special days of hungary

Hi everybody,

Today I am talking about Hungarians holidays because the last March 15^th, my room-mates  and me, have the unpleasant surprise to see every store closed this day. It is for this reason  who  I am going to present them:

March 15^th 1848, is the Hungarians uprising on Austrians to protest against Habsbourg dynasty.

the day where Budapest is dressed in red, green and white, national colors of the country

 

 

 

20th August,  Saint Étienne day is a national holiday since 1991, it was established to remind it the first king of Hungary in the years 1300.

The current coat of arms of Hungary was adopted on July 3rd, 1990, after the fall of the communist regime.

 

  October 23^rd 1956, is the day where Budapest inhabitants demonstrate against the communist government of Hungary.ff

 

The inhabitants pull down the Staline's relics

 

For the others holidays, they are the same as Frances, so we shall have more unpleasant surprises in the future.

The climb to Gellért-hegy

Last Friday, we planned to go to the Citadel.

View from the Elizabeth Bridge (source : Google Maps)

We would have a great view so we decided to go just before sunset, and we were not disappointed ! 

But, before talking about the view, the sunset, the Citadel and all the beautiful things we saw, let's talk about the climb ! 

Yes, the climb... Such a difficult test ! We walked quickly, because we had to be at the top before the sunset, and the path was steep...

The path hidden in the hill

On the photo, we can see stairs, it doesn't seem so hard to mount... But, after this part, the path becomes more difficult, there are no stairs anymore, and we had to be quick ! I haven't got any photo of the path, we didn't think about it when we were climbing...

And finally, after blood, tears and sweat, we reached the top of the hill, the Citadel. And the view was just magnificent... We dominated all the city in a hand and the countryside in the other hand, and the Citadel is very impressive.

    

 We moved around the hill to see the sunset, and the result was just great. Take a look at the photo, and imagine you are sitting on the grass.

After the sunset, we came back to the Citadel, and waited for the night, just to see the city illuminated. And the result was just awesome !

  

Well, I hope I gave you the desire to see it by yourself, it's really a beautiful place to see.

Take care, have fun, and see you !

One afternoon

Today, I present you my last Friday. I was with two Hungarian friends: Gregö (we pronounce [Gurge]) who are in the same school as me and his friend Tamas.

First, we have been to a typical place: the coffee cat near the Oktogon subway station. This is really a very funny place because there are plenty of cats everywhere in the coffee shop. When you take a coffee, a cat can jump on your knees to keep you warm or climb on the table to try to drink your pot of cream. If you like it you can pet them or play with them with toys.

Tamas and the cat

After leaving the coffee shop we went to the studio of the 2nd TV channel of Hungary to see Tamas dubbing a movie in Hungarian. This job seems very hard because the dubber is in a small room in the front of a microphone and a TV screen where he can see the movie. He has to follows the director's instructions by an earphone for his voice intonations. Moreover he has to synchronize with the lips of the actor on the movie and on the same time he'll read the text. Sometime, they have to modify the script to match with the speaking time. Also they have to change some parts of the dialog like removing bad words to match with the ethical policy of Hungry.
Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the movie I've seen Tamas doubling and it was forbidden to take pictures but I know the most famous movie he lent his voice was "The princess and the frog " of Walt Disney in the role of prince Naveen de Maldonia.

After that we went to a terrace pub in the front of the Danube to enjoy the sunset.

neat the Danube

The saturday picnic

     

      Good evening all people, 

Today I will talk about the picnic of Saturday 8 march.

Budapest view from Elizabeth lookout

Firstly the hill Jánoshegy where we have been is the highest of Budapest. It is locate at 8 km to the west of the center of the city in the Buda part.

the hill Jánoshegy

Anna, a teacher for handicapped children, showed us this place to take our picnic.

She does us taste the strudel, it is one of the specialities Hungarian a Puff paste who surround cut fruits (apple, cherry, apricot, peach, etc…).

the strudel can to be compare with an apple turnover

After the picnic and twenty minutes of walk, we succeeded arrive at the bottom the Elizabeth lookout. Built in 1911, the tower is named after Empress Elisabeth, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I.

