European Time Lapse Map
Watch Hungary grow and and fall between AC. 1000 – 3000 in this visual representation of shifting borders between European countries.
Featured
17th May2012
0 Comm
14th May2012
Photo of the Week: Gas Leak!
Last Monday started off as any normal Monday. I woke up, made breakfast and went to work. But when I got home, my flatmate informed me that we had no gas. We couldn’t cook. Strange, but I didn’t think anything of it. Maybe it was down for maintenance. The night before I had smelled some gas in the hallway so maybe they were fixing it.
But when I came home on Tuesday there were signs posted everywhere in the building (below) and there was a big group of people in the courtyard. I don’t really understand a lot of Hungarian without Google Translate, but I knew enough to figure out that this was a meeting about the gas leak.
What Google Translate tells me is this: “the house has become a deadly gas pipes, it had an extraordinary general meeting will be closed on Tuesday afternoon. The exact start time will be notifying you, in the same way. Until the faulty section are replaced, the szolgáltatés paused. Hopefully, the General Assembly after the restoration takes place as soon as possible. Until then, please, please be patient, because the pipes are in very bad condition, it will temporarily not be turned back.”
I sent this to my landlord and my suspicions were correct. They need to replace our gas pipe as they are very old and not working properly. Someone is coming today to uninstall our current gas meter and we won’t have any gas until May 25th which means we will be without gas for almost 3 weeks.
Its a good thing that a) its not winter (currently its a nice 20ish degrees outside), b) our water is electric (so we still have hot water) and c) our oven works (it too is electric)! I’ve been cooking at work and at friend’s house. Its been interesting, but I guess these things happen when you live in an old building in the centre of a very old city.
11th May2012
Attending the Opera–Tips
The Budapest Opera has a fairly good repertoire of ballets and operas on each season. Usually its the same ones year after year, with a bit of variation. This past week I went to go see Carmen. I’ve seen Carmen as a ballet before years ago, but never as an opera. I’m pretty familiar with a lot of the music in Carmen as I’ve played it numerous times in an orchestra when I was younger so I was excited to see it in opera form.
You can purchase tickets to see these things for as low as 500 HUF or about $2.50 CAD which is ridiculously cheap even by Hungarian standards, but from these seats you can’t expect to see much of the stage. From my seat, I could probably see about 60% of the stage when I was sitting at the edge and about 20% if I sat back. Of course these prices attract a number of tourists and individuals who might not otherwise attend an opera.
Thinking of checking out an opera while you travel through Europe? Here are some of my tips on things to do or avoid while soaking in some culture. Many of the following happened this recent time I went to the opera, but I’ve experienced all of these things at one point or another as an audience member:
07th May2012
Photo of the Week: Erzsebet Hid
Budapest is split into to parts: the hills of Buda and the vibrant Pest. Dividing the city runs the river Danube and over it are eight bridges connecting the two sides of the city. The most famous, the Chain Bridge, is well photographed and is visited by tourists to Budapest. The other seven bridges are not as known, but each have their own story to tell.
The bridge above, Erzsebet Hid (Elizabeth Bridge) is named after Queen Elizabeth of Austria- Hungary, who was assassinated in 1898. Construction on the original bridge started in 1897 and was completed in 1903. For 23 years, until 1926, the Elizabeth Bridge was largest spanning suspension bridge in the world. At the end of World War II, the Elizabeth Bridge, along with many other bridges, was blown up by German troops.
The Elizabeth Bridge was the only prewar bridge that was not rebuilt in its original form. Instead, a completely new bridge was built between 1960 and 1964. On the Buda side, the bridge runs into the base of Gellert Hill while on the Pest side, there is the March 15th Square, home to the oldest church (and building!) in Pest.
30th Apr2012
Photo of the Week: Critical Mass
April 22 is celebrated as Earth Day around the world. It is a day to celebrate and increase awareness of the the Earth. This year, over one billion people in 192 countries participated in Earth Day.
Critical Mass Hungary organizes their Spring ride to coincide with Earth Day. I was in a park with some friends when all of a sudden you could hear the shouts and horns of a couple thousand of bikes as they zoomed pass. The roads were shut down and traffic redirected. The riders just kept on coming with no end in sight. The next one is on September 22 (International Car Free Day) and maybe I’ll join them!
Critical Mass Hungary organizes bicycle rides twice a year to raise awareness on the benefits of bicycling and other alternative means of transportation, to assert cyclists’ right to the road, and to celebrate cycling in general. For more information, check out their website. To see some more photos, click here.
27th Apr2012
Spotlight: The Chain Bridge
The Chain Bridge, or Lánchíd in Hungarian, is one of Budapest’s most well know sights, being one of the most photographed bridges in Budapest. And its no surprise why. During the day, it stands majestic against the skyline of the city, connecting Pest and Buda. At night, lit up in lights, makes it one of the most beautiful landmarks in all of Budapest.
