It was my first visit to an ex-communist country. We cruised by the river. There was a statue of liberty, well lit, in sight. It must have a uniquely dear meaning to the Hungarians who fought their way out of communism. They even have a dedicated memorial park where they imprison all the toppled statues of communist leaders.
I inquired at the hotel reception why were there nice and big religious statues (the Sacred Heart, the Holy Family, Our Lady, etc) in bold manifestation everywhere -- hadn't they been destroyed by the communists? She said no, they could destroy some but they couldn't possibly destroy everything! Her optimism made me feel good. The people are far from hardened; there was no smell of iron.
Statue of Liberty. This came up again over a year later when I was in Lyon, where every guide speaks of the statue of liberty but they won't point to any\. Why? Because the lady is in fact in America -- that's right, THE statue of liberty. It is associated with Lyon by a common sculptor: Frederic Auguste Bartholdi.
Then, suddenly, that icon identified herself to me as the same one standing tall in the balcony of Fatimah Hospital and over the roof-top of Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital (both of whom I am most familiar with) and of course elsewhere and everywhere. Indeed, the lady watches over. Germans refer to her as die Jungfrau.