The Summer Exile

Heretofore, the travel articles I have perused in the pages of the National Geographic Magazine have been written by temporary visitors to the particular country of note.  Today's article, Hungary, a Kingdom Without a King: A Tour from Central Europe's Largest Lake to the Fertile Plains of the Danube and the Tisza, Elizabeth P. Jacobi, June, 1932, was penned by an actual resident of that country.

Mrs. Jacobi, her husband, and two school-age boys lived in the city of Budapest, Hungary.  To escape the fumes from their apartment while being re-painted and redecorated, this young mother took her boys on a summer adventure around the countryside of Hungary.

The country lost two-thirds of its land after the "World War" (World War I).  We were instructed on the long history of Hungarian rulers, 150 years of Turkish rule, and then recently ruled by a Regent in anticipation of perhaps a king returning.  Like all other European countries, governments have come and gone, and the people in the countryside carry on as best they can.

FYI: Hungary, in 1932, was bordered by Czechoslovakia on the north, Yugoslavia on the south, Rumania in the east, and Austria on the west.  Budapest actually is the cities of Buda and Pest, opposite each other on the Danube River.

After hiring a car for the journey, the family's first goal was to spend time on a feudal estate in the country.  They enjoyed the trip through small villages.  Agriculture was strictly by primitive methods of hand-harvesting.  Major products were a large silkworm industry, Indian corn to which two million acres were devoted; cattle farming, both meat and dairy, tobacco, and "Paprika, a powder made from the dried fruit of red peppers widely grown on the farms of Hungary, appears on almost every table.  It is cheap and plentiful" (photo caption, p. 723). "Between three and four million of its fertile acres are planted in wheat.  Other important crops are potatoes, sugar beets, corn, rye, barley and oats" (photo caption, p. 724).

Next destination: Lake Balaton, the largest lake in central Europe.  ". . .we took the children on a motor-boat trip around the lake, visiting the twenty-odd small resorts and the few, larger places - Balatonfoldvar, patronized by the wealthy; Siofak, summer paradise of Budapest tradesmen's families; Balatonfurad, a health resort whose hot springs, baths, and sanatorium are visited at all seasons of the year" (p. 705).  The lake is very shallow, seemingly a lake impossible in which to drown.

The family attended a wedding of their cook's family in a small town.  There were fourteen pages of beautiful native costumes and countryside  in this article.  Every locality has distinctive dress, quite beautifully and elaborately embroidered.  The women wear so many petticoats that they have to be put on out-of-doors, otherwise, they couldn't pass through their doors! The headpieces are also quite elaborate, especially that of the bride.  Around her neck she wore a necklace on which was a picture of her bridegroom.  Mrs. Jacobi writes, "Girls of Decs, proud to wear their beautiful national costume.  The rural districts of Hungary have resisted the invasion of conventional prosaic, machinemade clothes better than most other parts of central and southeastern Europe" (photo caption, p. 727).

Finally, Mrs. Jacobi received a telegram from her husband: "Carpenters departed; fall cleaning completed; cook returned; paprika preserves in full swing.  Longing for my family."

"There was no resisting such a summons.  The next day saw us on our way home, to tell about our experiences and to discuss what would be the best thing to do the next summer" (p. 721).  Plus, the boys had to return to school!