The bridge was opened in 1849 and was the first permanent bridge across the Danube. Officially, it was named after István Széchenyi, a major supporter of its construction, but it is most commonly known as the Chain Bridge. Click for more photos and info on the bridge. (more…)
23rd Apr2012
Photo of the Week: Shoes on the Danube Promenade
This past week, my brother and his friends were in Budapest for a visit. On his last afternoon, we went for a stroll along the Danube in search of this memorial. I’ve seen photos and have heard of this memorial in Budapest, but never actually seen it with my own eyes despite living here for almost a year now.
This memorial honours the Jews who were were killed by the Arrow Cross in Budapest during World War II. Victims were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. The victims had to take their shoes off as they were valuable belongings at the time. The monument contains of 60 pairs of iron shoes, forming a row of about 40 metres, with each pair of shoes being modelled after a contemporary shoe from the 1940s.
The site is symbolic as this part of the embankment was not the only one used for this purpose.
In many of the shoes, there lay remnants of candles and flowers, left there from previous visitors to this memorial. Such a simple memorial and yet so powerful, a reminder of the horrendous times Hungarians and many others in this part of the world suffered through not too long ago.
20th Apr2012
Crovenia Road Trip: The Food
When I travel, I like to explore the different culinary aspects of the country and culture that I’m in. Slovenia was no different. I already discussed the different types of alcohol I tried, so now onto the food. Because there were so many of us (10!) we ended up having a lot of meals in the hostel, but we did go out for lunch a couple times.
Dinner on the first night we were in Slovenia was in a restaurant that was recommended on Trip Advisor called Gostilna Sokol. I ordered their Roast Pork with Roast Potatoes which was delicious.
Lunch on Day 3 had to have some sort of seafood. That is all we knew. Fish is difficult to come by in Hungary and is very expensive. After our free walking tour, we found a restaurant that had fish on the menu which we shared. I don’t remember the type of fish anymore, but it was delicious and very fresh.
18th Apr2012
Crovenia Road Trip: Day 4–Postojna Caves
My visit to the Postojna Caves was probably the coolest experience of the whole trip. I’ve never been inside a cave before. At first it was super disorientating, but soon I got acclimatized to the dim lighting and smaller space.
From the entrance, you board the cave train which takes you to the Great Mountain and the start of the on foot portion of the tour. We weren’t allowed to take pictures once we were off the train, but here is a short video of the train ride:
17th Apr2012
Crovenia Road Trip: Day 3–Ljubljana
Like any other capital city, Ljubljana offers a free walking tour. However, unlike the other cities, this one is only offered a few times a week in the off season. Seeing as we hadn’t seen much of the city yet, we decided to take the free walking tour to learn a little more about the city, the country and its history.
Here are some of the things that I saw while in Ljubljana:
Prešeren Square
The tour started off at Ljubljana’s main square, named for Slovene famous poet, France Prešeren. There is now a statue in his honour in the square. He is facing a window where his “muse” use to live. Now there is a statue representing her on the building. On one side of the square, runs the river Ljubljanica. Crossing the river, is the famous Triple Bridge. Originally only one bridge was built here, but with increasing traffic over the bridge, plans were made to add two additional pedestrian-only bridges on either side. Now, the whole area is a pedestrian only area. At night, these bridges are all lit up with lights, making for a very pretty scene – and in many ways, looks a bit Italian.
Left: The Franciscan Church of the Annunciation; Right: The Triple Bridge with the statue of Prešeren on the right
15th Apr2012
Crovenia Road Trip: Day 2 – Evening at Metelkova
The evening of Day 2, I met up with a friend of mine that I had met during Global Leaders’ Summit who is currently working on the national team in Slovenia for AIESEC. They were going to take us out for a night in Ljubljana.
They gave us some of their national beer to try, except it was flavoured. Hungary has flavoured beer (apple, orange, lemon) as well, but the ones in Slovenia seemed so exotically flavoured. I tried the Red Orange one and it tastes much better than the ones available in Hungary.
Another drink we tried was Borovničevec which is a blueberry liqueur. It was very sweet, but also very strong. I actually quite like it, and it tastes much better than the palinka that Hungarians are so fond of. Mixed in with the liqueur are bits of blueberry that have soaked in the alcohol and sugar making it very strong. I even found a recipe to make the stuff.
14th Apr2012
Crovenia Road Trip: Day 2–Lake Bled
Our first day in Slovenia brought us to Lake Bled. I was really looking forward to visiting this lake. I had seen so many photos of it and it looked absolutely amazing. The blue water reflecting the forested hills surrounding the lake makes it seems like you’ve stepped into another world.
Situated in the middle of the lake is Slovenia’s only natural island, Bled Island. On this island is the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary which was built in the 15th century. It is customary to climb the 99 steps to the church and ring the wishing bell in the hope to make one’s dream come true.
The combination of the church on the island with Bled castle perched on a steep cliff in the background makes for a stunning scene. Its very picturesque and the day that we were there couldn’t have been more perfect. The weather was great for the middle of March – approaching the mid 20s meaning no need for a jacket.
We had a lazy day by the water, eating lunch in the sun while various wildlife tried to get food from us. I took a mini nap on a bench. Just me, and my iPod soaking in the sun and glorious environment that I was in. It was a fantastic day. Hit the jump for more photos from my day at the lake.
The view from Bled Castle looking towards the island