St Gellert in his spring finery

Overlooking the river, on the same hill as the Citadel is a statue to a gentleman called Gellert, who came to Hungary as a Bishop from Italy and left as a saint after the Magyar decided that they didn't want to become Christian - legend has it that they put him in a barrel with nails pointing in from the outside or a cart and pushed him down the hill - unfortunately for him, no miracle occurred and he was a made a saint for his troubles. It only delayed the process of the conversion of the Magyar who eventually became christian and felt so quilty that they built a statue for him - only slightly concerning is the fact that the waterfall (which is turned off in the winter) is supposed to follow the course of the barrel so they weren't that sorry really!! But then again, he is now the patron saint of Hungary so maybe there is some sympathy after all

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Gellert

Mixing with Royalty and the Right Wing in Warsaw

Whilst on a business trip in Warsaw the other week, it was interesting to be exposed to the right wing of CEE and also royalty from Hungary - apparently they were all there for the same reason as there was some big right wingers together type conference in the Marriott Hotel - it could not have been more comic book if it tried - thuggish looking leaders with even more thuggish looking bodyguards (pretending to be shadow cabinet ministers) and wives/mistresses/escorts in short skirts, lots of make up and high price/low taste fashion

The highlight was walking into the hotel lobby to have both my Hungarian and Croatian colleagues pointing out notable righ wingers, to be join by the teams from the Czech Republic and Slovakia doing likewise - all to the backdrop of a pretty significant anti-right protest outside of the hotel front doors that apparently put 4 policemen and several protesters in casualty - nice timing again (2nd riot I have been close to in my 6 months here but I suppose it makes up for missing out on the G20 fun in London)

On the flight back to Budapest, we were joined by a certain Gyorj Hapsburg, who apparently, if the Hapsburgs were still in power, would be the current King of Hungary. He was an MEP and President of the Pan-European Union but now seems to have focused his attention on politics in Hungary and is standing for the MDF party (Hungarian Conservatives). Oddly enough, he admits to liking Brtiney Spears - I am not sure if that would do David Cameron's election hopes any benefit but...

World religion on the Citadel hill

Whilst walking over the hill the other evening, I found this rather strange statue, not really sure what it represents as someone had very kindly vandalised the english language sign and so I couldn't translate it but it represents 4 founders of world religions (Jesus, Buddha, Lao-sen (?) and Phantokoum (?)) all being paid homage by Abraham

If anyone knows any more please shed some light on it for me

Budapest from the Citadel hill on a summer evening

The sun has come out and the city has really changed over the space of a couple of weeks into a vibrant green city from somewhere in the winter that can be slightly depressing in the cold, dark grey light of the central European winter

Budapest Graffitti

About half way up the citadel hill is what looks like a disused pumping station but the outside is covered with some pretty artistic graffitti - not sure what it all means but thought it was worth sharing

Budapest Exiles BBQ - Veiro's party trick

Within the Budapest Exiles Rugby Club we have a very talented Italian player - not only is he a very good prop, he also cooks a mean BBQ and in his spare time, blows fire whilst waiting for the bangers to cook on the side of the Danube as the attached video will demonstrate

(Just so there is no confusion, the gentleman behind Veiro in the Scotland shirt is not me, but rather the wonderful 'Majom' (or Lijos to give him his christian name) - Majom means monkey and he has been referenced in a previous post about one of my first nights out in Budapest and is the life and soul of any party - he speaks very little english and despite his rather scary appearance (130 kgs/shaved head etc) is one of the nicest people you could ever meet as well as being a mobile climbing frame for any passing children)

Hungarian health water - add this to the lst of Hungarian liquids I have saved you the bother of sampling

Healthy water - if this is what health smells like in Hungary then I would rather be ill

Someone in the office decided that trying some Hungarian Health water was a good idea - well, it was an idea of some sort but the healthy is not something I can really agree with - basically, imagine a dozen really really rotten eggs crushed into a very small space and sealed in a bottle for several years before being unleashed on an unsuspecting public and believe me - not much induces a gag reflex in my experience but this is definitely something to be avoided if you are feeling slightly green about the gills.

Madly enough, it has to be bought in a chemists and is genuinely seen as a cure for all ailments - personally, I think they have drained the city baths for its annual clean, bottled it , completed with human interaction and hoodwinked people into believing that it is good for them