Downtown Pest. Here’s where the Carrara marble statue of Mihály Vörösmarty can be found. If you are a tourist visiting during this time, you see it only in this manner. Just because in Winter, this statue is protected in this ‘bubble-like’ special protective material.

Ede Kallós and architect Ede Telcs had their work made from Haraszt quarry limestone blocks. Mihály Vörösmarty is surrounded by figures representing all classes of society: worker with his wife and small son, man wearing traditional ceremonial clothes, woman with a baby in her arms, schoolboy, old peasant, farmer and peasant girl, gentlewoman and grown-up student, shepherd boy, and old woman with her grandchild. If you are curious, click here for the ‘unveiled version‘ :)

Smelled the wonderful aroma of the fresh bread ‘lángos’ that is baked in traditional “Töki” clay oven or these sinful looking but very delicious skewed meat. Keep your body warm by sipping hot Mulled Wine served in special ‘Budapest designed’ mug which you can take home. That just summarizes the Christmas festivity mood here in Budapest, but you really must experience the mood of it!

—
PDF Classic Books

In a Hungarian talent-show a man that can’t speak English at all tried to perform singing Alphaville’s Big in Japan the way he understood it.:) He has been disqualified from the show but became very popular on the internet during the last weeks. So one language school took the opportunity to advertise it’s courses with the phrase: BIKICSUNÁJ or Big in Japan.

You can see the BIKICSUNÁJ version of the Alphaville song here:

This year the 20th of August fireworks were really very amazing in Budapest. And Richard was right in his comment yesterday, the event was pretty touchy when they played the national anthem in the middle of it. See more photos here.

20th of August is lets say the birthday of Hungary. We celebrate the establishment of our country which has happened in 1008 years ago. One of the main event on this day is the firework over the river Danube at 9.00pm.

—

Take part in the Balaton quiz of www.hungarystartshere.com and win Hungary guide books!

Between 13th and 18th of August the SZIGET Festival brings some noise to Budapest. These painted tires are perfect chairs, I tried them:) Get some impressions of the festival here.

News on my other blogs:

China impressions: bicycle traffic in hutong

Program Budapest

This is the first time on a boat ride on the Danube for me. We went to the Sziget Festival like this.  The saturation on this photo is somehow strange and honestly I didn’t touch the settings at all using photoshop or any photo tuning software. This direction is towards the Island Obudai on the Danube :) Do you remember the waltz tune the blue Danube? This is how blue it can get :)

—

Program Budapest

Are there any recent guinness record breaking news in your city (or country)?:)

–

13 August 2007

Budapest – The organisers of a kissing event in Budapest said on Monday that they have earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most number of couples locking lips at the same time.

They said they would submit video footage and documentation showing 7 451 couples were locked in simultaneous buccal bonding for 10 seconds on Sunday, during a week-long Sziget music festival.

The marathon mouth-meeting session was the latest saliva-laced salvo in a running rivalry between Hungary and the Philippines for the kissing crown.

Filipinos set the Guinness world record in February 2004 with 5 327 couples, only to be overtaken by 5 875 couples in 2005.

The Asian country came back in February this year, with 6 124 couples playing tonsil hockey in Manila to regain the record – but Hungary smacked them down again in June, when it produced 6 613 smooching couples.

With the latest effort, Hungary figures they have clinched the record for some time to come.

“We thought that here at the Sziget festival we can set a record which the Filipinos will not be able to beat. We’d like it if this record now belonged to Hungarians for good,” said Zsuzsa Simon of the tabloid daily Bors, which organised the event. – Sapa-AFP

—

program Budapest

I saw this at the Sziget Festival and it looked funny to me :) If only all the bins are illustrated with a touch of humour, it would probably make the streets more interesting looking. Just like how I felt about the mailbox in Singapore, perhaps it will be an attraction for Hungary to start a campaign like that. Do you have funny looking public property like this?
Wish you a fun week ahead!

—

Program Budapest

Pöttyös (I have no idea how to explain its pronunciation to English speakers but it sounds like ”per-tier-yursh”) :) It is one of my favourite Hungarian chocolate. In my childhood, they called it Túró Rudi which refers to the sweetened cottage cheese inside and coated with milk-chocolate. On the SZIGET festival they have their own ”territory” since they are always one of the festival sponsors. They held a lot of funny games in that area where also a lot of chocolate:) automated vending machines can be seen.
The laying girls try to force each other out of the circle wearing this huge red “balls”. Its a bit like Japanese sumos.:)

—

Program Budapest