Author: Budapest Guide

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány will have ministers from more than 20 countries visiting Hungary today and tomorrow, and therefore big areas in the fifth district will be closed today and tomorrow, and sometime the area around the Castle and the funicular will be closed as well. Parking will not be allowed in this area either (around the Parliament, Roosevelt Ter and in this area)! Only during arrival and departure of the representatives will the main road leading to and from the airport be closed.

Nabucco conference
The goal of the Nabucco conference is to discuss the possibility to build a gaspipe from Russia which will pass through Ukraine, which has become even more important considering the gas problems experienced not long ago. They will also discuss if other nations could help transport gas to Europe, so representatives will come from Iraq, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

Budapest news

Since Sunday Ferihegy terminal 1 is up and running again. There were some discussion if the Budapest Airport Zrt. wanted to open it again as long as the parts are negotiating, but now they opened it! Hopefully some seriousity will come into the situation now and therefore we will not see any more strikes at the Budapest airports in the close future! I guess that is a risky wish, at least considering how many times the workers have been striking the last year, but the hope is the last thing to die…

Yesterday we reported that a new strike has started at Budapest, Ferihegy Airport. It started yesterday at 16.00 and since then all traffic is arriving and departing from Ferihegy Airport Terminal 2. For all low-cost airlines that means that they will depart and arrive to Terminal 2, no matter what is written in their papers!

As last time the security people are striking, and though they have been trying to find a solution since the 22 December, they have not succeeded. Today at 10.00 they will sit down yet another time to discuss and negotiate, and hopefully find a solution to the problems.

We have still not received any reports about what life is like at the airport (long lines etc.), but we will write more as we get more information. Our advice to everyone is to be on the airport at least 2 hours before departure, as there for sure will be information problems and long waiting lines, at least by the security checks.

Fresh updates and news can be found on our front page, or at the blog frontpage.

A new strike has just started at Ferihegy Budapest Airport. It started at 16.00, and it is continuing the strike that was started before Christmas, but that ended on the 22 December. It was just a temporary break, and we were promised that if they could not come to agreement, new strikes would break out at the Budapest Airport. And now it has!

We still do not know much about it, how big the delays are expected to be, and what the consequences will be. Last time during the strike all traffic left from Budapest Ferihegy 2, but no such thing has been said yet. We will report back when we know more about the strike.

Last week we could experience some smog restrictions in Budapest as only those with paried or impaired licenseplates were allowed to drived on selected days. Now much larger restrictions are on the way. From October 20 this year all cars that has a yellow hexagonal sign below the dash on the licenseplate will be restricted when it comes to driving within Budapest. Those with a green color on the hexagonal sign below the dash will be free to drive. The restrictions will last from October 20 to March 8.

Those cars without catalysts will be suffering because of this, also those with a non regulated catalyst, and also most old cars from before 1998.

Below you can see a map from Origo showing where only those with green hexagons can drive between October 20 and March 8. Read full article about this here (Origo – Hungarian)

Transportation in Budapest

Yesterday a new Second World War bomb was found and “disarmed” in Budapest. This time it was found in the first district of Budapest, in Czakó Utca. Earlier (July 29 – 2008) we wrote about a bomb they found in the ninth district of Budapest, and some weeks before that a bomb was discovered in the 13th district of Budapest.

Yesterday they did not really disarm the bomb, but instead they dug a ditch for the bomb, and exploded it safely inside the hole they made for it. The bomb was a cluster bomb that had a weight of almost 25 kg.

I always receive emails when people comment on some post in our blog, and some minutes ago I received a funny one, with a solution to the entire gas problem. Curious? Read the comment found at the bottom of our page about the “Gas crisis in Eastern-Europe“.

Comment problem
Our blog has no way of showing the last comments made on any of the posts in our blog. That means that it is impossible for the viewers to find out if someone has commented on a blog post, if they do not check back on every single blog post continously. So, I am looking for some script or help to get the possibility to show somewhere on the blog frontpage, or in a menu, or somewhere else, the last 5-10 comments made on any blog article throughout the entire blog.

I know that Budapestagent has something similar at his blog, but as far as I see he is using WordPress, while our blog uses the Blogger platform. I am not sure if influences the thing, but if anyone can help, I would be very grateful!