red moscow

Chapter 2650

"Yes, I'm married." Sokov gave Maxim an affirmative answer and then asked, "Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Since you are already married, why are you still so close to Comrade Kopalova?" Maxim looked at Sokov with a complicated expression. "You even asked her to move into your box and live with you. You know, when I heard Comrade Seryosha talk about this, I thought you were lovers and it was natural for you to live in the same box. Who knew that you were already married, and it was not appropriate for you to live with Kopalova?"

"Comrade Maxim, Kopalova and I not only grew up together, but we were also lovers. If the damn war hadn't broken out, we might have gotten married." Sokov said calmly, "Now that we finally have the chance to be together, what's wrong with us living in the same box? Besides, it's not just me and him in the same box, Seryosha and Major Vaseligov also live in that box."

Seryosha realized that the atmosphere was a little tense, and quickly came out to help, "Yes, Misha is right, we also live in that box. Major, am I right?" As he said this to Vaserigov, he kept winking at him, signaling him to help him cover up his lie.

"Yes, that's right. The four of us live in that box." As Sokov's guard, Vaseligov naturally couldn't expose Sokov's behavior at this time. He could only follow Seryosha's meaning and said, "We have been living in that box since we set out from Moscow."

"Oh, so that's how it is. It seems I was wrong." Maxim said to Sokov earnestly, "Comrade General, Kopalova is a good comrade. If you are married, don't mess with her. To be honest, there are many guys in our newspaper who like her. Even two days before we set off, someone proposed to her, but she rejected him."

"Oh, someone proposed to Kopalova?" Sokov was immediately interested when he heard that someone proposed to Kopalova. "I wonder what kind of guy it is?"

"He was in the battlefield before," Maxim said. "He blew up a German armored vehicle and two trucks in a battle and was awarded a medal. Every day when he went to work, he would hang the medal on his chest."

Sokov felt more at ease when he learned that the person pursuing Kopalova was just an ordinary soldier. Even if Kopalova didn't want to, the other party couldn't do anything to her.

After dinner, everyone sat in the dining car and started chatting.

Maxim asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade General, how long will you stay in Vienna this time?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said, "I won't know how long I can stay there until I get to Vienna and meet General Malinin."

"Comrade General, we are all from Moscow," Maxim said. "We are unfamiliar with Vienna. If possible, I hope you can visit us more often." Perhaps worried that Sokov would not agree, he emphasized, "I think Comrade Kopalova would be very happy to see you."

"Yes, I will visit you when I have time." Sokov said with a smile: "Comrade Maxim, I hope you won't turn me away then."

Maxim said: "It is said that Vienna has the best vodka. I will treat you with that wine when I get there."

After chatting for a while, Sokov thought that Kopalova was still hungry in the compartment, so he asked the conductor to pack a bunch of things and said to them, "You guys chat slowly, I'm going to go back first."

Back in the box, Kopalova was already awake. Seeing Sokov coming in, she said weakly, "Misha, did you go to dinner?"

"Yes, I didn't wake you up because you were sleeping soundly." Sokov put the paper bag containing the dinner on the coffee table by the window and said to Kopalova, "This is the dinner I brought for you, please eat it."

Kopalova glanced out the window. It was too dark to see anything clearly. "Where are we?"

"It should be in Ukraine, but I can't tell you exactly where."

"In a few days, we will reach Budapest, Hungary." Kopalova asked Sokov while eating: "Misha, have you been to Hungary?"

"No." Sokov shook his head and answered simply: "Never been there."

"The train may stop in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, for more than ten hours. I really want to visit this beautiful city."

"If you really have to stay that long, then I'll accompany you to visit the city." Although Sokov had never been to Hungary, he knew very well that Vienna was not far from Budapest, only more than 200 kilometers away. Even if you missed the train, it would only take a few hours to get there by car.

Seeing that Sokov agreed to accompany her to visit Budapest, Kopalova seemed very happy. She said to herself: "Budapest is located on the Danube River. It was originally two cities facing each other. After several centuries of expansion, it was formed in 1873 by the merger of Buda and Old Buda on the west bank of the Danube and Pest on the east bank.

Budapest is the main political, commercial, transportation center and the largest city in Hungary. It is an important relay station in Eastern Europe and is known as the "Paris of Eastern Europe" and the "Pearl of the Danube". Budapest has 86 theaters, two opera houses, many concert halls, music clubs and theaters, 32 museums and many small art galleries.

In Budapest, we can visit the Chain Bridge, Dohany Street Synagogue, Matthias Church, Gellert Baths, City Park, Buda Castle, Váci Street, Hungarian State Opera House, etc.

Andrassy Avenue is the iconic boulevard in Budapest. From 1871 to 1885, historic residential buildings, the Hungarian State Opera House, the House of Terror Museum, Heroes' Square, etc. were built on both sides of this two-kilometer-long boulevard.

"Chain Bridge?" Sokov couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "Is it similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in the United States?"

"It's definitely not as good as the Golden Gate Bridge," Kopalova said as she ate. "If you're interested, I can tell you about it."

"Well, I'm very interested, you might as well tell me about it." "The correct name of the Chain Bridge is the Szechenyi Chain Bridge, which is the first bridge across the Danube in Budapest." Kopalova began to tell Sokov: "The construction of this bridge has a very interesting story.

In December 1820, Count István Széchenyi, a Hungarian nobleman and young cavalry officer, received news that his father was critically ill in Vienna and was ready to set out to visit his father immediately, but the ice on the Danube blocked his way. However, no matter how anxious he was and what he tried, he could not cross the Danube.

