20 - Decaffeinated coffee ... in Hungarian?

Behind the Iron Curtain, Budapest  

Grand Hotel Margitsziget (photo Danibus Hotels)

     The 1970’s saw the first signs of a warming behind part of the iron curtain when the most ingenious countries began to beckon to the international tourist and his dollars.

I had a childhood friend who became U.S. ambassador to Romania, and for a while I thought of going to Bucharest; but I was probably waiting for an invitation to the embassy residence which never materialized.  Then I briefly thought of going to Prague which has always been a popular destination with the French, but the political climate there was frequently too volatile for my timid tastes.

Life of the party (Tsar-Devica)

I am a little ashamed to admit that I ultimately opted for Hungary due to the fact that Elizabeth Taylor had recently given her much publicized 40^th birthday celebration there.

I chose the Grand Hotel Margitsziget in Budapest (in English it’s generally called the Margaret), which I thought E.T. had commandeered for her party.  It was only later that I learned the Taylor shindig was in fact held at the Intercontinental.  Never mind, it was still the catalyst that got me to Hungary.

Vintage postcard of Margaret Island in 1929

Here I need to digress a little back to my first trips to Venice.

When I began traveling in Italy, I decided to make an effort to learn the language, and I made the acquaintance of a mostly out-of-work Italian actress whom I hired as professor.

My idea was to tape a maximum of phrases which I would play and replay with a kind of fanaticism for many months.  I had a precise idea of how and what I wanted to learn, and though it was in some ways effective, it was certainly not the most serious method.

Concentrating on hotel and restaurant vocabulary, I tried to memorize phrases intended to send out the image of a more worldly and less touristy tourist than I really was.

Having weathered the first years in France learning a new language, I well knew the importance of accent.  Extremely, perhaps excessively motivated, I would repeat my tapes morning, noon and night  for months before traveling.  Ultimately, what little I did speak, I managed rather brilliantly.

The downside was that the Italians I found myself in contact with invariably assumed I mastered their language far better than I did.  Also, having no grammatical formation to fall back on, I tended to forget everything about as quickly as I had learned it.

In the short term, however, the results were often spectacular.  If I found myself, say, in need of some salted peanuts and a non alcoholic red San Pellegrino (then a few seconds pause before adding) “…sensa limone, per favore,”      well, I could manage this exceedingly well.

Encouraged by my Italian success, I decided to do the same thing when Ann and I travelled to Hungary.  At Unesco, there were a number of Hungarians, and I finally cajoled one of them to assist me in recording a few phrases.

Hungarian was MUCH harder than Italian, and I concentrated all of my energy over the months preceding our trip to rehearsing a handful of idiomatic bits and pieces.  In addition to Hello, Goodbye, thank-you, and what a magnificent day it is (or alternatively, what a shame there is no sun this morning), I mastered a complicated order for Coca-Cola with a lot of ice and a wee slice of orange.  Another linguistic pièce de résistance was an order for a decaffeinated espresso with granulated sugar on the side.

Ann spoke quite satisfactory German, which was then much more useful in that part of Eastern Europe than either English or French.  Nevertheless, we agreed that I would attempt my Hungarian phrases as often as feasible.

The Széchenyi Restaurant slightly modernized today (google photo)

On the first dinner at the Margaret Hotel’s Széchenyi Restaurant, the waiter appeared appropriatedly impressed by my initial Hungarian phrases, and had managed to decipher everything through dessert.

When I requested the coffees (one normal and a decaffeinated, if you please!), my order was met with an oddly blank stare.  I repeated, enunciating each word carefully.  A polite look of utter bafflement.  Finally admitting defeat, I turned the task over to Ann who proceeded to finalize our order in German.

The young waiter had a surprising reaction.  He explained that he had perfectly well understood my Hungarian.  “I understand what you are saying,” he explained in German.  “It is just that I cannot imagine how one can possibly remove the caffeine from the coffee.”

My Unesco “tutor” had in fact left her native country and language before World War II.  Although she had translated my phrase into impeccable Hungarian, she hadn’t realized, herself, that decaffeinated beverages had yet to make their way behind the iron curtain.

SIDEBAR --More about the Margaret

Margaret Island 2006 (without the peacocks)

Hungary back in the iron curtain days was considered more open and westernized than most of the satellite countries, but only just.  I found Budapest extremely gray and uncared-for that first trip, and the people somewhat unwelcoming.  

As I said, my introduction to the Margaret was a case of mistaken identity, as I was sure it had been the site of the recent Burton-Taylor birthday affair.  Incidentally, their Intercontinental is now a Best Western, so it’s all quite relative.

The Burtons and Princess Grace in Budapest (photo tsar-devica)

If you are wondering what the Burtons and Princess Grace and the like were doing there in the first place, well, for economic reasons Mr. Burton was filming the undistinguished multinational  “Bluebeard” with a cast of international beauties, and Ms Taylor was there looking after her interests.  I seem to remember reading that the whole point of organizing the birthday bash (with 200 guests streaming in from all over the globe) was to relieve the monotony.

The Margaret was built 140 years ago on a beautiful island of the same name on the Danube separating the two cities of Buda and Pest.  Quite a number of handsome peacocks used to roam about, adding to the picturesque of the gardens.  (On a recent trip I saw no more peacocks, but the island was just as beautiful.)

I remember that the young waiter who served our coffee (with caffeine intact) was smiling and friendly; but if I recall so well, it is because he was about the only hotel employee who could have been so described.  Most of the personnel were efficient, and some were helpful; but I remember none other than the waiter ever returning a smile or as a general rule even making eye contact.

Many of the traditional Budapest hotels, like the Margaret, have always offered extensive spa facilities, cashing in on the area's "healing waters."   In the 1970's the Margaret’s spa clientele was mostly Hungarian, Russian or German.   In recent years, with the addition of an extensive medical programme of cosmetic surgery, Americans, British and even a few French have joined the generally overweight hotel guests availing themselves of the so-called beauty treatments.

A nearly unchanged Grand Hotel Margitsziget today

When I returned in 2006, I was curious to compare the differences.  I stayed again at the old Margaret, and found to my stupefaction that the hotel personnel behaved approximately the same as I had remembered –suspicious, curt and unsmiling.  Training might well have included the strict rule to never let slip any unnecessary “please” or “thank-you.” 

Budapest, itself, had changed spectacularly.  The gray of my memory had all but disappeared, but the hotel had not much evolved along with the new Hungary.  In fact, had I not known better, I would have sworn the same staff was holding down the fort 30-odd years on. 

P.S. While in Budapest in 2006 I did discover --thank goodness!-- the Gresham Palace, and that is quite another story.  Stay tuned.

Your input is welcomed:  hotel-musings@hotmail.fr
 

CROSS REFERENCING … a look at other postings

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were also featured in blog No. 39, "Living It Up On Park Lane"; Grace Kelly was mentioned in blog No. 47 "Monaco, Mirage and Reality"; Budapest in "An Encounter With Keith" in blog No. 29  (to access, click on above title).

Next Friday:  "The Paris Hiltons and the Ukrainian Mafia"


http://frankpleasants.blogspot.fr/2013/05/39-living-it-up-on-park-lane.html