Blog

Torkos Csütörtök on March 6th in Hungary

The neverending story named Torkos Csütörtök, or Gluttonous Thursday, is returning in 2014 as well. On this day you can eat and drink at half price in more than 800 restaurants all across Hungary, and it is a day when restaurants are packed to the rim with people.

If you are in Budapest on March 6th make sure to check it out and visit one of the restaurants participating in the program. Not all restaurants do, but quite a lot, so the chance of bumping into restaurants participating as you walk around in the streets of Budapest is in fact quite big.

There are no lists available yet with the names of the restaurants participating in the Torkos Csütörtök in 2014, but it will come within shortly, and we will write more about it then!

Torkos Csütörtök in Budapest
Torkos Csütörtök in Budapest

Deep Purple concert in Budapest

Deep Purple BudapestWe have great news for classic rock music fans, because the popular band Deep Purple will give a concert at one of the biggest stadium in the Hungarian capital, the Papp László Budapest Sport Arena at 17 February 2014!

The Deep Purple formed in 1968 in United Kingdom, but they had an almost 10 year break from 1976. They re-formed in 1984 and they are still very successful. The members are Ian Gillan singer, Steve Morse guitarist, Roger Glover bass guitar player, Don Airey pianist and Ian Paice drummer. During their career, they sold 100 million albums in worldwide, and they was added to Guinness World Record Book as the loudest rock band. Fortunately the Deep Purple relatively often visits Hungary, they have been here 10 times since 1987, and the last occasion was last summer at Fezen Festival. Their concert in February is going to be the 11th time when they welcome their friends on Hungarian stage, and it could be a great occasion for you too, to see the probably best concert in 2014 in Budapest.

The extra in this Deep Purple concert is, the band what will play before the legends is an emerging Hungarian rock and roll band, the Ivan and the Parazol! If you like the hot rock music, what brings you back to the atmosphere of 60s and 70s, you won’t be disappointed. Moreover Parazol’s songs are in English, so you wouldn’t worry about language differences either.
Do not miss Deep Purple at 17 February in Budapest, because it will be unforgettable!

For tickets and more information, visit the Budapest Events Calendar

Wedding exhibition in Budapest

We would like to talk about a fantastic exhibition what you can see in Hungary, exactly in the capital, Budapest between 1 and 2 February 2014. Naturally this is the Wedding Exhibition, what is organized for the 10th time at Papp László Budapest Sport Arena.

The place has lots of advantages for the exhibiting companies and visitors as well, because the territory’s size is very important. The wedding exhibition’s main audience is the family. Visitors can delight in fantastic dresses and accessories, and get great ideas. The exhibited objects are perfect for weddings and balls too. Naturally you don’t have to have somebody in your family or friend team, who want to marry or have prom, because if you love beautiful things, this exhibition would be perfect for you. Moreover, the accessories can steal anybody’s heart, even if they don’t want to escort you to the exhibition. Here you can find everything what you want; chariot, chocolate fountain, jewelries, flower decoration things; moreover you can get ideas for honeymoon too at Sport Arena.

Don’t forget, if you are a lucky one, who can spend some days in Budapest around 1 and 2 February 2014, put the 10th Wedding Exhibition at Papp László Budapest Sport Arena to your program list! Have a great time!

How to watch the Winter Olympics in Budapest?

Will you be in Budapest beween February 7th and February 23rd? That is the time when the Winter Olympics will be arranged in Sochi, and with lots of Germans who might win Gold Medals, you probably want to watch your favorite athletes as they compete in Sochi. But, how to watch the Winter Olympics in Budapest?

If you want to watch it on TV you can for example watch EuroSport in your hotel. But, they will not send everything all the time, so if you want to have more to pick from, why not go and watch the Winter Olympics in Budapest at a sports pub instead?

For those who would rather watch the Winter Olympics in front of your computer screen, meaning that you want to watch the Winter Olympics online, and then hopefully with English voices giving you the latest reports and news, then that can be done. However, most English channels broadcasting from the Winter Olympics use a geo-block, so that viewers outside their nation can not watch it online. That can be bypassed luckily, and if you want to know more about how to watch from the Winter Olympics with English commentaries online, read the linked article.

