BudapestZIN

The Budapest fun fair is like 150 years old but it has got its recent name and structure in 1950.



Its not a huge modern carnival, I would rather say, it still has the athmosphere of the ancient times with the reconstucted "vurstli" and most of the attractions refers to the mood of the 50's, 60's, 70's to me.

The rollercoster with its old wooden structure is already unique I guess all over the world.



However you can find some new thrilling rides also, the Budapest fun fair is not a high-tech fun but a cute place for an afternoon in the middle of the city not far from the Heroes' Square, Budapest Zoo and Széchenyi Bath.

Széchenyi lánchíd or Széchenyi Chain Bridge is a suspension bridge that spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest, the western and eastern sides of Budapest, the capital of Hungary. It was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest, and was opened in 1849.

Its two ends are:

* Roosevelt Square (with the Gresham Palace and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), and
* Adam Clark Square (the Zero Kilometer Stone and the lower end of the Castle Hill Funicular, leading to Buda Castle).

The bridge is named after István Széchenyi, a major supporter of its construction. At the time of its construction, it counted as a wonder of the world. It had an enormous significance in the country's economics and life. Its decorations made of cast iron, and its construction, radiating calm dignity and balance, raised it among the most beautiful industrial monuments in Europe. It became a symbol of advancement, national awakening, and the linkage between East and West.

The bridge was designed by the English engineer William Tierney Clark in 1839, after Count István Széchenyi's initiative in the same year, with construction supervised locally by Scottish engineer Adam Clark (no relation). It is a larger scale version of William Tierney Clark's earlier Marlow Bridge, across the River Thames in Marlow, England.

The bridge was opened in 1849, and thus became the first permanent bridge in the Hungarian capital. At the time, its center span of 202 m was one of the largest in the world. The pairs of lions at each of the abutments were added in 1852. The bridge was given its current name in 1898.

The bridge's cast iron structure was totally updated and strengthened in 1914. In World War II, the bridge was damaged and needed to be rebuilt. The rebuilding was completed in 1949.

Among the mythical anecdotes relating to the bridge, the most popular is that the lions were sculpted without tongues and the sculptor was mocked so much that he jumped into the Danube in shame. The lions do have tongues (although they are not visible from below, which is the usual point of view, as the lions are lying on a stone block some three meters high). The sculptor lived into the 1890s, and the only message he sent to mocking people was "Your wife should have a tongue just as my lions have, and woe will be unto you!" He jumped into the Danube when a little boy asked him about it.[citation needed]

In 2001, Hungarian stunt pilot Péter Besenyei flew upside down under the bridge, a maneuver that became a standard in Red Bull air races today.

The bridge is featured in the 2002 movie I Spy.

In 2008, British crime writer Mark Van Spall (author of Heirless Descent and Prisoners of Hate) proposed to his girlfriend at the centre of the bridge on the stroke of midnight.

Andrássy Avenue (Hungarian: Andrássy út, literally "Andrássy Road") is an iconic street in Budapest, linking Erzsébet tér ("Elizabeth Square") with Városliget (the "City Park"). Flanked by eclectic Neo-renaissance palaces and houses featuring fine facades, staircases and interiors, it was recognised as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

It was decreed to be built in 1870, to discharge the parallel Király utca from heavy traffic and to connect the inner city parts (see Belváros) with Városliget through Terézváros. Its construction began in 1872 and the avenue was inaugurated on August 20 (a national holiday), 1867. It realization was a blend of the plans proposed by the top 3 competitors Lajos Lechner, Frigyes Feszl and Klein & Fraser. Its palaces were built by the most distinguished architects (led by Miklós Ybl) of the time, financed by Hungarian and other banking houses. These were mostly finished by 1884 and mostly aristocrats, bankers, landowners and historical families moved in. It was named in 1885 after the main supporter of the plan, Prime Minister Gyula Andrássy.

The construction of the first underground in Continental Europe was proposed in 1870, since the capital had always been against any surface transport on this road. Construction began in 1894 and was finished in 1896, so this new metro line could facilitate the transport to Városliget, the main venue of the millennium celebrations of Hungary. (wikipedia)

Elisabeth Bridge is the second newest bridge and one of the most elegant ones of Budapest, Hungary, connecting Buda and Pest across the River Danube. It is situated at the narrowest part of the Danube, the bridge spanning only 290 m. It is named after Queen Elisabeth, a popular queen and empress of Austria-Hungary, who was assassinated in 1898. Today, her large bronze statue sits by the bridge's Buda side connection in the middle of a small garden.

Its two ends are:

* March 15 Square (with the oldest church in Pest, Inner City Parish Church, built in the 13th century) and the famous Mátyás Pince restaurant
* Döbrentei Square in Buda with the monument of Saint Gellért on the Gellért Hill, a sculpture of Queen Elisabeth and the Rác Baths and Rudas Baths nearby. A luxury spa hotel is currently being built in the area.

The original permanent crossing, a decorative suspension bridge, was built between 1897 and 1903, amid a corruption scandal. The Buda end of Erzsébet bridge runs directly into the massive foot of Gellért Hill, necessitating a complicated arrangement of roads to connect to the bridge. The bridge was designed in such a way because a wealthy nobleman, a member of the City Council owned the particular area of the riverbank. He wanted to make a fortune by selling the piece of land for bridge constructon purposes, bribing the other councilmen and engineers on purpose.

