Budapest to Chop to Uzhgorod

Thurs 05/30 I've been in Ukraine only one day, and I've already experienced enough for a small book! Left Pittsburgh airport Tues 5/28 for.   uneventful flight from PIT to Detroit to Amsterdam to Budapest.

Heavy cloud cover, until we were over Bratislava. The clouds lifted, and you suddenly knew you weren't in Kansas anymore! The entire landscape was flat, like Ohio and Indiana, except instead of large farms you saw a lot of little farms with patches of woods in between, and little villages filled with red tile roofed houses. I had planned on staying at a hotel in Budapest on arrival; I expected a long delay to pick up my luggage and get through customs, but my luggage was waiting for me and I was waived through Customs without even a look at my passport. I was met at the airport by cousin Misha Maximovich, and we decided to drive straight to Uzhgorod instead of spending the night in a hotel.

The trip through Hungary took us through flat land; we never saw a hill until the border. We went through dozens of picturesque Hungarian villages with little single story houses which would have been at home in a fairy tale if they had been in better shape. We stopped to eat at a little roadside cafe. It had only 8 tables, but incredible food. First we had a chicken soup, very tasty and much thicker and richer than American chicken soup. Then a course of goulash on top of boiled potatoes. The goulash was nothing like the American version of goulash; it was meat only, small pieces of beef slow cooked until very tender, in a paprika sauce. We must have had two pounds of potatoes covered with a pound of goulash meat. On the side, a salad of hot peppers, pickles, and cabbage. And as much home made bread as we wanted. All of this was just a few American dollars!

At the Hungarian/Ukraine border, I expected a baggage search and an interrogation, but we were just asked for our passports and waived through. By the time we got to Dravtsi, it was 2 AM. Ivan and Klara were waiting for us, and the hospitality was incredible! More food. And wine. And vodka. And food. And more food! We had salami, sausage, pickles, kolachi, bread with white butter and yellow cheese, radishes in sour cream, but the high point of the evening was SALO!!!! Salo is smoked pig fat, and our salo was made by Ivan himself. We ate it on bread, with a little onion and salt. Eating pure fat sounds awful, but it is the best tasting stuff you'll ever eat!

(Rusyn hospitality: home grown organic produce, home cured and smoked meats, home made wine and kompote from organic grapes and fruits! :

(I wish I could bring back one of Ivan's hams. There remind me of Italian prosciutto, and are every bit as good)

I woke up at Klara's house, just in time for her to feed me again.  Tea, kolachi and strawberries.  Ivan gave me a tour of his garden. "Garden" is hardly the right word; it is the size of a football field.  About 20% is planted in vegetables: potatoes, corn, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, radishes, onions, garlic, and strawberries. Then there is an orchard with about 30 trees: cherry, apple, plum, apricot, peach, and walnut. The cherries and strawberries are already ripe! And around the trees, Ivan cuts grass with a scythe every day to feed his animals. Chickens, three pigs, three goats.

I tried cutting the grass with the scythe - that is hard work, but Ivan does it every day with bad knees. He had me take photos of him milking his goats.Ivan served three years in the Soviet Army, and then worked as a butcher when younger, and showed me his collection of knives, and a hundred year old knife sharpener made in Germany. He has his own smokehouse,which he built, and smokes ham, kolbasi, bacon, and salo.

At lunchtime, we were joined by Ivan and wife Klara's son Misha, and his wife Miroslava and daughter Katya. Miroslava is the daughter of the Greek Catholic priest in Dravtsi - Father Mihailo Banik. Miroslava's brother Lubobir was recently married, and lives nearby in Baranintsi. Lubomir studied art at the university in L'viv, and designs and creates stained glass windows and mosaics. Also joining us was Klara's sister Marta, and Marta's son Misha.

The two Misha's are like brothers, and work together. They have an import/export business; they buy timber and export for sale in Hungary. Misha Maximovich's daughter Katya is 6 years old, and just finished first grade. She has learned English in school, (her English is far better than my Ukrainian), and we have an agreement: I will help her with English so that she can earn a diploma from school, and she will teach me Ukrainian.

For lunch we began with a very hearty soup made with pork meatballs, carrots, onions, and dumplings (halushki). I was a very picky eater as a child, so this was the very first time I ate dumplings in soup (it was good!). Then we had huge plates of boiled potatoes, fried chicken, breaded and fried cauliflower, a salad of radishes and green onions, and fresh bread. I told Klara she was giving me too much food, but she insisted I take more; she said little Katya eats more than I do. For desert, we had strawberry ice cream; I forgot to ask if it was home-made with goat milk, but it was good! I could not ask for a better hostess than Klara! Klara and Ivan's hospitality is awesome!

After lunch, more relatives came and joined us. There was Elizabeth, the last living child of my grandmother's sister. She is in her 80's, and lives a few houses away. Elizabeth's daughter also came, and several other female cousins. I met too many people to remember their names and relationships, but when I showed them family photos on my laptop, they recognized and knew all the American cousins.

