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Travel Exhibition 2009

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Travel Exhibition
Utazás 2009
27.Feb. - 1.Mar.
10am - 6pm
entrance: 1.300,-ft
.
Went there by metro to Örs vezér tér
and then by bus 100 to Hungexpo gate 3.
The bus leaves on the opposite of Arkád Shopping Mall,
have to walk a bit further to right from the tube station entrance.
.
.
A, D, F & G pavilons full of travel orientated stands.
One was concentrating on Hungarian tourism
with stands from different towns, villages, hotels, spas etc.
In the main pavilon there were represented travel agencies
like Neckermann, Vista, Gullet, Go4Travel etc
and different countries.
Greece, Italy, Austria and Spain had rather big stands.
Nearby countries like Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Serbia, Montenegro
were all well-represented as well.
...
Some visitors were very well equipted,
they had travel bags with wheels, even suitcases
to put all the brochures and catalogues.
It's amazing how the Hungarians always can surprise me!
.
.
HUNGEXPO Budapesti Vásárközpont
Albertirsai út 10.
Bp, X

Wintery food

Some examples of this week's dinners at home:
.
On Monday
Zarzuela
Spanish fish stew made of salmon, prawns & vegetables
.
The Teatro de la Zarzuela lies behind the Cortes,
The Spanish Parliament in Madrid.
The traditional entertainment here is a type of musical comedy,
which is a mixture of dialogue, songs, music, and dance
following each other in an intoxicating sequence.
The zarzuela goes back to the 17th century,
when traditional theatrical presentations were often
a dazzling mixture of music and dramatic scenes.
A good century later,
the poets Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca
elevated this gloriously colorful entertainment
into an art form and
wrote the first scripts for the zarzuela,
which was later replaced
by the operas brought in from Italy.
In the 19th century, however,
the zarzuela enjoyed a renaissance.
Satirical and amusing,
with its roots among the ordinary people,
this mixture of music and drama still lives on today.
With its colourful mixture of anything and everything,
the zarzuela is probably also the origin
of the name of Spain's popular fish stew.
.
On Tuesday
Chicken with wild rice and curry sauce
.
On Wednesday
Home-made peperoni pizza
.
On Thursday
.
Goat cheese salad
.
Foie de veau á la lyonnaise
& potato puré with spinach
.
On Friday
.
Crayfish cocktail
.
Ravioli filled with spinach in tomato sauce
& grated parmasan & basil on top
...
Actually the wintery meals started already last week with
Saturday's dinner with Hungarian flavours:
.

Sauteed mushrooms

Grilled foie gras with potato puré
& sauteed onion
(missing in the pic)

....

Again snowing!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

This week started with plenty of snow!
.
Kodály körönd this morning
.

This one from Kodály körönd as well

On Aradi utca this morning

Kodály körönd yesterday afternoon

This one also on Monday afternoon
...
Better be carefull near the schools!
Lots of snowballs flying...
.

Slumdog Millionaire

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Couldn't get tickets to Kurt weill's
"Rise and fall of the city Mahagony"
at Thália szinház
so went to see "Slumdog Millionaire" at Westend Palace Cinema this afternoon.


It is a 2008 British drama film directed by Danny Boyle,
and written by Simon Beaufoy.
It is an adaptation of the Boeke Prize-winning and Commonwealth Writers' Prize-nominated novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup.
.
Set and filmed in India,
Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of a young man
from the slums of Mumbai
who appears on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
and exceeds people's expectations,
arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials.
...
Excellent film!
Very human film.
The film gives hope, even in a chaotic Mumbai.
Nice feeling after seeing it.
No extra hassle.
Simple, still interesting story.
.
Let's see if any of the Oscars go to "Slumdog Millionaire" tonight!
...
Had some take-away from Taj Mahal!
.

Chicken Tikka Masala, Seekh Kebeb Lamb, Chicken Tikka


Kheera Garlic Raita, Mint sauce, Vegetable Biryani
.
- delicious as always!
.
Taj Mahal
1067 Budapest
Szondi utca 40



Opera Bal

On Saturday February 21. was the Opera bál in the Opera House in Budapest.


