06 MAR 2017:  Ilona Kauremszky recently wrote an article about her to trip to Budapest with her mother Maria. It was a homecoming for Maria more than 60 years after the Hungarian Uprising caused her family to flee the country. Now she has returned with her daughter and we asked Maria to write of her experience for our readers.

Maria Kauremszky’s Story

In 1956 on October 23 over sixty years ago a revolution broke out in Hungary against the communist dictatorship. That is when my young parents made the most difficult decision of their lives – not to continue living in constant fear for themselves and fear for their five children’s lives – ten aged just two and a half to 11 years old. I am the eldest.

I will always remember trying to hurry through frozen fields in the middle of a cold December night. During our escape we had to get down on the cold hard fields while flairs were being shot up in the sky. Thank God we safely made it into Austria.

Needless to say we were one of the fortunate ones.  In Austria we were given shelter in barracks until we were accepted by Canada once we all had our physical checkup and a clean bill of health.

In April we arrived by ship to St. John, New Brunswick. Now this past fall, 60 years have passed and there I was, enjoying a walk along the streets of Budapest with my daughter, trying to recapture my past, (what past? I was only 11 years old). I saw the old streets, the playgrounds, and the majestic hills of Buda.

I dare to say we both had a wonderful time. We tasted the best pastries, the famous cuisine, fine wines, enjoyed the opera, the relaxation at the spa, and the evening cocktail river cruise on the legendary Duna (Danube River).

I do recommend a trip to Hungary with all the wonderful exciting things it has to offer. One can be adventurous and discover the city, or simply relax and have a leisurely vacation where there is always friendly hospitality.

Thank you Canada, you have given us the opportunity to become part of you.