bit about names, because of the multiple successive occupations of this area, maps include several different names for each town.  (I wish we had known this before trying to book plane reservations).  The official name of our next town is Cluj-Napoca, a name sanctioned by the Romanian government and changed to reflect the town’s Roman roots.  The Hungarian name, Koloszvar is the historic name, having being a part of Hungary for almost 1000 years (from 896 when King Arpad united the seven tribes) to being basically handed over to Romania after World War I (by the Treat of Trianon).  The Hungarians (1.4 million in Transylvania compared to 4 million Romanians) are struggling to retain their Unitarian religious roots, and their ethnic identity.  The Hungarians feel discriminated against by the Romanian government, because for this and because of very low economic opportunity and the newly opening borders, the young Hungarians in Transylvania are moving away from Romania in droves to Hungary or other European countries (especially Germany).  

Let us not forget the third name on the map, or Klausberg.  This part of Romania was part of the Hapsburg empire and many of the villages were Saxon.  Many towns exhibit German buildings, German names, German political and cultural ideology and before the late 20th century, German populations.  The German government paid quite a bit to the communist Romanian government (During Ceausescu’s dictatorship in the 1980’s) to “buy-back” the ethnic Germans - apparently about  $10,000 per exit visa.  This resulted in a huge amount of Germans moving from Romania.  Curiouser and curiouser...we’re certainly not in Kansas anymore Toto.  

Transylvania countryside?  Incredibly beautiful!

Still so many horse drawn carts, in order to join the EU, horse drawn carts were made illegal on the major roads...a great source of controversy in Romania.  

7-23  A Churchy Kind of Day in Cluj/Koloszvar

Many of our party were here to attend the Partner Church Conference in this town.  One of our tour guides (Zsi-Zsi)  was instrumental in starting the partner church movement, a movement to pair ethnic Hungarian Unitarian churches in Transylvania, the birth place of Unitarianism, with churches in the US.  Our church is partnered with a church here in Koloszvar.  We were highly encouraged to attend the Partner Church Conference opening session, and as good Unitarians we went.  The sessions were full of self congratulatory speeches, as with most Unitarian opening sessions.  

Afterwards, sightseeing around Cluj for the day.  Pretty but not spectacular.  

It seems much of Romania is under construction and much is filled with communist cement structure apartment buildings and factories, putting the Uggg in Ugly.  

Rusty and the choir sang in the Unitarian church, and then we enjoyed a spectacular reception, featuring Hungarian dancers, the atonal nasally Hungarian singing, and a feast of meat in sauce, with small portions of vegetables and salads, plus lots of Pahlinka (Hungarian liquor), white wine and beer.  All in all, a great time.  

7-24  Walking around Koloszvar and Club Zig-Zag “Because Life Shouldn’t Be Lived in a Straight Line”

Our tour guide for the morning was Thomas, a professor of History at the Unversity in Kolozsvar (Cluj).  

He walked us through the town pointing out the traces of Roman roots, the Hapsburg influences, all the way through present day Cluj.  The tour was excellent.  Tall, dark, and politically correct, what's not to like about Thomas.  


We were treated to the birthplace of King Matthius, the King responsible for the spread of Unitarianism in Hungary.  

The original Unitarian School in Cluj is currently a music school and has beautiful gothic vaulted arches.

In talking with him and Tibor (the minister of our partner church), it is unclear for which rights the Transylvanian Hungarians are fighting. 

I asked if the Hungarians are looking for succession, but Tibor was realisitic enough to know that is no longer a possibility with so many Romanians in the area.  It seems the Hungarians are interested in education for their children in not only Romanian but also Hungarian and a way to maintain their agricultural economy especially with the advent of the stringent EU requirements.  

Thomas spoke a little about Romanian Human Rights issues as well, stating that currently, Romania is particularly concerned with children’s rights and the rights of women.  When asked about gay rights, although being gay has been "decriminalized", the Romanian approach is to not even discuss these issues.  When Zizi was asked about the issue, she explained that Europe in general is more accepting of sexuality (not a surprise as Europe did toss out all of the intolerant religious zealots who ended up in...well...America), and she provided several anecdotes regarding gay acceptance, but this is certainly a far cry from actual rights, or even being openly out of the closet.  