To return we took a chairlift for 3 euros 

Elizabeth lookout

Before to return at home we would to reserve for the visit of parliament unfortunately the counter of ticket was closed but we saw de American embassy.it is a grouping of 3 building surrounded by a high railings. Maybe is to appear important in the former country of the east bloc.

the next time we will present the Hungarian parliament.

American embassy

Szimpla Kert

There are a lot of places to partying in Budapest. The first one we've been is the Szimpla Kert (Simple Garden) where we are used to going now like a lot of Erasmus and international students. This bar is one of the most emblematic of the city thanks to its independent scene and its really amazing decoration. This place is not only a bar, this is also a spot that brings sustainable ideas. The Szimpla Kert takes place on the 7th district of Budapest (the same as our flat).
This place was an old forsaken block flat reorganized into a nice pub with six bars and a lot of small places to sit down.
There is also a garden in the middle of the bar with an outdoor cinema where we can see some silent movies projected on a big screen. In this garden there are two old cars turned into seats. This garden is also use as a place for concerts.

Szimpla's car

In the Szimpla kert there is a wine bar where we can drink some local wines like the tokaji and the szent tamas whose very tasty white wines. 

Wine bar

When you are in this place, there is always something to see. For example walls and tables are plenty of messages and tags in a lot of different languages. There are also some weird inventions like a board full of switches and lights, when you push them, its displays different  messages on a room with a lot of computer screens and it operate some electric sculptures. On this bar there is a lot of artwork. Each time I go to this place I discover a new interesting thing. 

On Sunday morning, the szimpla kert becomes a bio market of regional products like vegetables and honey.

If you are hungry you can buy a piece of pizza or a salad made with those bio products.

To conclude, this place is one of my favorite of Budapest where you can hang out international people and practice English with them. It is really a great experience and a place to discover.

Our footprint on the table

The trumpet light 

From the 2nd stair

Screen sculpture  

  

[Tuto] : How to move around in Budapest ?

Hello world !

Today, I will explain to you how to move in Budapest !

Obviously, there are taxis but it can be very expensive if it's used often. Just for your info, the price is 280 Ft (about 0,85 / 1 €) per kilometer, so it's very useful to go to the airport, but for tourism (or studying), it's not practical and quite expensive.

An official licensed Budapest taxi

I will talk about the common transports society now : the BKK (for Budapesti Közlekedési Központ, that means Budapest Transportation Center).

Image from : http://www.napimagazin.hu/keddtol-valtozik-a-bkk-jegy-es-berletrendszere

There are plenty of bus lines downtown, and because of the bus lanes in almost every street, the traffic is very quick. Let's take an example, based on Google Maps statistics and my personal experience : for going to the Dennis Gabor College from our accommodation in Nefelejcs utca, next to the eastern railway station (Keleti Pályaudvar), in car, Google maps says 15 minutes. In reality, I think it would take at least 20 minutes. By bus, we can choose between 4 different lines to go to school. There is a bus every 4 minutes for each line so in fact, there is a continuous bus flow at the stops we go (at home and at school). There is only one thing we can say about the bus : many of them are old ones and just no practical at for senior citizens... There are steps to mount with a tiny way to get in. Fortunately, there are also buses which are more recent, that seniors should privilege.
And a last thing about the bus : did you know that articulated bus was invented in Hungary ? It is why we see so many of them in the city.

New bus

Old bus

There is a line for each place you want to go, by bus, by trolleybus, tram, subway... And with a logical disposition, I mean, for example, there are no buses which cross a park, but only trolleys, because it's an electrical bus powered by cables above the road (like for trains) : it's noiseless and clean (no CO2 emissions).

And to finish, let's talk about the price : a student subscription for a month costs 3450 Ft, less than 12€, and we have an unlimited access to all transport (subway, bus, trolley, streetcar). A ticket costs 200 Ft (0.65 €).

P-S : Here is the address to see the common transports network, divided by districts. Just take a look ! Click on a district on the map and look !

Take care of yourself, have fun, see you !