Budapest Daily Photo

Silhouette of trees

2006-11-19T07:11:00.001+01:00

Puskás Ferenc

2006-11-18T06:30:00.001+01:00

Lady Leaders Stand Up Please...

2006-11-17T05:29:00.000+01:00

Walking towards the Freedom Bridge from ELTE University in Budapest, I saw this memorial. The initial impression of it was a lady teacher in such a braced up posture and the rest (especially the wondering faceless looks of those around her) seemed totally afraid. There is a strange optimistic air around her when I moved around to look at her from all the different angles. While the morning sun was shining from behind, it highlighted her forward looking attitude to guide a group of children.

But later did I realised she is not a 'teacher'...SHE, together with the group of people, were there in memorial of their fighting spirit for liberty, democracy, human rights and most of all FREEDOM

Királylány

2006-11-16T06:08:00.000+01:00

Day of Ödön in Hungary. The hungarian version of the German Eugen.

Királylány means something like princess. She has been sitting there for years. With partly opened mouth and with her crown which looks rather like the cap of a clown. And just after writing it down i realised how close are the words CROWN and CLOWN to each other. Tourists like to take photos with her and I guess she enjoys being popular.:)

Verdant Green leaves

2006-11-15T07:02:00.000+01:00

From today on I have a special co-author on my Budapest site. Zannnie will post here every second day sharing with you the experiences of a Singaporean lady in the cold autumn/winter Budapest.

It fluctuates around 8 degree celsius and most of the leaves are now almost on the ground. However this is a special sight of today since we still get to see Verdant green against the european architecture and the many windows:)

Globe

2006-11-14T06:00:00.000+01:00

Day of Alíz in Hungary. This name comes from the Alice...so happy name day Alice!:)

This globe is at the entrance of the University. It was made in 1966 and the text written to the table says: the traffic network of the world. I don't know how was the traffic in the 60's but to me, the globe looks not too "busy" with routes. Maybe they meant 1966 BC.:)

National Museum

2006-11-13T06:00:00.000+01:00

Day of Szilvia in Hungary. Yesss.....again my sister. Her birthday and nameday are very close to each other:) Happy name-day Szilva (thats how I call her). Its a Latin name means: forest
The newly renovated National Museum. Till 1998 they kept here the crown of Hungary. But then the actual prime minister found the crown was not a part of our history but something which belongs to our recent life....so he had brought it to the parliament building (maybe to wear it at night):)

But dont worry...there are still a lot to see in the National Museum.

The Winner!

2006-11-12T04:32:00.000+01:00

Day of Jónás and Renátó in Hungary. Jónás comes from Hebrew. Means: pigeon. Renátó has latin origine means reborn.

Today is the day when I finish my 16 days long quiz. The answer to the last question you can find here.

It was really a fun to me even if I had to spend much much more time with it then before. But it was worth. 33 of you took part in my game and during this more then two weeks I have got more then 230 comments altogether which is great honour to me! THANK YOU!

The questions were very easy at times (at the beginning just to comment meant a point) at times too hard. Mostly (but not always) I choosed questions related to history of my country or city because I just love history.:) Thats why my today's photo is also a historical one, from the early 1900's on the Blaha Lujza sqaure in Budapest.

And now.....finally....the result of the game. Who will get the Szamos Marcipan?:)

All the participants deserve some extra attention so here I include their links and their points and scrolling down you will see who won the prize:):

John 1, Sally 1, Annie 1, Santy 1, Vanessa said (I cant find your link) 1, Irredento Urbanita 1, Ackworth born 1, Selana18 1, Mountainboy 1, Denton 1, Orly 1, Ann 1, Giuce 1, Marieta 1, Kala 1, Edwin 1, Lisi 1,

Nathalie 2, Bill 2, Carol 2, Zannie 2, Carlos 2, James 2,

Kate 3, Keropok man 3, Lara 3,

Dawn 4, Photowannabe 4

Olivier 5

Lachezar 6

Kris 7

Jing 10

And finally! Two great ladies who gave a great amount of good answers (12 from 16..)....the WINNERS:

Jazzy 12 (Tuzla) and Meg Nakagawa 12 (Nelson) !!!!

Congratulations! And both of you deserve the Szamos Marcipán. Jazzy you were so so persistant, you took part from the very beginning. And Meg....you are really a very surprising person.:) A real fighter...you arrived late...missed the first few questions...but you did such a great job, never failed and you MADE it! Pls Jazzy, Meg send me a postal address to my soteria@axelero.hu e-mail and wait for the post patiently:)

Freedom square

2006-11-11T06:40:00.000+01:00

Day of Márton in Hungary. Comes from the Latin Martinus which means: like the god Mars.

Szabadság tér (Freedom square). This is the soviet monument remembering the unknown soldiers died while they liberated/occupided (everyone can choose the right word after his/her political view)Hungary. The fence is around it because the rioters damaged the monument and now its not allowed to get there. The white building behind the monument is the Inter-Europa Bank and I guess they made a great job renovating that building. And in the distance you can see the roof of the parliament building. Actually this is the same square where Harry Hill's (not the Brittish comedian) statue is located.

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Today is the last day of my quiz. Tomorrow we will know who gets the Szamos Marcipan.:) The last question is not easy at all. My surname is Bugarszki..(say: Bugarski)

What is the origin of the surname Bugarszki:

A, Its a Hungarian name which means: comes from Bugarszk
B, Its an old Polish surname
C, Its Macedono-Bulgarian name

The right answer to the previous question is: B, The Turul visible in the Palace of Buda
The taurus is a Greek symbol and the Lion is widely used on old buildings but the Turul (which is an eagle) is the ancient symbol.

Thank you for all to participate in my quiz and visit my site tomorrow to see the final results!:)

Taurus

2006-11-10T08:48:00.000+01:00

Day of Réka in Hungary. An old Hun name she was the wife of Attila the Hun.

Right now this statue is on the Boráros tér right beside the Petőfi bridge in Pest. But originally this statue belonged to the old national theater. Now standing there all alone on that square....i dont know why they didnt bring it to the new national theater to his mates:)

What is the ancient symbol-animal of Hungary?