We visited the Unitarian church and were treated to an opportunity to see the eucharist chalice used by Francis David, the man considered the father of Unitarianism.  The chalice? Over 500 years old.  One of the plates for the eucharist is extremely rare and is valued at a million dollars.  Did we hold it?  Of course, I love fancy dish ware.  We also toured the crypt, a special treat as the crypt has only recently been repaired and reopened.  

After lunch we met with the minister of our partner church in his house with his family for Hungarian donuts (it weren’t no Krispy Kreme but still good), and a special home made Cherry Pahlinka, which was REALLY good.  

We presented gifts to the minister, said our good-byes and were desperate to beat the heat.  A few of us were off to the local baths for a swim to lower our internal body temperatures a degree or two.  The prerequisite hot tubs and steam rooms were available but also a feature I haven’t seen before, a salt room.   The room is kept at a mild temperature in which one sits surrounded by salt on the floor and on the walls, watching a video of beautiful scenery, such as the skyline of New York or a pastural setting.  It supposedly assists with respiratory issues.  The best I can say is it didn’t hurt me.  A clap of thunder and the heat was finally broken with a torrential downpour.  Hooray!   

Sight seeing around the city for a few hours, then Rusty and the choir performed at St. Michael’s (1859), an incredible neo-Gothic church considered to be one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in all of Romania.  

Saturday night, and we decided to try our hand at the local gay bar, Club Zig-Zag, Because Life Shouldn’t Be Lived in a Straight Line.  Well, we were definitely more than twice the age of every patron in the bar.  The mostly American music was played way too loud in this basement bar/fire hazard.  Everyone was smoking with a fervor now unknown in American bars and clubs.  The smoke haze, overly loud music, and incredibly bad dance moves made me feel even older and our sojourn into Cluj gay life was very short lived indeed. 

Tomorrow?  Small village life and Targu Mures.  

7-25 Gypsy Palaces

Zizi, our other guide has made a clear distinction between the Romanians, with a cultural history of the Balkans, and Hungarians, considered by our slightly biased new friends, culturally European.  Our tour guides exhibit a bit of disdain for the Romanians and have expressed these feelings in a very direct manner, as an ethnic minority conscripted by a government are wont to do.  

Our guides are also none too thrilled about the gypsies (or Roma) in every community.  These semi-nomadic people are not trusted, but are often utilized for cheap labor.  The Roma have a strong caste system very similar to India’s caste system.  

The “Gypsy Palaces” are built with the ornate ornamentation of India and in bright garish colors.  Built by the members of the highest castes (musicians and tin workers), these are very large homes costing a small fortune in lei (Romanian money), though rarely occupied, since they are a nomadic people.  It seems they are built as place-holders for retirement, once their roaming days are over.   Imagine what the palace of the King of the Gypsies (yes, there is such a person!) looks like!

The relaxed borders of the EU have increased the nomadic range of these people and has caused some countries to deport Roma back to Romania (i.e. France).  The Roma do not assimilate easily into the majority European culture and the values of the Roma  conflict with most European communities. Complaints include thievery, aggressive begging (a phenomenon personally experienced by myself in some of the larger cities), and a draining of the resources.   

Often the Roma live marginalized lives within a small village community.  Our guides readily acknowledge the talents of the Roma people especially in music, metal work, and in basket making, but consider this an intractable problem with very few solutions.  

On to the bus and a tour around small villages for a Unitarian pilgrimage.  In a small village church in Torda, the Edict of Tolerance to the Diet of Torda was proclaimed in 1568 by Prince John Sigismund Zápolya.  From this time forward many churches turned Unitarian and Transylvania experienced a period of religious tolerance unheard of in the Middle Ages.  Francis David was instrumental in spreading the word, and preached his first sermon from atop a rock in the Unitarian Chruch in Koloszvar.

Zizi, Mark, and our drive extraordinaire Czaba (pronounced chau-bau)

Torockó?  UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The entire village!  Enough said!

Drinking from the village spring, and terrifying those on the bus who were worried about water quality.

