For the past day we had a guide, Erica, for our travels in Hungary. She grew up under communism and had some interesting comments. During the 1980's she had a scholarship to learn Russian at a school in St. Petersburg (then called Leningrad). One of her major problems was finding food. The average housewife there would spend two hours per day waiting in lines to buy whatever food was available. When you entered a store (some food stores charged admission just to get in), you would find a surly clerk and empty shelves. Our guide discovered that, if you bribed the clerk, they would go to the back room and furtively return and hand you a bag of assorted items. You immediately hid the items in your shopping bag, paid your bill, and then could rush away to discover just what items you had been able to buy.
When the first McDonalds opened in Budapest in the late 80's, people would wait in line for up to eight hours just to participate in this symbol of the Western world. Our guide, Erica, said that she was so impressed that, after waiting in line for seven hours, the person taking her order actually smiled at her and welcomed her to the store. That would never happen under communism.
To buy a car in communist Hungary, you needed to apply 7-8 years in advance, and that was for a Trabant. The Trabant was very small; its body was made of a sort of plywood. The joke was that the seat belts in the car were there so that you could strap the car on your back, as a backpack, if the engine failed. Dawn and I lived in Germany during the late 1980's and have seen Trabants parked and driving on the road. There were cases where a Trabant was hit from the rear on the autobahn because they were so slow and had such small taillights that approaching cars didn't see them in time.
Central Budapest is modern or well-restored. It suffered damage at the end of WWII and also in the revolution of 1956. Under Communist rule, there was no incentive to improve things. Buildings of the Soviet era are recognizable by their ugly crude construction. In Budapest suburbs, such buildings and some abandoned factories still exist.
Remember, the Russian empire was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR. Communism is simply socialism taken to the extreme. The more that government does for you, the more control it has over you, and the closer it becomes to a dictatorship. One of the very wealthy ex-communist leaders paid Rod Stewart to come sing at his birthday party. Under socialism, all are equal, but some are more equal than others (like the book Animal Farm).
When the first McDonalds opened in Budapest in the late 80's, people would wait in line for up to eight hours just to participate in this symbol of the Western world. Our guide, Erica, said that she was so impressed that, after waiting in line for seven hours, the person taking her order actually smiled at her and welcomed her to the store. That would never happen under communism.
To buy a car in communist Hungary, you needed to apply 7-8 years in advance, and that was for a Trabant. The Trabant was very small; its body was made of a sort of plywood. The joke was that the seat belts in the car were there so that you could strap the car on your back, as a backpack, if the engine failed. Dawn and I lived in Germany during the late 1980's and have seen Trabants parked and driving on the road. There were cases where a Trabant was hit from the rear on the autobahn because they were so slow and had such small taillights that approaching cars didn't see them in time.
Central Budapest is modern or well-restored. It suffered damage at the end of WWII and also in the revolution of 1956. Under Communist rule, there was no incentive to improve things. Buildings of the Soviet era are recognizable by their ugly crude construction. In Budapest suburbs, such buildings and some abandoned factories still exist.
Remember, the Russian empire was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR. Communism is simply socialism taken to the extreme. The more that government does for you, the more control it has over you, and the closer it becomes to a dictatorship. One of the very wealthy ex-communist leaders paid Rod Stewart to come sing at his birthday party. Under socialism, all are equal, but some are more equal than others (like the book Animal Farm).
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