A, The Taurus on the Boráros square
B, The Turul visible in the Palace of Buda
C, The Lions on the chain bridge

(if you spend enough time exploring Budapest DP you can find the answer but pure guess is a good game too to try your luck):)

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The right answer to the previous question is A, Harry Hill Bandholtz was a general who prevented a group of Romanian soldier from removing the treasures of the National Museum in 1919.
There were no American (or any other) zones in Budapest nor in 1919 neither in 1945. Only this crazy guy (me) found it out:)

(Congratulations for those who found it out. And don't worry if you've not. The game will last till 12th of November even if you've joined later, you still have a chance for the prize! Just answer in my comments box, and you are AUTOMATICALLY playing;)

Harry Hill Bandholtz

2006-11-09T06:00:00.000+01:00

Day of Tivadar in Hungary. The Hungarian version of Theodor means: the present of God

This is general Harry Hill Bandholtz. I took this photo from behind because the light was much better like this. His statue is right in front of the US Embassy. But who was general Harry Hill Bandholtz?

A, American General who prevented a group of Romanian soldier from removing the treasures of the National Museum in 1919.
B, American General, the commander of the American zone of Budapest in 1945.
C, American General, the commander of the American zone of Budapest in 1919.

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The right answer to the previous question is C, a concert place and restaurant. It was a former Ukrainian ship..but never on cruise anymore:)

(Congratulations for those who found it out. And don't worry if you've not. The game will last till 12th of November even if you've joined later, you still have a chance for the prize! Just answer in my comments box, and you are AUTOMATICALLY playing;)

A38

2006-11-08T08:20:00.000+01:00

Day of Zsombor in Hungary. Its an ancient Hungarian name but its origin is Slavic. Means:: bufallo

I took this photo yesterday near to the University. This is the ship A38 (Artemovszk 38). It was just half past 3 pm but the colors started to be deeper and deeper around preparing for the sunset.

The question of the day:

What is the A38 ship?

A, A ship of a rich Ukrainian man to travel around.
B, An excursion ship for summer on the Duna (Danube) in Budapest.
C, A concert place and restaurant.

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The right answer to the previous question is B, It was a tribute to the 70th birthday of Stalin.
I know its weird but it is like this. They change the name of the streets very often..and who knows why...they kept this numbers on the trolleys.
I will take some more (better) photos of the geographical museum and it's statues soon.

(Congratulations for those who found it out. And don't worry if you've not. The game will last till 12th of November even if you've joined later, you still have a chance for the prize! Just answer in my comments box, and you are AUTOMATICALLY playing;)

Spiderman

2006-11-07T08:05:00.000+01:00

Day of Rezső in Hungary. Its the Hungarian version of Rudolf.

Maybe spiderman visited this place.:) Annie's and Jing's photo from yesterday inspired this post. When I saw their wires I remembered I took the other day a photo at the Ethnographical Museum. Just when I uploaded it to the PC I realized that the photo shows a lot of wire of tramways and trolley-buses.

In Budpest the numbers of trolley-buses start with No. 70. For example 70, 72, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81...maybe there are more I just remember this lines suddenly.

The question of the day:

Why the numbers of trolley-buses start with No. 70 in Budapest?

A, When they introduced them they wanted to refer to the 70th anniversary of the birth of Budapest (birth means when Buda and Pest has merged)
B, It was a tribute to the 70th birthday of Stalin.
C, Because the other numbers were taken by buses, tramways, subways etc.

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The right answer to the previous question is A, 15.000
Its a suprise even to me, because they seem to be much more. They say (I didnt have time to check out this information) they sell more then 100.000 copies of Chinese newspaper...so they are much more then the official number or Chinese people like to read very much even two, three times the same newspaper:) Anyway..I am happy that they are here..because I love they beautiful shaped eyes and they make our country colourful.

(Congratulations for those who found it out. And don't worry if you've not. The game will last till 12th of November even if you've joined later, you still have a chance for the prize! Just answer in my comments box, and you are AUTOMATICALLY playing;)

Chinese market

2006-11-06T06:00:00.000+01:00

Day of Lénárd in Hungary. But whos care Lénárd?:) Today is my sister's birthday! Happy birthday Szilva!:)

This is the entrance of the Chinese Market in Budapest. We call it Józsefvárosi Piaci (Market of Józsefváros) which refers to the location, so we do not call it Chinese Market here. We even dont have a China Town the asian immigrants are integrated at least when it comes to housing.

The question of the day:

How many Chinese immigrants are apr. in Hungary?

A, 15.000
B, 45.000
C, 135.000

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The right answer to the previous question was A, 9

Bridges from the south to the north:

1, Déli vasúti összekötő bridge (a bridge for trains)
2, Lágymányosi bridge
3, Petőfi bridge
4, Szabadság bridge
5, Erzsébet bridge
6, Lánc bridge (it sounds weird like this: Lánchíd or Chainbridge)
7, Margit bridge
8, Árpád bridge
9, Északi vasúti összekötő bridge (a bridge for trains)

(Congratulations for those who found it out. And don't worry if you've not. The game will last till 12th of November even if you've joined later, you still have a chance for the prize! Just answer in my comments box, and you are AUTOMATICALLY playing;)

Elizabeth bridge

2006-11-05T08:47:00.000+01:00

Day of Imre in Hungary. It comes from German Amalrich, Emmerich which means powerful, famous, royal.
An another bridge of Budapest. The Elizabeth Bridge (Erzsébet híd) with the palace of Buda in the background. Actually this photo was taken right beside the green Szabadság (freedom) Bridge I posted the other day. So in the downtown bridges are pretty close to each other.

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The right answer to the previous question was C, roman catholic
The 2001 Census of Population shows there are 10.198.315 people in Hungary altogether.

Among them:

5.289.521 Roman Catholic
1.622.796 Reformed
304.705 Evangelic

But it doesnt mean that so many people are religious in Hungary. They are baptisted maybe but if we look at the statistics how many people visit the churches we find that around 13% (1,3 millon) people are in fact religious. Hungarian society is rather secular.

(Congratulations for those who found it out. And don't worry if you've not. The game will last till 12th of November even if you've joined later, you still have a chance for the prize! Just answer in my comments box, and you are AUTOMATICALLY playing;)

The question of the day:

How many bridges cross the river Duna (Danube) in Budapest?

A, 9
B, 10
C, 11

Bakáts square catholic church

2006-11-04T10:56:00.000+01:00

Day of Károly in Hungary. The name refers to the ancient Hungarian name Karuly and to the German Carl too.

I took this photo from the windows of my office at the foundation. It was very cold outside and windy but just looking at the warm light of sunset light made me feel better.

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The right answer to the previous question was B, "Zs" is a special double letter and prounanced like the French "J" (Jean, Jeacques).

