I think I finished the first part at dinner
time… if not, I don't care I will carry on from here Haha
This is a Hungarian franchise fast food
restaurant specialized
to Mexican dishes. Such as at Subway Sandwich you can choose among meats,
vegetables and sauces. As I know there are only three restaurant yet. I was in
the one under 25 Teréz Boulevard [in the VI. district, near Oktogon].
Tortilla Soup With Vegetables
Beef quesadillas
Friducha above my table
What more can I say…
"¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! ¡Ándale! ¡Ándale!
¡Epa! ¡Epa! ¡Epa! Yeehaw!" – Speedy
Gonzales [1955-]
You think I was full? Naive… I screamed
for a dessert… so I went for an ice-cream shop.
Because I'm lactose intolerant I usually
buy lactose-free ice creams in the supermarket, but that is not as good as they make in a
shop of course. I'm planning to buy an ice cream machine, not a bad thing. So I
eat real ice cream about once or twice a year in a shop. But when I'm on
Budapest all my food-allergies can die, I eat what I want, even if I will be
sick after it… Don't try to understand it. It's a crazy Hungarian thing. We and
food…
So there is my fave ice cream shop,
Levendula [lavender] Handcrafted Ice Cream under 6 Vámház boulevard.
[Photo from budapest.varosom.hu]
Although I think their ice creams are more like gelato. All are creamy but not fatty at all. Every ice cream made from grape sugar. No additives and artificial colorings of course. They use only fine ingredients like they buy prime pistachio straight from Sicily, everything from outland except the lavender of course.
Why?
Hungarian lavender is quite popular outland,
such as our chamomile. The taste and quality of these plants are somewhat unique because of
the quality of the Hungarian soil. Just like the paprika, what was simple chili
pepper when it arrived to Hungary in the 16th century. The Center-Eastern
European soil and weather influenced that the paprika had a unique taste, what
is not the same taste now as the common Mexican chili. So as well the common lavender arrived to Hungary in the 18th century and has high and unique quality now [but of course not as high as French lavender]. And we also have famous lavender fields, around Tihany and Pannonhalma.
The funny thing is that I'm allergic to
lavender as flower, but in ice cream I didn't had any allergy reaction. So I
bravely ate four spoons… Heavenly tastes! There are ice cream variations for the lactose intolerant customers as well. But I just chose what I want this time...
Spiced chocolate [cardamom, cinnamon,
cloves], Basil lemon, Strawberry ginger
and Lavender [under all]
Last station, Castle again.
Houdini House. I was really curious…
Today this whole magician/illusionist/escape
artist business is quite big. I mean I heard about Houdini before but we had David
Copperfield in my teenhood, so he was the only illusionist I knew really. Now
there are too many… and their names mean to me nothing, except that Chris Angel
guy, because he is the best friend of my favourite musician - and imaginary boyfriend
-, Celldweller... But I watched some of his tv shows and well I not enjoyed his
shows much… I mean he is talented or what, but I just don't know. And those stooges
around him are annoying to me… But that's just me. The only trick I don't
understand is that body-cutting-in-half thing. Ok the upper half is someone
without legs [poor thing] and the other part is a contortionist, but how can
the contortionist does that we only see the legs… and when the guy got the
woman's leg… Stupid questions? Or just simple camera editing trick? Oh nevermind…
So when I searched among the museums I
found the Houdini House. What? What's that American escape artist or what got
to do with Budapest? Now we have museums about anybody? No… It's my shame…
Because I never read or watch about Houdini really, so the fact that he was
Hungarian-born avoided me. Now if I hear something new what interests me I'm
starting a big research about the current topic. So I watched all his movies I
found on YouTube and elsewhere, documentaries and tv series about him under a weekend… The funny thing about the Adrian Brody tv documentary
version, that his mother is Hungarian-born. Hehehe I didn't know this too… Tony
Curtis [Antal Kertész, kertész=gardener] also portrayed Houdini in 1959, but
about him I knew that his parents were Hungarian-born.
So this little memoire house is in the Castle,
what only opened in this June. The famous contemporary Hungarian escape artist,
David Merlini??? [I never heard of him] established this museum. Don't imagine
a big show-like place. This is a small but cosy museum, what commemorate the artist
and man. We Hungarians more prefer a homely place rather always the flic-flac
shows. I think this little house was more memorable to me like any American
Houdini Museum would be. If you are interested in his Hungarian background go
to this site. There is a Hungarian research group what specialized
to Houdini's life. It's interesting if someone into this Houdini topic.
