Travels and Changes
In October of 1987, equipped with our passports and visas
and with two huge suitcases, Len and I flew from San Francisco to Vienna with
one stopover in Hamburg, Germany. Arriving almost half a day late, we took a
taxi to the Ost Bahnhof and had to find a room near-by to stay overnight. Our
plan was to get on the train next morning to cross the Hungarian border for our
destination of Sopron, and we sent a telegram to notify Rezso of the time of
our arrival. We were looking forward to a good night's sleep after the long and
tiring hours of our flight, but my mind was working like a windmill and kept me
tossing and turning until the wee hours. When finally morning approached, I was
ready to enter my homeland that I had left over 30 years ago.
When our train crossed the Hungarian border I was looking
at my husband to read his feelings and emotions from his face, but it was
completely blank. I got up from my seat to pull down the window and let the
sweet Hungarian air dry up my tears. By the time the train pulled into the rail
station in Sopron, I was just an American tourist. The familiar sight of two
Russian soldiers with machine guns on the platform was alarming, but they only
took us into Customs. Our documents were examined and suitcases were searched,
but nothing was taken and we were not fined. We left the building by the
backdoor where Rezso was waiting for me with a warm hug and expectation to meet
his brother-in-law. He helped Len to load his car with our suitcases and he
drove us to their apartment where Mami and Edit were waiting for us. Our
emotions left us tongue-tied, but Len was talking to Rezso in English and I had
to translate it. I was not very good at it at first, and also had a hard time
to do so during the rest of our visit, many times answering Len in Hungarian,
or talking to my folks in English, creating lots of laughs.
Rezso and Edit had a walk-up apartment on the fifth floor
and Mami had moved in with them after she got home from visiting us.
Unfortunately she could not manage the steep steps, and was not able to go down
on her own. When there was a need for her to get down, Rezso had to carry her
down, and then up again to the apartment. We decided to leave the suitcases in
the car and climbed the steps up to the fifth floor to embrace Mami again and
to meet Edit. I found Mami even more fragile and very pale having not able to
go out to the fresh air. Edit was very cheerful and pretty, and she was a
perfect hostess. They both took to Len instantly and I was much relieved.
Visiting Mami, Rezso and Edit in Sopron, October 1987.
After a delicious Hungarian meal Rezso took Len and me to
our room in a Bed and Breakfast place he had reserved for us, about 2 miles
from their apartment. On the following days Len and I walked twice a day to the
apartment to see Mami in the morning, while Edit and Rezso was at work, and in
the afternoon, when they got home from work and we all had dinner together.
Some nights we went to town for a concert, or just to visit a wine cellar and
always walked home in the middle of the night without any hold-up or
disturbances. On the weekend Rezso drove the three of us to Koszeg, and up to
the close-by lookout point. We stayed in Sopron for eight days, and one morning
we took the train to Budapest to visit the family of Lajos. They were very
happy to have us, and the whole family came together for a huge dinner in our
honor. Mama treated Len as she would her son, and I was appreciative of their
hospitality. We spent one night there and the next day we took the train to
Piliscsaba, where we visited my Father's grave in the cemetery and my dear old
friends (who were like second parents to me and Rezso while growing up) at
Klotildliget.
Len with Mama, and Eva, Melinda, Kati, Mama, Ella and
Ibolya with me in Budapest, October 1987.
With Rozsika Neni and Gyurka Bacsi in Klotildliget,
October 1987.
However, time flew fast and we had to leave Mami, Rezso
and Edit behind with the promise that we will come back in two years to see
them again. We boarded the Hydrofoil boat on the Danube from Budapest to
Vienna, where we got on a train for Rome to meet and visit Angela, who was a
widow of my second cousin, Alessandro. Unfortunately the Italian railway
workers were on strike, and our train was stopped at Venice, where we had to
spend several hours until the connection was made to Rome.
Len and me in Venice, October 1987.
We arrived at 9.30 PM, 12 hours late, and Angela was not
waiting anymore. I was trying to call her up from a public phone booth, but
speaking no Italian I never could figure out the Italian phone system. There
was not much to do but take one of the several offers there for room and
breakfast, and to follow a very strong Italian who was carrying both our
suitcases. On the next morning he took us back to the rail station where we
converted some dollars to Italian Lira to pay the man off, and were hopefully
waiting for Angela. After few hours waiting I decided to take advantages of the
loudspeaker system and had them page her. A few minutes later I saw her running
toward us with a picture in her hand for recognition. After several hugs and
loud explanations I tried to communicate with her in my broken German that she
understood. She took us home to her spacious apartment and treated us with her
excellent Italian meals. We stayed with her for four days and every day she
took us sightseeing in Rome and into the Vatican. Italian is a very easy
language and I learned very fast to communicate with her. Angela was very
affectionate and appreciated our visit after the many years of corresponding.
"You have to come back soon" she said at the Airport before we took
off for home.
Len and me at the Vatican, October 1987.
With Angela on the top of the Spanish Steps, Rome,
October 1987.
In 1987 after we came home from Europe, we celebrated
Christmas with Louis, George and Tessie in our new home. We talked about our
trip and I showed them the pictures mentioning that my sister-in-law, Ella was
telling me that when Louis was visiting he promised her a trip to America. A
few months later she was on her way and Louis was shouldering all her expenses.
She was staying with him for a few weeks, and we invited her to our home. Len
and I took her to San Francisco and stopped off at Marika and Les for an
overnight stay. Before she left for Hungary, Louis flew with Ella to Texas to
visit Judy and her family, and he drove her to Santa Barbara to meet George and
Tessie. We think she had a good time with us, but it was kind of hard to tell.
