News and Views

The 23rd October marks the anniversary of events in 1956, when Hungarians protested about being ruled over by the Soviet Union - in effect, ruled over by Russians. Hungarians take the day off work (it’s a holiday) and celebrate. The day is marked by numerous official events - and, occasionally, by some violence.

I took advantage of the fact that entry to the National Gallery was free and so went around there. The National Gallery is vastly different to the British National Gallery - in that all the work is by Hungarians (or, in any event, Austro-Hungarians). Some of it is quite impressive, and some is sobering - seeing names of artists whose death is recorded as Auschwitz brings a stark reminder to the price of freedom.

Last weekend I went to the zoo, which is by the City Park. The zoo is a reasonable size and is home to all the usual suspects: big cats, bears, elephants, giraffes, and penguins. It also has petting, farm, and children’s sections.

Unfortunately, I did not arrive at the zoo until 3.30 P.M. and it closes at 5.30 P.M. The closing time is later in the summer months and there are discounts for students, pensioners, children and families.

From my perspective the zoo’s layout is quite good; however, there are numerous houses dotted around and they are easily missed. Also because the entrances (bejárats) and exits (kijarets) are generally at opposite ends of the buildings, it means having to backtrack to avoid missing animals in the main zoo.

I managed to cover most of the zoo in around one hour, forty-five minutes. I would suggest the zoo should command about 2.5hours for couples or about 3 hours for a family. However, the zoo is a little distressing - some of the enclosures do not seem big enough (for instance the hippopotamus enclosure), and some animals around the zoo looked distressed or depressed. This is, of course, an argument against all zoos, but some more so than others.

The wolves seemed quite happy: one was playing a game with a young child who was peddling her cart alongside the enclosure as the wolf chased. The child found great merriment in going back and forth. The seals also seemed to genuinely enjoy their meal time as the keepers got them to perform some tricks for fish.

Budapest enjoyed a glorious weekend, with temperatures in the early 20s centigrade and bright blue skies on both Saturday and Sunday. The evenings were pleasant mild and it was a good weekend, relaxing and enjoyable.

Budapest is extremely beautiful as a city and, whilst I can only guess, was probably at its best this weekend. Spring days tend to be quite dreary in Europe before the trees get their leaves. Even when they do as summer comes, all you get is a lot of green, followed by months where it is too hot to enjoy the scenery. Winter can also be beautiful, but the cold makes people less adventurous and inclines towards the indoors.

Autumn is perfect. The autumnal colours of the trees, mixed with the fact that the fall has started already, is joyous to behold. Throw in blue sky, sunshine and the perfect temperature to walk around and enjoy an ice-cream, and this sort of weekend is a clear winner.

The good weather looks like it will hold a few more days and I hope for one (maybe 2, can I be selfish?) more glorious weekend. Once the cold weather arrives, then it is the time to visit the museums and the baths - for which Budapest is famed.

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The Hungarian National Museum was founded in 1802 and is set in a grand building that follows the Neo-Classical style. Unfortunately, when I went they had run out of English-language leaflets.

The section of the museum I went to see was permanent exhibitions chronicling the history of Hungary over the last 1000 years or so. Hungarian history is quite interesting, as Hungary is roughly in the geographic centre of continental Europe and, therefore, Hungary’s history represents a large part of European history.

Hungary has been constantly invaded over the years - from the Mongolian armies (which are often referred to as the Tartars, a little bit incorrectly), to the Turkish conquerors, to the Austrian Hapsburg’s, and beyond. Hungary was also on the losing side in both world wars and this has left a sore legacy for modern Hungarians, as historic Hungarian lands and ethnic Hungarians are now outside the modern borders.

The museum only costs HUF 1000 to enter, though a photo permit would cost an extra 2000 forints, and an audio guide 750 forints per hour. The museum also charges extra for temporary exhibitions. It is worth going just to see the building and the grounds. Whilst the exhibits are interesting and the 20 rooms will take about 90 minutes to explore, they will not excite but they will educate.

St Stephen's Basilica is one of the key landmarks in Budapest. For a people who initially rejected Christianity, it is an impressive building - especially externally. The inside is very grand and I need to make a return visit to go to the top of the dome on a sunnier day.