I heared that he learned the locksmithery what he loved and later instead of just playing with locks, on one day he found out a better occupation with a lock and a straight jacket... the rest is history. So he was a good person as I heared, if he wouldn't be a good person, instead of being a world-famous escape artist he would be a world-famous and uncatchable burglar artist, eh? Oh he was such a loser... Hahaha [just kidding]
But what is sure, if you are interested
in this private museum, you visit on any day but this museum festival. I wait
in a huge row for almost an hour to get in… I almost gave up wainting because where there are too many people in a small place, there is altercation
sooner or later… there was almost fist fight among some tourists… well, yes, this program has some discommodities. Not like the big museums, where you can go in easily without jerk people annoy you...
Budapest History Museum – 'Krakow and
Buda in the Middle Ages' exhibition.
I expected more than just documents and
papers. Who can read that much things on an exhibition. I expected more paintings, drawings, videos, sculptures whatevers. Because the title was promising to me...
Poland and Hungary have a long history
and friendship since about 900 A.D. till today. In the Middle Ages Buda and
Krakow were important cities in Europe, just as important as Milan, Rome or Nurnberg.
Under Anjou-rulership [in Hungary] the two country established the
Hungarian-Polish personal union.
Just as a matter of curiosity…
According on legends Veszprém, my city,
got its name after a Polish Prince, Bezprym [986/987–1032]. Géza Grand Prince's
[who was the father of our first king Stephen I] daughter, Judit married to Bolesław
I [the Brave] of Poland and they had a son, Bezprym. But because of Géza's
peace-politics
Bolesław couldn't fight against the enemies alone with his army
without any Hungarian deffensive alliance, so out of anger he chased away his Hungarian
wife and his son. Bezprym fled to Hungary and got a land in the upper Balaton region
from King Stephen. Then Bezprym chased away his Polish wife and married a
Hungarian girl just to annoy his father…
But it's only a legend. According on the
period documents our castle town already had a name, what originated from a
slavish word 'bezprem', what means
rolling countryside or erratic [landscape]. Indeed, Veszprém was built on 7 hills!
And because of this this city is always windy, ALWAYS. You don't need to go to
a hairdresser… what for… the wind ruins everything… surely when it's almost 45°C
outside there is no wind, no air, zero oxygen, nothing, no-no, a-ah… Damn you
wind!
Back into the
National Gallery I visited the 'Hungarian Gothic altarpieces and sculptures from
the 14-16th century' gallery [permanent exhibition].
Did I mention
I love Gothic era? What a surprise, eh?...
This
collection is significant to us. Why?
A short quotation from Gyöngyi
Török, art historian's essay:
"Painting
from the age of Árpád Dynasty [11th -13th century] is preserved in church
frescoes and manuscript illuminations. In the Romanesque era, sculpture was
closely related to architecture. The earliest known wood sculptures from the
territory of medieval Hungary date from the 13th century, but there are
comparatively few extant relics from that period and the material surviving
from the later Middle Ages is also highly fragmentary. It must be borne in mind
that the adverse historical circumstances, the Ottoman occupation, Protestant
iconoclasm, and later the change in tastes against what was medieval resulted in the destruction of many of our old pictures and statues. Although the written
sources preserve the memory of thriving artistic activity all over the country,
it is not coincidental that the majority of our 14th-16th century remains survived
in the peripheral areas of the Kingdom of Hungary, which were least effected by
fighting: Upper Northern Hungary and Transylvania."
"The National
Gallery took over the Old Hungarian Collection from the Museum of Fine Arts in 1973,
allowing for the joint presentation of ancient and modern Hungarian art within
a single museum."
These works
are beautiful, especially the altarpieces with the much decoration plus the
carved wooden frame, but don't look kitchy at all. But they knew how to
use gold that's for sure. I loved these works. And had that unique scent in the
long room… ~Ahh the smell of the Middle-ages… and the blood here and there... Well, some of the works are very naturalistic indeed, what I appreciated more than the average idealized ones...
Finally I took a walk among the
Hungarian modernists also in the National Gallery. I didn't know half of the
gallery, but after Picasso I gave them a chance.
Well, I finished the day there.
If someone interested
only in our national museums, the National Gallery, National Museum, Ethnographic Museum or the Budapest History Museum, just need to wait
for a national celebration day such as 15 March, 20 August or 23 Oktober when
all the national museums are free to visit.
Good Day!/Szép napot! ✌