We have have some special double letters in Hungarian. "Zs" is one of them. Some more example:

"Sz": like English S (soul, sound)

"Gy": like Russian D (devushka)

"Ty": like Russian T (teper, teplo)

"Cs": like Chine Q (bu ke Qi, Qingdao)

"Zs": like French J (Jean, Jeacques) you know it already...hehe

"Ny":like Spanish N (maNana)

(Congratulations for those who found it out. And don't worry if you've not. The game will last till 12th of November even if you've joined later, you still have a chance for the prize! Just answer in my comments box, and you are AUTOMATICALLY playing;)

Ok..now the question of the day:

Which is the leading religion in Hungary?

A, evangelic

B, reformed (calvinistic)

C, roman catholic

Szabadság híd

2006-11-03T08:34:00.000+01:00

Day of Győző in Hungary. They created this name in the XIXth Century as the Hungarian version of Victor.

The other day Lachezar asked in a comment what was the name of the bridge in the background of my saturday traffic photo. This is that bridge....the Szabadság híd (Freedom bridge). Originally it was called Franz Joseph bridge after the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

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The right answer to the previous question was A, the KuK Monarchy. It lasted till 1918 when right after the I World War in the autumn the Chrisantemum Revolution started with Mihály Károlyi and in couple of months from 1919 March 21 the 133 days long Hungarian Soviet Republic came with the communist Béla Kun. Stormy times and my poor grandma was only 2 years old baby.

Jing wrote me an instant message on yahoo about the right answer as she has technical problems in China and she couldnt open my comments. Of course I accepted her answer:)

Today the question is about me.:)

How to prounance my name (Zsolt)?

A, "Z" is like the Russian Z (zeloniy, zolotoy) or English Z (zodiac) and the "S" is silent behind it.

B, "Zs" is a special double letter and prounanced like the French "J" (Jean, Jeacques)

C, "Z" is silent and "S" is prounanced like English S (salt, sound, secret).

All saints day

2006-11-02T06:00:00.000+01:00

Day of Achilles in Hungary. Greek name, means: the son of the snake.

November 2 is the day of the dead in Hungary. But I didnt want to give this title to my post.

My sweet grandma is on the photo. When it came to taking photos she always prefered standing or sitting near to her flowers and plants.......and they were beautiful growing under her hands.

She has gone 9 years ago.

When I was child I saw a movie called The Blue Bird. Two children (sister and brother) went to search for the blue bird. On their way they visited their dead grandparents in the heaven who were very happy for the visit and they said to their grandchildren: - anytime you think of us the clouds will open and we can see you there downstairs.

I think very often of my grandma and I just hope when she sees me...... she is proud of me...................................at least at times:)

She was born in 1917. Very hard times in our history. The question of the day is connected with this year:

What was in Hungary in 1917:

A, the KuK Monarchy
B, the Chrisantemum Revolution
C, the 133 days of the Hungarian-soviet-republic.

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About the previous question:

The right answer is C, Magyarország and it seems it was very easy question. The other two countries: Oroszország = Russia, Olaszország = Italy if you wanna know.

THEME DAY: Something that is about to disappear soon

2006-11-01T09:35:00.000+01:00

Day of Marianna in Hungary. They say the name was created from Maria and Anna.
Again it is the THEME DAY for DP family: Something that is about to disappear soon. The photo I am posting today was taken in the Palace of Buda. This building was a jail used by the Habsburgs in the XIXth Century and then after 1945 it was used by the US. Somehow, it became the property of the US government.(Nowadays, they say that the US Marine guys are living there but I've never seen any of them). For some reasons, they didn't touch it at all since 1945. So even in 2006, you can see the signs of the ''II. World War'' and ''1956'' on this wall : the holes made by bullets.

And why did I say it is about to disappear soon? Because it seems the US Government will return the building to Hungary and the government will probably reconstruct it. And I am optimistic that no more bullets will make holes on these walls anymore......so it is about to disappear soon.....

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About the previous question of my game:

The right answer was B, 60!

The question for today:

How we call Hungary in Hungarian language?

A: Olaszország

B: Oroszország

C: Magyarország

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Do check out wonderful THEME DAY photos of the other 61 fellow Daily Photobloggers who are participating in the 1st November theme as follows:

Due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later if you are viewing early in the day.

Porto -Seattle WA USA (Kim) -London, UK -Greenville, SC -Albuquerque, NM (USA) -St Paul Kate -ShangHai, China -Phoenix, Az -Twin Cities, MN -Sequim, WA -Stayton, OR, USA -Bandung (Indonesia) -Dallas, USA -Stavanger (Norway) -Singapore (zannnie) -Budapest (Hungary) -Paris (France) -Tuzla (BiH) -Melbourne, (Aust.) -Auckland, New Zealand Singapore (Raymond) -Dubai UAE (DXBluey) -Vantaa, Finland -Oshawa, Ontario, Canada -St. Paul MN Carol -Singapore (Keropok) -Delta Colorado, USA -Rotterdam (Netherlands -Queens, NY (USA) -Tenerife (Spain) -Santiago (Chile) -Nelson, New Zealand -( Japan ) -Hyde (UK) Sydney (Sally) -Manila, Philippines -Aliso Viejo, CA (USA) -Nottingham UK -Brussels, Belgium -Sharon, CT (USA) -Sydney Australia (Nathalie) -Edinburgh, Scotland -Evry, France -San Diego, CA (USA) -Santa Clara, CA (USA) -Saarbrücken, Germany -Joplin, MO (USA) -Indianapolis,IN (USA) -Trujillo (Peru) - Barcelona (Spain) -Berlin (Germany) - Vancouver, BC (Canada) -Trier (Germany) - Houston, TX (USA) - Joensuu,(Finland) - Jakarta, Indonesia - Van Buren (AR USA)- Macky (Kyoto, Japan)- Macky (Tokyo, Japan) - Wilf (Réal, France) - Kala (Honolulu, Hawai'i)

Monday traffic

2006-10-31T08:18:00.000+01:00

Day of Farkas in Hungary. Its an ancient Hungarian name means: wolf.

The other day I posted a photo showing the Budapest traffic on the weekend. A Saturday morning. Here you can see the Monday morning version:)

Today the question will be about the Budapest traffic:

How many new cars appear on the streets of Budapest every day?

A, 150
B, 60
C, 600

About the previous question:

The question was tricky because mr. Szamos had two name as he changed it from his original Serbian Mladen Szavits to the Hungarian Szamos Mátyás (in Hungary the family name comes first and then the "firstname"). I accept both answers.

Here you can see your points.

Prize

2006-10-30T00:22:00.000+01:00

Day of Alfonz in Hungary. Comes from the German and means: noble.

Have you ever heard about Szamos Marcipán? One box of this tasty sweet stuff will be the prize in the point collecting competition. You all who participate will know more about Hungary and Budapest and one of yours (who collects the most points) will get a package with a box of original Szamos Marzipan from me!:)

Ok and the question of the day (the comments/answers will be visible only next day):

What is the full name of mr. Szamos who created most of the recipes of recent Szamos products?