We also went to the village of Rimetea (Torockó).  A beautiful village with the most incredible views.  We hiked to a castle ruin overlooking the village and experienced a bit of pure Nirvana.  The Hungarian wildflowers were in full bloom, the sky was radiant with  a Carolina blue and wispy clouds, and the hiking was unmatched in its awe inspiring beauty.  The wind at the top of the hill was a bit fierce but altogether refreshing.  

Conquerors of the Saxon Fortress

The roads in this portion of the world have suffered from years of communist neglect.  Many roads are unpaved and many are currently under construction.  During Ceausescu’s dictatorship, he began implementing a policy of destroying Transylvania  villages, his plan was to bulldoze 8,000 villages.  He managed to bulldoze a few dozen before his eventual death by firing squad.  One of the consequences of this is that thousands upon thousands of dogs were also displaced, and currently roam the streets and towns of Romania, often is packs, and attacking when desperate.  

This was not one of the vicious dogs.

Another of Ceausescu’s policies was that every woman under 45 was forbidden birth control and forbidden abortion.  He was trying to create an army with the children in Romania.  Women with more than four children were called Heroic Mothers.  This is how the Romanian orphanages managed to become the horrific repository of children uncared for and abandoned. This brand of totalitarianistic communism was no friend to the people of Romania and it will take many years to recover from this nightmare.  

7-26 Romanian Weddings - A Whole Level of Tacky from Which Vegas Can Take a Lesson

Today, Marosvasarhely (Tyrgu Mures in Romanian).  On the way, we stopped at a roadside restaurant, in which a wedding was happening.  Weddings seem to be ubiquitous in Romania, with every town sporting several wedding dress shops and many of the hotels during our stays had wedding parties in their restaurants.  The dresses?  Garish is too kind a word.  The cake?  A purple and white dream with fireworks shooting out of the top.  The music?  Horrifically Loud!  The chairs?  Covered in purple and creme chiffon.  I took more than a few notes in case I ever have a wedding.  (Thanks Judge Walker!)  

Rusty, always a bride's maid!

Chairs?  A chiffon dream.  Cake?  Multi tiered and on fire!

Rusty's choir sang in the Palace of Culture.  This music school is beautiful, in its Art Deco Style with a definite Hungarian decorative motif.  

In our free time, Rusty and I walked through a graveyard, and noticed a grave with the date of December, 21, 1989.  This is the date of the revolution deposing Ceausescu.  The revolution was not considered successful because although Ceausescu was assassinated, another fascist governmental structure was put in place.   Every city we were in seemed to have memorials dedicated to this event, and/or actual streets named 21 December 1989.  Fresh flowers still adorn the grave, a very moving display even to the uninitiated.  We also noticed several of the carved wooden Hungarian totems in place of grave stones.  the decorations are said to provide information about the deceased.   

A few random pictures of Targu Mures.

Do you think Disney or Warner Brothers has licensed this artwork? 

And now...Random Romanian Garden Gnomes!

7-27 Dracula!  

The medieval Saxon town of Sighişoara (Segesvar in Hungarian and Schäßburg in German) is one of the many walled towns in this part of the world.  This is the birthplace of Vlad Ţepeş otherwise known as Dracula.

Many of the establishments have chosen to capitalize on the Dracula story created by Bram Stoker (including his actual birth house which now hosts a restaurant and has a wood cutout of the fictional character - ugggg, tackiness in all its splendor), though Vlad Ţepeș was considered a fierce warrior and hero for driving the Turks out of the area.  Many of the princes of the time were vicious toward their enemies, but Vlad Ţepeș seemed particularly sadistic, with some good reason, having been raped and tortured by the Turks during his early years of captivity.    

This town is quaint but filled with tourists, (especially Italian tourists -  the Romanian and Italian language are very similar and many Italians visit this area).  

Homes with a stork are considered lucky.

A house right out of Harry Potter!

7-28 One More Concert

On to Sibiu (Seben), a European Cultural Heritage site (2007).  This designation is given to one city a year, and is a great honor in Europe.  The downtown square is incredible, and the town has a very good vibe. 

Rusty’s choir sang to a full house in the Saxon Evangelical Church, even though the church is undergoing renovations and has wooden scaffolding everywhere.  

