Blog now part of standard design

Today we updated the design of our blog, and from now it will be a part of the standard design of the "Guide to Budapest". We hope this will make it easier for you readers, and that you will find what you are looking for faster than before!

We daily receive emails from people wanting us to reserve tables for them at New Years eve. Some restaurants are starting to get full, so if you want us to reserve a table for you, we advice you to read our article about Budapest on new years eve, and send us an email as soon as you have decided where to go!

Picture of the Musem of Fine Arts (picture made 24 December, 2008)

Szentendre updates

According to Caboodle.hu the Skanzen museum in Szentendre is to receive big funds from the European Regional Development Fund (2 Billion forints), and they will use it to develop the Open Air Museum (Skanzen). I was surprised to hear of the size of the area; it is five times bigger than the Margaret Island. For those who have walked there it is then possible to undestand that they are in great need of the Skanzen railway, to be built using the funds they will receive.

After the plan this will all be finished by the end of 20101.

If you are looking for a hotel in Szentendre, you can find it using our hotelsearch-tool.

Two museums in one day

Since we started focusing on the museums of Budapest in our Budapest guide, several museums have been visited and so also yesterday. I had the privilege of visiting the Museum of Applied Arts and the Holocaust Museum, and I must admit that I liked one of them a lot, and the other fell a little bit outside my area of interest.

First I headed of to the Holocaust Museum in the ninth district of Budapest. As I enjoy history this was something that I had been looking forward to for a long time. Everything started with a metal detector, and after that I could enjoy the museum. It was very modern and all information could be found in both English and in Hungarian. Several screens served me with information, not only about the Jews, but also about the Roma (gypsies) and the effect Holocaust had on them.

Holocaust Museum Budapest

Moving on I could see, read and hear about the historical background for the holocaust, focusing especially on the effect it had on Hungary. Statistics were also shown showing information on the size of the Jewish population in Hungary throughout the last decades.

In the end I could enter into a Synagogue, which was once destroyed, but has now been built up again together with the museum.

After the museum visit I went guiding a group of tourists, and afterwards I went on to visit the Museum of Applied Arts. First of all I felt like I needed an explanation on “What is Applied Art.” As I read in Wikipedia I found it to be explained as: “Applied art refers to the application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use. Whereas fine arts serve as intellectual stimulation to the viewer or academic sensibilities, the applied arts incorporate design and creative ideals to objects of utility, such as a cup, magazine or decorative park bench.”

Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest

A little bit smarter I was ready to enter into this building which almost every tourist see (coming with taxi from the airport), but almost no one enters. I decided to check out the permanent exhibition “Collectors and Treasures” showing the history of the Museum of Applied Arts, and showing articles they have received and bought since its first days in 1872. Among the most special objects inside was the clock of the Holy Roman Emperor and Hungarian King Maximilian II from 1566. My personal favorite was a chess table from the start of the 19th century, with very special figures and a table not like other chess tables I have seen before.

Next to the objects some history and background could always be found concerning who gave it, and how it enriched the museum and its collection of different articles.

To me the Museum of Applied Arts became a little bit boring, but that is probably because of my lack of interest in this subject. As a person who enjoys history a lot more the Holocaust Museum became a great experience, and then looking at the cupboards, clocks, porcelain and similar objects did not make me feel like in heaven. But, for those who like Art Nouveau the Museum of Applied Arts is a must to see, both the inside and the outside.

Weekend taster in Budapest

What is the best thing to start with on a shiny Saturday morning in Budapest? Obviously you would take a walk with your family on the Margaret-island, walk your dog in the neighbourhood or you would have a morning coffee with your friends in a pleasant café, watching as the world goes by. However, until December 7th there is yet another great opportunity to find a good programme in the downtown.

If you are interested in history and culture, you might already have guessed. Or not yet? Well, Heroes’ square is the place to be! The Museum of Fine Arts has organized a fabulous exhibition once again: Pharaonic Renaissance. For a price of 9€ (2200 HUF) you will get a small piece of the ancient Egypt. I am saying small because we do not have to be experts to tell that Egypt is full of treasures, as the world of pharaohs has got so much to offer that our mind cannot even comprehend it.

Coffins, obelisks, jugs, statues and idols, even a mummy and lots of other well-preserved and valuable artifacts have been gathered in one collection from famous museums such as the British Museum and the Louvre, just to mention a few, nevertheless some of these artifacts are the very own of the Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition is organized in a chronological order, starting with the oldest dynasties of Egypt and concludes with the period after the Persian occupation, when once again and for the last time in their history, the renaissance of the pharaohs had come. In a scientific context the peak of the exhibition is the Stone of Palermo on which we can see an ancient list of the dynasties that had ruled over Egypt during thousands of years.

Throughout our visit we will receive a perspective of the olden days, the Egyptian way of daily life, political and religious thinking and culture but if this is still not enough, the museum building itself is already worth a visit, whereas the museum offers a range of group activities during opening hours, e.g. dancing, painting, etc.. But if you are still mesmerized by the smell of morning coffee in your mind, the museum’s got it as well.

Budapest museums in focus

We would like our page to contain information useful for people coming to Budapest, and som expats stuck in Budapest, and that is why we have decided to include information about museums as well at our page. Starting today we will add information about museums in Budapest, and if capacity allows us to, we will also visit the temporary exhibitions to be found in the different museums around, and review them! Sounds good, doesn´t it?

So far we have added a page in general about museums in Budapest, and we just added a page about one of our favorite museums in Budapest as well; the Museum of Fine Arts.

More museums, information, news and pictures will come later!