More info on Szamos Marcipán where maybe you can find your way to the right answer is here.:)

Saturday traffic

2006-10-29T07:24:00.000+01:00

Day of Nárcisz is Hungary. This is a Greek name which means flower.

On the weekend there is no traffic jam. At times it looks like decades ago when only few cars were on the streets. This is a saturday morning on the Kiskörút.

It seems you like to play. Collecting points, getting prize.:) Okay the next question is a bit more difficult but believe me it is worth to work on it. If you look at the photo carefully (use the Flickr view its better) you will know what is the Hungarian version of "FOR RENT". For one point again.

Today i go to get the prize..tomorrow you will know what you can win:)

John, Sally, Nathalie, Olivier, Kate, Jazzy, Lachezar, Jing, Kris, Bill, Dawn, Photowannabe, Carol have 1 point already.:) Just keep collecting and its not forbidden to join!

Gardener

2006-10-28T08:39:00.000+02:00

Day of Simon and Szimonetta in Hungary. Again a well known Hebrew name. The original Simeon has a Greek version Simon (Szimón) which means: being listened. Szimonetta is the female version of Simon.

When I think of a gardener I usually imagine an old man in a large hat having clippers in his hands. But in a big city the gardener needs bigger toys. Just like this guy with his cute truck. He was probably a hunter before because he is master of hiding. If you can find him on the photo you get 1 point! :)

Parking ticket vendor machine

2006-10-27T07:47:00.000+02:00

Day of Szabina in Hungary. Its a Latin name means: Sabin woman.

There is a new system for buying parking ticket in Budapest available everywhere in the city from now on. Before you had to insert coins or cards to the vendor machine but now you can send an SMS message to the number visible on the yellow sign and you will be charged through your phone bill. The company created this system said yesterday, that its an unique system, nowhere else is like this. So lets see if he said the truth. Tell me pls how this system works in your city? Is there any city within the DP family where you also can pay for your parking with an SMS message?

Gyros

2006-10-26T05:36:00.000+02:00

Day of Dömötör in Hungary. Its an old Hungarian name a version of Demeter.

This post is dedicated to kris and to selana and also a tribute to Greece. This is the Gyros place kris wrote about in one of her comments and though its not a fancy place, its very simple...nothing touristic in it, not an attraction, but lets say one of the icons in Budapest for the people of Budapest. Going to the Corvin movie theater is a program to get a gyros here after or before. Everywhere else pop-corn and coke. But at the Corvin this Gyros is "the" place.

Little funny detail that the table says NYITVA (OPEN) in Hungarian and closed in English...but don't hesitate...ask for a gyros!

getting even more close

2006-10-24T06:00:00.000+02:00

Day of Blanka in Hungary. The name has a Spanish origin. It means shining, clean.

With this post I shall continue with the exploration of the palace of Buda as you've requested.:) This handsome guy is "François-Eugène, Prince of Savoy-Carignan (October 18, 1663 – April 24, 1736), known as Prinz Eugen von Savoyen in German, was arguably the greatest general to serve the Habsburgs" as wikipedia says. He has a statue in the palace of Buda because in 1686, he led the coalition army against the Turks who had occupied Buda for 150 years. It was a great job....and we are really thankful (see we raised a statue) but as we are used to it, everyone who comes here to liberate us...somehow forgets to leave. This happened with the Habsburgs too.:)

Rioters got a tank

2006-10-24T00:02:00.000+02:00

Day of Salamon in Hungary. This well known name comes from the Hebrew means peaceful.

Yesterday, on my Chaoren blog, I have posted some extra photos about the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution in Hungary. Amongst others, I posted this T-34 tank which was an exhibit as well as a decoration for the events in remembering those times on the Deák Square in Budapest. I took this photo of the tank on Saturday evening.

After (and partly during) the official ceremonies on Monday, there were riots again on the streets and invading the Deák Square where they showcase the exhibited weapons and even managed to fix the engine of this T-34. I found this video on the www.index.hu news portal about the same tank when rioters got onto it. They reported that after taking few meters the police stopped them and they took the tank from the rioters.

Its not a performance....its the reality of Budapest again.

See the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwNVpjIO19U

1956

2006-10-23T08:08:00.000+02:00

Day of Gyöngyi in Hungary. Old Hungarian name comes from the word gyöngy (pearl).

23th of October 1956. The day when the Hungarian revolution started. Today we are celebrating its 50th anniversary. I posted again two photos showing the place 50 years ago and nowdays (I took it last week). This is the Corvin alley where a movie theatre is located. Strategically there is an important cross of roads right behind the buildings where Russian tanks coming from the east on the road No 4. had to move toward the downtown of Budapest. Few Hungarians created a command post in this alley maintaining the resistance for days against the Russian tanks with 16-year-old youths. The memorial which you can see on the photo below is referring to them. Its a young boy with weapon and the Hungarian flag behind him. You can find more photos here, and my writing about 1956 here.

Getting closer to the Palace

2006-10-22T08:42:00.000+02:00

Day of Előd in Hungary. Its a historical name...very old Hungarian name which means: the first or ancestor.
Yesterday I posted the picture of the Palace of Buda. That was the view from the other side of the river. Now lets get closer to the building. I went there to a presentation yesterday afternoon and I took this photo for the DP family to bring you closer to the palace:)

Palace of Buda

2006-10-21T04:24:00.000+02:00

Day of Orsolya in Hungary. The name comes from the latin Ursula which means little bear.

This is the Palace of Buda. I guess the most characteristic building in the downtown of Budapest or being more exact in Buda. In Pest the Parliament Building is the main attraction. I like the fact that the palace is a public place. Its not a residence of someone very superimportant:) There works the biggest library in Hungary and the National Gallery.

windows to my world

2006-10-20T08:57:00.001+02:00

Day of Vendel. This name comes from the German Wendelmar which means: belongs to the Vandals.

This is the view from my window in the morning today. I love to live in a place where I can be the witness of the seasons. Living in the downtown, the winter is almost like the summer when you look out of your window. If you have a busy lifestyle, maybe you even don't recognise that summer has turned into winter. But here I love that every morning is a little new surprise. Some months later when everything will be covered with snow I will take another photo and you will see what I am talking about:) Have a nice day to all the DP family members!

Halloween in Hungary?

2006-10-19T18:00:00.000+02:00

Day of Nándor in Hungary. Its an old Hungarian name which refers to the nation we called: Danube-Bulgarian.