 I also showed everyone photos of the 1947 tornado that went through Sharon; they were impressed by the damage. I told them that it was a very small tornado.

Boarding with Ivan and Klara are 4 girls who attend Uzhgorod University. Together the 4 girls pay Klara a total of $200 US dollars a month for the room. I haven't been able to connect to the Internet yet, but one of the girls let me use her computer to make a free Skype audio call to my mother in Florida, and all the relatives were able to say greetings to her.

                                                        (3 of the girls)

After the relatives left, Klara turned on her television for me. They have satellite TV; Klara told me that they purchased the satellite dish for US $100; the TV signal itself is free!!! No monthly cable or satellite bills, and they get Russian, Ukrainian, German, and English TV programs. Klara told me that she had just seen on the news that Spain and Italy just had snow!!

After watching a little TV, Klara took me on a short walk in Dravtsi.

We stopped in a mini-mart; 80% of their shelf space was vodka's and beer! She pointed out to me the house which was in one of my old family photo's; this house was my grandfather's brother Andrew's house.

(above: house built by Andrew Vasko, c. 1932)

(above: the same house today)

 Andrew had come to America and worked in East Pittsburgh in the 1920's and 30's, but returned home to Dravtsi. We saw Andrew's son Bela in his yard; Klara called over to him and introduced me, then Bela and his wife Anna(?) invited me in for more food. We had some very tender pieces of beef (similar to the Hungarian goulash but not as spicy), potatoes, bread, pickles, and something best described as pork cracklings. And of course at every meal there was very good homemade wine.

(East Pittsburgh people: John Halagan, John Silvasi, George Vasko, back row, 

Mary Halagan Toth and John Toth, seated, and daughters)

Bela Andreyevich Vasko had been a school principal, and his wife Anna (whose maiden name was Rohach) had been a chemistry teacher.


 Bela told me his sister Margaret Khoma is still living also. Margaret's great-granddaughter Tanya Khoma is an English teacher; she had married Igor Solovey, a young anesthesiologist who just graduated last year, but Bela told me that Tanya and Igor had just gotten divorced. Several years ago when my cousin Tom Vasko visited, Tanya was the first relative he met, and he met her totally by accident. I had written for him in Ukrainian a letter telling who he was and who we were related to. Tom stopped into the town hall and asked the girl at the desk if there was anyone who could help him find anyone; the girl was Tanya, and she instantly said "I think we are related!!!" (she was right(cont)

Budapest to Chop to Uzhgorod

Thurs 05/30 I've been in Ukraine only one day, and I've already experienced enough for a small book! Left Pittsburgh airport Tues 5/28 for.   uneventful flight from PIT to Detroit to Amsterdam to Budapest.

Heavy cloud cover, until we were over Bratislava. The clouds lifted, and you suddenly knew you weren't in Kansas anymore! The entire landscape was flat, like Ohio and Indiana, except instead of large farms you saw a lot of little farms with patches of woods in between, and little villages filled with red tile roofed houses. I had planned on staying at a hotel in Budapest on arrival; I expected a long delay to pick up my luggage and get through customs, but my luggage was waiting for me and I was waived through Customs without even a look at my passport. I was met at the airport by cousin Misha Maximovich, and we decided to drive straight to Uzhgorod instead of spending the night in a hotel.

The trip through Hungary took us through flat land; we never saw a hill until the border. We went through dozens of picturesque Hungarian villages with little single story houses which would have been at home in a fairy tale if they had been in better shape. We stopped to eat at a little roadside cafe. It had only 8 tables, but incredible food. First we had a chicken soup, very tasty and much thicker and richer than American chicken soup. Then a course of goulash on top of boiled potatoes. The goulash was nothing like the American version of goulash; it was meat only, small pieces of beef slow cooked until very tender, in a paprika sauce. We must have had two pounds of potatoes covered with a pound of goulash meat. On the side, a salad of hot peppers, pickles, and cabbage. And as much home made bread as we wanted. All of this was just a few American dollars!

At the Hungarian/Ukraine border, I expected a baggage search and an interrogation, but we were just asked for our passports and waived through. By the time we got to Dravtsi, it was 2 AM. Ivan and Klara were waiting for us, and the hospitality was incredible! More food. And wine. And vodka. And food. And more food! We had salami, sausage, pickles, kolachi, bread with white butter and yellow cheese, radishes in sour cream, but the high point of the evening was SALO!!!! Salo is smoked pig fat, and our salo was made by Ivan himself. We ate it on bread, with a little onion and salt. Eating pure fat sounds awful, but it is the best tasting stuff you'll ever eat!

