Seven hours of flight time from Dulles to Frankfurt, an hour and a half layover, and then another hour and a half flight into Budapest. Neither Diane nor I slept a wink. I was kind of surprised to find that there's no immigration when entering Budapest - no one checking passports. It sure speeds your trip into the city!
Before I go any further, let me take a few moments to provide some background for those of you just joining the discussion, about why we are here in the first place. The Zeisler side of the family hails from Budapest and some of the surrounding towns from at least the late 18th century, until they arrived in the US in several waves beginning in 1881.
Along with our direct ancestors, during our research, we also uncovered information about a Jewish baron and baroness Groedel being part of the family. After years of research (you can read some of it on my family website at www.zeislerfamily.com, and on http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/pse-groedel.htm) we found that the baroness was a first cousin to my grandfather and his siblings. She was the daughter of Regina Lowy Weiner, my great-grandmother's sister.
There's quite an interesting history of the baron and baroness that I won't get into here, but they visited the US and their cousins in New York in 1910 - unfortunately, 3 years after their aunt had died. But the family in Budapest was very well-off, and owned a very large and successful, international lumber business.
Anyway, a little more than a year ago, I was contacted by one of the baroness' descendants after he found a family posting of mine - and we've been sharing family information ever since. One of the descendants, Zora, lives in New Jersey, and so a few months ago Diane and I went to visit and got along famously (and by the way, Zora makes a great chicken paprikas.) Zora just happened to be heading to Budapest for a few weeks, and invited Diane and I to stay at her flat, which is where we are now.
So after we arrived earlier today, we took a taxi from the airport to the flat in district 7, about 5500 forints ($28). As I recalled from my first trip here 9 years ago, there wasn't much to look at along the way until we entered into the city. No change there. It's still kind of ugly. But when you enter into the city limits, everything changes and the grand architecture hits you. Love it! Great 19th century buildings with lots of architectural features such as gargoyles and other faces, soldier's helmets, kings, verandas and the like. Very ornate.
The apartment we're at is a small, 2 bedroom, but very livable for 2 or 3 people visiting for a few weeks at a time, but it is limited in that there is no washing machine or dryer. So it's either hand wash and line dry - or buy new clothes! Guess which Diane wants to do? - and it isn't hand washing clothes while we're on vacation.
After we arrived, we slept for about 3 hours and then Zora came by to show us around and give a bit of a tour. When the Groedel family was here, they owned a large house just a few blocks away - within walking distance. I had seen a few pictures of it from the outside, but geez its HUGE, 3 stories plus a lower level - you know, the kind of house that has servents, horses, the works. However, over time it's been converted into several apartments, and the family still owns some of it. So that's where Zora is staying while Diane and I are here.
Zora gave us a tour of what's left of the mansion that the family owns. This place must have been incredible in its time. It's been in the family since about 1902 or so. And what's really cool, is that Hermann Groedel's 2 brothers, Bernhard and Albert, owned the 2 houses next door. From the back windows, you could have a decent conversation across the courtyard. As Zora mentioned, this was the classy section of the Jewish neighborhood - my great-grandparents also lived within walking distance, just not in the upper crust neighborhood. Many of the original family items still exist, although not in perfect condition, including silk wallpaper and great old chandeliers. As Zora says, "It's more of a museum than a living space." It was very interesting to to see more about how the family lived a century ago.
As a side note, all during the day I kept thinking back to my first trip to Budapest in 2001 and the places I visited. Not knowing anything about Budapest at the time, the first night I had no idea where I was in the city. I had been introduced earlier to a man named Peter who was associated with the Jewish Genealogical Society, JewishgGen, who would be my tour guide during my stay. My first night here he took me to cheap bar to have a drink and talk. I recalled the bar's entrance as a dark and narrow, steep downward set of steps where I had to lower my head so it didn't hit the ceiling above. The place was dingy and filled with cigarette smoke, where the waitress tossed us a basket of reasonably stale bread, and where Peter ordered 2 glasses of the absolute worst swill I ever drank. I downed it quickly so I could get it over with, but that was a faux paux (hmm, wonder how you say "faux paux"in Hungarian?) Because as soon as I finished, Peter, of course, poured a second glass because you are not supposed to drink alone or have an empty glass. Doh! I knew I should have taken a class in International Drinking. And for some reason, during the entire day today, I just kept thinking of that place because 1) I, fortunately, had no idea where it was, and 2) I couldn't forget it because it had the worst wine ever. It's just one of those places that sticks with you, even when you don't want it to. But I digress.
After we toured the apartment/museum, Zora took us for a walk in the area. Nearby is one of many spas in Budapest that is above a natural mineral spring that, in this case, I had visited in 2001. And just across the street is Hosok tere, a park with the statues of Hungarian kings considered heroes. It was in front of the park, where in 1956, Russian tanks drove into Budapest to stop the uprising. Zora was living in the Groedel house at the time, and remembers in the early morning feeling the rumbling of the tanks as they drove by, and later going outside to see them. She recalls that they weren't neatly lined up as they usually were during the parades, but were moving more slowly, and in a bit of disarray. She tells a story where Russians tank units who were living in Budapest at the time, were firing on their Russian brethren, and the military brass had to relieve the local units and bring in all foreign troops. Pretty interesting history lesson.
What bothers me about all of this is that ... I WAS RIGHT HERE ON THIS SPOT 9 YEARS AGO, but didn't know at the time that the family was actively living right across the street!!! What a golden, but missed opportunity!@$@!
After leaving the park, we went back to the Groedel apartment where Zora gave us a small bowl of soup, and then afterward, just as dusk was setting in, we all walked back to the flat a different way than we came. Once again the architecture was impressive. Walking down one of the streets, we noticed that low to the ground were apartment windows with really cool-looking iron bars protecting against intrusion. But as we continued to walk further, I had a sense, just a twinkling, that I had been here before and knew this street. So I looked around, and just a few steps further, no more than five, was that steep set of steps to that dingy little bar I had been thinking about all day. It too was right here. Synchronicity.
More tomorrow.
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