After the floating ice melted and a floating bridge was built on the river, the count finally crossed the Danube and rushed to Vienna. But when he arrived in Vienna, his father had passed away, and he was ultimately unable to see his father for the last time.

The angry and regretful count was determined to build a permanent bridge over the Danube. Széchenyi vowed: "If anyone can build a permanent bridge between Buda and Pest, I will donate all my salary!"

Széchenyi not only wrote his vow in his diary, but also put it into action. He donated all his salary as a bridge-building fund, established the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and began preparations for the bridge. He visited Europe many times to inspect various bridges, and met William Clark, a famous British steel structure bridge design expert, and hired him to design the Danube Bridge.

In June 1849, a permanent bridge designed and built by brothers William Clark and Adam Clark was finally completed after ten years of construction. This is a three-hole iron bridge with a chain as the skeleton, 6 meters long and 380 meters wide. The distance between the two piers is 15.7 meters. It was the largest span bridge in the world at that time. A grand celebration was held on the day of completion. In order to commemorate Count Szechenyi's contribution, the bridge was named "Szechenyi Chain Bridge".

The bridgeheads standing on both sides are two tall and majestic stone triumphal arches, with exquisitely carved arches, overlapping edges and a stable base, showing the kingly style of classical Europe. On both sides of the bridgehead stands a huge stone lion, like a guardian god guarding the bridge day and night. The lions look up and look majestic, symbolizing the unyielding historical courage of the Hungarian people.

Huge steel cables are drawn from the bridgehead, suspending the stretched bridge deck, outlining a strong curve outline, firm yet soft, like a huge art sculpture. It matches the palace of Buda and the commercial port of Pest perfectly, complementing each other. When the Szechenyi Chain Bridge began to be built, it already amazed the world. After its completion, this bridge has important significance for the economy and people's livelihood of the entire country. "

After listening to Kopalova's story, Sokov was full of curiosity about the Chain Bridge on the Budapest River: "Kopalova, when we arrive in Budapest, even if we don't have time to go to other places, we must go and see this Chain Bridge."

"If we want to go, we need to find a local translator," Kopalova said. "You know, I know a little bit about English or German, but I don't know anything about Hungarian. And there is another important point. In Hungarian names, the surname comes first and the given name comes last, which is the opposite of ours. Don't make a mistake, or you will make a fool of yourself."

Sokov recalled that there was a wrong saying in later generations that Hungarians were descendants of the Huns. Although he knew it was wrong, in order to find more topics, he deliberately asked: "I heard that more than a thousand years ago, the Huns in China were defeated and fled to Europe, and then the country of Hungary was established. Does this mean that Hungarians are descendants of the Huns?"

"Of course not." Kopalova, as a journalist, even a photojournalist, is very knowledgeable. She explained to Sokov: "Although the Huns and Hungarians have some similarities in history and cultural background, there is no direct correlation between Hungarians and Huns in terms of language characteristics, physical features and genetic testing.

The majority of Hungarians originated from the Bashkir region in southwestern Siberia. Their mother tongue is Hungarian, which belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family of the Uralic language family. The Huns were East Asian yellow people who emerged on the Mongolian Plateau. Their language and cultural background were significantly different from those of the Hungarians.

"Oh, so that's how it is." Sokov pretended to be enlightened and gave Kopalova a thumbs up: "Kopalova, you know a lot."

"By the way, after we go to Budapest, we can also taste the local food." Kopalova continued: "Potato beef soup is one of the most representative traditional foods in Hungary. Potatoes, green peppers, tomatoes, and onions are used to stew beef. It can be made into broth or stew, and finally sprinkled with specialty paprika to enhance the flavor. Both the appearance and the taste are appetizing.

Fisherman's soup is a chili powder-based dish made by stewing freshwater fish such as perch, carp, and catfish in a broth, and finally adding onions and red peppers. This dish is known as one of the spiciest dishes in Europe and has a much stronger taste than beef soup.

Red pepper chicken, chicken thighs marinated in chili powder, stewed with onions, green peppers, tomatoes, sour cream and egg noodles. The sour cream makes the sauce thicker and smoother. It is best paired with white wine.

Although Sokov had just returned from the dining car, he could not help but drool as Kopalova talked about Hungarian cuisine. He was full of anticipation at the moment, hoping to get to Budapest as soon as possible to taste the food Kopalova talked about.

When Kopalova finished dinner and Sokov was packing up, the door of the box was opened and Seryosha and Vaseligov walked in from outside.

Sokov was about to ask the two what they were doing when he saw Maxim following them in. He quickly called out to Kopalova, "Kopalova, Comrade Maxim is here. He may have something to talk to you about."

"Comrade Maxim," Kopalova stood up quickly when she saw Maxim walking into the box and asked politely, "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing." Maxim glanced around the box and said, "I saw that you didn't come out for dinner. I was worried that you might not be feeling well, so I came to see you."

"I just stayed up all night before leaving and felt very tired." Kopalova said: "Misha called me when he went to dinner just now. I could hardly move, so I asked him to bring me some food."

"How many people live here?"

Hearing Maxim's question, Kopalova immediately became alert: "Comrade Maxim, don't you see that this box is for four people? Since it is a four-person room, of course we will live in four people."

Maxim laughed dryly and then said, "I thought you and General Sokov were the only ones living here. It seems I was wrong."

Sokov, who was standing nearby, said nothing. He knew very well that Maxim came here to verify what Seryosha and Vaserigov said, to see whether it was just him and Kopalova who were staying in the box, or four people.

Now that he had received Kopalova's affirmative answer, Maxim chatted for a few more words and then said goodbye and left.

(End of this chapter)