Of course, it is basically a Cathedral and like all Cathedrals, there’s the chapels, plus paintings, founts, and relics. Compared with other cathedrals, the inside is nothing exceptional - the best bit has to be the dome which is very ornate and sits atop a large open knave.

If you are coming to Budapest, then you will be coming here. From the front of St Stephen’s is a large open area and a street that means you can walk 100 metres away from the building and getting stunning photographs of it. Good for tourists as is makes an excellent backdrop to a portrait.

There was good weather at the weekend (27-28 September) for the first time since I arrived and I took the opportunity on the Saturday to visit two museums:

1. House of Terror
2. Museum of Fine Arts

The Museum of Fine Arts is set in a huge building on one side of Heroes’ Square and features many exhibitions. These change over time and cost varying amounts to enter. I paid HUF 1200 to visit the permanent exhibition. There are two parts to the permanent exhibition, one is paintings and sculptures, the other is artefacts from ancient Egypt. There is also scope for two special exhibitions as part of the price, but there were none when I visited.

I am not a huge fan of paintings and sculptures of the late nineteenth century and my mind was not turned by this collection.

The Egyptologist would enjoy the Egyptian artefacts. It seems there are Egyptian relics in every corner of the world, yet still there are loads in Egypt. A multi-millennia civilisation has its opportunity to leave an amazing legacy, and the Pharaohs did not disappoint.

However, one does not go to Budapest to learn about ancient Egypt. But it is a worthwhile visit if you can cover the Budapest-unique sights.

The House of Terror museum costs HUF 1500 (about £5) to enter and is in a building (60 Andrassy út) that stands as testimony to two periods in Hungary’s recent history. The first was when Hungary was ruled by the Arrow Cross Party, effectively a minion of Nazism. The second was post-War during the reign of the communists and their terror organisations - ÁVO and ÁVH - between 1945 and 1956.

The museum serves a dual purpose, to commemorate the victims of terror and also as an physical reminder of the dreadful acts carried out under terror-wielding dictatorships.

Whilst the museum was very poignant and serves a purpose, there was - in my opinion - too much based around video clips (which are just like watching The History Channel, but in Hungarian - some with English subtitles; some with no sound) and not enough physical material.

That said, this was an important period in history - for all of Europe, indeed the world - and the museum serves its purpose to remind us that sacrifices brought in the name of freedom are never futile. Which is a lesson not just for the past.

When I decided to go to Budapest for three months, I was looking forward to going to a city in Central Europe in the summer - albeit the tail-end of the season. The weekend before I flew out the temperature was forecast at 32°C. Indeed, it probably was hotter in the event. The week preceding my flight was equally hot right up-to the Thursday, and then the temperature started to decline.

The Saturday I flew out was meant to be quite warm, around 20°C, but I did not arrive until 6PM. I should now offer some advice to anyone going to someplace new. Do some research first. When I arrived at my flat I did not know its location, or the means of public transport in the area. Nor did I really know about Budapest’s public transport system. I had read a little bit, but not enough. Foolishly, I purchased a 1-week travel card for myself for 4000 HUF (Hungarian Forint). This is around £13 and is actually quite expensive when considered against other options. I had wanted to buy a monthly ticket for 8000 HUF, however, when I wentt to the ticket counter the lady said she was unable to sell me a monthly and that the ticket booth where they could (upstairs) was closed.

Here comes the second bit of advice when you go somewhere new - know the language! I do not speak any Hungarian, so I could not really question her. Of course, no sooner had I bought my ticket and gone for a wander than I found another Metro station that was open and could sell me a monthy pass! The monthly pass actually requires a passport photo and I had left my photos at my flat, and in any case they do not do refunds or exchanges.

If you come to Budapest and want to use the public transport - and you probably will as the tourist sights are quite spread out - then invest in either a book of 10 tickets (2400 HUF) or a Budapest Card (2 or 3 days). If you are staying near the centre in a hotel then it should not be a problem anyway.

