Construction in Budapest

Construction, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

This is at the end of Vaci Street. And the bridge you see in the background would be Liberty bridge.( Szabadság híd in Hungarian). It connects Buda and Pest across the Danube River. The two ends would be
Gellért tér (at the foot of Gellért Hill, with the Gellért Spa and Hotel Gellért)

AND

Fővám tér (with the Great Market Hall and the nearby Budapest University of Economics).

This picture is taken on the Pest side....en route to the Great Market Hall.

Paprika to the left and right

Paprika to the left and right, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

We arrived at Central market hall eventually. And we were greeted with ham, salami, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables and quite a bit of paprika. There are different types of paprika, sweet, hot, very hot and mild. Sadly the writing is in HUngarian so on reaching home .....whilst attempting to distribute my Paprika, I couldn't figure out the types.

Paprika is the symbolic spice of Hungary. It is produced by grinding dried deep red paprika pods of the pepper plant..

Interesting fact: The plant was brought to the country by the Turks in the 16th-17th century.

Szent István-bazilika

St Stephen's Basilica, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

St. Stephen's Basilica is a Roman Catholic Basilica in the centre of Budapest.It is named after the first King of Hungary It is the third highest building in Hungary. Which tells you they're not big into sky scrappers. The architecture is neo-classical. Construction started way back in 1851

I walked here on a crisp sunny morning when the temperature was 2 degrees. This was taken around 7:13am. Just look at the gorgeous sky. Behind this cathedral is the start of Andrassy Avenue (Andrassy Ut) which is an iconic boulevard in Budapest.

Interesting fact: The preserved right hand of St Stephen is kept in a shrine in the chapel of holy Right.This mumified hand is paraded in the streets on August 20th.

Lovely now if only I knew what the function is

Lovely now if only I knew what the function is, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I tried getting the girl at the shop to explain the function. She tried. But I'm still clueless. So if anyone knows what this is for...please leave a comment.

Hungarian peasant blouses

Hungarian blouses, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Also seen in Budapest embroidered blouses galore. These ones were plainer and I can't seem to find the more elaborate ones with the rich kalocsai hand richelieu embroidery in my stash of pics. ( May have been too enthralled odd-ing and agh-ing at them )

Although they are traditional, I wasn't so much in awe of the peasant blouses.They look suspiciously like some found at our local stores in Malaysia.

Hungarian embroidery

typical colours of Hungarian embriodery, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

They're big into embroidery in Budapest. Most shops were selling paprika ( a separate post for this) or embroidery or both. Here is just one such table runner seen in a shop along Vaci street. Hand sewn. There were cheaper versions sold outside along the street towards the end of the evening but we were told they were machine sewn.

Apparently Hungarian embroidery dates back to the middle ages where the number of embroidered cloth you had was a mark of wealth. Floral patterns are big. And I think they're called "Kalocsa". If you see the picture above, the flowers and leave are prominent with bright clear colors which work well together.

Interesting fact; the oldest embroidery in Hungary is the robe of the first King of Hungary Stephen the first and it can be found in the national museum. Apparently his wife helped embroider the robe. Well done to her!!!!

Modern Matryoshkas

Wooden doll with modern faces, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Look what else we found at the Central Market Hall, Budapest ( also known as Nagy Vasarcsarnok...quite a mouthful) Try saying that really fast without sounding silly. See! You can't. Little Russian dolls but this time, instead of the traditional face and costume...we have faces of presidents of various countries. 4300 florinths per doll. I didn't buy them. I have more pictures of the Central Market Hall but let me just say more thing about it here. The path from Vaci Utca to Central market hall is theoretically one straight line. What we didn't factor in was the rather messy construction right smack in the middle of Vaci street forcing you to walk either to the right or left but not the middle of the street. And the construction goes almost throughout the length of this shopping street. It put a slight dampener on the speed of shopping. We took a wrong turn ( or two) and went en route in a convoluted manner.

Matryoshka dolls

little russian doll fridge magnets, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

We saw a lot of these dolls, which I now know the proper name. (Having googled it) They're Russian in origin which may make you ask why are they seen in abundance in Budapest. First let's just have a go at describing them. They're wooden dolls shaped like an elongated egg. Their colors are gorgeous but you will have to take some time to look at each face. Some faces look better than others. Some have blonde hair but most have jet black hair.

The real Matryoshka dolls are a set of wooden dolls which have one doll inside another. As you remove them and set down aside, their sizes decrease until you finally come to a single weeny one. The more nested dolls in the set...you more you'll have to pay.And they're all made from a single block of wood. Interesting yes?

The Russians ruled over Hungary for many years. So its inevitable we see a strong influence in their culture and souvenir:)

Secret Box

Secret Box, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

We saw a lot of these being sold. Mandatory in all souvenir shops in Budapest. It's called a secret box because you cant open it at all by pulling at the drawers or lifting the lid up. If you slide the back of the box, there is a mechanism which will allow you to open up a piece of the wood and you will see your key. Open it up and you have a space ( very small really) to store your secret stash

What is a Trabant?

What is a Trabant?, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

The trabant is a car produced previously in East Germany. It was exported mainly to the other communist countries and this includes Hungary. It was meant to be fast and durable. The average lifespan was 28 years. The engine was not the most efficient. as it emitted a large amount of exhaust fumes. With the reunification of Germany. the Trabant prouction line eventually closed in 1991.

This many explain why there were more than a few T-shirts being sold with the "Trabant" on it.

Hard Rock Cafe Budapest

Hard Rock Cafe Budapest, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

HRC Budapest was so near our hotel it was inevitable that we would walk pass and walk in and spend some money here. We had a meal here too. The ambience and arrangement was better than the HRC at Barcelona. It was halloween and we had some cotton cobwebs to look pass if you were looking for some T shirts on the higher shelves.

HRC is located in a nice old building along Vaci Street andVörösmarty square. It is housed by a UNESCO Heritage building. ( You can see it best from this angle) It first opened in Budapest on the 14th of December 2011.

CLick here HRC Budapest  for a much nicer picture found on another site.

Here is the address:
1051 Budapest, V. district,
Deák Ferenc street 3-5

Traditional Hungarian outfits

Traditional Hungarian outfits, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

These outfits looked so colourful I had to restrain self from buying a set for the niece. If you look closer there is ornate detailing and the quite a bit of colours which make the outfit look simply gorgeous. The cloth as thick and looked a bit too warm for Malaysian weather. That and the possibility the niece would refuse to wear it....made me err on the side of caution and leave it well be.

Hungarian embroidery dates back to the 18th century. There isn't a single name for the traditional costume.I googled to try and find one.  The colours and embroidery vary. There is a lot of richelieu and broderie anglaise. Richelieu embroidery appeared first in the Renaissance in Italy. The word comes from the name of Cardinal Richelieu who apparently liked this a lot. Broderie Anglaise is french for English embroidery. And it is a different form of embroidery.