This post was inspired by Kris. She posted yesterday about a flower store too and she mentioned that children were learning how to celebrate Halloween in Hungary lately. Its really like this...but somehow I feel something strange about this Halloween stuff.

When I was child until 1989 we celebrated 7th of November as the anniversary of the great soviet revolution which has started on this day in 1917 in Saint-Petersburg (Russia). I do not doubt that it was (is) an important event for Russia but has obviously nothing to do with Hungary...

Nowdays we do not celebrate 7th of November. Moscow is not a "big brother" anymore we have to follow. Buuuut...we started to celebrate strange events I never heard about .....before. Valentine's day and Halloween. Now it is rather for commercial then political reasons but still has nothing to do with the local culture and traditions here.

Dont get me wrong..I dont mind Valentine's neither Halloween...they are very nice, "exotic" events to me. Even I dont mind 7th of November in Russia. But I dont like this attitude copying some cultures which we find "fancy" at a certain moment. What is going to be the next one? Will we celebrate Chinese New Year in 10 years pretending it is something we always celebrated just because soon China will be the "leading country"?:)

Rákóczi street 80.

2006-10-18T18:00:00.000+02:00

Day of Lukács in Hungary. Comes from the Latin Lucas which means: man from Luciana.
This is a typical house viewed from within, in the downtown of Budapest. Interestingly in Budapest social "classes" weren't segregated geographically. This type of buildings are good example of it. In the early 1900s you could find people from the working class (means factory workers) living in the cellar of this buildings under terrible circumstances. Downstairs maybe some stores, shops, services with their owners living behind the store. The first floor and the large apartments having windows to the street-front was for rich citizens, for bureaucrats, officers and the rest behind for the maids serving them. Almost the whole society was represented in a building like this.

Blue river

2006-10-17T06:00:00.000+02:00

Day of Hedvig in Hungary. German name originally means: fight, combat.

At times I am changing the route when I go to work. Because its so boring to ride the same trams everyday or to choose the same way. Last morning I decided to cross the Lágymányosi bridge instead of the Petőfi one to approach the University. Just for fun. And I took this photo in the cool morning sunshine from the bridge. And I learned...from the other bridge the University is much much closer then from this one:)

St. István Basilica in total

2006-10-16T06:00:00.000+02:00

Day of Gál today. Actually I thought it was a surname but every day I learn something about my country, too:) It comes from Celtic and Irish Gallus which means: cock.
The other day I showed the St. István (Stephen) Basilica above the roofs. On the same day I took one photo showing the entire building.

Rose to Theresa

2006-10-15T09:33:00.000+02:00

Day of Teréz in Hungary. My mom is called Teréz so this day is her name-day:)
The name Teréz comes from the Greek. It means heat, summer, hot.

I post this rose (which is in my garden) to send greetings to my mom like this, too.
And I wish a happy Teréz day for every Theresa all over the world!

St. István Basilica

2006-10-14T09:27:00.000+02:00

Day of Helén in Hungary. This name comes from the greek Helena.
Yesterday I was in the building of the Open Society Institute to have a speech on a board meeting. Open Society Institute was established by George Soros (Soros György) the Hungarian-American businessman and it has been very active from the early 90's in building up democratic institutions and promoting changes in health and social care systems such as deinstitutionalisation of disabled people or people with mental health problems in Eastern European countries.
The photo was taken from the 8th floor of their building. The top of the St. Stephen Basilica is visible above the roofs.

Street art

2006-10-13T07:51:00.000+02:00

Day of Ede and Kálmán in Hungary. Ede comes from the German Eduard. It means guard. Kálmán is old Turkish-Hungarian name means: the rest who survived.
This graffiti is on the wall of a kindergarten. It is greated by an artgroup called FCO. They have really wonderful works I posted more about them here...and here.

Duna

2006-10-12T18:00:00.000+02:00

Day of Miksa in Hungary. Time ago it was the nick version of Miklós but somehow became a different name.

Actually its an old photo. I took it long time ago with a not too good camera. Spite of the low quality I like this photo and its colors because it shows Budapest from the Gellért Hill. Its the river Duna (Danube) which separates Buda from Pest. Guess which side is visible on the photo? Pest or Buda?:)

Take this photo as an intorduction...and some later when I will have time I will post new ones with better quality:)

dear ALL!

Thank you for the nice comments. The winners are those who said PEST is visible on the photo. Easy to remember...Buda is the part where you can find the hills. Pest is totally flat. And they are connected with these "hyphons" as John mentioned and James r is such an expert of Budapest that he even knows the name of the bridges:) Congratulation!

National theatre

2006-10-11T08:40:00.000+02:00

Day of Brigitta in Hungary. Its originally an old Irish name means strong, moral.
This is the building of the National Theatre. Its a new building a little far from the downtown at the Danube. In front of the theater is a road for bicycles and usually I ride my bike there and try being as fast as possible not to bother the couples sitting on the benches along the river:)

Café Pulp Fiction

2006-10-10T06:00:00.000+02:00

Day of Gedeon in Hungary. This name comes from Hebrew and its meaning: sword, warrior
This Café was on of my favorite in Budapest years ago. Café Pulp Fiction (Café Ponyvaregény). Sitting there you can take the books from the shelves and you can read and it was one of the first Café where you could order the old good Hungarian "Traubi szóda" again after so many years. When you are in Hungary try it!

Monday morning on the tramway

2006-10-09T06:00:00.000+02:00

Day of Dénes in Hungary. Its comming from the Greek name Dionysios which means: offered to Dionysus (the Greek god of wine and grappes).
The tramways No. 4-6 in Budapest are one of the most crowded lines in Europe. It goes along the Nagy körút and in the morning when one is in the stop you can see the next one coming from a little distance. But its not enough, it has always been crowded, full with students going to the University around 8am. Ohh yes..there are moments when I miss my car:)

Going to the kindergarten

2006-10-08T08:55:00.000+02:00

Day of Koppány in Hungary. Its a very old Hungarian name. Koppány was a famous rebell against I. István king who made Hungary joining to Christian church. Koppány wanted to keep the ancient culture of Hungarians. He failed.

Yesterday Kris posted about children from kindergarten and her photo made me remember those times. I was like 3 when one day my parents were too busy and they asked the neighbour man to take me to the kindergarten. He was a nice man our families were friends. The kindergarten was not far, a few corners away but I convinced him that my parents usually carry me in their arms to there. So he picked me up and took me to the kindergarten like this:) I was hoping he was not going to tell my parents........................................................he did..........:)

Moonlight

2006-10-07T09:47:00.000+02:00

Day of Amália in Hungary. Quite a rare name I dont know any Amális here.
Its origin is German comes from the gothic royal families and has a strange meaning: defence.