Since it was getting dark and I was in a strange place, I did not do much exploration on my first evening. Instead, I pored over the metro and bus maps and made my way home. I was more adventurous on the Sunday, and also did some shopping. Another note of caution, many shops in Budapest do not give you bags unless you ask for them. Fortunately, I had my backpack to put stuff in and could carry a couple of bottles in my hands! Also, at many shops, vegetables must be weighed and priced before going to the checkout. I turned up with a “clove” of garlic and assumed they could price it at the till. Oops.

Budapest is quite attractive as a city, the Parliament building forms a beautiful image against the river. The monument on Gellert Hill can be seen for miles around, and the first glimpse of St Stephen’s Cathedral is a magical moment.

Budapest, like many cities, has a dangerous element to it. Therefore, I offer caution against going into any nightclub, strip club, or bar if you are unsure. Also, around the tourist areas be careful of pickpockets and girls who approach you - especially pretty blonde ones who suggest going for a drink along the Vaci utca (I await my first approach and probably avoid them as I am not dressed like a tourist). You are likely to be fleeced for a lot of money. If you also wish avoiding being ripped off, then consider going slightly away from the main tourist areas for meals, teas, coffees, and cakes. Wherever possible avoid taxis too and always check the fare first. There are a lot of very affordable restaurants to be found. Be aware the service can be slow.

If you have the inclination, then a walk along Andrassy Avenue (ut) is worth the time. Budapesters call it their Champs Elysee. There are some similarities: Both are tree-lined, and both have important monuments at the end. When I arrived at Heroes’ Square there was some sort of concert/rally going on. Beyond the Square is the City Park. This is also worth exploring. There was a runnin event when I went, and I also saw two wedding parties.

Over the coming week, I will slowly work my way around the tourist sights, I will take pictures and rate them. My camera is ready and so am I.

In the meantime if anyone reads this and is in Budapest feel free to contact me as it would be cool to go for a drink with people who know the town…

Rory Cellan-Jones poses a simple question:

How careful should we be about the way we express ourselves and how much we give away?

What's public and what's private on the web? (BBC dot.life blog)

The fundamental issue he is addressing is, should what we saying as an individual have an affect on our role as an employee? Since Rory is a BBC technology correspondent who is employed by the BBC (in effect, paid for by UK taxpayers), then if he comments about technology in a private capacity his private writings must have a bearing on his public role.

Luckily Rory is intelligent enough to realise this.

The real crux of Rory’s article is really about our online privacy. If we really wish to protect our privacy on-line then we would not use the internet at all. Of course, even that is not a real safeguard as we cannot know what information about us is made available on-line by other entities - organisations, governments, and individuals. Nor can we easily remove this information. Assuming we use the internet - and of you are reading this, then that is a fairly safe assumption (unless you are looking over someone’s shoulder) - then it is hard to protect our digital footprint. It is very hard to retract anything we’ve ever said on-line.

To illustrate the dangers of using a web site like Facebook is the case of Becky Spraggs. Her photo was lifted from her profile page and used on a porn site. There are also incidents of companies attempting to hack Facebook to gain its users' personal information.

People should also note that current and potential employers may check your Facebook account. Or their Bebo, MySpace, Twitter, etc., accounts. Posting too much personal information could also leave people open to cyber stalking.

As a basic minimum it makes sense to use privacy settings on all web sites to limit access to your profile and posts. If you must post controversial things, then do so under a pseudonym. Wherever possible avoid using your real date of birth, name, and address.

The Olympic medal table is ranked by the numbers of Gold medals in every country except the United States. The Total Medal ranking is used as the measure by the United States. Whereas, the rest of the world rejects this as a true measure as it values Gold, Silver and Bronze equally.

As a matter of fairness there should be a ranked (points) system adopted. The Points Total is based on the British Press's 5-3-1 system used in 1908. However, some may favour 3-2-1 as the scoring.

The Overall Medal Standings on the Official web site breaks down the medals won into Men’s and Women’s. Plus you can easily see who won every medal for each country and in which events.

The top of the table is dominated by China, USA, Russia, the big EU nations, and Australia. What is apparant is that some big countries like India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico and Brazil all underachieve. Whilst small nations like Cuba and Jamaica overachieve.

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