Before the concert, we purchased a ticket to climb to the tower of the church.  The stairs to the tower were rickety at best.  My acrophobic nature was pushed to the limit in just getting to the tower.  The view from the top?  Breath taking!

The evening was spent drinking Çiuc Beer (Romanian) in a Scottish Pub.  

7-29 Unitarian Villages 

Székelyland here we come.  The Székely people are said to be descended from the Huns and looking at the villagers, one can see similarities.  

Our first stop, Székely-derzs.  Derzs has a Saxon fortification church.  The church is very interesting in many ways.  

The church is a UNESCO World Heritage site (as were most of the sites we’ve seen).  The reason?  The church has runic writing on some of the bricks and this helps to establish the Székely connection to Nepal and/or the Viking cultures (are you saying "huh" too?).  It’s a mystery apparently even to the Székely people.  

The organ is from the 14th century.

The other interesting thing about this church is that the walls surrounding the complex were used as a granary and as a storage of the meat.  If invaders approached, the people would retreat to the church (inside the walls) and be protected with their food sources.  The church would ring the bells twice a day to get grains, and once a week when the meat lockers would be opened.  The main part of the church was built in the 1200’s, but added to over the years.  

We enjoyed a peasant lunch in the cramped granary within the wall.  The lunch was a simple affair of smoked sausages, fresh cheese, bacon (really just a slab of smoked lard...uggg), tomatoes and cucumbers.  Bread and a delicious home-made jam completed the meal.  

Meat and lard?  Now, that's a lunch.  

A quick stop in Okland to view Eva and her husband's church (one of our tour guides and the progenitor of Project Harvest Hope).  A very relaxed village.

A traditional Hungarian wood gate.  Very ornate and over 200 years old.  

Happy Transylvanian geese.

Eva's church, where her husband is the minister, exhibits more evidence of runic writing, and qualifies the church as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Eva in the Okland Unitarian church.  

Levende, Eva's husband, and the minister of the Okland church.  

The ceiling of the church, high ornamentation.  

Next, a stop at the farm supported by American UU Churches, Project Harvest Hope and run by Eva and her husband.  The farm is meant to provide jobs to locals and is EU compliant.   Cows and pigs...who couldn't love the visit.  

Isten Hozott - it means "God Brought You Here" and is a traditional Hungarian welcome in the smaller (mostly Unitarian) villages.  This sign also marks the Project Harvest Hope farm.  

Cart and horse in a small village.

We ate dinner at the Pensione of our bus driver, Czaba.  The only frustrating part was being surrounded with beautiful hills and having no opportunity to hike.  During dinner, a faun domesticated by our host, entered the dining room, much to the delight of all.  

After dinner, the bus was stopped by the cows coming home for the evening (no lie).  

A beautiful Transylvanian sunset.  

7-29 Pottery in Korond

Shopping in Korond before finally ditching the choir.   

7-30 to 8-2 Sans Choir - Finally

A couple of days in Tyrgu Mures (Marosvarsahely) sans choir before departing.   Will they be missed?  I can't say I'll miss them unless I can get them to leave...

Downtime...before a two day trip back to the states.

A trip to the Zoo.  We expected the zoo to be much sadder but most of the animals seemed to have plenty of space and were in good health.  It seems there are very slack trademark laws as Thomas (kinda) the train engine drove by.  Just slightly off of the real Thomas.  

A Thomas-like Train at the zoo...

Then a trip to the best Spa ever.  Cheap massages, and some time in the pool,steam room, jacuzzi, etc. with a view of the Transylvanian hills all around.  5 hours later we were thoroughly relaxed.  

One night in Frankfurt and then home to the cool temperatures and our house.  The things I have missed?  Taco Bell (and any food with spice), vegetables, the fog, ice cubes, cool drinks and something other than hot dogs for breakfast.  The whole idea of choice is something I miss (turns out we aren't "tour" kinda people, much preferring a backpack and a map to discover places on our own).  Spoiled Americans! We enjoyed our European vacation, inspiring us to broaden our world understanding, and helping us to appreciate our good fortune for living in the land of opportunity.   The experience was well worth the months of eating Top Ramen ahead of us as we figure out how to pay for this indulgence.  Was it worth it?  Most certainly, an experience emblazoned in my memories.