He managed to sell the land at greatly inflated prices. In the era of horse drawn carriages the geometry issue was not considered significant and the resulting cost overruns were covered up, therefore no prosecution took place. In recent decades, many motorists have been permanently injured or killed in the sharp turn that immediately follows the bridgehead. After a terrible accident in 2004, which killed a family, a speed limit of 40 km/h was posted for the west-bound lanes.

The original Erzsébet Bridge, along with many other bridges all over the country, was blown up at the end of World War II by retreating Wehrmacht sappers. This is the only bridge in Budapest which could not be rebuilt in its original form. Pictures and some salvaged elements from the old bridge can be seen on the grass in front of the Museum of Transport in City Park.

The currently standing slender white cable bridge was built on the very same location between 1961–1964, because the government could not afford to construct entirely new foundations for the bridge. The main spar cables of the bridge are hexagonal in cross section, composed of thousands of elementary steel wires of seven different diametres, partly because early computers were unable to provide solution for a circular cross section main cable batch.

The novel design, planned by Pál Sávoly, was a first in Central Europe and not without weaknesses. Tram traffic and its heavy tracks had to be removed from the bridge in 1973 after signs of cracks appeared in the structure. The 2×3 lane Erzsébet bridge is relatively well maintained because it is part of the route where foreign dignitaries are being taken from Ferihegy Airport to the government quarter.

(source)
(photos: Zsolt)

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funny art
Momiji Dolls 

2009. December 11-12. Budapest Sports Arena

This year they encouraged people to react to the recent crisis we all experience under the title "Restart, rerouting".

An other initiative of them in cooperation with Water Works of Budapest was asking applicants to create billboards to popularize tap water.

The exhibited posters and billboards are the selection of the best works.

(csapvíz= tap water)

Location: Ötvenhatosok square (right beside the Heroes' Square)

Time: 03.09.2009 - 22.09.2009.

Be it that you will be traveling to Budapest, already here or that you are just planning one, BudapestZIN is an online guide with useful and interesting content which you may find practical for your travel planning. A crazy Hungarian man (Zsolt) and a smiley Singaporean lady (Zannnie) have been collecting all the necessary information you may need for a Budapest trip. We LIVE here!


Frequently Asked Questions:

Pricked by Zsolt72 with Nomao

Masterpieces of the court art in the Middle Ages in Buda and famous gothic sculptures discovered in 1974
Budapest in the Middle Ages Intresting models, computer programmes and reconstructions show the history and development of Buda, Pest and O'buda from the 5th century to the 17th century, based on the newest results of scientific researches.
Archeological exavations in Budapest The most significant findings of exavations in Budapest from the prehistoric ages to the 4th century.

Opening hours:
In January and February: 10am - 4pm

Dozens of horse riding schools are situated all over Hungary. The best developed horse riding programs in Europe are available here and it is no surprise that many people come to Hungary specifically to learn how to ride a horse.


It is more about the question of your desired level of proficiency at horse riding which you want to achieve. As well as depending on how much time you have. There are a variety of horse riding courses, surely you can find one that suits you.

There is also a multitude of stables that keep horses which are ideal if you already know how to ride a horse and just want to do some riding. Simply rent a horse for the day and the stables will point you in the right direction as to the best horse riding routes in the area. One known place in Hungary is horse riding on the Great Plain.

Some of the best horse-riding schools on the Great Plain in Hungary are found in the areas of Bugacpustza, Lajosmizsc & Hortogaby.

Hungary is also known as a breeding ground for certain types of horses, ranging from the most prestigious and the highly prized. Among these are Lipizzaner horses which can be best viewed at the stud farm in Szilvasvarad in the Northern Uplands.

If you are a serious horse rider, you usually would prefer to base your entire holiday around horse riding. There are several tour operators that can organize tours that last about one week and involve
riding a variety of different horses in different places in Hungary.

One example is Petneházy Lovascentrum és Huszár Csárda or Petneházy Horse Centre and Hussar Inn. (1029 Budapest, Feketefej utca 2)


Phone: 06-20-588-3571
Open: Sat.-Sun., 09-16
Transport: Bus 56, Hűvösvölgy; Bus 63, Adyliget
Petneházy Lovasiskola (Riding School), at
Address: II. Feketefej u. 2
Tel. 1/397-5048

The stable is open year-round Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Take bus no. 56 (56E is fastest) from Moszkva tér to the last stop, then bus no. 63 to Feketefej utca, followed by a 10-minute walk. As far out in the Buda Hills as you can go without leaving the city limits, the school is located in open country, with trails in the hills.

As a rough guide, the prices are as follows: Riding on the track with a trainer costs 2,500 Ft ($13) for 30 minutes; open riding with a guide is 4,500 Ft ($23). There are also pony rides for children at 1,500 Ft ($7.50) for 15 minutes, and there are 30-minute horse-cart rides at 10,000 Ft ($50) for a group of up to 10 people.

You may find many logos, links and referrers but there are no companies, hotels, travel agencies or airways companies behind us. We use them in this guide because they exist and we write about them based on our personal experience, and based on what we knew.

The site is not based on an objective evaluation, research or something like that. This is a very subjective, personal web page from a native Hungarian and from an expat living in Budapest. It is an online guide to help you.

The site was motivated by the lots of help we have got during our trips all over the world from local people. Now its our turn to pay it forward! If you have any questions feel free to contact us at smediazin@gmail.com !