Connecting Pachinko, a family saga of Korean migrants in Japan, to travel in Iceland was a bit of a reach. Linking Exit West: A Novel , the second read of this trip, to our travels is no challenge at all.
Exit West: A Novel by Mohsin Hamid opens in a fictional war-torn country and follows the arc of the romantic relationship between the two main characters, Nadia and Saeed. As intense fighting breaks out in their city, Nadia and Saeed clearly cannot stay and so they look to magical doors, popping up all over the world, to transport them away together.
This is a story of human migration, and Hamid helps his readers understand what it is to try to start again in lands that do not want you. His prose is clear, and at the same time, lyrical. I re-read The English Patient way too many times in high school (weirdly without ever watching the movie), and Hamid’s beautiful, poetic language, which refuses to look away from destruction and loss, made me think of The English Patient throughout the course of this read.
I will avoid delving into American politics, but this is a book that shows deep empathy to the plight of a refugee. Rich and I are the most willing of travellers– we carefully and excitedly craft our route, we have loving families to whom we can return back at home, and our American passports act like our own personal magic doors taking us wherever we desire and back again. Businesses welcome us almost anywhere we go because we have money to spend.
And yet, there are still challenges. It’s cold; it rains; we get ripped off in the Market on up-charges with our lunch. Sometimes we are tired and cannot find a bathroom. We are sure the locals are laughing at us and our Rainbow flip flops.
Budapest, we love you. You are our favorite. Budapest, let us come live with you. We will learn Hungarian and never complain.
Alright, I might be coming on a little strong. Perhaps we were a little jaded by the coldness of Iceland. And the camping. And the hot dogs. But Budapest came through. I’m excited to share and tell you why if you have never considered a Hungarian vacation, you should.
Day 8: Dohany Street Synagogue, Lunch at the Great Market Hall, and Gellert Hill and the Citadel
The Dohany Street Synagogue
The Dohany Street Great Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe, and the second largest synagogue in the world. We weighed not going in because of a fairly steep entry fee- we are trying to be as budget conscious as possible- but our time in Budapest would not have been as meaningful without touring the synagogue and the cemetery in the garden. Our guide was amazing. He was knowledgeable and passionate– everything you would want in a teacher.
I was deeply moved by our visit and could write quite the lengthy post, so I will try to be as concise as possible, while also apologizing for glossing over important nuances and historical details. I am certainly no expert.
The synagogue was constructed from 1854-1859 and seats more than 3,000 people. At the time of its construction, over 200,000 Jews lived in Budapest.
In 1939, prior to German occupation, the Hungarian Arrow Cross party bombed Budapest but left the synagogue unharmed. Once Germany occupied Budapest, the Nazis used the synagogue as their headquarters (so evil) and broadcast radio signals from the top of the tower.
The Jews of Budapest were consolidated into a compact ghetto adjacent to the synagogue until many were forced on a death march to Austria and Germany, ending in concentration camps for those who survived the brutal winter. Between December 1944 and the end of January 1945, the Arrow Cross, Hungarian Nazi-sympathizers, killed nearly 20,000 Jews from the ghetto.
The garden outside of the synagogue which had been designed as an open space for community was turned into a cemetery with bodies piled on top of bodies. A current historical marker reads, “The park with the pool became a graveyard, a memorial to an era when all human feeling was lost.”
The Cemetery at the Great SynagogueThe Memorial GardenEach leaf of the giant tree contains the name of a Holocaust victim.
As William Faulkner said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” It is truly evil how much death and destruction was caused by racist and nationalistic ideals espoused within our grandparents’ lifetimes.
Lunch at the Great Market Hall
Imagine the biggest market you have ever seen, filled with fruits, vegetables, meats, spices, and Budapest “street food.” We ordered way too much food and then ate every bite. Delicious.
One small glimpse of the Great Market HallView from the Second Floor of the Great Market HallWe do love Hungarian food! Pictured: stuffed eggplant, salad with feta cheese, and tzatziki for Amanda and goulash in a bread bowl, cabbage, and beans for Rich.
Gellert Hill and the Citadel
After our very big lunch, we walked up a very big hill to burn it off. Gellert Hill looks over the city, and it was quite the climb. My favorite part was a very active playground with steep slides that would most certainly not pass American playground regulations.
Gellert Hill: View from the TopStatue Overlooking the CityGreat Views on the ClimbA Hungarian Playground with Very Steep Slides
Day 9: Parliament, Buda Castle, St. Matthias Church, the Fisherman’s Wharf, and Dinner at Mazel Tov
Parliament, Buda Castle, St. Matthias Church, and the Fisherman’s Wharf
I’m going to admit to not catching quite as much history here. The castle was raised, destroyed, and raised again. St. Matthias is covered in gold, and a Hungarian king and queen were crowned there. The Fisherman’s Wharf was a great spot to take pictures of the city.
