Kossuth (Parliament) square On October 25, about 10,000 demonstrators gathered in Budapest’s Kossuth square in front of the Parliament. About 50 Russian tanks were parked in the square but the crews were friendly, chatting to demonstrators. However, no one seemed to know that the rooftops of the surrounding buildings had been occupied by armed Secret […]
A Tourist’s Guide to the Hungarian Revolution Part 1
Sixty years ago, a spontaneous uprising against the communist government of Hungary shook the world. This insurgency, lasting between 23 October and 10 November 1956, was the first major challenge to Soviet authority behind the Iron Curtain. The epicentre was Budapest where the violence was greatest and where signs of the revolution are still visible. […]
How I entered Czechoslovakia
Ah, those 25-year anniversaries. As soon as the Wall came down, I was all over Eastern Europe. Not only did I catch the Berlin Wall three months before it fell, but I also approached Berlin from the East in Easter 1990, while everything was in limbo. But what I remember most from that trip is […]