Our first guide talks non-stop for 3 hours. Not one attempt at a joke, question
aimed at us or friendly comment. All her facts are indisputable.
She mentions her national heroes: a long list of scientists and their discoveries. Rubik doesn’t make the list. His work is trivial and light.
A guy who took a different tour said his guide was the perfect cure for insomnia. I told him about our guide and we both thought...
Another guide says, “Everybody thinks we Hungarians are depressed and sad. Well that’s because we’ve been controlled by other countries for over 500 years.”
He then said, “It’s not our national character to always be grumpy. One day a week we actually get depressed. Don’t take our grumpiness personally. It’s not aimed at you.”
I managed to ask a guide about the legacy of Communism. He said Communism created a lazy, dependent people who expected other people to solve any issue. We saw this in a small corner shop. I’m sure I was an extra in a comedy show they were filming.
The national ethos seems to be: Eventually our country found true liberty and true freedom but the country is much smaller than it was. In 1920 65 percent of the country was taken away. This seems to grate more than the Communist years.
We were in Budapest on a public holiday. There was a festival by the river. One guide said, “Don’t go there it will be crowded.”
We go. The stalls selling food are fantastic. I’m beginning to love Hungarian food. Lots of casseroles and stews and one pot food.
The atmosphere was also fantastic. Crowds of well-behaved people; a rock singer on a stage; no hoons or larrikins showing off; no drunken chorus; a few boats on the river; a few scattered violinists. No possibility of a local being openly friendly or extroverted and welcoming but the food is good and we feel very safe so life is good.
She mentions her national heroes: a long list of scientists and their discoveries. Rubik doesn’t make the list. His work is trivial and light.
A guy who took a different tour said his guide was the perfect cure for insomnia. I told him about our guide and we both thought...
Another guide says, “Everybody thinks we Hungarians are depressed and sad. Well that’s because we’ve been controlled by other countries for over 500 years.”
He then said, “It’s not our national character to always be grumpy. One day a week we actually get depressed. Don’t take our grumpiness personally. It’s not aimed at you.”
I managed to ask a guide about the legacy of Communism. He said Communism created a lazy, dependent people who expected other people to solve any issue. We saw this in a small corner shop. I’m sure I was an extra in a comedy show they were filming.
The national ethos seems to be: Eventually our country found true liberty and true freedom but the country is much smaller than it was. In 1920 65 percent of the country was taken away. This seems to grate more than the Communist years.
We were in Budapest on a public holiday. There was a festival by the river. One guide said, “Don’t go there it will be crowded.”
We go. The stalls selling food are fantastic. I’m beginning to love Hungarian food. Lots of casseroles and stews and one pot food.
The atmosphere was also fantastic. Crowds of well-behaved people; a rock singer on a stage; no hoons or larrikins showing off; no drunken chorus; a few boats on the river; a few scattered violinists. No possibility of a local being openly friendly or extroverted and welcoming but the food is good and we feel very safe so life is good.
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