(Rusyn hospitality: home grown organic produce, home cured and smoked meats, home made wine and kompote from organic grapes and fruits! :

(I wish I could bring back one of Ivan's hams. There remind me of Italian prosciutto, and are every bit as good)

I woke up at Klara's house, just in time for her to feed me again.  Tea, kolachi and strawberries.  Ivan gave me a tour of his garden. "Garden" is hardly the right word; it is the size of a football field.  About 20% is planted in vegetables: potatoes, corn, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, radishes, onions, garlic, and strawberries. Then there is an orchard with about 30 trees: cherry, apple, plum, apricot, peach, and walnut. The cherries and strawberries are already ripe! And around the trees, Ivan cuts grass with a scythe every day to feed his animals. Chickens, three pigs, three goats.

I tried cutting the grass with the scythe - that is hard work, but Ivan does it every day with bad knees. He had me take photos of him milking his goats.Ivan served three years in the Soviet Army, and then worked as a butcher when younger, and showed me his collection of knives, and a hundred year old knife sharpener made in Germany. He has his own smokehouse,which he built, and smokes ham, kolbasi, bacon, and salo.

At lunchtime, we were joined by Ivan and wife Klara's son Misha, and his wife Miroslava and daughter Katya. Miroslava is the daughter of the Greek Catholic priest in Dravtsi - Father Mihailo Banik. Miroslava's brother Lubobir was recently married, and lives nearby in Baranintsi. Lubomir studied art at the university in L'viv, and designs and creates stained glass windows and mosaics. Also joining us was Klara's sister Marta, and Marta's son Misha.

The two Misha's are like brothers, and work together. They have an import/export business; they buy timber and export for sale in Hungary. Misha Maximovich's daughter Katya is 6 years old, and just finished first grade. She has learned English in school, (her English is far better than my Ukrainian), and we have an agreement: I will help her with English so that she can earn a diploma from school, and she will teach me Ukrainian.

For lunch we began with a very hearty soup made with pork meatballs, carrots, onions, and dumplings (halushki). I was a very picky eater as a child, so this was the very first time I ate dumplings in soup (it was good!). Then we had huge plates of boiled potatoes, fried chicken, breaded and fried cauliflower, a salad of radishes and green onions, and fresh bread. I told Klara she was giving me too much food, but she insisted I take more; she said little Katya eats more than I do. For desert, we had strawberry ice cream; I forgot to ask if it was home-made with goat milk, but it was good! I could not ask for a better hostess than Klara! Klara and Ivan's hospitality is awesome!

After lunch, more relatives came and joined us. There was Elizabeth, the last living child of my grandmother's sister. She is in her 80's, and lives a few houses away. Elizabeth's daughter also came, and several other female cousins. I met too many people to remember their names and relationships, but when I showed them family photos on my laptop, they recognized and knew all the American cousins.

 I also showed everyone photos of the 1947 tornado that went through Sharon; they were impressed by the damage. I told them that it was a very small tornado.

Boarding with Ivan and Klara are 4 girls who attend Uzhgorod University. Together the 4 girls pay Klara a total of $200 US dollars a month for the room. I haven't been able to connect to the Internet yet, but one of the girls let me use her computer to make a free Skype audio call to my mother in Florida, and all the relatives were able to say greetings to her.

                                                        (3 of the girls)

After the relatives left, Klara turned on her television for me. They have satellite TV; Klara told me that they purchased the satellite dish for US $100; the TV signal itself is free!!! No monthly cable or satellite bills, and they get Russian, Ukrainian, German, and English TV programs. Klara told me that she had just seen on the news that Spain and Italy just had snow!!

After watching a little TV, Klara took me on a short walk in Dravtsi.

We stopped in a mini-mart; 80% of their shelf space was vodka's and beer! She pointed out to me the house which was in one of my old family photo's; this house was my grandfather's brother Andrew's house.

(above: house built by Andrew Vasko, c. 1932)

(above: the same house today)

 Andrew had come to America and worked in East Pittsburgh in the 1920's and 30's, but returned home to Dravtsi. We saw Andrew's son Bela in his yard; Klara called over to him and introduced me, then Bela and his wife Anna(?) invited me in for more food. We had some very tender pieces of beef (similar to the Hungarian goulash but not as spicy), potatoes, bread, pickles, and something best described as pork cracklings. And of course at every meal there was very good homemade wine.

(East Pittsburgh people: John Halagan, John Silvasi, George Vasko, back row, 

Mary Halagan Toth and John Toth, seated, and daughters)

Bela Andreyevich Vasko had been a school principal, and his wife Anna (whose maiden name was Rohach) had been a chemistry teacher.


 Bela told me his sister Margaret Khoma is still living also. Margaret's great-granddaughter Tanya Khoma is an English teacher; she had married Igor Solovey, a young anesthesiologist who just graduated last year, but Bela told me that Tanya and Igor had just gotten divorced. Several years ago when my cousin Tom Vasko visited, Tanya was the first relative he met, and he met her totally by accident. I had written for him in Ukrainian a letter telling who he was and who we were related to. Tom stopped into the town hall and asked the girl at the desk if there was anyone who could help him find anyone; the girl was Tanya, and she instantly said "I think we are related!!!" (she was right(cont)