After I had about 48 hours in London, Joe and I headed to Budapest for a long weekend in late October. The focus of the trip was to meet up with my parents, my Uncle Albert and my cousins Betty Ann and Eileen for a trip to the Lake Balaton region in search of our family roots.Before we met up with the family, we had a chance to really relax in Budapest. This was our first time to return to a vacation spot, having done the tourist highlights, leaving us to simply enjoy the city and the people.
Our first full day we did some off the beaten path museuming. Our first stop was the Vasarely Museum, named for Victor Vasarely, who founded the Op-art movement in Paris in the 1930s. It was fun to see things one might associate more with the 1960s than the 1930s. The museum building itself is worth the price of admission. An amazing ancient building of giant wood beams and soaring ceilings.
From there we headed over to the Szepmuveszeti Muzeum (the Fine Arts Museum) to tour the permanent collection. We also took in the temporary exhibit featuring Ferdinand Hodler, one of the leaders of European Secessionism. I'm really enjoying getting to know and understand Secessionist art, a school of art I didn't even know existed until I moved to Europe.
After the museum w
e had a really nice meal at a restaurant with a big deck on a little pond called Robinsons. It's just steps from the museum. Good Hungarian food and very nice service. The perfect place to sip some soup, have some wine and rest your feet.Our other big, chill-out highlight was the spontaneous stop at "The Bar" at the Four Season's Gresham Palace. A wonderful jazz quartet was playing with a singer. Our quick cocktail turned into muchies and a bottle of wine. Given the value of the Forint these days, it was a bargain.
Zirci & Balaton
The family headed first to Zirci, the town where my Grandmother - my Father's mother - was born. It was a very successful first step. We found what we believe is the house where she was born, met a distant relative an
d toured the church, the Zirc Abbey, where my Grandmother was most likely baptized.For me, the highlight moment in Zirci was in the cemetary, where I got to stand with my Dad, at the grave of my Great-Grandfather, our namesake.
From Zirci we headed over to Lake Ba
laton, which is a very large lake and a summer tourist spot. At a little restaurant we met up with my Dad's first cousin Magdi. You could feel the hesitancy of the question in the air, "are we really family
" and then a sense of confirmation. After lunch, Magdi graciously took us (and our tour guide and driver) to see the lake and then to her house for a glass of Hungarian sparkling wine. It was magical, especially for Magdi, my Uncle Albert and my Dad.Anniversary Celebration
In a couple of weeks my parents will be celebrating their 47th wedding anniversary. Since we'll be about 3,000 miles apart when it happens, Joe and I took them out for a wonderful dinner at Pava at the Gresham Palace.
It was a beautiful evening of many courses, incredible Hungarian wines and Hungarian influenced Italian food. The perfect way to wrap up a great weekend for us and a European tour for my parents.