Budapest continued to be beautiful, sunny, and in fine form. Also, Happy 4th of July, America!
The Front of ParliamentThe Fisherman’s WharfSelfie with a View of ParliamentRich at the Fisherman’s WharfA Fountain at the PalaceInside St. Matthias’sAn Outside a Church Selfie
Dinner at Mazel Tov
Mazel Tov indeed! The internet is amazing. Rich found the perfect Israeli restaurant, Mazel Tov, online.
I will let the pictures speak for the experience, but it was an amazing meal in a magical atmosphere, complete with a musician covering Taylor Swift on an acoustic guitar. The food was delicious and so reasonable– our appetizer, entrees, and two glasses of wine cost 9900 HUF, the equivalent of $36, tip included. Heaven. We are the luckiest.
Romantic Candlelight DiningUnder the White LightsDelicious! Vegetarian Cheese Dish with a Pomegranate SaladMazel Tov!Love.
Day 10: Szechenyi Thermal Baths
On Day 10, we lay by the pool! Did I mention we love Budapest? We walked for about 45 minutes and arrived at a beautiful bath made of smaller indoor and outdoor pools. Talk about age diversity- young and old were loving life in the water. And sporting all kinds of bathing costumes.
A Hungarian Bath House!LoungingMore LoungingRich tires of bath house selfies.
And for your final viewing pleasure, enjoy a little Hungarian humor with my favorite signs from Budapest:
Snoop Dogg FriendlyLife is short. Eat cookies.I don’t always have a fantastic beard…oh, wait I do! I’m a regular here.
I’ll try to keep this brief but wanted to include how we actual travel from country to country– we learned a lot already and wanted to provide some quick insights into what a travel day looks like.
3:30 AM Super early wake up time. I was jazzed- get me somewhere warm.
The last night of sleeping in a tent in Iceland. Hallelujah!
3:30 – 4:30 AMCook breakfast, wash up, take down and pack up the tent, roll up the sleeping bags, look forward to not camping for a stretch.
4:45 AMReturn camping equipment
4:45- 5:15 AMTravel to car return
5:15- 5:45 AMWait for shuttle to the airport
6:00 – 6:30 AMGo through security and customs in Reykjavik
6:30 – 9:00 AMMake it to the gate, blog, wait to board
9:50 AM – 2:20 PMFlight from Iceland to London-Luton
2:20 – 4:00 PMGo through security and customs in London
4:00 – 4:30 PMEat in the London airport
5:20 PMBoard for Budapest
So. Many. Lines.
5:45- 9:00 PMFlight to Budapest
9:00 – 9:20 PMCustoms in Budapest
9:30 – 9:50 PMUber to AirBNB
It was a long day.
A few lessons we learned:
When you travel with a backpack, you have to travel as light as possible. This probably seems super obvious, but for us, it was having one extra set of a few toiletries (shampoo, soap, etc.) that got us in London. We each had one gallon sized Ziploc with our 3 ounce liquids which the less-than-friendly security women had us consolidate into two quart-sized bags a piece– which required us to throw out some toiletries in line. When we got to Budapest, we discovered that soap is cheaper here than it is in America so we should have just planned to buy it here anyway.
Avoid families in security lines. They are not the fastest. And they argue.
Grab a custom form and keep it moving. The customs line in London was crazy long. Before queuing up, as the British would say, we stopped to fill out our entry form, and then my kind-hearted husband loaned one of my good pens to another traveller to fill out his form. By the time he finished using it and we got in line, people we had previously been behind were twenty people in front of us. Also, we were carrying 20lb packs on our back. Next time, we know to fill out the forms while we wait.
Use the turtle feature of our backpack! Our backpacks have this fantastic feature where the straps in the back zip up into the bag itself. There’s no way we should have both been able to carry on our bags on the cheap airline we were flying, but this turtle trick totally got us through undetected. Not having to wait at baggage claim when we got to Budapest was a godsend.
When we made it to our AirBNB, we could have kissed the ground! Instead, we showered (GLORIOUS), watched an episode of Handmaid’s Tale, and slept like babies in honest-to-goodness actual beds.
Catching up on the Handmaid’s Tale
We love Budapest! Excited to share about this wonderful city soon!
Greetings! Blogging from campsites – as well as showering and staying warm, among other things- proved a bit difficult, but the free WiFi from the Reyjkjavik, Iceland airport is pumping right now so I will do my best to get caught up.
Continue with me along Iceland’s Golden Circle!
Day Four: The Solheimasandur Plane Wreck, the Black Sand Beaches of Vik, and the Skogafoss and Seljandsfoss Waterfalls
The Solheimasandur Plane Wreck
The legend goes that in 1973, a US Navy DC plane crashed outside of Vik, Iceland when the pilot failed to switch to the reserve gas tank, instead switching to an empty gas tank. No worries- everyone survived! The plane was abandoned, and now tourists walk two miles through black sand/rocks to see it and pretend they are doing a photo shoot for their next album cover. So natch, we did the same.
