Just as dawn brings light to what is around us, the light of time, just two weeks out, begins to illuminate this impending adventure which we’ve had ‘on the books’ for more than nine months – The Blue Danube. Two friends that we enjoy traveling with, Barbara and Mel, came across this 17-day river and land itinerary starting in Budapest, Hungary and flowing through parts of Hungary, Austria and Germany before disembarking to take the final leg by car – from the Danube to Prague, Czech Republic- 235 kilometers away. While this had not been on our Top-10 Trips Wish List, it had several ‘new’ attributes that made it attractive: a river cruise, Budapest, and Prague – all firsts for us. After spending more than two months in Southeast Asia over the last two years, this seemed like a welcome change of pace and focus. We enriched the itinerary by spending more time in each of the anchor cities: Budapest and Prague.
SOBERING HEADLINES IN TODAY’S WORLD – May 2, 2017
Czech Prime Minister Announces Government Resignation – Corruption
Momentum Movement Demonstrations in Budapest – Massive Pro Europe, Anti-Russia demonstration
The Fidesz party under strongman Orbán wants to shut down free speech university funded by Soros. Student and Free Speech Demonstrations in Budapest.
The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the continued threat of terrorist attacks throughout Europe. This Travel Alert expires on September 1, 2017. Updated 12:42 AM ET, Tue May 2, 2017
Some family members have called and asked whether we’re still going on this trip, and if yes, is that smart. I suppose it’s all about perspective and judgment. Should the FBI issue an alert for traveling in the USA, where there are 300 million guns (greater than one for every person), with a percentage in the hands of unstable owners (35 lone-wolf terrorist attacks in the US since 2010), and an unstable leader with just one finger on his small hands could touch either the “Bring me a Coke” or the “Launch the Nuclear Missiles” red button? Not to worry, we are going, and we will be wearing a California Republic lapel pin as our security shield. We’ll bring some extra pins if anyone feels the need for protection.
With this ‘frivolous’ stuff out of the way, lets focus on the trip itself – The Blue Danube: Budapest to Prague. The river, which is Europe’s second largest river, originates in southwestern Germany and makes its way for 2,865 kilometers, touching ten different countries before emptying into the Black Sea. We will only travel on the Danube for about 700 kilometers, embarking in Budapest, Hungary, and disembarking in Vilshofen, Germany, from where we’ll continue to Prague by car.
Danube River
Our Danube Trip
My knowledge of this part of Europe is but a veneer. Until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1990-1991, Hungary and Czechoslovakia were mostly obscure, hidden behind the iron current that separated the Soviet Union from the rest of Europe. My high school world history classes, for example, generally referred to the Soviet Union, and not the 15 republics within the Union. So what do I know?
Hungarian Goulash!
The song Budapest by George Ezra
Paprika!
Gypsies
Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody!
Or who could forget Henry Higgins, the consummate phoneticist in My Fair Lady:
“Thank heavens for Zoltan Karparthy. …..That blackguard who uses the science of speech
more to blackmail and swindle than teach;
He made it the devilish business of his “To find out who this Miss Doolittle is.” Every time we looked around, there he was, that hairy hound from Budapest. ……So I stepped aside and let him dance with her. Oozing charm from every pore he oiled his way around the floor. Every trick that he could play, he used to strip her mask away. And when at last the dance was done, he glowed as if he knew he’d won! And with a voice too eager, and a smile too broad, he announced to the hostess that she was a fraud! ….Her English is too good, he said, which clearly indicates that she is foreign. Whereas others are instructed in their native language English people aren’t. And although she may have studied with an expert Di’lectician and grammarian, I can tell that she was born Hungarian! Not only Hungarian, but of royal blood, she is a princess! Her blood, he said, is bluer than the Danube is or ever was, royalty is absolutely written on her face… she’s as Hungarian as the first Hungarian Rhapsody!”
When I was eight years old and living in Switzerland, I started to collect postage stamps. My father would periodically purchase one of those ‘500 Stamps for 1 SFr’ packs. Collecting stamps was my way to see the world. As it turned out, the pack included many, many stamps from a country named Magyar (named after the main ethnic group and language of Hungary). I couldn’t find that country in my little atlas. Since I couldn’t find the country – Magyar, I tossed the stamps. That was the limit of awareness of Hungary.
What about Prague or the Czech Republic? Sadly, I have to admit, that my knowledge was even less. Part of my ignorance was my own doing. When I was 7 years old, living in Switzerland, my mother took in boarders following her divorce from my father. One of these boarders, a refugee from Czechoslovakia, was in the underground fighting the Nazis. My mother married him less than a year after moving in. I did not have a positive relationship with him. Consequently, I viewed anything Czech through the dark filter of my dislike for the man. As you would expect, his presence changed our lives. Even our Swiss meals were modified to include many of his favorite Czech dishes – lets just say, none ever made onto to my favorite dish list. That’s how I viewed the country and everything about it.
Over time, my view softened. Friends and acquaintances all praised the beauty of Prague for its art and music. Our son, Greg, who had visited Prague while he lived in Germany, loved it and urged me to explore. I left it there, open to an opportunity that might wash over the transom. One has. This trip. As I prepare to leave, I am genuinely excited to learn more about the history of the region, as well as to understand what is happening in each country at this time. Hungary is in the news almost daily.
Just last week, the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit, which measure the state of democracy in 167 countries including 165 UN members, published the 2016 results. Here is the Hungary rating. Note the disturbing and accelerating slide towards authoritarianism.
Hungary’s Democracy Index
Most recently an article in the Washington Post
How the United States can stop Hungary’s descent into authoritarianism by Rohac and Hajba. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2017/05/03/how-the-united-states-can-stop-hungarys-descent-into-authoritarianism/?utm_term=.0b078e28fda3&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1]
It begs the question: How can (or why would) the United States stop Hungary’s descent, when in fact it is on the same slippery slide right behind them? The United States’s index does not include the latest onslaught since the inauguration. Imagine what the numbers will be by the end of 2017!
United States Democracy Index
How do we stack up against other countries?
Norway – 9.93
Canada – 9.15
Ireland – 9.15
Germany – 8.63
Britain – 8.36
United States – 7.98
France – 7.92
Seems that we’re closest to France. Do I hear Trump, Le Pen?
To complete the picture, see the Czech Republic graph below. Recent news will undoubtedly push the Czech, along with the Hungarian and USA numbers further down. I see a 6.xx score for the USA next year.
This is going to make for a very interesting trip and hopefully for insightful discussions with the international set of people on board our ship, as well as our local guides. I look forward to starting this journey.
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