Good luck, and have fun!

Three beautiful Budapest wallpapers

Would you like to get a feeling of joy every time you look at your Windows wallpaper? Maybe get a feeling of love, longing or beauty? Then check out these three beautiful Budapest wallpapers which we offer you totally for free, all you need to do is to share this page on Facebook, Google+ or on Twitter.

If you share this page you will get to see small versions of the beautiful wallpapers together with their download links. So you can then simply download all three wallpapers, or if you have one favorite, download that one and add it as your Windows wallpaper. We can guarantee you that it will spice up your Windows background, especially if you are still going with the boring Windows default wallpapers. To change your background in Windows 7, follow these instructions.

Three beautiful Budapest wallpapers

[sociallocker id=”7474″]Budapest wallpaper 1

Daily life in Budapest wallpaper
Budapest Windows background 4
A nice tunnel in Budapest
Budapest windows background
Budapest panorama

By clicking the pictures you will be sent to the full size version which you can save to your computer. The easiest way of setting a pictures as your Windows desktop background is to right click the full resolution size version of the picture and press “Set As Desktop Background.” [/sociallocker]

These background, Windows wallpapers, are of high quality, but not fantastic quality, meaning that if you have a desktop resolution higher than 1280*768, they might look a bit blurry. But, hopefully you will be able to enjoy them anyway!

 

 

Grocery store at Budapest Airport

Supermarket at Budapest AirportBudapest Airport just got better as a grocery store recently opened at Budapest Airport Terminal 2B. The grocery store is located at the arrival level, meaning that once you get to the airport, or arrive at the airport, you can do some shopping at once.

The shop belongs to the SPAR chain, and at the 300m2 grocery store located at the airport you can find fresh pastry, premium quality products and most of the things people normally buy in grocery stores. The new shop has given 21 new jobs, which is a bonus and the supermarket is to be open from 5.00 to 22.00 every day.

Will this be a success? Maybe! Would you go shopping in a grocery store at an airport?

For more information about Budapest Airport, read this article.

Sweet dreams in Budapest

In our next compilation we would like to inform you about five hidden and lovely coffee shops and stores in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. These places are not part of the guidebooks, but the reason is not because they don’t deserve to be there, but their charm is that they are not full with tourists. If you like to know more about the sweet dreams, read our article about these five special places.

1. Azték Choxolat

The lovely coffee shop/chocolate store located at a hidden place. If you are in the National Museum’s area, you should definitely go into the 22 Károly Boulevard, where you can find the Azték Choxolat. Don’t be afraid, the coffee shop located in a building’s yard, so feel free yourself and go into the gate, follow the tables. At the Choxolot, you can buy special spicy chocolates and lots of different hot chocolates.

2. Cukorka (Candy)

We recommend this place mostly for those, who don’t fear for their teeth. The operators of this place are the students of one of the most outstanding art university, the MoME. They also make the candys. Mostly you can buy sweets like the famous candy cane here, but not only in Christmas style. Moreover, you can taste the delicious lollypops too. The location of the store is not complicated; it is close to the Azték Choxolat, near to the National Museum, at 7 Múzeum Boulevard. This address is close to Astoria, and this store also located in a building’s yard.

Sugar in Budapest

3. Sugar Shop

Let’s talk about a little bit more about candy. The Sugar Shop located at 48 Paulay Ede Street. The easiest way to reach this place is from Opera, Andrássy Avenue. At Sugar Shop you really can buy everything, what you want: Smarties, Skittles, lollypops, lots of different sweets, so you definitely will find your favorite. The design of the place is also memorable, you should see it.

4. Sirius Tea House

Leave the candy and let’s talk about something mysterious. Our next place what we want to show you is the Sirius Tea House. The address is 13 Bródy Sándor Street, what also located at center city, near to Astoria, at Uránia. The tea house’s entrance is not showy; it’s only a little note on the door, what inform you that you are at the right place. It could happen that you read Altair instead of Sirius, but don’t be afraid; the two names are one place. Special teas, huge selection, comfort and water pipe welcome the guests here. The most nervous people become peaceful here.