Putting ready the red carpet for the night

National Opera House
.
Not everyone likes the idea of organizing this kind of huge bal and dancing all night long.
Some people were protesting on the other side of the street
in front of the former Ballet Institute.
- playing actually quite good Hungarian punkish rock
...
After an interval of 62 years,
the Budapest Opera Ball was organized on the 17th February 1996.
Following the former traditions the miracle happens year by year
on the last Saturday of the carnival season:
the stage and the auditorium of the Opera House transforms to
the most beautiful ballroom of Hungary.
The ball is opened by more than a hundred debutante dancers
after a short opera programme,
then comes the 'Alles Walzer' so that people dance till dawn.
Among the star guests of the first ten years were
Montserrat Caballé, Ornella Muti, Sascha Hehn,
Y. Nesterenko, Walter Berry, Heinz Zednik,
Katia Ricciarelli, Patrizio Buanne, Catherine Deneuve,
Katarina Witt, Gina Lollobrigida and Daryl Hannah .
Besides international guests,
the most famous Hungarian opera singers helped the success of the shows.
.
Was there once some years ago, when the guest star was Katarina Witt.
It is a nice happening, but the dinner was quite awfull even though it was made by Gundel.
Have a friend who loves going to the bals in Budapest and Vienna because of the dancing.
So if you enjoy dancing then you enjoy the ball,
otherwise a bit boring.
In Vienna the Star Guests have been like
Gerry Halliway, Carmen Electra and Pamela Anderson.
Don't really know why!
.

Vanishing Point / Katoamispiste

At Trafo there was a posibility to see Finnish performance show on Friday night:
Katoamispiste / Vanishing Point
by
Ville Walo & Kalle Hakkarainen
...
The performance was an interesting mixture
of human movements and film on the background.
Found the simple looking, repeated tricks and movements fascinating
and the 3 big screens
- showing films from block of flats (of Ita-Pasila or former DDR?),
construction sites and sea bank -
impressive and gave a special effect to the show.
The lenght of the show was perfect, app. 1h.
If longer would have been already boring.
...
October 7th 2004 was the premiere of
Finnish juggler Ville Walo´s and magician Kalle Hakkarainen´s
new performance called Katoamispiste
(which translates to english as Vanishing Point).
Katoamispiste is northern new circus at its best.
It combines the lively image of video projections to
the visual movement of juggling and magic.
From the union of projected film material and live performers an entity is born
that is visually impressive and rich in atmosphere.
Katoamispiste brings to the stage hypnotic moments,
dance-like movement and surrealistic comedy.
Katoamispiste tells in the language of circus
of the wonders in the surrounding everyday world.
It expresses something essential about the nature of reality
through its unrealistic approach,
its magical tricks and its abstract movement.
Something that is unreachable for words.
In the speechless performance
music, imagery and physical movement
are tightly woven together.

The capturing images of the performance are created
using old film material as well as the newest digital techniques.
The picture that is projected in the large screens
forms on the stage its own climate,
independent of natural laws.
A climate in which cities change
shape, form and unravel,
and one can travel in time and distance in an instant.
Vanishing point is the point towards which perspective is escaping.
When something passes the vanishing point it goes out of sight,
is forgotten, dissolves, changes into something unrecognizable.
When and how does a person vanish?
Does the final disappearing happen
when no one recognizes your photograph anymore,
or when no one remembers you anymore?
What if you don’t remember yourself anymore?
If you momentarily forget your own face,
if you are frightened by your face
that you have taken by surprise in the mirror?

Sometimes a person who is sunken deep in his own thoughts
stops seeing the buildings of the city surrounding him
and the street that he walks on.
He forgets where he is,
forgets even himself.
The city falls apart around him.
Until from the emptiness suddenly leaps up
a car, a lamp-post, a stone, a house or a pigeon
and everything returns to its place again.
Just as sometimes when you close the door of a cinema
or the cover of a book,
when you come back from being lost.

When a person disappears
he leaves behind marks, traces and whole cities.
When cities disappear
only sand, stones, trash, seawater, meadows and forests are left.
Thought and memory resist
time, place and senses.
Ten years can be thought through in five minutes,
and a couple of seconds recalled for years.
The disappeared leave around us,
in the minds of the remaining,
their invisible traces.
Memory and history interrupt the present
and stretch time, cut, glue together
and edit it
like it was a tape of film.
...
Trafo
1094 Budapest
Liliom utca 41.
...
To see a part of it click this one:
.

More snow

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

It was snowing during the night
.
My balcony this morning at 8.30
.

.
Beautiful weather!