This photo was inspired by Jing's post about the Chinese mooncakes. There is a Mid-autumn festival in China and they eat those special mooncakes. Last night we had full (hehe accidentally first I typed: fool) moon and I could hardly sleep. Looking out of the window I saw how strange silver is the whole garden. So I went out and avoiding any influence of the flash I captured that silver coin on the sky. ....Thanks God I didnt became a werewolf.:) At least I dont remember......

Autumn morning

2006-10-06T10:26:00.000+02:00

Day of Brúnó and Renáta in Hungary. Brúnó is an old north-german name with the meaning of brown, bear. Renáta comes from latin. It means: re-born.
I took this photo today morning around 7 am. The sunshine is weaker day by day autumn is about giving the territory to the coldness step by step. Its like the last trial to warm up the quiet backyard but birds are leaving..they know who will be the winner.

McDonald's

2006-10-05T06:00:00.000+02:00

Day of Aurel in Hungary. Greetings to every Aurels!:)
A latin name coming from the roman Aurelius.
Couple of weeks ago Kris mentioned she liked the interior of the McDonald's at the Western Railway Station in Budapest. So I went there and took this photo to show you Kris's favorite McDonald's.:)

Invitation letter

2006-10-04T00:01:00.000+02:00

Day of Ferenc in Hungary. Greetings to every Ferenc, Frank, Franz, Francisco.:)
It was the nickname of Giovanni di Bernardone in his childhood.
But we know him better as Saint Francis of Assisi. He got this nickname because his mom was French.
Every day I hope that I will find a new e-mail from Denton about "wiki changes" and Prague, Krakkow, Kiev, Saint-Petersburg, Brasov, Zagreb, Belgrade, Salzburg, Riga, Vilnius, Drezden and other wonderful cities of my area joined. This is a gentle invitation letter. I know running a daily photo site is a hard job, but if it encourages you...I can tell you...you have a regular visitor already...only your site is missing.:)

By the way...on photo the Erzsébet (Elisabeth) bridge is visible.

Generations

2006-10-03T00:24:00.000+02:00

Day of HELGA in Hungary. Greetings to every HELGA!
Northern German name, means: baptisted, healthy, happy
- Do you think we will be together..............................- Will we start again if we
for as long as they are?...................................................are back to the '40s?
- Thats for sure, honey!................................................- Thats for sure, honey!

Indian summer

2006-10-02T06:00:00.000+02:00

Today is day of PETRA in Hungary.

They say its a hebrew, greek, latin name with the meaning of rock, stone.

The weather report said it was the last warm weekend of the year. The indian summer (which is rather called "summer of the old ladies" here) will be soon over. I like this period of the year, especially the nice warm evenings when you still can go out without warm coats and without seeing your own breath.

Theme day: Taxi

2006-10-01T00:36:00.000+02:00

Today is day of MALVIN in Hungary.
This name comes from German means something like: friend of the justice

Theme Day within the DP family. The topic is: Taxi. I took this photo couple of weeks ago when i came home with taxi after a hard day. Usually I use this company.......Főtaxi (means: main-taxi). The text on the door is their slogen. "Meglepetések helyett (Instead of surprises)". And yes..at times when you choose the wrong type taxi in Budapest...you might be surprised after getting the bill!

more info on Budapest taxis here and more photos of this taxi here

Other Taxi photos from all over the world you can find here:

1 (Porto ) -2 (Albuquerque ) -3 (London ) -4 (Seattle, WA (USA) [Kim] ) -5 (Edinburgh ) -6 (Stayton, OR ) -7 (Greenville, SC ) -8 (Budapest ) -9 (Antigua Guatemala ) -10 (Alexandria, VA ) -11 (Manila ) -12 (Twin Cities ) -13 (Szentes ) -14 (Paris ) -15 (Portsmouth ) -16 (Ryde ) -17 (Sydney ) -18 (Oulu ) -19 (Singapore [keropok] ) -20 (Santiago ) -21 (Melbourne, Aust ) -22 (Dubai UAE ) -23 (Bandung (Indonesia) ) -24 (Copenhagen ) -25 (Sequim ) -26 (Singapore ) -27 (Tenerife ) -28 (Sharon, CT ) -29 (Tuzla, B&H ) -30 (Jakarta (Indonesia) ) -31 (Rotterdam ) -32 (Brussels ) -33 (Stavanger (Norway) ) -34 (Aliso Viejo, CA ) -35 (Oshawa, ON, Canada ) -36 (Vantaa, Finland ) -37 (Trier (Germany)) -38 (Newcastle upon Tyne ) -39 (Hong Kong ) -40 (Shang Hai ) -41 (Brussels ) -42 (San Diego, CA (USA) ) -43 (Sydney (Nathalie)) -44 (St Paul (USA)) -

Present of Canada

2006-09-30T08:55:00.000+02:00

In Hungary we celebrate Name-days. To every day of the year belongs a firstname. Today is the day of JEROMOS. This name has a greek origine. Means: having a holy name. So greetings to every JEROMOS:)

Weeks ago I posted the tulips...the present of Holland people to Hungary. And now here is the present of Canada. The waterfall is in the Westend City Center mall. It seems nations like to give presents for us:) Thank you CANADA:)

Some more photos you can see here....and a video here.

32-esek square

2006-09-30T08:54:00.000+02:00

There are 50 years between this two photos. The first one was taken in 1956 during the revolution and the second was was taken yesterday afternoon by me. In front of the statue is a bus and trolleybus station nowdays and almost every day I wait here for my bus.

The trees has grown. The ruins got rebuilt.

People gone.

But we still remember.

Corvinus University

2006-09-28T07:00:00.000+02:00

This is the building of the Corvinus University of Budapest. The word Corvinus refers to the name of King Matthias Corvinus (1443-1490). He have got this name because his familie's coat of arm depicts a raven which is corvus in latin.

The Hunyadi is one of the most famous family in the Hungarian history and surely he was the most popular king. There are a lot of tales about him when he changed his clothes and went to the country-side, dressing like a poor wanderer student and when he faced some injustice he discovered his real identity saving the victims from the abusing wicked local noblement.

After he died the phrase became a commonplace: Matthias died, and so did the justice.

Blockhouse

2006-09-27T07:00:00.000+02:00

Budapest is not only about nice historical buildings. A lot of people live in soviet-type blockhouses. They started to build these type of houses in the '60s to create several living opportunities for people moving from the villages to the industrial centers...to the cities.