5. Nagyi Palacsintázója (Granny’s pancake shop)

The last star of our list is not a real hidden place, but it’s really Hungarian and delicious. This is Nagyi Palacsintázója. You can find this lovely place at several place in the center city, for example at Buda, at Széll Kálmán Square, Batthyányi Square and at Óbuda, near to the Auchan shopping center. At Pest you can run into the tasty Hungarian pancake specialties in the popular Westend City Center and in district 5 at Petőfi Sándor Street. Good appetite!

We hope, this list make sweet your and partners’ time in Budapest. You can choose any of the listed places, of maybe all of them, and you won’t be disappointed!

Christmas market at Széll Kálmán Square

When holidays are coming, Budapest becomes full with lights. The capital of Hungary really can do Christmas atmosphere, and the best proof is that people run into several advent markets in different points of the city. The most popular is the one at Vörösmarty Square, but besides it, you can find fantastic Christmas markets at Kálvin Square and Széll Kálmán Square as well. We would like to talk about the last one.

Szell Kalman ter
Széll Kálmán Square is one of the busiest places at the Buda side of the capital. This square is one final station of the tram number 4 and 6, what have lots of stops on the whole Grand Boulevard. Besides it you can reach it with metro number 2, what also have lots of stations in the whole center city.

Christmas market at Moszkva terSellers usually open their stands at early forenoon, and they close at early evening. Their products are so varied: you can buy handmade objects, sweets, little presents and clothes. However it is not one of the greatest Christmas markets, there is large selection and good atmosphere, so we offer everybody to visit the Christmas market at Széll Kálmán Square. Who knows? Maybe you would find the perfect gifts for your loved ones here.

Girls asking for the way in Budapest are not really asking for the way!

Yesterday we received an email from a group of some guys that we helped with airport transfers and some other programs in Budapest. They were very satisfied with everything, but before the end of the email they share a story we unfortunately have heard so many times before. A very traditional bar scam story where you end up with an extremely high bill.

The guys walked in Vaci utca, the shopping street in Budapest, and as they walked there (around the Ice Bar/Burger King area), they met two girls looking very confused. They stood there with a map asking for directions, and as polite guys these men stood at their service. After describing the way the girls asked if the guys had any further plans, and then they asked if they wanted to join them for some beer somewhere nearby. They went to a bar/restaurant in a cellar nearby (they guess the address it is located somewhere between Vaci utca 11-15, but not really sure) and without looking at the menu they started to order drinks to themselves and to the girls. One drink turned into quite a lot of drinks, and then when they got the bill, a really big one. Just take a look yourself!

super bill in Vaci utca
Very expensive drinks at traditional Hungarian bar scam

Above you can see what their final bill looked like. They drank a lot, but as you can see, the prices are far higher than they should be. This is of course a very traditional story that us living and working in Budapest has heard several times, but we just post this story as a warning to those who have not yet been in Budapest. Avoid night clubs and bars if you are not sure about their reputation and do not go out to have drinks with “innocent” girls or ladies asking for directions, asking for the way or starting flirting with you on the street. It might seem charming, and you might feel young and attractive again, but what attracts them to you is not really your look, but your wallet and your VISA card!

Want to make sure other people avoid such scams? Share the story on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter! Experienced similar stuff yourself? Write a comment and let us and everyone else know!

City Park ice rink opened today!

The Christmas season is here. It does not only mean Christmas markets here and there in Budapest, but it also means that the beautiful ice rink in the city park is opening.

Today was the day (November 28th) when the ice rink opened in 2013. That was exactly one day after the Christmas market at the Vorosmarty ter, but earlier than the Christmas market in front of the St. Stephens Basilica. The latter has a little ice rink as well, but that is super small and quite fake compared to the one in the city park.

Want to do something romantic in Budapest? Go iceskating in the city park. But, dress up, because there is nothing romantic to freezing your ears off, and it can get really cold in Budapest nowadays, at least if feels very cold!

Ice skating in Budapest

The entrance fee for adults to enter into the ice rink is 1500 HUF (during weekdays). You need to pay 500 HUF more as you arrive for a plastic card, but you will get the money back as you hand the plastic card back. On Friday evenings and on Saturdays and Sundays te entrance fee is 2000 HUF for adults (plus the 500 HUF).