The third week in April, my Hungarian-American friend, who I met through genealogy, and who enjoys dual-citizenship, called me from the San Francisco airport. He had promised a call before he left for two months in Hungary and did so after going through customs and awaiting a boarding call. He'd purposely decided to fly Swiss Air - a neutral country. He bought a round trip ticket, but friends in Europe told him they were not sure about the availability of oil - fuel - and that there might be a possibility that the airline would be able to keep its promise of a round trip ticket. What with the wars - Russia - Iran - etc.
In which case, how would he get home?
We joked about the movie Plains, Trains, and Automobiles. He mentioned Vienna being only 120 miles from Budapest and the industrious Austrians and Germans possibly being better able to obtain plane fuel. We jokingly imaged him rowing a boat across the Atlantic with one paddle.
"I'm going to go, forget my troubles in the United States, and have a good time, and try not to worry," he said. But I could tell he was plenty worried. Because Russia and Hungary were not having a good relationship over the last few months over the war in Ukraine, he said. And also that Orban, in his opinion, had been in power twenty years (not just sixteen) and had done a good job the first three terms. What was Hungary going to be like this visit with the new administration?
But it brought to mind this true story, which took place about twenty five years ago, and which I told him.
I met two sisters at a library. On was employed as a temporary worker and pretty much supporting her immigrant mother and disabled sister. The temp worker had a few weeks with no assignment and - and, as was possible back in that day - told the agency she needed the time off anyway *** The two sisters then had a very inexpensive six week vacation traveling, for which they spent about $3000.
They took the little local community shuttle near their home to the closest train station and arrived at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. From there they took a train that passed through Albuquerque, New Mexico and then went on to Florida. In Fort Lauderdale they got on a cruise ship that had a lot of cabins empty for a cruise and got a deal. The ship sailed the Atlantic to Portugal. From Portugal they traveled to Paris. The only night they had nowhere to sleep was in Paris, but they spent it at an all night café drinking coffee! The best place outside Budapest to be up all night drinking coffee. (They had so much to eat on the cruise, they felt no need to eat.) After finding an affordable B & B near Paris and traveling around Paris and locale, they took the bus that goes through the tunnel under the Channel to England and spent time in London. From there they traveled to Liverpool, where they booked on another inexpensive cruise and sailed the Atlantic to New York City. In New York they got on a train that went to Chicago, and then south, and arrived back in Union station in Los Angeles. Then, once again, the community shuttle home...
Think of how little they spent!
(*** and returned to find they hadn't dumped her and soon got a decent permanent job from a temp assignment.).
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