I have a dream

2006-09-26T19:52:00.000+02:00

He/she has a dream. We dont know what is it...he/she didnt share it with us. The Hungarian text is like "one more thing, and pls dont steal my.......(and the last word is nosense to me)." Deep secrets..

Anyway...I have a dream, too. One day having nice clean trains only in Budapest.

Erotic exhibition

2006-09-25T06:00:00.000+02:00

Source

I have found an older photo which is less direct then the previous one but still expresses what I wanted to express.

Every year is an Erotic Exhibition in Budapest. Actually it would be better to call it Porn Exhibition as in fact the main "exhibitors" are from the porn industry. The structure is like in any other fields, just like a travel exhibition but here instead of travel agency leaflets you can find porn magazines and dildos, and instead of intellectual presentations you can watch shows like this.

Yesterday I read about the sexual culture in Japan from Macky on the Tokyo daily photo site (search for his Sept 8. post)...and it made me think about the cultural differences regarding this issue. I dont know too much about Japan. I know about the Geisha culture but I dont know how it is nowdays. Macky's description gave me a short insight.

I know pretty well our culture here...and if you look at this photo carefully you can get some impressions.

p.s.: I hope I didnt offend anyone with this photo. I want to show this "world" as it is.

Graffiti

2006-09-24T10:09:00.000+02:00

At some places graffities are legal in the city. They encourage artists to create graffities on walls of old abandoned factories. Some says this is not a graffiti anymore because a real graffiti has to be illegal. I dont know too much about this, but I like this kind of "professional" works better then pure tags everywhere.

Hard to catch these long wall with a single camera so I created a video time ago about it. You can see it here. And other graffiti here.

Broadcasting

2006-09-23T07:45:00.000+02:00

These broadcasting stations are standing in front of the parliament building. Looking at them I feel like being in Steven Spielberg's E.T.:)

Clubhouse

2006-09-22T07:59:00.000+02:00

Not a toe, but something calm, nice and peaceful which is more about building something and about destroying. Yesterday we had the opening ceremony of a new day center for people with mental health problems. Our foundation (Soteria Foundation) opened the first service like this in Budapest and now we had the opportunity to open a new one.

The vandalism is hopefully over. Last night was all calm...but since next sunday will be the local elections there is still a tension.

Crossing the Rubicon

2006-09-21T06:00:00.000+02:00

Photo: www.index.hu

I have very mixed feelings. At times I feel ashamed. Thats what we are?

Then I remember that couple of months ago I have seen very similar photos from Paris and I didnt think French are animals. Couple of years ago I've seen Los Angeles in fire but I dont think Americans are bad. Two decades ago I've seen Belfast totally destroyed but I dont think British or Irish devils. Anyway...I still have this bad feeling.

I am sorry that the photos are not taken by me. You know I just dont want to go there. Not because I am afraid but because I dont want to take part in it in any way.

Protest? Vandalism?

2006-09-20T07:07:00.000+02:00

Photo: Hajdú D. András

No, its not Paris couple of months ago. Its my lovely city, Budapest.:( You can see more photos here, and you can read my opinion on the events here. I just hate this.

Fountain

2006-09-19T21:16:00.000+02:00

At times things are the same. Its how we look at them, thats the difference.

Tribute to Bohumil Hrabal

2006-09-18T07:00:00.000+02:00

He is one of my favorite Czech writer. His stories from the old beer factory amazed me very much. In Kőbánya (the district I was born in Budapest) there is an old beer factory, too. As you can see all ruins. But among the ruined walls somehow still I can feel the athmosphere of the world that Hrabal described with such a good talent in his books.

I created a short "movie" about this beer factory. You can see it here.

Find your place!

2006-09-17T09:17:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I went to the mall to my mobile phone company to "kill bill".:) And in the underpass I found this fun. They put the large satellite photo of Budapest(probably from Google Earth) to the floor and you can find your place on it. After some walk I found my area, too.

Hero square

2006-09-16T09:26:00.000+02:00

A part of the hero square. Place for the Hungarian heros and during the day for guys with skateboard. I guess the kings like to watch them.:)

toward being multicultural

2006-09-15T06:47:00.000+02:00

I admire cities like London, Paris, Amsterdam which are very colorful. A lot of very different people with very different origins. I took this photo yesterday in a mall. The little Asian (with my European eyes I can't recognize if she is Chinese, Japanese or Korean or....) girl was so obsessed with the helicopter that she even didn't see me taking photo of her. I asked the permission from her mommy who was smiling proudly. We have some Chinese people in Budapest but I wouldn't say Hungary is multicultural already. Its still a big deal to see Asian or African people and any time I can hear them speaking our very difficult language fluently I feel like woww!...Its a sort of honour...

Trabant

2006-09-14T07:37:00.000+02:00

This former Eastern German car is called Trabant. Weeks ago I seen a Trabant on Philipp's Berlin Daily Photo site and I decided to post a similar one. My first car was a Trabant, too. I got it as a present from my grandpa after I graduated successfully in the highschool. But my grandpa was a very funny guy and he asked the mechanics to add some red color to the originally white car. Guess what was the result? ..............................yes, my first car was a pink Trabant:)

Where is the sun comming from?

2006-09-13T18:00:00.000+02:00

If you didnt know it before, now you can see that someone is blowing out the sun as a bubble from my University's window.:) Afterwards in the morning it appears in Japan right over the House of the rising sun, and in California it falls into the ocean while Nicolas Cage is watching it with his black dressed mates.:)

Chain bridge

2006-09-12T07:35:00.000+02:00

My favorite bridge in Budapest. I post here a picture which has pretty warm mood. The lighted Chain Bridge and the Gellért Hill in the background.

Cow Parade

2006-09-11T06:00:00.000+02:00

I have seen that in some of your cities had cow parade, too. This cow was in front of the St. Stephen Basilica first but it became a scandal and one night they removed it to the building of the liberal party. Finally it found its place on the Vörösmarty tér.

Godzilla

2006-09-10T08:55:00.000+02:00

Nothing serious. Probably Mr. Godzilla visited our city last night and when he (is Godzilla a male?) felt tired he rested against this building for a while.:)

Passion

2006-09-09T07:57:00.000+02:00

This is the statue of Franz Liszt (Liszt Ferenc, 1811-1886) the famous Hungarian composer and pianist. He used to play with a lot of passion and I like this sculpture because I think it expresses this virtuousity very well. I uploaded a piece from his Hungarian Rhapsodies you can listen to it here.

The square is named after him and nowdays its a popular place for Cafés for sitting outside during the hot summer evenings.