Have I mentioned that Iceland is not warm? Also, for most of our four mile walk, it was raining. It felt rather post-apocalyptic– imagine The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
Totally isolated, crashed DC bomberRich with the bomberI was trying for the album cover look. It’s a miss.Bleak, huh?
The Black Sand Beaches of Vik
From the plane crash, we drove a short distance to the scariest road I have ever been a passenger on to overlook a very foggy cliff. I have no pictures of said road because I was simultaneously saying Hail Mary’s and helping my non-glasses-wearing husband avoid potholes the size of VW bugs while we drove straight up a mountain on a gravel road. I should also point out that when my husband drives and does not wear his glasses, he says things like, “Why is that woman lying in that field? Oh, she’s a horse.”
From the top of the cliff, we hiked a long path to a beach overlook with a perfectly fine parking lot that looked like it was reached via a non-terrifying, paved road.
Pictured: Heavy Fog Not Pictured: The Terrifying Road We Drove in the Heavy FogThe Black Sand BeachesThe Long Hike to the Beaches. I do not know why Rich is running. I was not running.More Black Sand
The Skogafoss and Seljandsfoss Waterfalls
If you are into waterfalls, you will be into Iceland.
Day 5: Jokulsarlon Glaciers and Pork and Beans
Jokulsarlon Glaciers
The drive to Jokulsarlon was long (~4 hours) and gas is expensive in Iceland (~$8/gallon), but I have never seen anything like these glaciers. When we first saw the massive sheet of ice on the side of one of the mountains, Rich couldn’t figure out what they were: “Is that sky? Is that water? What is that?”
The other thing I wish I could capture in these pictures is the sound the glaciers make. We had been looking at them for about ten minutes when we heard a sound that approximated two cars hitting each other head on. Instead, it was the sound of giant car-sized pieces of ice falling off and landing in the water. It was unreal.
Giant Sheets of IceAmanda with GlaciersThe Glaciers Meet the Channel to the OceanThe Glaciers Meet the Sea
Pork and Beans
As previously mentioned, Iceland is expensive- hence the camping and eating only one meal out in Iceland. Our second-to-last campsite, Svinafell, had both an area for tents and small cabins as well as an indoor cooking/dining area. When we arrived, an Icelandic hiking club had set up a full-on feast– we are talking wine, flowers and candles on the table, toasts, desserts, music (so. much. Ed. Sheeran. ), revelry galore. While we understood not a word of what they were saying, the atmosphere was really fun.
And we ate pork and beans. Hot, delicious, and on budget!
Pork and Beans!
Day 6: Sunshine in Iceland!
While most of day 6 was spent driving back to Reykjavik, we did make two quick pit stops to hike at the Skaftafell National Park and to get one more view of the black sand beaches. We woke up to sunshine, and it was just so glorious.
Our campground bathed in sunlight.Hiking in SkaftafellWe reached the top!Sun is awesome.At the Black Sand Beaches. It was super windy, and my eyes refused to open any wider than this for the picture.There are not words to express how proud Rich was of himself for climbing on top of this rock.
I love to read and knew I would want to read as much as possible on our trip. There are so many readers whom I love in my life, but I should just go ahead and dedicate all of my book reviews to Elise, one of the best high school English teachers I know, who recommends all of my favorite books.
Elise recommended Pachinko by Min Jin Lee months ago, and when it arrived and was 479 pages long, I thought, “What a perfect book for the first several weeks of travel.”
Unfortunately/fortunately, it was so good that I started it on day one out of the country only to finish it on day two. While a respectable case of jet lag and 22 hours of daylight in Iceland certainly contributed to this being such a quick read, Pachinko was also just that good. Five Stars. Read it.
The basics: The story follows four generations of a family of Korean immigrants to Japan from 1900 through 1989. The character development is deep, allowing you to understand why each character makes both the good and bad choices he or she makes and to also watch the intergenerational effects of those decisions play out.
Reading this made me remember what it was like to read a romantic novel at my all-girls Catholic school and then to have it out defending character’s choices with my classmates. Pachinko begs for the same sort of moral wrestling as Wuthering Heights, The Good Earth, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and The Scarlet Letter. Like I need someone from St. Cecilia to read this and call me tomorrow.
Rich suggested that I end my book reviews with a reflection relating my reading to my travel. A major theme of Pachinko revolves around the idea of what home is when you are outside of your native land. It hit me on a long car ride today through southern Iceland that usually when a vacation winds down you think of all the things you cannot wait to go home and do. For us, it’s to spread out on our big couch and catch up on a show. This time, however, my big couch is in storage, and when we leave Iceland, we will be in Budapest. How do you build home when you no longer have one physical place that you live? How do you build home when you are an outsider in a foreign land?