El pollo, el pez y el cangrejo real

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Went to cinema to see a film called
"The Chicken, the Fish and the King Crab"
at Toldi
Bajcsy Zsilinszkyút 36-38.
.
"The Chicken, the Fish and the King Crab" is a document about food
by Jose Luis Lopez-Linares.
Following Spanish master chef Jesus Almagro as he prepares for
the Bocuse d'Or, a top cooking contest.
.
The Bocuse d'Or, founded by the legendary Paul Bocuse,
is the Olympics of the culinary world, a two-day event in Lyon, France,
that brings together 24 chefs from as many nations.
In 5½ hours, each chef has to prepare two courses using prescribed main ingredients
- in 2007, they were halibut with king crab for one dish, chicken for the other -
plus three garnishes of the cook's choosing.
While each country is meant to create dishes conveying the essence of its national cuisine,
it's tacitly understood that everything must be prepared using
traditional French techniques.
.
Named Spain's best chef in 2006, Almagro was the obvious choice to lead his underdog country to the world championship.
Lopez-Linares picks up the story at the beginning of the trial period, when Almagro, with assistant Felix Guerrero,
tries out his ideas before a highly critical group of fellow Spanish tasters and chefs.
From the start, with Almagro's choices roundly torn apart,
it's clear he's got a long way to go to achieve that prize-worthy perfection
demanded by world-class judges.
.
Along the way, Lopez-Linares takes auds on a journey to the ingredients' origins,
swimming with "happy halibut" in cold Norwegian waters,
admiring enormous king crabs further north in Polar Circle,
and then inspecting the famed chickens of Bresse, France,
natural patriots with their blue legs, white body and red crests.
Back in his Madrid kitchen, Almagro refines his ideas
as advisers force him to rethink everything from taste emphases to platter designs.
.
Once in Lyon, Almagro is focused and open-minded, neither too confident nor too insecure, making him the perfect figure to root for.
Other chefs, including Norwegian contestant Sven Erik Renaa,
bring additional voices into the picture,
saving docu from any sense of nationalistic bias.
.
Liked the film alot.
The language of the film was not only Spanish but also English and French
(which part didn't understand! Well, there was Hungarian subtitles)
The film gives the idea what it takes to attend in a cooking competition,
especially Bocuse D'Or.
To win it is not enough that one is an excellent chef, but in this case
must follow the French kitchen.
And as Jesus said, chef is also an artist.
The Spanish team game 9th
and they were happy for it.
French team won
and all Scandinavian teams: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Iceland
were among the 10 best ones!
.

Snow on the Pest side

It's snowing today on Tuesday!
.
Ferdinand hid
(behind Nyugati & Westend)
And there's snow on the ground also on Pest side.
.

Podmaninszky utca
.

Well, no more snow on ground on Szinyei Merse utca...
Probably the houses are warming the surroundings and lots of salt is used on the streets.

Spring Awakening

Monday, February 16, 2009

Went to see Spring Awakening musical on Sunday
.

.
Spring Awakening is a Tony Award-winning rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater.
The musical is based on the controversial 1891 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. Set in late-nineteenth century Germany, it concerns teenagers
who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of sexuality.
The original play was banned in Germany due to its portrayal of masturbation, abortion, rape and suicide. In the musical, alt-rock is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score. During the musical, characters sometimes break the fourth wall to express their motivations and desires directly to the audience.

After a number of workshops, concerts and rewrites over a seven-year period, Spring Awakening premiered Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company on May 19, 2006 and ran through August 17, 2006. The show then opened on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on December 10, 2006 and received favorable reviews.
Spring Awakening received eleven 2007 Tony Award nominations, winning eight, including Tonys for best musical, direction, book, score and featured actor. The show also won four Drama Desk Awards,
including Outstanding Musical.
The production is directed by Michael Mayer and choreographed by
Bill T. Jones.

Decca Broadway released the original cast recording on December 12, 2006, which won the Grammy Award for
Best Musical Show Album in 2008.
.
The story is quite a heavy one - not a funny, light musical.
The young singers were very good with excellent voices.
The setting was simple but efective.
.

The Hungarian-language (first non-replica) production premieres on 7 February 2009 in Budapest at Budapest Operetta and Musical Theatre.
Nyugati Teátrum
Teréz kőrút 62
1066 Budapest

Valentin Day

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentin Day's chocolate from Lukacs kávéház
.
.

Lukásc kávéház
Andrássy út

The dhome

Saw a new interior shop on Király utca:

The dhome

"The dhome is a brand new front home-store featuring new articles designed manufactured and selected from our seasoned designers and brand experts."

"The dhome assimilates visions and cultures from all over the world and transforms them into products and atmospheres, expressing and anticipating trends.
We create a style for evolved consumers who feel at home anywhere in the world,
but always maintaining deep roots with their own origins and cultures."
.
Nice idea to make the brochure as a film roll
and pack it into a small box!
.
- pleasent service in the shop!
.
The dhome
Király utca 28.
1061 Budapest

The Gala Award Salon Concert

Ari S. Kupsus Charity Society's
Gala Award Salon Concert at the Finnish Embassy
on Thursday Feb.12. at 7pm.

Ari presenting the activities of his charity society

László was translating Ari's speech in Hungarian

The awards were given by Janina Vilen, Ari, Janine and László

Special guest of the evening:
Nicholas Clapton, countertenor
.
English counter-tenor Nicholas Clapton is one of today's most acclaimed performer of both contemporary music and operatic vocal repertory of the 18th century.
He is pursuing a wide-ranging career as an opera singer and recitalist worldwide.
Besides his musical activities as a performer he is professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music in London and visiting professor at the Liszt Academy of Music.

