The sights of our neighborhood

Some buildings in Budapest have no plaster damage. Most are losing some plaster such as in this picture. We are getting cable TV installed on this street so the satellite dishes may become rare. Many windows have flower boxes.

This car was rear-ended about six months ago and parked where it still sits. This is a free parking area, otherwise it would have been fined a huge amount for remaining on the street.

If you park too close to the building and do not leave room for the people to walk this is what will happen to your car. What a job to remove the car from the parking space!












Across the street from the mission office is a shop that sells curtains.

Notice the parking fee machine.

What we see on our way to and from work

This postbox / stationary store is just below our apartment. The blue box with 3121 is a parking fee machine. Diligent parking guards patrol the street and will instantly issue you a $8 fine if you leave your car without paying the parking fee.









Some shops have their steep entrances on the side walk.




























Telephone booths such as this one are rare since everyone seems to own at least one cell phone.














Further down our street are many small shops, including a tailor, a wine merchant, two jewelry shops, a travel agent, a veterinarian, an antique shop, a leather shop, a store that sells art supplies, a photo processing store, a Chinese clothing store, a defunct bar that is for sale, and the entrances to the apartment houses above these shops.

Wedding

The groom is our landlord, Molnar Zsolt, a lead singer in the Budapest Opera. The bride is Yvette, a set designer at the Opera House.















Zsolt is about 6'5" tall. Here the happy couple is receiving congratulations from their wedding guests.



















We traveled to the wedding on this streetcar.













This is the sign designating a street car stop. One needs to be able to understand the simple schedule posted under the sign to successfully use this form of public transportation.

Whips

Whipping is a favorite activity of LDS missionaries in Hungary on their preparation days. To make the whip crack loudly takes some skill and much energy. Many missionaries take whips home as souvenirs. The handles of the whips can be very ornate.




















Sometimes the whipper snapper gets tangled up in her whip.




















These guys are really proud of their whips. They massage them with oil to keep them limber and use special natural cord for the tips so they will crack with a loud bang.

Ferry cross the Balaton 17 May 2008

Herend world famous porcelain

Pecs

Noemi and Imre went with us to Pecs.

Kakasd and Pecs

This strange town hall in Kakasd caught our attention the first time we saw it. It is even more unusual inside than it is outside. The village of Kakasd prides itself on its handcrafts, quilts, and folk dance group.

More city pictures

Budapes city life

Just so we don't forget all the familiar scenes in and around our city.

Eszterházy Palace near Vienna

The Eszterházy family was very rich. How rich? They had too much money to count so they built several huge palaces in Hungary and Austria. The palace we visited near Fertod is a bit run down even with renovation but still very impressive. Please note the unusual topiary garden which mainly consists of hundreds of huge conical juniper trees.

Gödöllő castle and a picture of Joseph Smith

The Gödöllő castle was the favorite Hungarian residence of Empress Ezerbet (Elizabeth), Queen of the Austrian Hungarian Empire. It is about 20 miles East of Budapest in the hills. Ezerbet loved the Hungarian people and in turn they loved her. She was also known as “Sisi”. When Ezerbet died, her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph lost interest in this property. It fell into disrepair but was later renovated. Today it is quite nice and it is a favorite tourist site.