From My Ex-Pat Diaries: Budapest

*An excerpt from my Ex-Pat Diaries, the European Chapters 

I’ve made several confessions on this blog, but this one I think was so obvious it didn’t really require saying it.  For those who do not know, though, here it is: I am a nerd.  Unquestionably.  Undeniably.  This is me.  Hello, my name is Jerica, and I am a nerd.

One of my nerdier traits is my love for sort of supernatural stories and science fiction.  I like Doctor Who and Marvel comic book movies.  I absolutely adored reading and watching The Lord of the Rings.  During my gap year my roommate’s boyfriend and I had movie marathons for both LOTR and the Alien movies.  Harry Potter completely rocked my world, and more recently, so did The Hunger Games.  And don’t even get me started on how much I adore everything that Joss Whedon has created. Seriously.  Firefly? Yes.  The Cabin in the Woods? Genius.  The script for The Avengers?  Straight up adored it!  And truly, vampires should exist only as Whedon has presented them—snarky, sexy, and slay-able; when staked, they die, dramatically transforming into a pile of dust.  They most definitely should not sparkle in the sun.

One of my nerdier guilty pleasures is Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian.  It’s pretty much tailor-made to suit me—a history and folklore-rich novel about Dracula told in the style of letters and memoirs and narrated from several points of view.  I downloaded the Audio Book years ago and probably once a year I listen again to the story as it wends its way through the cities and traditions of Eastern Europe.  When I accepted a contract from Poland, I noted to myself that the Carpathian Mountains (which feature prominently in the story) were near Poland and perhaps I’d one day see them.  During my first several months in Warsaw I heard reference to many places featured in The Historian, and I casually daydreamed of seeing them all—the dome of the Hagia Sophia, the winding canals of Venice, the Chain Bridge in Budapest.  And then came my chance—we were going to Budapest for Easter!

Szechenyi Bridge, or the Chain Bridge, connecting the cities
of Buda and Pest across the Danube River

As I mentioned in a previous post, the first leg of our journey was the Slovakian capital of Bratislava.  As I settled onto our bus from Warsaw, I switched on my freshly-charged iPod and started listening again to The Historian.  Although the narrative was broken by infrequent bouts of napping as we motored across the countryside, I had made a sizeable dent in the story by the time we reached Bratislava.  Once I stepped off the bus, however, the excitement of a foreign city pushed all thoughts of Dracula and vampire hunters from my brain.  There were Slovakian phrases to learn, cobbled streets to explore, and hot bowls of goulash to sample.  So naturally I was more than a bit surprised when we entered Bratislava Castle and I came face to face with an actual element of my book.

Gazing up at the magnificent Buda Castle

Our brochures informed us that we were seeing artifacts and archeological pieces from the life and times of Constantine and Methodius, brothers who changed the world.  Revered for their works with mission work and the Catholic Church throughout Eastern Europe, Constantine and Methodius are the patron saints of Europe.  Among their many contributions to humanity, they are responsible for creating the Cyrillic alphabet.  And, more relevant to my story, they are discussed at length (and even celebrated) during the major characters’ sojourn in Bulgaria. 

Admittedly, Brothers Cyril and Methodius (as they are referred to by Kostova) do not play a major role in The Historian.  Indeed, they are only referred to in passing; famous figures whose celebration provides Kostova the opportunity to describe a Bulgarian saint’s day, and the traditional music and food that accompany it.  For me, though, walking around the exhibit was surreal almost.  The castle I was standing in was stunning, but I knew nothing of its past or the royalty who had inhabited it.  The faces in the paintings and tapestries on the walls similarly sparked no recognition.  But here, in this small museum exhibit, these two sainted brothers felt familiar and real to me because I’d heard of them through a favorite book.  In a way, Kostova had brought to life one corner of history for me and now I got to confront it.  It was amazing.

This feeling continued as our journey continued into Budapest.  In the book two of the major characters travel to Budapest in their quest to find and destroy Dracula.  Much of the city’s stunning architecture does not appear in the novel, but an important scene takes place on the famous Szechenyi Chain Bridge.  As I walked up to the majestic lions that flank the entrance, I felt a thrill of excitement and recognition.  I could perfectly imagine the two characters standing where I was, similarly soaking up the impressive view of river and city as the sun slowly set.  This first real collision of fact and fiction, history and fantasy and tourism was almost magical and I walked across the bridge with feelings of delight and accomplishment in finally visiting somewhere from my book.  Was this the nerdy historian’s version of a little girl seeing Sleeping Beauty’s castle for the first time?

Gorgeous carved lions guard both entrances to the Bridge

Since visiting Budapest I have had similar moments where history and/or fiction have converged with my present, my reality.  These moments strike like lightning—BAM! recognition! and they leave me with a mix of emotions.  There’s excitement at seeing something I’ve only ever read or heard about before.  I feel awe and humility at the sheer impressiveness of history.  And I feel pride in myself for having gone out into the world to see this site and experience this moment.  It’s pretty damn cool.

Standing at a lookout point on Buda Hill and taking in the breathtaking view.
I have loved each city I've visited, but Budapest holds a particularly
special place in my heart. It is a city I cannot wait to return to.