Programme
.
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
- Sweeter than roses
- Fairest isle
- If music be the food of love
- An evening hymn
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
- She never told her love
- Piercing eyes
- The spirit's song
- Fidelity
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847)
- Gruss
- Venetianisches Gonddellied
- Erster Verlust
- Neue Liebe
Michael Tippett (1905-1998): Songs for Ariel
- Come onto these yllow sands
- Full fathom five
- Where the bee sucks
.
The programme was marvellous and very well chosen!
Between the different composers he told about his extraordinary voice,
very interesting!
.
Ari thanking and giving Finnish souveniers
to Nicholas Clapton and the pianist Gabriella Gyökér
.
Pianist Gabriella Gyökér has established herself as a versatile pianist who is at constant demand both as a chamber musician and a piano accompanist.
She has appeared as an accompanist with notable musicians such as Eva Marton, Sheryl Milnes, Zsigmondy Dénes and Nicholas Clapton.
She coaches singers as faculty member of the Liszt Academy of Music.
.
.

Arena Plaza

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Every month there's a day (the 2nd Wednesday) of 20% discount in the shops at Arena Plaza.
You need a coupon for the discounts and can get the coupons at the information desk!
.
Needed a pair of goggles,
so went to Hervis and bought Arena goggles with 20% off
2.399,-ft
.
Arena Plaza
Kerepesi út 9.
1087 Budapest


.


ABBA - The Show

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

ABBA - The Show in Budapest
Papp László Sport Aréna
.
It was an ABBA covershow
with some former bandmembers of ABBA and a Symphony Section.
Uffe Andersson in saxophone
&
Janne Schaffer in guitar
- names didn't tell me anything, but they played in most of the ABBA albums
&
Matthew Freeman as musical supervisor
.

The show was fun
&
everyone knew the songs!
.
Expected a bit more spectaculous show a la Las Vegas.
.

'Agnetha' & 'Frida' were not so young any more
but still had lovely voices
.
20% of the audience was having a pink cowboy hat with twinkling lights on it!
Did I miss something I should have known???

Santa Claus

Monday, February 9, 2009

It is already February
but some Xmas decoration can still be found in Budapest:

Santa Claus is still climbing up

Kinesis

Last week started to do Kinesis at Pure Wellness
Betti showed me first how to work with these machines:


Quite interesting
You can adjust the "ropes" as you like.
There are exercises and movements for different muscles.
.
Pure Wellness
Ó utca 43-49
1066 Budapest

Gucci scarf

It wasn't a shopping trip so just bought a scarf from Gucci.
.

.
Gucci
Kohkmarkt 5
1010 Wien

Lunch at Figlmüller in Vienna

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Saturday lunch at Figlmüller
.
Wiener Schnitzel
- the biggest in town, even the plate wasn't enough!
.
with potato salad
&
a glass of white wine from Grinzing
.
There's a menu but everyone in the restaurant seemed to have the same:
Wiener Schnitzel with potato salad
.
Good professional service
Old, stube-type interior

Rating:4/5
.
Figlmüller
Wollzeile 5.
near Stephansplatz
http://www.figlmueller.at/
.
Afternoon tea at Cafe Sacher

Demel Konditorai

Paid a visit to Demel Konditorai-Café
.
Bought some chocolate to take home
.
Demel has been in the same building since 1888
Demel
Kohlmarkt 14.
1010 Wien

A day in Vienna

The weather was gorgeous in Vienna on Saturday!
Took the Ubahn 3 from Westbahnhof to Stephansplatz,
walked to Karlplatz
.


Side view of the facade of the Karlskirche
Creative design of the Karlskirche combines architectual elements from ancient Greece, ancient Rome and contemporary Viennese Baroque.
.
In 1713 the Black Palugue swept Vienna and Empror Charles VI made a vow if the plague left the city, he would build a church dedicated to his namesake, St. Charles Borromeo.
St Charles was a 16th-century Italian bishop famous for ministering to Milanese plague victims.
The emperor's prayer was answered, and construction on the church began in 1715. The Karlskirche was buikt on what was then the bank of River Wien and is now the southeast corner of a park complex.
.

Took the lift up and saw the beautiful frescos and guilded angels in the ceiling very near.

Johann Michael Rottmayr painted many of the frescos inside the church from 1725 to 1730
.
The baroque master Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach did the original work from 1716 to 1722. After his desth in 1723, his son took over and saw the project through to completion in 1737.


The New Museum of Karlskirche





The small museum was interesting and really nicely made in the old bell tower
.
Jugenstil Pavillongs at Karlsplatz tube station
- design by Otto Wagner in 1899
- sunflower patterns

Topiaries at Maria-Theresien Platz
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