Hungarian Heritage Review, 1985 (14. évfolyam, 12. szám)
1985-12-01 / 12. szám
8 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW DECEMBER 1985 carvings, and period furniture of great historical interest. Another historic landmark that we viewed, was Belvedere Palance, the residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the great military commander who, in 1697, inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Turks at the Battle of Zenta. This victory led to the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, which ceded all of Turk-occupied Hungary to the House of Habsburg and thus made it possible for Austria to take over all of Hungary. On July 21st, we left Vienna by motorcoach for Sopron. Enroute through Burgenland, which once belonged to Hungary, we stopped in the picturesque town of Eisenstadt (Kis Marton) where, after a guided tour of the marvelous Eszterhazy Palace, we walked around the town and did some shopping in the quaint shops. What remained with us after visiting this picture-postcard town, was that it looked like a movie set with all of its scenery (shops, cafes, homes, etc.) painted either yellow, green, red, or orange. To be sure, Eisenstadt still retains a flavor of its former “Hungarianness”. It is interesting to add that our Tour Guide said that “all are rich in this country and no poverty exists.” From what we had seen of Vienna, Burgenland, and Eisenstadt, it certainly appeared that his observation was true. After our stop in Eisenstadt, we headed for the Hungarian border, where it took only about an hour to complete passport and customs inspections. There was no hassle or problems of any kind. Then, the gate was lifted and we were in Hungary on the way to our first stop, the city of SCHOENBRUNN PALACE Sopron. It was a moment we all looked forward to for some time and we were not disappointed. The feeling of crossing the border into Hungary was an emotional reaction to a dream come true. We were now in the land of our ancestors and of our Hungarian heritage, along with this sense of “belonging”, however, we could not help thinking that we were also behind the “Iron Curtain”. I must emphasize, however, that we traveled all over Hungary on this trip with complete freedom and were not hassled in any way either by governmental restrictions or by authorities of any kind. In fact, the only problems we had were experienced in Vienna: our baggage ended up in Warsaw and had to be flown back and delivered to us at the Hungária Hotel, and one of the women with us fell ill and had to be returned to the U.S. accompanied by a nurse. Of course, once these problems were resolved, we all settled down to enjoy an unforgettable experience. And, so we arrived in Sopron, where we checked into the Lover Hotel. —continued next issue VIENNA: Illuminated City Hall
