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End of day 4. 27th June.
Woke up after a good nights sleep as it wasn't so hot. Do date it's been 30 plus everyday. It hits 30 by lunch and doesn't cool down until about 8:00pm. Was the first time I could hear traffic in the background. Every place that I have visited to date are tiny villages. Church, pubs, bakery, and com little IGA type shops.
Balints parents (Pityu and Jutka) live in a 2 bedroom flat of the 4th floor of a commission flat type building. It's very small but very hommy. Mum and dad sleeping in the lounge room, I'm on the fold out couch in the study.
In the morning we went into Szombathely city and meet their daughter Suzi and her husband Zoli again. After walking through the city, we went to a couple of cemetery's, and saw the graves of a couple of really important people. The main one being the man who smuggled my Bodon grandparents, dad, uncle Peter, Aunty Kathy, and Uncle Rudy out of Hungary as the country was engulfed in a revolution/war. If it wasn't for the bravery of this one man, I would never had been born. The escape story is too long to tell here, but seeing the places of note, and meeting some people who new this man make the story even more incredible. Next we saw dads school that he went to as a child, the house he lived in. Unfortunately it's lived in by gypsies so is very run down. Dad showed me where Eva Papua was born and lived, which is about 2 doors down. She now owns a lot of the surrounding fields to their old street, so at least that won't be taken over by the gypsies any time soon.
Next was Bucsu train station. This was where mum used to get off/on to visit her grandmother. It's about a 5 km walk to her grandmothers house in Bucse. The tracks have been pulled up but the station is still there as a relic. Really cool to see. It's right next to a freeway entrance. I asked mum why she would walk the 5km when they could have just driven on the freeway. It took her about 3 seconds to get my sarcasm.
Last thing for the day was the bridge at the Austrian border where dad escaped Hungary, and museum of the Iron Curtain. This is what they called the border during this time as it was guarded and mined. Many people died trying to cross/escape. Again hearing the stories and seeing many photos of the area at the time really shows how lucky they were to make it out alive.
Big emotional day. Off to bed.
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