It's the anniversary of the 1956 Uprising today, a day for Hungarians to commemorate their courageous rebellion against the Soviets. It's their biggest patriotic holiday - like a cross between 4th of July and Memorial Day wrapped in a blanket of 9/11. Serious stuff.The decision was to stay in and have a quiet observation of the day because of the potential for violence in the streets. Right-wing groups like the Magyar Garda often use this day as an occasion to vent their spleen at the Socialist government, and they all get pretty rowdy. In 2006 some old fart of an army veteran climbed into one of the old Soviet tanks on display and actually got it running, intending to crash through the police barricades. He drove a few dozen yards down the street before running out of gas. Still, you couldn't help but admire his flair for the grand gesture.
But I ain't scared of a little riot here and there. Actually sounds like fun. But with the impending trip to Debrecen tomorrow, and all the stores closed, it just sounded like a nice idea to hole up here and pack while watching watching TV coverage of right-wing hooligans and riot police throwing tear gas canisters at each other.
Eva called and gave a heads-up about the airing of a good documentary by a pair of American sisters, exploring their father's heroic past in the uprising. And all night old grainy footage in 3-minute interludes documenting the revolution - Pest Lads stalking the streets in bandido scarves, RUSKI HÁZA graffitied on disabled T-34 tanks, hospital workers braving machine gun fire to brings stretchers into a makeshift safety zone.
It makes me emotional still even after all I have read about it, and the considerable exposure I had to it during my last 3-month stay here, on the 50th anniversary of the uprising when there was a tidal wave of remembrances, documentaries and tributes going round-the-clock.