Mounted Police

2006-09-08T07:46:00.000+02:00

These policemen are mostly for attracting tourists. But at times they use them against football hooligans around stadions. If you look at the picture carefully you can see they even have a sword. But I never seen them using it. Maybe when they will have to arrest the Highlander one day:)

ELTE University

2006-09-07T07:48:00.000+02:00

The summer is definitelly over. Today the University started to me, too. The summer is obviously over:( This is a quite new building of the largest University in Hungary called ELTE. My workplace. But thanks God my office's windows is on the other side having a view to the.....ok..ok....only to the terrace:)

Getting dark

2006-09-06T07:44:00.000+02:00

The last three pics from my Parliament collection belong to each other too much to be separated by titles and dates or even by single lines. If I post them one by one it will be like posting the same photos for three days. But keeping them together you can see the transition. This is the way getting dark in Budapest:)

Parliament Building at gloaming

2006-09-05T08:11:00.000+02:00

They say they used 40kg gold during the construction of the building. And a few years ago they brought the Crown of St. Stephen to the Parliament Building from the National Museum, too. ...But hey..what the hell is the helicopter doing there?:)

Hungarian Parliament Building

2006-09-04T08:25:00.000+02:00

In the next 5 days I will post a series of photos about the Parliament Building. They started to build it in 1885 and was completed in 1904.

Western Railway Station

2006-09-03T09:07:00.000+02:00

This is the Western Railway Station. Dont ask why they call it "western". It is located to the middle of the city and trains mostly goes to the Eastern part of the country from here.:)
It was opened in 1877 constructed by the same Eiffel company which built the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Turul

2006-09-02T05:26:00.000+02:00

The Turul is a bird from the Hungarian legends. Most likely it is a huge falcon which showed the way to find the land of Hungary in the dream of Álmos. He was one of the seven leaders of Hungarians:
Álmos, Előd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba, Töhötöm. (wow I still remember!)
This Turul statue is located in Buda right beside the palace.

But this statue is a small one to compare to the Turul in Tatabánya 54 km away from Budapest. It is the town where I have spent the majority of my childhood but since its a Budapest daily photo site I didnt post a picture about that real huge Turul statue. But I have a short video about it....if you wanna see click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY9an8bcLGE

Going home late

2006-09-01T08:33:00.000+02:00

This street is in the Palace of Buda. Basically its a touristic area I rarely go there up to the hill but years ago I used to work in this area for the Hungarian Scientifical Academy for a couple of months. My days started there very late and at times I left in the late evening. Walking on the empty streets I could hear my own steps and those street lights were on at times already.

I dont know why....but seeing lonely streets with public lights and with lights from the windows always remind me to the time when I was in the army.

In 1991 several times when I was in duty I had to spend long hours in a peel watching around along the fence of the military base. The first Iraq war just started and although we were very far away from Iraq being aware of terror attacks I had to stand there being armed to the teeth.

From the peel I could see the empty street with public lights outside and at times when some windows turned into yellow I desired so much being at home in a warm room just going out to the kitchen in the middle of the night for a pint of milk.

Nowdays I am at home at nights in a warm room. And going out during the night to drink something I can hear the trains a few blocks away and i wish being outside doing something adventurous.:)

The presents

2006-08-31T10:25:00.000+02:00

These tulips are the present of the Netherlands (we call it Hollandia) to Hungary.

The flowers were planted on the Margit-island right close to the fountain which plays classical music.

Its really nice from hollands that they gave this present for us. Their tulips are famous and as you can see wonderful.

I just hope we gave some presents to Holland, too :) I will go to check....:)

Fairy tale or glass palaces?

2006-08-30T08:59:00.000+02:00

Budapest looks like being in a fairy tale. Historical buildings, all the famous features were built in the late XIXth Century. In the local regulations they prohibit to build high buildings, no glass palaces, no skyscrapers. Are they nessecary in a metropolice? I dont think so, though when I was in Shanghai this summer I was totally impressed by its downtown. But in fact not the buildings make a city modern or oldfashioned. Rather the attitude of its leaders and its people.

I love my city with this romantic, historical view. Like in a tail....like in the sleeping beauty. But could you tell to the prince that we are waiting for him to wake up the princess with his kiss?

Sound of bells

2006-08-29T09:12:00.000+02:00

Having these four churches around my place every day I can hear the peal. Its like a concert. They chime the bells several times but the real big deal is the noon time bell.
In 1456 János Hunyadi defended the fort Nándorfehévár (today Belgrade) from the ottoman (turk) army attack.

Since that year..remembering the buttle they chime the bells every day at noon in Europe. But instead of János Hunyadi and his buttle I rather remember my grandma's house in the Csokonai street. She had a little kitchen on the yard which we used as a summer kitchen having our meals there from late April till early October. When I hear the sound of bells at noon closing my eyes I can see that little kitchen, my grandma preparing the Hungarian clear soup. The old SOKOL radio is on the fridge and the game starts:

- "Ki nyer ma? Játék és muzsika 10 percben."

And every day at noon....not sooner and not later....the gossipy old woman Irma arrives.

- "Nem, nem...ne szedjél nekem! Hogy vagytok drága Juliskám?"

Cool breeze

2006-08-28T09:00:00.000+02:00

He had large hands. Like a father. And he was really a father, a Padre as Livier said. A franciscan monk and priest in his brown frock having a thick rope as a belt around it. Basically I don't like churches. Neither catholic nor protestant one. Instead of something holy all I see around them is rather like a business and they act rather like corporations.
But this "Padre" and that Franciscan church (the photo shows an other church in Budapest) in Gyongyos touched me. He was so calm and his voice made me calm, too. Writing to the large book registering our datas he used those old fashioned large letters and when he suddenly disappeared he left the door open and from the dark corridor fresh cool breeze arrived.

Chapel

2006-08-27T10:53:00.000+02:00

It seems my first daily photos will be about churches. Its not because I am so religious (I am even not baptised) but these temples are nice witnesses of our everydays. There are like 4 churches very close to my place I will show them one by one giving a short story connected with churches to each.

In 1998 was in Berlin. It was not my first time in Germany but first time in Berlin. Near to the railway station which is a modern area I saw a half-church. Actually a half-tower of a former church. With its gray ruined walls beside the shiny glass palaces it looked like a silent cry. It was the most shocking building I ever seen. Seeing a trunk church is like seeing an injured human body. But this little chapel I posted here is cute. Small and cute...just like my country:)

mediterranean summer

2006-08-26T14:15:00.000+02:00

Though Budapest is not in the mediterranean area experiencing the very hot summers lately I start to think the climate is changing here. This is a church on the photo. I dont know what kind of church. Its white walls and a blue sky behind reminded me to Greece and the athompshere of those southern countries.