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. […]
On the trail of Chatwin in Gaiman, Patagonia
“Of course people remember Chatwin,” says Waldo. “He was always in shorts. We had never seen a grown man in shorts before.” Waldo Williams is the Director of Tourism in Gaiman and, like most people in this part of Patagonia’s Chubut province, he’s a descendant of the old Welsh families who settled here in 1865. […]