Budapest 1987

~ MaryG

I’ve posted a couple times about my trip to the Soviet Union in college. I was with a group of students and history professors. It was a big deal to go “behind the iron curtain” back then, so we prepped for this trip for many months—studying Russian history and learning how to behave in a communist country. (They didn’t want any of us to end up in a Siberian prison camp.)

In addition to stopping in Helsinki (Finland) on the way into the USSR, we stopped in Budapest (Hungary) on the way out. Back then, Hungary was firmly part of the Soviet-aligned Eastern Bloc. And we happened to be there in the immediate aftermath of an epic snowstorm. Other than the snow and total paralysis of transportation on the streets, I remember kind people and one particularly delicious hot meal in a restaurant with some young musicians who gave us a cassette tape of their rock band.

In light of the recent good news that Hungarians dumped their far-right leader Viktor Orbán (a buddy of both Trump and Putin) on Sunday, I dug out my Budapest pics. Google describes Budapest in 1987 like this:

Budapest in 1987 was a city in late-communist Hungary characterized by economic scarcity, socialist architecture, and a quiet, daily struggle, yet it was on the cusp of major political change. The city experienced a historic, paralyzing snowstorm in January 1987 and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site that same year.

I’m not in any of these photos, but I took all of them. None are particularly good, but as a group, they give you the vibe.

Fun fact: Budapest is actually two cities—Buda and Pest. In this pic, I’m standing in Buda looking over the frozen Danube River towards Pest. The large domed building on the far side is the Hungarian Parliament in Pest. (Pronounced PESHT)
The famous Fisherman’s Bastion is a fairytale-like, Neo-Romanesque lookout built between 1895 and 1902.
An Aeroflot route map in a Budapest window. (We flew sketchy Aeroflot into Russia.)
My friend Lincoln standing in an alcove in Budapest.
My friend Rob playing a balalaika at the Budapest airport.
Walking was the only option for seeing anything at all while we were there! The city was paralyzed with snow and the authorities really couldn’t deal with it.
Two of our professors at the Budapest airport. The one on the right, Dr. James West, taught Russian history and was one of the best teachers I ever had. He’s one of the reasons I majored in History.

Speaking of wonderful history professors, be sure to listen to Dr. Heather Cox Richardson’s letter from Tuesday that explains the connections between Viktor Orbán and the American right: https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/restore-america-to-its-own-people?r=j2aww&utm_medium=ios

26 thoughts on “Budapest 1987”

  1. With world politics, everywhere seems to fall into one of two categories for me. Either I know only what I read in the paper and very little sticks in my mind so really I know nothing, or I’ve been there. You are so lucky to have”been there,” especially during tricky times. Thank you for sharing!

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    1. And you’re right. Traveling to a place certainly makes an impression. And I’m discovering that photos (if they exist) are so key in jogging the ole memory.

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      1. As we travelled, I kept my blog at least one entry per location, and now it’s like I’ve never been to those places but my blog has! It’s really strange. Yes, photos are crucial.

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      3. As we travelled, I kept my blog at least one entry per location, and now it’s like I’ve never been to those places but my blog has! It’s really strange. Yes, photos are crucial.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. With world politics, everywhere seems to fall into one of two categories for me. Either I know only what I read in the paper and very little sticks in my mind so really I know nothing, or I’ve been there. You are so lucky to have”been there,” especially during tricky times. Thank you for sharing!

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  3. What amazing memories! Reminds me of my first trip to Czechoslovakia, just after the fall of the iron curtain, in early summer 1990. It was only about an hour or so drive from my home town in Upper Austria – but a whole different world that was almost impossible to enter before. We spent an amazing weekend there, sightseeing and camping. I need to dig for the old slides and video tapes, you made me curious now!

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  5. Wonderful pictures of a snow-bound city that seemed both old and modern. Your photos really did give a sense of Budapest. Hooray to the citizens for throwing out Orban. May we follow their lead!

    Will be reading Heather Cox Richardson’s piece. Thanks for including it.

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    1. Let us hope we get our celebration day like the Hungarians did 🙏🏼

      And HCR is an all-time great Mainer. Love her. She never reveals exactly where in Maine she lives, but she just this week got good internet. Must be quite remote!

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      1. Yes, yes! Our own celebration day. I can’t remember exactly where she lives but it’s somewhere in the mid-coast area, not far from Damariscotta. Doesn’t seem that remote, especially compared with other parts of Maine, but maybe where she lives is off the beaten path.

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  7. Pingback: Back in the USSR | 50 Happens

    1. Thank you so much Stephanie! We were lucky to get to do that trip.
      I felt somewhat let down by HCR because I thought she led us astray on Joe Biden (overlooking his obvious deficits) but recently I find her very comforting. In a way, she’s like that history professor I went to Russia with. She’s just so knowledgeable and history nerdy—I want to believe everything she says.

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      1. I’ve pulled back from her coverage occasionally, so perhaps missed that, but I think many were in a constant state of comparison to Trump so that Biden benefited from a default glow-up. 😀 I envy that you had that great experience with a teacher. To me she seems similar to Doris Kearns Goodwin, who I always loved listening to for her long winding sentences and ability to reach into deep historical details. My friend Maxine speaks like that too, just how she writes, and I’m always mesmerized. :))

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