September 8th, 2015: Refugees

[glatt]

My parents just got back from a river cruise in Europe. At one point, the Danube was too dry, so they got put on to busses to complete the trip. I asked them about the refugees since they were in Austria and Hungary, among other places.

This is their email from 3 days ago.

Today we crossed the border from Austria on the autobahn. There was a ~10 mile traffic jam at the border on the side entering Austria, also some tent villages in rest areas in both countries, and a couple of police checkpoints that caused smaller traffic jams between the border and Budapest. There was one field beside the highway in Hungary where a cleanup crew with trucks and pay loaders were clearing rubble from what looked like a previous large encampment, now empty of people. Finally in Budapest we got a glimpse of a tent village in a park behind a wall. There were also occasional persons or small groups walking along the autobahn. Traffic flowing east and life in the main tourist areas of Budapest appeared normal.
Dad
There were at least a dozen buses (like city buses, not greyhound) sitting on the Hungarian side of the border filled with refugees. I found it very sad. What has their life been like, what kind of future do they have and how courageous and scared they must be right now.
Mom