Silhouette of trees

i love this

Puskás Ferenc



Puskás Ferenc

Lady Leaders Stand Up Please...

teacher

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

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

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.
Budapest in autumn
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

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

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
national museum 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!

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

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

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

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

Day of Zsombor in Hungary. Its an ancient Hungarian name but its origin is Slavic. Means:: bufallo
A38
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

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

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

Day of Imre in Hungary. It comes from German Amalrich, Emmerich which means powerful, famous, royal.
Elizabeth Bridge 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

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

Day of Győző in Hungary. They created this name in the XIXth Century as the Hungarian version of Victor.
Freedom Bridge
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.
(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;)
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

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

(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;)

THEME DAY: Something that is about to disappear soon

Day of Marianna in Hungary. They say the name was created from Maria and Anna.
Palace 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!

(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 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

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

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

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

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.
park
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

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

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

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

Day of Salamon in Hungary. This well known name comes from the Hebrew means peaceful.
T-34
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:

1956

Day of Gyöngyi in Hungary. Old Hungarian name comes from the word gyöngy (pearl).
1956
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.
Corvin Movie Theatre

Getting closer to the Palace

Day of Előd in Hungary. Its a historical name...very old Hungarian name which means: the first or ancestor.
Palace of Buda 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

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

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

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

Day of Lukács in Hungary. Comes from the Latin Lucas which means: man from Luciana.
Rákóczi801 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

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

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.
St. Stephen basilica 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

rose
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

Day of Helén in Hungary. This name comes from the greek Helena.
St. Stephen basilica 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

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.
kindergraffiti3 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

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

Day of Brigitta in Hungary. Its originally an old Irish name means strong, moral.
National Theater 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

Day of Gedeon in Hungary. This name comes from Hebrew and its meaning: sword, warrior
pulp fiction 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

Day of Dénes in Hungary. Its comming from the Greek name Dionysios which means: offered to Dionysus (the Greek god of wine and grappes).
tramwayin the morning 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

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.
walkway
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

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.
Moonlight
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

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.
autumn morning 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

Day of Aurel in Hungary. Greetings to every Aurels!:)
A latin name coming from the roman Aurelius.

McDonalds 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

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.
Erzsebet bridge 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

Day of HELGA in Hungary. Greetings to every HELGA!
Northern German name, means: baptisted, healthy, happy
generationsk22 - 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

Today is day of PETRA in Hungary.
They say its a hebrew, greek, latin name with the meaning of rock, stone.
church
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.