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| Letter from Hungary: grey area | Letter from Hungary: grey area |
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| When I say "communism", what colour do you think of?" One of our Hungarian guides challenged her audience of mainly young backpackers from across the globe for an answer. | When I say "communism", what colour do you think of?" One of our Hungarian guides challenged her audience of mainly young backpackers from across the globe for an answer. |
| "Red," someone called out. | "Red," someone called out. |
| To end the pause that followed, she answered: "Grey. In Hungary, under communism, everything was grey." | To end the pause that followed, she answered: "Grey. In Hungary, under communism, everything was grey." |
| It was the opening to a Budapest walking tour of the country under communism. Our guides, a man and a woman just into their 40s, were there to explain what it was like as young participant observers to go from a communist regime to the "new democracy". | It was the opening to a Budapest walking tour of the country under communism. Our guides, a man and a woman just into their 40s, were there to explain what it was like as young participant observers to go from a communist regime to the "new democracy". |
| They delivered with passion. Clearly for them, "happy communism", their heavily ironic term, was an oppressive Orwellian experience for Hungarians and one they were glad to leave behind. | They delivered with passion. Clearly for them, "happy communism", their heavily ironic term, was an oppressive Orwellian experience for Hungarians and one they were glad to leave behind. |
| Also, in their view, while things were decidedly better now than under communism, it was not all sweetness and light under the "new democracy". | Also, in their view, while things were decidedly better now than under communism, it was not all sweetness and light under the "new democracy". |
| At one point we stood in front of a second world war memorial surrounded by iron fencing. The protection was needed, one guide said, because the monument had recently been vandalised by members of a far‑right political party called Jobbik. The party, she said, was made up of "no hopers", who resort to violence to achieve their ends. | At one point we stood in front of a second world war memorial surrounded by iron fencing. The protection was needed, one guide said, because the monument had recently been vandalised by members of a far‑right political party called Jobbik. The party, she said, was made up of "no hopers", who resort to violence to achieve their ends. |
| It was clear she was appalled that this party was now "the second-largest party in Hungary" in terms of its popular support and representation. | It was clear she was appalled that this party was now "the second-largest party in Hungary" in terms of its popular support and representation. |
| Party members would, she warned, be active on the streets of Budapest the following day, taking the opportunity of the street celebrations on Hungary's national day to make an impact. Our guides cautioned us to stay away from them: "If they are confronted by their opponents, there could be violence and you might get caught up in it." | Party members would, she warned, be active on the streets of Budapest the following day, taking the opportunity of the street celebrations on Hungary's national day to make an impact. Our guides cautioned us to stay away from them: "If they are confronted by their opponents, there could be violence and you might get caught up in it." |
| The day we left Budapest we came across local university students massed in the city's main railway station. They were off to a freshers' camp and enjoying high-spirited, and organised, skylarking prior to catching a train to their camp destination somewhere in the Hungarian countryside. | The day we left Budapest we came across local university students massed in the city's main railway station. They were off to a freshers' camp and enjoying high-spirited, and organised, skylarking prior to catching a train to their camp destination somewhere in the Hungarian countryside. |
| I wonder what sort of Hungary it will be when they are ready to take their adult place in the world. | I wonder what sort of Hungary it will be when they are ready to take their adult place in the world. |
| • Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letter.from@guardian.co.uk | • Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letter.from@guardian.co.uk |
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