During the lunch break on the 16th, Iman and I had a little tour in the Central Market Hall (Nagyvásárcsarnok). It's a big indoor marketplace where you can find food, wine, all kinds of crafts, etc.
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Central Market Hall (Nagyvásárcsarnok). A wine stall.
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Central Market Hall (Nagyvásárcsarnok). Very popular place, especially during lunch time (we had ours there).
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Looking to the entrance from the inside of Central Market Hall (Nagyvásárcsarnok).
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The front of Central Market Hall (Nagyvásárcsarnok). It was opened in 1897, as a market hall.
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One end of Liberty Bridge (Szabadság híd, built between 1894-1896), which allows tram crossing too. I was walking across this bridge back to the conference hotel (Hotel Gellért).
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Tons of new cars shipping via Danube.
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West bank of Danube.
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West bank of Danube. Behind is Gellért Hill (Gellért-hegy) - in many wars it was used as a strategic site: e.g., in 1956 Hungarian Revolution the Soviet tanks shelled the city from the hill.
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Across Liberty Bridge is my conference hotel Hotel Gellért - famous for its thermal baths. Speaking from my experience it's the worst hotel in its class: it's expensive (USD 200+ a night), the facilities were old, the room was not clean (bathroom), the service we received from the front desk was horrible, and - there's no air conditioning! We stayed here for 3 days only because of the symposium.
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One side of Hotel Gellért.
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After the symposium we're back for more exploration: this is the Opera House (Magyar Állami Operaház), built between 1878-1884.
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Iman at the Opera House (Operaház).
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Near the entrance of the Opera House is a statue of Liszt, a famous Hungarian composer/pianist.
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Liszt and yours truly.
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The reception of the Opera House (Operaház).
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We then walked down on Andrássy út, and ran into an Apple Center!
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St Stephen's Basilica (Szent István-bazilika), one of the tallest buildings in Hungary (the other is the Parliament). It took nearly 50 years to build (completed in 1905).
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Modern building in the business district.
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Iman and a funny sculpture.
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This appears to be a wall full of year numbers, but what is it for?
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Shepherd and his lambs.
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Statue of Ferenc Deák (1803-1876), a well-respected statesman in Hungary, at Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér).
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It's Saturday and that's a flea market at Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér)!
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Live performance @ Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér). In the background is the building housing Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia).
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Tramway along the bank of Danube (in the far back you can see a bit of the Parliament building). Budapest's first tramline was opened in 1887, only 6 years after the first public tram system deployed in Berlin, Germany.
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More than one time we spotted these Trabbi ("Paper Car"): these were produced by East German auto maker Sachsenring AG in the cold-war era ("people's car"). They are cheap and durable little cars: the body was actually made of plastic containing resin strengthened by wool or cotton!
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The Hungarian Parliament Building (Országház), built between 1885-1904. It sits on the bank of the Danube, and is the tallest building (along with St Stephen's Basilica) in Budapest (96m, symbolizing the nation's millennium, 1896).
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Iman and I at the Hungarian Parliament Building (Országház).
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Statue near the Parliament building.
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Yes I can use a bit rest too.
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The Parliament building sits at the bank of Danube.
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The Hungarian Parliament Building (Országház).
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I think it's Akadémia u. - we just started walking from the Parliament building back to Roosevelt tér (for food!).
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The Chinese translation is weird: "Hungarian Kung Fu School for Bears"?
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Quiet street leading to the Danube.
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Interesting building on Akadémia u.
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A relief on the wall of Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia). On November 3, 1825 at a debate in the Parliament, Count István Széchenyi donated one year of his income to found the Academy.
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Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér): nice weekend, nice weather (a bit hot though).
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Now we're looking for some red-hot Hungarian cuisine!
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You can get an idea how hot it is in the tent by just looking at him.
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Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia).
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Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér):couple with their toddler.
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Live performance @ Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér).
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Many interesting crafts displayed here: little animals made of hay.
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Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér): look they even have a mouse and a piglet!
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Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér): a white mouse!
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Funny hair clips: that's right, those are pasta, banana and capsules.
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Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér):fridge magnets.
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Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér):more funny hair clips.
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Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér):Iman got a deal!
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Roosevelt square (Roosevelt tér): bow to your old man!
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Inside Sofitel Atrium Budapest, a very modern hotel near Roosevelt tér. I wish we stayed here instead of Hotel Gellért (and it's cheaper too).
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Iman at Vörösmarty tér (Vörösmarty square).
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Live dance performance at Vörösmarty tér (Vörösmarty
square).
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Live dance performance at Vörösmarty tér (Vörösmarty
square).
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Live dance performance at Vörösmarty tér (Vörösmarty
square): from their back.
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No this is NOT part of the performance.
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Iman at Vörösmarty tér (Vörösmarty square).
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Vörösmarty tér (Vörösmarty square): no this is
not another version of a peeing boy statue.
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A clock at Vörösmarty tér (Vörösmarty square).
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Kristóf tér: what's the story behind this?
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A random building.
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