In the mean time Len and I had the rude awakening that we
overestimated our financial situation. For some unpredicted reasons the life up
in the mountains was very costly, and there was not enough money left for our
planned traveling. But we could not stay home for long, and in February we
boarded the AMTRAK at St. Louis Obispo to go up to the Pacific Northwest to
visit one of Len's relatives. The train ride was so much fun and I was greatly
amazed by the pristine beauty of the forested mountains of Oregon; we went thru
several tunnels that reminded me of the ride in the Italian Alps. Len and I decided
to repeat the trip in May, but this time we drove our car and made several
stops, gathering information of the relocating opportunities, and on the
current real estate prices. By early summer we made the decision to move to
Oregon, and to sell our "Vacation" Home. Before long, the home was
listed with a realtor and in August we flew up to Eugene. To keep an
appointment with an agent in Salem, we rented a car out and with great luck we
found the property we were looking for, a manufactured home sitting in a five
acres old-growth forest with abundant wildlife.
Our Enchanted Forest in Stayton, Oregon. August 1988.
Just about the same time Louis' job was transferred to
Reston, Virginia and he made his move there.A few months later he got an
assignment for three months working in Germany. We got the good news from
Tessie and George that they were expecting a baby in January. By the end of
November everything was packed in boxes, and handed over to a moving company
for transport. We took off to Oregon, and left our unsold house in the hands of
the realtor. Len and I arrived in Stayton a good day before the mover's truck
showed up, and slept on the floor again in the first night. Next day when it
finally came the truck was unable to be driven close to the house because of
the very large trees on our quarter of a mile driveway. Everything from the big
truck had to be loaded into Len's small pickup truck and transported to the
back door. This was the one moving I will always remember of the many more I
had with Len.
Louis came back from Germany and came to Oregon to spend
the Christmas with us. He brought Janie with him, a lovely girl whom he knew
from work.
The beauty of the Season in Stayton, Oregon in January
1989.
In early January Tessie and George became the proud
parents of their little baby girl, Johanna. Len and I, without much hesitation,
got into our car and took the 800 miles ride down to California for the happy
occasion. It was just wonderful to hold a tiny little baby in my arms again. We
barely got back to Oregon from our trip when a phone call came from our realtor
that there was a prospective buyer for the house up in the Ranch; so in few
weeks we were heading back again to sign the final papers on the sale. In March
Len's sister, Blanche came for a visit from the State of New York and we took
her all over exploring the wonders of Oregon. After she left it was time for me
to make plans and arrangements for our next trip to Hungary.
By the first week of May 1989 our trip to Hungary was all
arranged, but this time Len and I flew from Seattle to London first to visit my
childhood friend and his family. The last time I had seen Laci in Klotildliget
we were 9-10 years old playmates; however, through Rezso we started to correspond
in the 1970s. I learned that he also left the country in 1956 and ended up in
England, where he married an English girl and parented three children, all
girls. He had sent me several pictures, but arriving in London I still had a
hard time recognizing him after more than 40 years. Evidently he must have
gotten the same ideas, because wisely enough he was holding up a cardboard with
our name written on it. He took us to his home in Chinnor, Oxfordshire, and we
met June and the three charming daughters. We spent three memorable days with
this lovely family, enjoying their warm and cheerful hospitality.
Our childhood friends, Laci and his sister Marika in
Hungarian costumes a few years before we met them; the second house was their
home at Piliscsaba in the early 1940's. Followed by Laci with his wife June and
daughters, Jolanda and Elizabeth at their Christmas dinner - Laci was the cook!
Oxford, 2007.
With Len at Windsor and in London, England.
Fooling around with June and Laci on the Oxford Castle
Mounds, May 1989.
Laci is currently writing up his life story for his wide
circle of Hungarian friends and you can access it here in Hungarian.
From London we flew to Vienna and took the train again to
Sopron. It was so nice to see Rezso and Edit, and holding Mami's bird-like
little body in my arms again. Len and I stayed in a Bed and Breakfast place
again, this time a bit closer to the apartment. I remember that even though it
was in May, the harsh wind was blowing constantly down from the Austrian Alps,
and we had to be all bundled up walking down the drafty streets. Rezso took us
sightseeing again in his car, but I spent most of my time sitting with Mami in
her room. She was showing me all her very old photographs and remembering the
old times. She told me that I should take all the photos home with me, just
like she wanted to tell me something. I told her I do not want to do so and
they belonged to her, because I knew she spent a considerable time looking at
them. On the next day she asked me to go to Klotildliget and look up one of her
old friends, because she wanted to move in with her. She cannot stay in Sopron
anymore - she explained - and Maris would take good care of her. I promised her
that I will do it, so the next afternoon Len and I took the train to Budapest
where we stayed overnight at a friend's house. My dear old friends all came
together there honoring our reunion with a big dinner. I really appreciated
seeing them all, but deep down my heart was aching with worry and dark thoughts
about my assignment.
By the time Len and I got back to Sopron, Mami had been
taken to the hospital by ambulance. We only had three more days left before our
return home, and I visited her as much as they let me. On the last day she was
a bit stronger and was sitting up in bed and we could hug each other very
gently, for the last time.
After several weeks of staying in the hospital she was
transferred to a sanatorium, where my dear Mother passed away on September 24
of 1989.
- Home Page
- My Parents and our Family
- The Lean Years after World
War II
- The Turning Point and Escape
- My new Family in a new
Country
- Our New Life
- Visits and Achievements
- My Second Marriage
- Travels
and Changes
- The Golden Years
- Reflections
Copyright ©
Jutka
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